I'll do that, thanks. I'll be turning the big 50 a couple weeks after this hunt so hopefully it'll be a good birthday present to myself.Hunted it ML last year:
First CO Backcountry Hunt (Long)
After a couple OTC CO archery elk hunts in years past, I cashed in a pile of points on a muzzleloader hunt this year to celebrate my 40th birthday. I drew a bull tag and my nephew drew a youth cow tag, and hopes were high that we'd be able to hunt elk during the rut with limited hunting...www.hunttalk.com
Shoot me a PM if u want, I can probably fill in some info. Didn't have ATV, most roads OK for a truck but high clearance would definitely help.
Colorado GMU 49
- Thread starter Walkitoff
- Start date
Anyone have any experience hunting in the 2nd or 3rd rifle seasons in 49? I didn't apply this year, but considering hunting it next year. Would consider bringing one trail horse if it wasn't too much of a headache, or just hunting from foot/utv. Thanks and good luck to those that drew. Preston
Roamer
Active member
We will be up there muzzleloading deer so I’ll let you know what we see. My buddy lives up there and he saw a couple of good bulls this winter I’ll see if I can round up a pic.
As far as later in the year we used to deer hunt second season a lot and usually we will see a lot more elk than dear.
As far as later in the year we used to deer hunt second season a lot and usually we will see a lot more elk than dear.
I appreciate the information! Thanks Preston
All,
Got back from our ML hunt last week Sunday. We had great weather (we showed up after the snowstorm), almost too nice, and elk were nearly everywhere we looked. Areas where we didn't find them other guys we talked to said they had seen elk there either before or after we checked the area, so they were everywhere at some point. We camped along Buffalo Peaks Rd #431 a few miles in from the FS campground. There were other camps along the road and more up between the wilderness area and Jones Hill. Our plan was to hunt "lower" country the first couple days to allow ourselves to get acclimated to the thin air before we pushed for timberline. Turns out, we got into small groups of elk in this lower country and talked to a couple "locals" that said they had been up at timber line "post holing" through the snow that didn't see anything up there. There was some bugling going on but not much, maybe in more remote areas of the unit it was different. We called in a few calves and cows but no bulls. We did get within range of a couple nice bulls but couldn't get a good shot. We managed to get within range of a small heard and a raghorn bull on Wednesday, which I decided to shoot. We didn't recover him until the next day due to a lack of a blood trail and just ended up just looking hard until we found him. My hunting partner and I both had opportunities at spikes, which are legal, but chose to pass. I can't recommend any specific area because if we looked in spots with good elk habitat they were there. The best bull we saw was up bugling and chasing his cows around in the middle of the day at about 11,300 ft., maybe a little more than a mile from a road. We tried to cut him off on his way down the mountain to feed/water a couple times but he eluded us.
All in all, it was our best elk hunting by far and we had a lot of fun. Really not much excuse for not killing a legal elk unless you hold out for Big Hank and they are certainly around in this unit.
We also saw a couple nice mule deer bucks and a small bull moose on the last day we hunted.
We talked with a local conservation officer several times, super nice and helpful. He must have been working a case in that area because we saw him around a lot.
I forgot to add that when I went back to get the last of the meat, I had to chase a bear away from it. It had dragged the two hind quarters off maybe 30 yards from the carcass. I boned them out and packed them both and the rack/skull plate figuring the bear would be back to take anything I left. I forgot to get the ivories our though!
Got back from our ML hunt last week Sunday. We had great weather (we showed up after the snowstorm), almost too nice, and elk were nearly everywhere we looked. Areas where we didn't find them other guys we talked to said they had seen elk there either before or after we checked the area, so they were everywhere at some point. We camped along Buffalo Peaks Rd #431 a few miles in from the FS campground. There were other camps along the road and more up between the wilderness area and Jones Hill. Our plan was to hunt "lower" country the first couple days to allow ourselves to get acclimated to the thin air before we pushed for timberline. Turns out, we got into small groups of elk in this lower country and talked to a couple "locals" that said they had been up at timber line "post holing" through the snow that didn't see anything up there. There was some bugling going on but not much, maybe in more remote areas of the unit it was different. We called in a few calves and cows but no bulls. We did get within range of a couple nice bulls but couldn't get a good shot. We managed to get within range of a small heard and a raghorn bull on Wednesday, which I decided to shoot. We didn't recover him until the next day due to a lack of a blood trail and just ended up just looking hard until we found him. My hunting partner and I both had opportunities at spikes, which are legal, but chose to pass. I can't recommend any specific area because if we looked in spots with good elk habitat they were there. The best bull we saw was up bugling and chasing his cows around in the middle of the day at about 11,300 ft., maybe a little more than a mile from a road. We tried to cut him off on his way down the mountain to feed/water a couple times but he eluded us.
All in all, it was our best elk hunting by far and we had a lot of fun. Really not much excuse for not killing a legal elk unless you hold out for Big Hank and they are certainly around in this unit.
We also saw a couple nice mule deer bucks and a small bull moose on the last day we hunted.
We talked with a local conservation officer several times, super nice and helpful. He must have been working a case in that area because we saw him around a lot.
I forgot to add that when I went back to get the last of the meat, I had to chase a bear away from it. It had dragged the two hind quarters off maybe 30 yards from the carcass. I boned them out and packed them both and the rack/skull plate figuring the bear would be back to take anything I left. I forgot to get the ivories our though!
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rmyoung1
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Congratulations!!
COhunter423
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Trying to decide between archery and rifle season for this unit. Anything I should know for either season to help me decide?
Roamer
Active member
Striking this up again, always good info. I was able to get my 14 year old son a 1st season bull tag. Not looking for a giant...dont want to ruin him LOL. Just a nice respectable 5x or smaller 6x will be the goal. Any tips are appreciated, we know the unit decently well.
Thanks in advance.
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