Colorado Archery

[BenMartin4425]

First post to the thread:

looking for advice from people who have hunting unit 16 for archery elk in Colorado. We are planning a future hunting trip and are curious of what to expect. Are there optimal camping places or trails where we can bring a four wheeler to jump start our trek into the mountains. Not asking for “the spot” to go but are just seeing what is out there from people who have been in the area and advice from other hunters.

 

[Dave N]

No help to you but welcome aboard!

 

[Dsnow9]

Welcome to ht

 

[Ajax2744]

A healthy chunk of 16 is private and all the BLM is lower elevation grazing land that is wintering ground for elk. Not gonna see anything but antelope and coyotes in September. The national forest from what I recall there is a couple decent roads to drive but expect traffic. It's also very popular that time of year with hikers.

It also can be some very nasty country up in that area so make sure you're in shape, even with a 4wheeler

 

[Muskeez]

A scouting trip in July or August is worth a LOT! Then you will learn what type of terrain you are capable of hiking and where you can camp, get water, etc. It will take away a lot of the anxieties and will also make you realize how much better shape you need to get in before your hunt.
Best wishes!

 

[BenMartin4425]

Thank you for everyone’s input it is much appreciated! Being in shape isn’t much of a concern as we usually rifle hunt over in Idaho in Hells Canyon area which is very nasty and unforgiving. We are also think of either 28 or 171 units. We do plan on making a scouting trip before the hunt but want to have more of a narrowed down area as August and September can get pretty busy with crop harvest going on. Again, I appreciate everyone input!

 

[Matt Dworak]

There are definitely elk in 16, camping and quad access but also a TON of hunters. We hunt a spot opening day and that's about all it's good for because the elk know the routine and when the hordes of dudes start tromping thru all the national forest/BLM, you'd better believe those old cows start high-tailing it towards those private fences!

 

[elkduds]

Glad you could join us.

 

[BenMartin4425]

Figured most units will have a larger number of hunters in them as they are all over the counter tags for archery. I may have to look into doing some more research to see if we can find some units that may have lower people without sacrificing public land % to much.

 

[oswald2581]

Figured most units will have a larger number of hunters in them as they are all over the counter tags for archery. I may have to look into doing some more research to see if we can find some units that may have lower people without sacrificing public land % to much.

Another thing to consider is the numbers posted for people in each unit is not always accurate in the OTC units, it is based of hunters surveyed. Not everyone is surveyed and not everyone is truthful in which units they hunted on the OTC tag.

 

[Novemberfest]

I would believe the surveys are consistently inaccurate across the board. Let’s say 20% of the hunters aren’t truthful on the survey. That stat is probably consistent across every unit. The point being that the survey results will certainly give you an idea of hunter density. 18 has a lot of hunters, 33 less etc. etc. It’s a good place to start.

 

[BenMartin4425]

I would believe the surveys are consistently inaccurate across the board. Let’s say 20% of the hunters aren’t truthful on the survey. That stat is probably consistent across every unit. The point being that the survey results will certainly give you an idea of hunter density. 18 has a lot of hunters, 33 less etc. etc. It’s a good place to start.

Good point as I never really took that into consideration. Most of the data I have seen as been off of GoHunt which i never looked into where they got their information from. If anyone has food information on which units have worked better than others in the past would be appreciated. Definitely do not need to tell me any secret spots as we are looking for the adventure of learning from failures and hopefully successful trips. Appreciate the input!

 

[mdeerjunkie]

Welcome aboard! Glad you could join us! I have never hunted 16, but like the others have said a scouting trip or two can make big difference.

 

[SteelWool]

Welcome to HT

 

[oswald2581]

Good point as I never really took that into consideration. Most of the data I have seen as been off of GoHunt which i never looked into where they got their information from. If anyone has food information on which units have worked better than others in the past would be appreciated. Definitely do not need to tell me any secret spots as we are looking for the adventure of learning from failures and hopefully successful trips. Appreciate the input!

In my experience any OTC unit in Colorado is going to have a lot of people. When looking on GoHunt, you should also consider size of unit and % public land, for example 18 is a very big unit at roughly 646 square miles. Unit 18 had 1496 hunters surveyed or roughly 2.3 hunters per square mile. Unit 16 is a smaller unit at ~320 Square miles and had 664 hunters surveyed or ~2 hunters per square mile. However, when you consider % public land 18 is 88.7% public land, which is roughly 573 square miles with ~2.6 hunters per square mile. Unit 16 is 52% which is roughly 166.4 square miles with 4 hunters per square mile. This is not trying to steer you away from 16, but it is another thing to consider.

I know that is assuming all those hunters are hunting public land which they probably are not, but I would imagine the vast majority are on public land. Of the public square miles in each unit, it is also good to use tools such as Google earth and OnX to figure out how much looks like good elk habitat and figure out how much you can access and from where. Once you narrow down some units, if you can swing it, nothing beats good ole boots on the ground. Not sure if you have watched yet, but Randy has some really good E-Scouting videos up on YouTube that will help save a lot of time.

 

[BenMartin4425]

In my experience any OTC unit in Colorado is going to have a lot of people. When looking on GoHunt, you should also consider size of unit and % public land, for example 18 is a very big unit at roughly 646 square miles. Unit 18 had 1496 hunters surveyed or roughly 2.3 hunters per square mile. Unit 16 is a smaller unit at ~320 Square miles and had 664 hunters surveyed or ~2 hunters per square mile. However, when you consider % public land 18 is 88.7% public land, which is roughly 573 square miles with ~2.6 hunters per square mile. Unit 16 is 52% which is roughly 166.4 square miles with 4 hunters per square mile. This is not trying to steer you away from 16, but it is another thing to consider.

I know that is assuming all those hunters are hunting public land which they probably are not, but I would imagine the vast majority are on public land. Of the public square miles in each unit, it is also good to use tools such as Google earth and OnX to figure out how much looks like good elk habitat and figure out how much you can access and from where. Once you narrow down some units, if you can swing it, nothing beats good ole boots on the ground. Not sure if you have watched yet, but Randy has some really good E-Scouting videos up on YouTube that will help save a lot of time.

Appreciate the advice, I have definitely watched his videos but will have to give them another watch as a refresher. Thanks again!

 

[jw_smitty]

Building up Karma, even if I posted this in another thread...

New to HT and Colorado Elk, but this community has been great to passively participate in. I figured it's time to give back and encourage others to jump in...Long story short, I gathered data from various sources to rank the opportunity across CO units (both OTC and draw) to help identify where I should focus (does not consider draw probability). Adding in some data science wizardry and imputation, I was then able to get a more complete picture. In the end, I generated rankings for factors like "% of Public Acreage", "% Acres Burned in Last 10 Years", "% of Acres in Summer Elk Range", "% of Acres in Winter Elk Range", "3 Year Avg Success %", "Estimated Bulls Per Acre", "Avg Bull-Hunter Ratio", and others. I can't attach the Excel, which has the full list and details of each ranking, so PM me with your email if you'd like the file. I hope the top 25 below helps any new hunters not already set on a unit.

General note: The 0.5 numbers mean there was a tie in the ranking.

 

[Slm864]

Looks like it was a lot of work but interesting. Thanks for sharing

 

[Jc2020]

Building up Karma, even if I posted this in another thread...

New to HT and Colorado Elk, but this community has been great to passively participate in. I figured it's time to give back and encourage others to jump in...Long story short, I gathered data from various sources to rank the opportunity across CO units (both OTC and draw) to help identify where I should focus (does not consider draw probability). Adding in some data science wizardry and imputation, I was then able to get a more complete picture. In the end, I generated rankings for factors like "% of Public Acreage", "% Acres Burned in Last 10 Years", "% of Acres in Summer Elk Range", "% of Acres in Winter Elk Range", "3 Year Avg Success %", "Estimated Bulls Per Acre", "Avg Bull-Hunter Ratio", and others. I can't attach the Excel, which has the full list and details of each ranking, so PM me with your email if you'd like the file. I hope the top 25 below helps any new hunters not already set on a unit.

General note: The 0.5 numbers mean there was a tie in the ranking.
View attachment 150215

I’ve wanted to make something like this for awhile but just never took the time it’s cool you did and thanks for sharing

 

[JFish]

Building up Karma, even if I posted this in another thread...

New to HT and Colorado Elk, but this community has been great to passively participate in. I figured it's time to give back and encourage others to jump in...Long story short, I gathered data from various sources to rank the opportunity across CO units (both OTC and draw) to help identify where I should focus (does not consider draw probability). Adding in some data science wizardry and imputation, I was then able to get a more complete picture. In the end, I generated rankings for factors like "% of Public Acreage", "% Acres Burned in Last 10 Years", "% of Acres in Summer Elk Range", "% of Acres in Winter Elk Range", "3 Year Avg Success %", "Estimated Bulls Per Acre", "Avg Bull-Hunter Ratio", and others. I can't attach the Excel, which has the full list and details of each ranking, so PM me with your email if you'd like the file. I hope the top 25 below helps any new hunters not already set on a unit.

General note: The 0.5 numbers mean there was a tie in the ranking.

Wow that puts my very simple excel spreadsheet to shame! Thanks for sharing.