Archery Hunting Units 42,421,521,53?

[BackofBeyond]

FIFY. Its a burro, BTW.

Burro Clown?

 

[elkduds]

Burro Clown?

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You're getting warmer. . .

 

[Scott85]

Burro Clown?

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Ass clown….

 

[perma]

Hey guys, me and 3 other buddies plan to do a DIY CO OTC Archery Elk hunt September 14-20 (6 days of hunting). We have narrowed down the OTC units to 521, 421, 53, and 42 although we have done alot of research, we have never hunted elk before. We have narrowed down to these units because of harvest reports, elk population reports, accessable land through the onX map scouting, and I have family in Glennwood Springs. Are there any tips/advice one would give for the best strategy/unit areas to try (open to PMs)? We are pretty sure our toughest hurdle will be finding elk with no experience doing this before so looking for a little guidance.

Everyone always says to get away from the road and away from crowds, get in shape and really burn some rubber when it comes to OTC units. We are up to the challenge, all under the ages of 26 and we all are prepping our bodies for the fall physically, but we understand our big disadvantage is the lack of experience and hesitant to do a 5+ hour hike into somewhere that won't produce any elk.

Should we run and gun to different good looking areas/units? Hike in 5+ miles to an area and camp for 5-6 nights? What units give us the best odds for either strategy? We aren't looking for your spot, we are just looking to find a few pointers from someone who knows the area or knows what we need to do in order to increase our chances of getting a shot at something.

How’d your hunt go bud?

 

[NativeIndian]

Thanks Pete, we will definitely watch and re-watch those videos for sure to pick out some good areas.

Coming from the East Coast with no real ability to scout like we wish we could, there are questions that a map can't specifically tell you:

• What the hunter traffic looks like, higher pressure areas vs. lower pressure areas? (hug private land? stay on public?, utilize blm?, look for the toughest terrain?, etc.)
• What elevation and habitat do the elk tend to stay at during this period of the rut?
• Is there areas with a lot ATV traffic in those units and where to maybe avoid?
• Will moving camp often and truck hunting be more effective compared to camping for 5 nights straight deep in one area?

Things that you can't tell by just picking a few spots and saying that looks good, we are not afraid of research and will continue to do a lot of it but that will only take you so far. I am sure there are a lot of hunters who have the same idea we do which is fine, but knowledge gained from experience is always a huge plus to keep us on a good track to have an enjoyable hunt. Again, we aren't looking to take advantage of anyone's hard work and time they have put into these areas, just a little guidance.

Find out the game warden for your units you want to hunt and call them up. They can answer a lot of your questions if you are specific and aren't asking "where are the elk?".

 

[NativeIndian]

The first mistake u r making is hunting the 14-20th in my opinion. The muzzy season is 14-22 this yr. the archery goes until the 29th and I would most def want to be there last week over the third week due to the rut being better and no muzzy hunters. The hunts u r asking about are entirely diff in nature each. 53 a lot of wilderness and u would need to backpack in to get into some of the remote wilderness, same w 43(very big country), 521 and 42 is more lower elevation w/o much glassing ability. It really depends on the kinda hunt u want because each unit offers some diff terrain

My experience has been that if you go OTC the latter half of archery, you'll find most of the elk on private or in the kind of stuff that will take you a week to pack the elk out of. Go early before everyone blows them out. You'll still find them later but being new, you'll more likely see/hear elk early in the season.