Colorado Unit 42

[CubsFan]

I leave tomorrow to hunt the SE portion of unit 42 near Reno, Van, and Haystack mountains. It is a ways in on forest service roads even though the weather is good how concerned should I be about weather potentially impacting my ability to get out?

Also this should be prime black bear territory so what precautions should I take? I usually have coolers bungeed shut in the bed of my truck. Should I move all food items to the cab of my truck?

If anyone has any suggestions about the area as well let me know. I've got a plan just don't know how good of a one it is!

Thanks.

 

[nrpate05]

The road to get in, FR 800 I think it is, is pretty mellow and shouldn't be too tough getting in and out with bad weather. The weather does look good for the foreseeable future. I've only hunted 1st and 2nd season down there and saw plenty of elk 1st season and not a lot of pressure. 2nd season was a different story - lots of hunters and not so many elk. My thinking is that they push over the ridge into the next unit once pressure increases. I can't say this for sure though, I was just trying to come up with some reason that I wasn't seeing as many elk. I saw one bear down there a couple miles from the road. I wouldn't worry about it too much, but I would take the necessary precautions for sure. If I were to go back this time of year, and with this weather, I would go to the highest part of that area and stay out all day. There's good country to glass and hunters should be pushing game around. Have fun

 

[HighDesertSage]

I don't know if you'll get this before you leave, but:

The road should be fine getting in and out of there. Be ready to walk. You're going to need to to get away from all the people. Go high, elk are still up there. Try walking into trail gulch from the Haystack side. Hopefully are the cattle that were in there last month are gone now, I can't imagine them still being up there.

 

[HighDesertSage]

The road to get in, FR 800 I think it is, is pretty mellow and shouldn't be too tough getting in and out with bad weather. The weather does look good for the foreseeable future. I've only hunted 1st and 2nd season down there and saw plenty of elk 1st season and not a lot of pressure. 2nd season was a different story - lots of hunters and not so many elk. My thinking is that they push over the ridge into the next unit once pressure increases. I can't say this for sure though, I was just trying to come up with some reason that I wasn't seeing as many elk. I saw one bear down there a couple miles from the road. I wouldn't worry about it too much, but I would take the necessary precautions for sure. If I were to go back this time of year, and with this weather, I would go to the highest part of that area and stay out all day. There's good country to glass and hunters should be pushing game around. Have fun

Trust me, the other side of the ridge get hammered just as bad

 

[CubsFan]

Thanks for the replies guys I didn't get them in time but I still appreciate the willingness to help. Just got back, no luck but I still had a great time.

I only saw a couple of cows that I spooked walking through timber. I also saw a couple moose and a black bear. No deer at all surprisingly.

I ran into some trouble on the roads, not because of weather but just conditions in general, that prevented me from getting to some of the spots I had planned out. I'm sure my truck could of made it but I don't like to mess around it seems like getting stuck or busting my truck up would be a nightmare out there.

I was expecting to see a lot of other hunters but literally only saw one other hunting party in the field in 4 complete days out there. I saw some RVs on one of the roads in but after I got farther back even on the road I saw no one. I definitely learned I need to do some in person scouting for next year. Accessibility isn't always what it seems on maps and some of the glassing spots I picked out didn't quite have the visibility I had hoped for.