CO GMU 18/181 muzzleloader?

[danadrums]

Hey All,

Anyone out there have any experience hunting CO unit 18/181 muzzleloader?
I'm starting muzzleloader hunting this year, so I have zero experience, but
I have been hunting unit 181 the last couple of years during rifle season.
Anybody been there during muzzy season?
Would love to hear some stories.

Thanks.

--Dana

 

[cedahm]

My nephew and I have archery hunted 181 quite a bit the last few years (and I've been rifle hunting both units off and on since I moved to CO in the mid-90s). The Elk are quick to get in very deep timber once the archers show up and at first snow a large percentage will hustle to private (just glass over Whiteley's anytime from Muzzy season onwards - they'll be there). You have to use all the guys on Chimney Rock to your advantage and be out ahead of them looking to intercept animals. Pretty much the same as Rifle. Remember, the divide is pretty low in 181, the elk don't migrate as far from Summer ground to breeding territory as some of the country nearby.


A telling sign for you - My brother-in-law's family has ranched in 181 (and part of 18) since they homesteaded there 100 some years ago - I switched to different units years ago for rifle seasons and all of us are switching units this year.

18 has more hidey-holes for the animals, but it's a lot bigger and you need to cover a lot more ground to find them.

P.S. to your other post about bears - we've seen more bears the last 5 years by a factor of 5 than any time in the past. Lots of bruin opportunities. Not much size, but generally all cinnamon-phase.


Good luck!

 

[danadrums]

Thank you so much for the info.
I saw some decent elk (4x4, no trophies) come out of 181 last year in first rifle. Also saw a BIG muley buck in the field across from my camp.
'Course, I didn't have my camera with me, and he was gone before I could get it, but he was big.

The background on my phone is a pic of a nice fresh bear track that I took in 181 while deer hunting in 2015. Don't care about trophies, but I would like to get a bear.

Thanks again.

--Dana

 

[mplane72]

I've archery hunted 18 3 times in the last 5 years. One of those times we were there we overlapped muzzy season. Once muzzy opened there was noticeably more traffic on the roads but we never saw anyone on their feet away from a road. That was 3 years ago. Last year we were out for opening week of archery. None of us had ever seen so many hunters out on the mountain while we were actually hunting. It was tough. My buddy got a nice 6x6 but it took some work to find him.

I've never seen a bear there just a little sign.

If anyone can get a moose tag let me know. LOL

 

[danadrums]

Hah! Moose tag? What's that?

Sadly, I know that for a lot of guys, firearm=truck hunt. I don't get it. How many elk are standing 100 yards off of the road?

Randy's Rule of minimum 1 mile from the closest road has always seemed like a good one to me.
But what do I know...

Thanks.

--Dana

 

[Gut Shot]

I've hunted 18 a few times, though it has been several years. The forest is dead from beetle-kill. I've never been on a hunt there where we weren't into elk. Go a couple of days in advance and scout to find a herd or two then hunt them opening day.

The coldest pack in hunt I've ever done was a muzzleloader hunt in unit 18. Single digits at night and into the seventies during the day.