Colorado folks

[rideold]

If you're willing to adapt your style to the conditions and terrain it seems to me knowing a unit is worth a lot. The alternative is to find a unit that suits your style and stick to it. I've hunted the same unit now since 2015. I've been on 4 rifle hunts for elk and 1 archery hunt for deer in that unit and this past season I really started to feel like I've got a feel for where I need to be and when. In the course of those 4 elk hunts I killed one animal (and then make all the rookie mistakes and was unable to recover it....still pains me to this day). My brother in law hunted the same unit for about 10 years before he passed away and his success rate was well above 70%. This is all public land hunting. The unit has changed for sure but the elk seem to use the same areas even if there are not as many of them. I moved around too much this year. I had the strategy of 50% sitting and 50% walking/hiking/still hunting. I found day or two old sign and tracks every day I was out there and realized too late that I was moving around too much and should have hunted the same area for 2-3 days before moving on. I managed to be a day or two behind them. That's not saying that I'm trying to pattern an elk herd but there is some consistency in the areas that are used. I'm not bashing

 

[bushman13]

Thanks for the solid advice, I will start concentrating on a unit or area. Now if I could only find that area

Another option is to burn my 2 points on Unit 39 Archery this year. I do have some spots identified where rut action is occurring. Home unit so I can hunt it frequently during the season, but because it's a draw unit I wouldn't be hunting it again for a few years.

 

[Westelker - W. Colorado]

I need some advice on Elk hunting and the dreaded preference point game.

I have 2 elk PP's already. My plan was to continue to build PP's and hunt B tags, possibly OTC and the Leftover list. I figured these less desirable hunts would allow me to gain experience and every once and a while, get some meat. Well my plan isn't working as I can't actually find any meat. I've yet to see a live elk while hunting, although this 4th season I did find 2 unrecovered elk. 1 was 200 yards from the trailhead

So far:
1st rifle Either tag in Unit 18
2nd rifle Bull tag in Unit 67
4th rifle Cow tag in Unit 28

I'm obviously starting to get discouraged as this is my first foray into Public Land hunting. Hunting private land my entire life did not prepare me. I had kind of relegated myself to maybe building around 7 points and finally getting a decent hunt.
I just noticed however, that you can draw some RFW tags with 3 or 4 points. I'm guessing the odds of success on these hunts are way better than even a 7 point resident hunt, although the trophy potential may not be there. Is that your understanding as well? For a person who doesn't care about antler size, does the RFW route seem more solid? Thoughts?


Another option would be to hunt a 2-3 point draw every few years, but at this point I'm not confident in that route at all.

If you want great meat with two points pick a late cow hunt with a RFW ranch north, east and west of Craig. This will provide you with a nearly 100% chance of a harvest in just a few days.

 

[Jason73]

Use your onx. Find areas of public land that are a pain in the ass to get to because they are surrounded by private. It's surprising how many of these private lands get hunted zero percent of the year. They will hold elk and the elk will routinely move across public grounds moving onto other areas of private. You might have a 4 mile hike down hill to get into these areas but you will find elk.

 

[Westelker - W. Colorado]

Use your onx. Find areas of public land that are a pain in the ass to get to because they are surrounded by private. It's surprising how many of these private lands get hunted zero percent of the year. They will hold elk and the elk will routinely move across public grounds moving onto other areas of private. You might have a 4 mile hike down hill to get into these areas but you will find elk.

4 miles down hill means packing a harvested elk 4 miles up hill, most likely at least two round trips...that is humanly impossible and insane.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

4 miles down hill means packing a harvested elk 4 miles up hill, most likely at least two round trips...that is humanly impossible and insane.

 

[shannerdrake]

Here's my opinion and it could be wrong but the good thing with OTC tags is you can hunt the same unit for a length of time and actually learn it. Bouncing from leftover tag to leftover tag can be fun but will be a lot more challenging in my opinion unless you can get a premium tag which is getting harder with all the leftover apps popping up

This ^

It is fun seeing new ground, but as Randy says, the hardest part about killing an elk is finding an elk. I'd rather know a lesser unit well than a better unit less. My friend and I hunt a marginal at best unit in Colorado. There are definitely better units out there and we probably drive through a couple to get there. However, we know the area and have created quality relationships with some of the locals that are very helpful. We aren't killing monster bulls, but we have so far shot two standard 5x5s, a 300+ 6x7, and have had encounters with a couple larger bulls. I also have a lot of confidence in filling cow tags there if ever needed. Those encounters are over three hunts in four years. We also tapped into the local knowledge before the first hunt which really shortened the learning curve.

We also tried the flying blind adventure hunt to Montana one year and despite putting in more research, phone calls, e-scouting, etc. than any other hunt before or after, out of our group of four, we saw exactly one group of 11 cows despite a combined 200 miles of hiking. After comparing our notes, in the event that we returned to that area, we would retrace about 5 of those 200 miles. You only get that knowledge by being there.

 

[BrokenChicken]

Bushman, for what it's worth: i'm a new hunter,
2019 was my 1st year hunting anything. - i did manage to fill my very first ELK tag (cow) on the 4th day, in a area i've never even been to, till the night before season opener when i drove there.. like i said it was my very first time hunting, and first time in that unit. i did E-scout before hand. all it took (other than maybe a little luck) ...miles of hiking into areas people werent willing to go. my pack out was bout 3.5 miles and all uphill, but i was happy to do it.
2020 my 2nd year, i Earned a PrefPoint, still drew a 2nd choice Bull tag for 1st rifle, and got a left over Cow 4th rifle tag. Again in unit's i've never been to before.
this time i did scout for my 1st rifle, ended up shooting my 1st Bull on a 1st day. *(it was the only animal we saw in 5 days, we went too high up in elevation i think).
i also then went back out by myself and harvested my 4th rifle COW.

what i'm trying to say: you can earn PP's, and still hunt in areas you've never been to and still be successful with a little luck.
Elk want same thing : food, shelter, water, etc no matter what unit you're in. just figure out *(escounting or acutal scounting) areas that should hold elk, and are just far enough or rugged enough to get away from the crowds, and with a litttle luck you should succeed.
good luck out there.

 

[squirrel]

Your problem is not where you are hunting (it seldom is)your problem is you don't know what you are doing +/Or you are doing it in the wrong sub-areas of the units. My bet would be on option #1. Time spent is the key, can be spent in one year or spread over a decade, or you could trust to luck and your track record there is not conducive to filling any freezers, make yourself smarter, works every year thereafter. Points and draws do not kill elk, hunters in the right place/time with the skills to make the shot do however kill a lot of elk.

 

[RHood]

I'm sort of in the same boat, I've got 2 preference points for elk as a CO resident and last year was my first time elk hunting although it wasn't an OTC tag it was a easy to draw unit as my 2nd choice. I was able to have a handful of encounters with bulls but just wasn't able to seal the deal (the classic struggle of bowhunting) and I made plenty of mistakes along the way. As a resident I wouldn't get too hung up on building much more preference points (especially if you don't care about antler size) as a lot of units can be drawn with a handful of points as long as you aren't picky about which rifle season you want to hunt, and even dumping preference points on those units isn't going to significantly increase your chances at an easy or successful hunt. The main benefit to drawing those units is just less competition/pressure from other hunters, you still have to put in the work to be successful.

I would find a unit that suits your hunting style that you have a good chance to draw as a second choice or OTC and invest a season or two and really put in the time/effort to finding where the elk are so you can get some experience. As wllm1313 said, get away from roads and find those nasty hellholes and you should be well on your way to finding the elk. I'm also considering burning my points this year but at the same time I kind of want to go back to the same unit since I'm familiar with the area and I still have a lot more I could learn about elk hunting, I just hate driving 6 hours to get to that unit. If you can consistently find elk in the less desirable units then you are probably less likely to waste your time and preference points hunting the harder to draw units.