What to do in CO... an aimless rant against picking a unit.

lifesupport4u · Mar 21, 2018

Well here starts my rant...

I am fairly new to hunting and joined some co-workers a few years ago in Colorado. I have been hunting that area for a few years. The area is thick and overgrown and most of the elk that are killed are stumbled upon out of somewhat dumb luck. This group is in good condition, puts in a lot of miles and goes over and above what the majority of people are willing to do physically but still has a pretty low success rate overall.

I have been saying I want to find a new area for a few years.... one where I can get up high and glass a little better. A unit where my hard work and miles will give me a better success rate than we are having. I want to find a unit where I can apply a little more strategy and a little less hiking aimlessly hoping to stumble upon animals.

Now I will say I have learned a lot. Every year I have at least a couple lessons to walk away from. I have had some chances I have missed as well. However, that doesn't deter me from wanting to find a different area.

That is where my frustration comes in.... I have so much difficulty narrowing down what unit to hunt. There is a flood of information. I hate the thought of wasting a year in a bad area.

Anyone out there who finds it easy to pick a new unit? If so I envy you!

NYSKIER · Mar 21, 2018

Picking a unit is tough anywhere you go unless you live near it or are able to visit it ahead of time. I find that trouble myself but the best thing to do is pick a couple of units research them the best you can, check them out on google earth, and then get on Hunttalk and start asking specific questions to see if someone can help you out and point you in the right direction.

AvidIndoorsman · Mar 21, 2018

I second that picking a unit is tough, along with what NY said I try and think about where elk will be in that unit during the season I'm hunting. A unit that is high altitude will likely have elk out on the tundra during early archery but down in the timber by rifle as there will be lots of snow.

No unit is bad, if you are the guy who has figured it out and is killing elk every year. The hard part is figuring out every unit.

I would recommend using the CO hunt atlas and using the summer and winter concentration layers. Summer for Archery, Muzzle, and first rifle and Winter for 2nd-4th Rifle. Then pull up the aerial photo and look at the type of terrain those elk are occupying during those seasons. If you want to hunt more open terrain try to find a unit where the elk concentration is is that of terrain during the time you are going to be hunting. Keep in mind that the elk are still going to be in the hardest to get places within those concentration areas. That said I personally would rather climb 2000ft straight up a mountain to ambush a bull I can see than still hunt through a lodge-pole pine jungle.

Mallardsx2 · Mar 21, 2018

I switched areas the last time I went out there and it was a disaster from the start. I will go back to my old ground that I have a vast knowledge of.

Flatrock · Mar 21, 2018

That's kind of a tough one. I assume you're rifle hunting? OTC or draw? 1st, 2nd or 3rd rifle? I assume you're not hunting 4th rifle if you're going every year.

Maybe look at the units in the western part of the state. I know that some of those units are more oak brush and scrub-type terrain. That's speaking in general.

I drew a first rifle tag a few years ago. It was hot as hell and we saw very few elk. If I were to draw another tag, it would be for a 3rd season tag. Snow would be a big help. I'm like you though and hate hunting thick timber.

That's really not very helpful but if you give a little more info, that should make it a easier for guys to give you some advice.

squirrel · Mar 21, 2018

There are very few "bad units" but there are limitless "bad strategies" in each unit. If you have a preconceived notion of how elk should be hunted and pick a unit that does not favor same you will generally consider it a bad unit. In reality you may just need to hunt a different part of it or choose a new technique that works in that cover.

You mention thick and "overgrown" with what specifically? Thick lodge pole with lots of elk and snow = dead elk in no time, once you master the art.

Without snow and it can be tough, but if you learn the area with snow they do the same stuff when it is brown, they bed on the same turf.

Once you learn a habitat, be it lodge pole, alpine, oak brush, sage/quakie, your skill set is transferable to other similar covers anywhere you hunt elk.

If you think elk are meant to be glassed from afar and stalked that day or even days later try early alpine, and bring an extra lung...

NYSKIER · Mar 21, 2018

squirrel said:
There are very few "bad units" but there are limitless "bad strategies" in each unit. If you have a preconceived notion of how elk should be hunted and pick a unit that does not favor same you will generally consider it a bad unit. In reality you may just need to hunt a different part of it or choose a new technique that works in that cover.

You mention thick and "overgrown" with what specifically? Thick lodge pole with lots of elk and snow = dead elk in no time, once you master the art.

Without snow and it can be tough, but if you learn the area with snow they do the same stuff when it is brown, they bed on the same turf.

Once you learn a habitat, be it lodge pole, alpine, oak brush, sage/quakie, your skill set is transferable to other similar covers anywhere you hunt elk.

If you think elk are meant to be glassed from afar and stalked that day or even days later try early alpine, and bring an extra lung...

I agree with everything you said. It's all about figuring out how to hunt that particular terrain.

Weberado · Mar 21, 2018

I just went though this for the first time also here in Colorado. Im not gonna lie I probably put too much time into picking a unit but being new to all this I wanted to get a good understanding so I couldn't kick my self later. In the end went with one that I A) would want go and hike and camp in this summer B) I can draw with 0 points as a resident and C) Has a majority of the unit is public land with good access. I was surprised to find a lot of them fit the bill so I wen with one that was somewhat closer to home then the rest thinking Ill go more this summer to scout if its closer.

Tinner2216 · Mar 21, 2018

X3 squirrel is right on point.

lifesupport4u · Mar 21, 2018

Maybe it is the plethora of choices.... too many options. Don't want to waste a season....

And that extra lung... I never leave home without it.

squirrel · Mar 21, 2018

It's not possible to have a "wasted elk hunt" I'm betting you dont spend much time in the mountains, that sucks. When you jump a huge bull track from a fresh bed and feel perfectly comfortable back tracking for half a day just to see what he did previous to bedding, you are almost where you need to be.

Like in Cool Hand Luke, ya gotta get yer mind right. Then it clicks and you are in the 1% club. It aint easy even if you live there, you have to make a prodigious effort of time spent, or find a mentor.

When self imposed "I gotta get one" pressure is all you feel you are hampered severely. It keeps you from swinging for the fence with reckless abandon.

sundance · Mar 23, 2018

Living here it is easy for me to keep up with the summer weather patterns. It does affect where the elk will be. The drier it is, or the lack of a monsoon season,means they will be higher. The wetter it is, the less they will have to move around for feed.I archery hunt and the weather is by far the biggest player determining what kind of season you will have. So as you ponder on where to hunt, I would also keep an eye on the weather from July on.

rideold · Mar 23, 2018

I swear unit success rates have an effect as well. I've hunted the same unit for three rifle and one bow season now. When I picked the unit there was a fairly long history of about a 30% success rate. The last two years it has dropped to half or less than that. Makes me wonder if sometimes a long standing success rate unit starts to get more pressure and the animals respond to that. Could be weather as well. In the end there are too many variables for me to consider so I'm going back for another year and see what happens. I'm starting to research for a new unit to become familiar with.

plumber1969 · Mar 29, 2018

You will drive yourself crazy looking at statistics. I made a spread sheet and finally after months of research I realized how OCD I was becoming about it. I simplified down to what I wanted and what terrain I was reasonably sure that me and wife wife could tackle. That formula worked for us. Good luck and don’t drive yourself crazy over it. The planning is half the fun.

CampRipleyLF · Mar 29, 2018

I’m more of a trial by fire type of person... Not really afraid of wasting a year on a unit, if you put your time in and it sounds like you do you will find elk! Little desktop work and then a lot of leg work will find you elk. Plus seeing new country is always fun. I say just get up and get out to a new spot, it’s hard to go wrong if you put the research in!!!

specneeds · Mar 30, 2018

Figure you are going to pay some dues learning a new area. If you have the time or even if you can just hunt a 3 day weekend you may want to apply for a single cow or OTC bull tag in a different area during a different season to get your feet wet before you jump. Hunt solo or with another guy who wants to move or take a youngster.

My buddy hunted several years with very limited success then decided to come to our area after I had about 4 straight years of success starting a season later than him. His group now hunts our season in the adjacent unit and has done very well. They are not die hard boot leather canyon climbing nail every shot hunters. So if they are doing well anybody who can hunt can....I'm applying for a buck tag in their area to get some extra scouting in and my OTC bull tag is already goo there.

ol_spark · Mar 31, 2018

Unit 74 has some high ground.

lifesupport4u · Mar 31, 2018

Yup, gotta make a choice. Ultimately I know what you guys have shared is right... there are good areas in below average units and bad hunters in great units...

I have always wanted to keep hunting or go back for more... so by that standpoint it has always been a good year. I am just itching for some success. I should have had it last year. I just wish I could hunt 365 days a year.... its an obsession and I want to learn to be a great hunter.

Thanks for those of you who offered some insight and encouragement.

I will reach out and see if anyone is willing to share unit info via PM once I draw.

ol_spark · Apr 1, 2018

Another thought maybe just to hunt a different area in the same unit you have drawn in the past. That way if the new area wasnt to your liking at least you wouldn’t be far from familiar ground and not feel all is lost. Maybe it’s all the same type of terrain, I don’t know.

What to do in CO... an aimless rant against picking a unit.

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