Burning 10 points on CO GMU 66?

[Ben Nicholson]

I feel like I'm stuck in no man's land in CO with 10 points. I would love to hunt 76 but as a NR I doubt that is going to happen. I've been 3 points behind for a while now. Has anyone hunted 66? If so, would you say it's worth burning 10 points on it or am I nuts? This would be for archery.

Thanks,
Ben

 

[utah400elk]

Unless I am wrong, I remember seeing 66 elk hunts available on the leftover license list.

 

[rmyoung1]

No Man’s Land in the CO point game is real! If you hunt with a muzzleloader, you have a few more options in that 6-9 point range. If you’re committed to archery hunting, however, that hunt in 66 would appear, to me anyway, to be as good as any other in your point range.

 

[SFC B]

I am in that same point range and am 50. What I am looking at using my points on will probably happen next year. As a rifle guy I have been looking at my options and it looks like use the 10 now on a GOOD hunt with the possibility of doing that at least once more in my life OR taking a chance at banking points for the possibility of a GREAT hunt. With uncertainty of future structure and point creep I am gonna pull the trigger on the sure opportunity in the short term.

 

[HighDesertSage]

How would you get to the elk in archery? How would you get one out? 66 can be a good elk unit, but getting to them can be a logistics nightmare, even worse, getting one out. It's better than otc, but no where near the same game as 76. Keep in mind residents can draw that 66 archery hunt with a point. Your only 4 points away from 76. So yes, I think your nuts.

 

[Rhino Hunter]

OP,

If I were you I would burn your points soon on the best hunt you can find for the amount of points you have.

I have close to triple your points and wish I never would have entered this point game. The license structure has change multiple times since I started the point chase and each time it has delayed my ability to draw the tag I want.

 

[NoWiser]

How would you get to the elk in archery? How would you get one out? 66 can be a good elk unit, but getting to them can be a logistics nightmare, even worse, getting one out. It's better than otc, but no where near the same game as 76. Keep in mind residents can draw that 66 archery hunt with a point. Your only 4 points away from 76. So yes, I think your nuts.

4 points could easily be 15-20 years.

 

[Pagosa]

I personally wouldn’t do it. Maybe 4/5 points. I hunted it from 1998 until 2007 off and on and there are just as big as bulls in OTC units as 66/67. It’s a good unit for filling a bull or cow tag, but I have only seen one above 300 inches down there. It’s super steep and high and we used horses to access it. We hunted above 10,500 most of the first season and around 9,000 in the late season. I haven’t hunted there for a long time so things may have changed. Unit 39 and 20 have bigger elk, but difficult access. You can probably buy a leftover in August for 66/67. There has been several available over the past few years. Good luck, and I’m not the best source of information because I haven’t hunted it recently.

 

[GrantK]

I've hunted 66 quite a bit in archery, I wouldn't burn 10 points for archery, in all honesty I'd have a hard time with the 5 it looks like it takes as a minimum for a NR, that said you are pretty solidly in the middle of no man's land, personally I'd keep going OTC and pull a 76 when you get to the top, 66 is considerably better than OTC, but not 5-10 points better, 76 is a huge leap better.

 

[coloradoguy]

dig through the Colorado hunt statistics (draw recap), and take a look and all the seasons and all the hunts to pick your best point to hunt value. There's a few options buried in there. You may have to be flexible and archery, rifle, muzzle loader, but you will get the most out of your points that way.

 

[brushcreek]

Unless I am wrong, I remember seeing 66 elk hunts available on the leftover license list.

there were some returned tags on the list but no true leftovers

 

[utah400elk]

Thanks, I do remember seeing them somewhere.