Colorado 1st season

[wvbowman912]

Hey folks,

Maybe some of you that have past experiences to draw from can help me out with this.

A friend and I each have 1 elk point in Colorado. Life won't permit us to make it out for a hunt until next year. We've never hunted elk before but have spent plenty of time hunting deer in the hills of WV.

Looking at GoHunt, it seems that there are quite a few units that can be drawn second choice or with no points as a non resident for first rifle. With 1 point, a good bit more units had 100% draw odds last year. Moving up to 2 points only opens a few more units. After 2 points, very few units are ones that I would ever be willing to wait for.

I realize this is an extremely subjective question, but is getting points for elk in Colorado even worth it? Are units that require 1 or 2 points really any different than ones that can be drawn with 0 points or as a second choice? Maybe our best use of time and money would be to hunt second choice most years while picking up preference points and hunting slightly "better" units every few years.

Thoughts?

 

[TOGIE]

when it comes to rifle, there are some 2nd season limited hunts i'm considering building a few points for. when it comes to 1st rifle though, i'm hunting the leftover units. nothing worth spending a few points on and nothing worth waiting the 14+ or infinity years it would take IMO. perhaps maybe a point or two to try and limit the crowds.

all that changes when you start considering archery and muzzleloader though

 

[wvbowman912]

when it comes to rifle, there are some 2nd season limited hunts i'm considering building a few points for. when it comes to 1st rifle though, i'm hunting the leftover units. nothing worth spending a few points on and nothing worth waiting the 14+ or infinity years it would take IMO. perhaps maybe a point or two to try and limit the crowds.

all that changes when you start considering archery and muzzleloader though

Thanks for the reply. I haven't looked too much at limited entry for 2nd season but maybe I should. Sounds like we're on the same page for 1st though.

 

[Mudranger1]

I've had great 0 point 1st rifle hunts and 1 great 9 point 1st rifle hunt. only difference was the work it took to be in elk everyday

 

[Kiwi]

I’m looking at using my 4 elk points in a first rifle hunt in CO. In general is the first rifle not great timing? I guess it’s after the rut and the bulls go back to the timber and hard to find?

 

[TOGIE]

I guess it’s after the rut and the bulls go back to the timber and hard to find?

that will be the case for 1st through 3rd rifle essentially. though the season timing is changing a little this year and can change that generality in some ways, but we'll go with that for now as the general way it will be

1st rifle overall can be pretty great - bear in mind i'm no master elk hunter, but i do have a grapple on what it's like out here in co - it often is great weather with a few bugles still to be heard on opening day, but yes, bulls will be starting to hole up

2nd will be somewhat the same, but the bulls will be more holed up, and there will be no final bugles to be heard. higher chances of nasty weather, especially with the new season structure. maybe the new season structure will make opening day of second season more magical for some due to the longer break in pressure

3rd can result in weather making magic happen, but the weather can become, well, really weathery. but the bulls are generally still holed up.

i would argue that 1st can be a great season because it's more of a transition to late season in timing, not quite full blown late season

as always, much of this depends on the unit you choose

 

[Kiwi]

that will be the case for 1st through 3rd rifle essentially. though the season timing is changing a little this year and can change that generality in some ways, but we'll go with that for now as the general way it will be

1st rifle overall can be pretty great - bear in mind i'm no master elk hunter, but i do have a grapple on what it's like out here in co - it often is great weather with a few bugles still to be heard on opening day, but yes, bulls will be starting to hole up

2nd will be somewhat the same, but the bulls will be more holed up, and there will be no final bugles to be heard. higher chances of nasty weather, especially with the new season structure. maybe the new season structure will make opening day of second season more magical for some due to the longer break in pressure

3rd can result in weather making magic happen, but the weather can become, well, really weathery. but the bulls are generally still holed up.

i would argue that 1st can be a great season because it's more of a transition to late season in timing, not quite full blown late season

as always, much of this depends on the unit you choose

Awesome! Thanks for your time to reply. Really appreciate your insight.

 

[nrpate05]

First rifle is a great time to be in the woods. You may still find some rut activity, but it will be waning. I wouldn't bother building more than a couple points for a 1st rifle hunt and I'd probably only do that if I wasn't planning to hunt 1st rifle every year. It seems that to really get into a "better" elk hunt in CO you gotta have upwards of 15 points. I know a guy who has shot a 6x6 during 2nd rifle on an OTC tag in the last 4 of 5 years.

 

[beginnerhunter]

If you look at the #s there's not much sense in accumulating pts in CO unless you just can hunt elsewhere every year. At least not more than a few. There are good limited hunts in CO that can be had 2nd choice or leftover. But good to buy pts anyway just as insurance. I'm not going to buy points and never hunt tho.

@wllm1313 is the CO drawmaster and will probably chime in shortly.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

If you look at the #s there's not much sense in accumulating pts in CO unless you just can hunt elsewhere every year. At least not more than a few. There are good limited hunts in CO that can be had 2nd choice or leftover. But good to buy pts anyway just as insurance. I'm not going to buy points and never hunt tho.

@wllm1313 is the CO drawmaster and will probably chime in shortly.

@wvbowman912 I agree with your logic... I wouldn't get more than a couple of pts for CO. Honestly I think a lot of people misconstrue a unit that has a low allocation (takes a while to draw) because of a small herd for a unit that is managed for trophy quality. IMHO there are a number of units that are OTC/leftover/easy to draw in a number of units, for various species/in a number of states that are in fact better hunting than units that require a bunch of points. IMHO the hard to draw cow tag in Utah I hunted with a buddy this year was way worse than the leftover cow tag in Colorado I hunted a month earlier with another buddy.

 

[Muley_Stalker]

I don't pay much attention to how many points it takes when the units are low point units. I look at how many tags are sold and the success rate.

 

[Kiwi]

I'm getting serious about my CO elk application now, and would like to check the 2020 elk quota for the units i'm looking at. Have the 2020 quotas been set? Or are they available soon? I've searched the internet without success.

 

[BrokenArrow]

I'm getting serious about my CO elk application now, and would like to check the 2020 elk quota for the units i'm looking at. Have the 2020 quotas been set? Or are they available soon? I've searched the internet without success.

I attended a elk herd management plan meeting in Durango a couple weeks ago. I asked a CPW officer about what the quotas will be for all of the new archery draw units down here. Basically he gave me a horrible answer without any clarification, but said that the final quotas will be decided at a commission meeting in Mid-May. Usually OAK somehow finds the draft proposed quotas and posts them in a new thread somewhere on this site before the commission meeting (late April - early May).
I will say that most quotas will remain the same except for the SW units. I believe they will be cut pretty drastically again. Cow tags will probably become non-existent in the near future, based on what was said at that meeting about cow/calf birthing ratios.

On a side note, I attended Lincoln University in Christchurch. You all have a beautiful and extraordinary country. I miss being there everyday.
Good Luck on the Draw

 

[Kiwi]

Thanks brokerarrrow. Guess I’ll just have to hope the quota doesn’t change for the unit I’m look at. I have one more point that it took to draw last year so hopefully I’ll draw.
I also when to Lincoln uni in the early ‘90s. I did an exchange to Oregon State. Did you do a one year exchange too?

 

[treedagain]

I think this year will be the best for 1st season due to the early dates. Best chance for rutting bulls

 

[treedagain]

I will burn mine this year

 

[Kiwi]

Well I decided not to apply for a CO elk tag due to travel restrictions. But I’ve been looking at the draw results from this year and also the season dates for 2021. It seems the 2021 second season dates might be better than the first season? What are people’s thoughts?
I’m looking at units around Leadville and Salida and with 5 points next year should be able to draw either a first or second season elk tag.

 

[elkmo]

too bad its only 5 days