Colorado Unit 80/81

[beakster]

Looking for assistance, I haven't hunted CO Unit 80/81 since 2006. Went out the last two years with my son and son-in-law, trying to teach them the ropes and was extremely disappointed. 20 years ago, I could find the elk within a few days and then spend two weeks in the middle of them hunting. Now this unit is overrun, I've seen very few elk over the last two years and now debating if I should point the boys elsewhere. I've never seen the elk so cautious and call shy. But I do understand, I've seen folks from a certain southern state drive around and just blow bugles up and down the road and that is how they spend their day hunting. Is this just the norm now? Don't get me wrong, I've found elk but very few and far between. If anyone would be willing to share or help, I'd like to get the boys in a position to at least to see what elk hunting is all about and they don't get frustrated and give up. Not looking for anyone's honey hole, just insight on how to hunt the unit now or try somewhere else. My father-in-law and I hunted the unit for 15 years before I got consumed with chasing growing kids around and we had great luck. Any insight or discussion would be helpful.

 

[Bullshot]

Yep. Alot has changed in CO in 20 years. There are no secret solutions to this dynamic. If you want to hunt where additional thousands of people also want to hunt, you just have to work even harder for those fewer encounters on those smarter elk. One unit is probably as good as the next. If you know the area you have a leg up. thats the best you can do unless you are using a ton of PP or go outfitted on private.

 

[tkhuntsman]

I was born and raised in the middle of unit 80 and spent a large portion of my adult life guiding in that unit from Backcountry horse camps. It's very tough to get away from people there. The best way to be successful is to find drainages that don't have roads or ATV trails in them. It might not seem like there are any but they are there and they hold elk. It's surprisingly rough country and will take some effort to get into and hunt. There's actually a few drainages that are 4-5 miles from any motorized trail. I managed to keep about an 80% success rate in that unit with my clients and killed a bull every year for 11 straight with a bow. It can be done for sure do your e-scouring, put boots on the ground and just because you see another hunter across the drainage doesn't mean the elk aren't there. It does have a good elk population and some extra large mule deer.

 

[elkduds]

Looking for assistance, I haven't hunted CO Unit 80/81 since 2006. Went out the last two years with my son and son-in-law, trying to teach them the ropes and was extremely disappointed. 20 years ago, I could find the elk within a few days and then spend two weeks in the middle of them hunting. Now this unit is overrun, I've seen very few elk over the last two years and now debating if I should point the boys elsewhere. I've never seen the elk so cautious and call shy. But I do understand, I've seen folks from a certain southern state drive around and just blow bugles up and down the road and that is how they spend their day hunting. Is this just the norm now? Don't get me wrong, I've found elk but very few and far between. If anyone would be willing to share or help, I'd like to get the boys in a position to at least to see what elk hunting is all about and they don't get frustrated and give up. Not looking for anyone's honey hole, just insight on how to hunt the unit now or try somewhere else. My father-in-law and I hunted the unit for 15 years before I got consumed with chasing growing kids around and we had great luck. Any insight or discussion would be helpful.

Welcome to HT.

 

[beakster]

Welcome to HT.

Thanks!

 

[beakster]

I was born and raised in the middle of unit 80 and spent a large portion of my adult life guiding in that unit from Backcountry horse camps. It's very tough to get away from people there. The best way to be successful is to find drainages that don't have roads or ATV trails in them. It might not seem like there are any but they are there and they hold elk. It's surprisingly rough country and will take some effort to get into and hunt. There's actually a few drainages that are 4-5 miles from any motorized trail. I managed to keep about an 80% success rate in that unit with my clients and killed a bull every year for 11 straight with a bow. It can be done for sure do your e-scouring, put boots on the ground and just because you see another hunter across the drainage doesn't mean the elk aren't there. It does have a good elk population and some extra large mule deer.

My son is hooked, last year was his first elk hunting trip out West. I was able to get him and my son-in-law on some elk. I had to be extremely careful bugling I found out because someone would typically come screaming up in there truck or side by side and start blowing their bugles and calls frantically. I've never seen the like! Now they want to put in again. Last year I took them to unit 81, had a lot of success there in the past but quickly found out every elk encounter we had was met with 10 hunters. I did have some honey holes there and found fresh sign but the elk were so skittish, saw alot of butts.

Then moved camp to South of Del Norte around the Hog Back Mesa. Was able to hit some of the old spots but was very mixed results. Most of the ATV trails are so treacherous I wouldn't let the boys travel them because they don't have the experience that I feel they need to be on them. I think if we would have started there I probably could have gotten them both tagged out. Use to see some really nice bulls there, actually in both units. What I saw last year were smaller spindly bulls. Obviously trying to decide if it is worth them putting in there. I basically am the camp cook and go out to call for them when they get some elk found. I'm gonna have fun no matter what.

 

[Bullshot]

You mention crowds everywhere but one of the things to try to avoid would be to name your specific spots (ridges, drainages, etc) on public forums, maybe you should edit your place names out so that you don’t have an additional 500 guys there next year, lol. Utilizing the private message function is always a good bet. Since these days even unit numbers get searched heavily, so you can say it’s terrible but if you mention even seeing an elk, you can rest assured some new guys will apply there just because of that. These are desperate times, LOL. Good luck to you and your son.

 

[Mallardsx2]

There is a ton of great elk hunting in unit 80/81. Best of luck to you and your boy!

 

[Westelker]

Looking for assistance, I haven't hunted CO Unit 80/81 since 2006. Went out the last two years with my son and son-in-law, trying to teach them the ropes and was extremely disappointed. 20 years ago, I could find the elk within a few days and then spend two weeks in the middle of them hunting. Now this unit is overrun, I've seen very few elk over the last two years and now debating if I should point the boys elsewhere. I've never seen the elk so cautious and call shy. But I do understand, I've seen folks from a certain southern state drive around and just blow bugles up and down the road and that is how they spend their day hunting. Is this just the norm now? Don't get me wrong, I've found elk but very few and far between. If anyone would be willing to share or help, I'd like to get the boys in a position to at least to see what elk hunting is all about and they don't get frustrated and give up. Not looking for anyone's honey hole, just insight on how to hunt the unit now or try somewhere else. My father-in-law and I hunted the unit for 15 years before I got consumed with chasing growing kids around and we had great luck. Any insight or discussion would be helpful.

Re unit 80, PM me. Perhaps I can help.

 

[Laelkhunter]

.... maybe you should edit your place names out so that you don’t have an additional 500 guys there next year, lol.

That's good advice. Buc-ee's is probably planning to build a new station there in anticipation of all the hunters that will be heading that way next season.

 

[abarn]

My brother drew an archery tag and asked me to come along but he has been unable to put boots on the ground due to being overseas for the past year. I have done extensive e-scouting and picked up a MVUM for the Divide Ranger District but I still had a few questions about road access outside Del Norte if someone would be willing to PM me.

 

[Bullshot]

My brother drew an archery tag and asked me to come along but he has been unable to put boots on the ground due to being overseas for the past year. I have done extensive e-scouting and picked up a MVUM for the Divide Ranger District but I still had a few questions about road access outside Del Norte if someone would be willing to PM me.

I’ll just say that its a mixed bag, if you have a lifted 4WD you can explore more, with care. Some of the roads out of that area are overly nice gravel speedways. Other are nothing but narrow trails, jagged rock, steep slopes, water crossings, and deep mudholes.

 

[abarn]

I’ll just say that its a mixed bag, if you have a lifted 4WD you can explore more, with care. Some of the roads out of that area are overly nice gravel speedways. Other are nothing but narrow trails, jagged rock, steep slopes, water crossings, and deep mudholes.

Thanks for the info. We plan to be conservative with just a 4wd truck.

 

[Bullshot]

Thanks for the info. We plan to be conservative with just a 4wd truck.

That should be fine for what you need to do. There is overall a high amount of use on most numbered roads, so worst case, if you run into real trouble someone is bound to come by sooner or later in a truck or on SxS or atv at some point.

 

[perma]

My brother drew an archery tag and asked me to come along but he has been unable to put boots on the ground due to being overseas for the past year. I have done extensive e-scouting and picked up a MVUM for the Divide Ranger District but I still had a few questions about road access outside Del Norte if someone would be willing to PM me.

Bring chains. Those nice roads there can easily freeze and get you to slide into the side of a hill. And, bring a chainsaw to help cut deadfall that fell on the road.

 

[Westelker]

My brother drew an archery tag and asked me to come along but he has been unable to put boots on the ground due to being overseas for the past year. I have done extensive e-scouting and picked up a MVUM for the Divide Ranger District but I still had a few questions about road access outside Del Norte if someone would be willing to PM me.

PM me if you can!

 

[abarn]

PM me if you can!

Will do. Thanks.

 

[cdub616]

Hey folks, New to the HT forum. I'm posting in this thread because I also have an archery tag for 80-81. I've hunted elk twice several years ago with my dad in unit 66 muzzle loader cow tags, no luck either time and that's the extent of my elk hunting experience, I hunt whitetails here at home. I'm looking at the area to the southwest of Platoro just because we have vacationed there a couple times, taken a couple of hikes but for the most part I'm unfamiliar with the area. Now I know not to ask where the elk are (they're in the woods), but I have a few questions more related to tactics for the area and time of the season. My hunt dates will be roughly September 11 through 22 and I've left myself some room to add a couple of days if I think I need to. From past trips there I know there are quit a bit of roads and atv access, and I have a side by side that I could bring, but I don't want to hunt out of it and I would rather leave it home unless any of you that know better would advise me bring it. I'm mainly planning to be on foot, bivy camp style where I can just stop wherever I am at the end of the day. I will be solo. So if there is a way to get to spots where most people don't want to go that's what I'll be trying. So I'll list out my questions and whoever would like to respond to any of it I'll appreciate the guidance.
How has the rainfall been in the area this spring and summer?
What elevations should I be concentrating on?
Are they very vocal, does calling work much, passive or aggressive calling, more cow talk?
Are my hunt dates more pre-rut or will they be getting close to breeding time?
Should I even consider another area like more up into unit 80? (The reason I ask that is I know there is an outfitter who has five or six campsites in the Conejos peak area that he packs hunters in to. I've gone on his site and seen the map of the locations and even tried calling him to see if he could offer any intel or about possibly helping me pack out if I have any luck but I haven't been able to reach him yet. But if unit 80 is a little more remote and not what some of these packed in hunters want to deal with that may be a better option.)
I was at a trade show yesterday and an outfitter I visited with who hunts Colorado told me a good strategy is to hunt ambush style over water because these areas are usually fairly dry, that's why I asked about rain, so does that sound right to any of you?
I've been reluctant to pay for a mapping app because I just don't need it here at home, I have Avenza, but I've decided the ONX one state deal isn't too bad (beats getting lost I guess) and will get that in a couple days unless anyone has other suggestions.
And since I'll be alone I'm planning to rent some kind of communication device to keep in touch with the wife to let her know my status, so a sat phone or Garmin in reach or something. Does anyone have suggestions on that?
Well, that's a lot and I apologize for the word vomit , but any advice is appreciated, and good luck to everyone in the woods this fall.

 

[elkduds]

Hey folks, New to the HT forum. I'm posting in this thread because I also have an archery tag for 80-81. I've hunted elk twice several years ago with my dad in unit 66 muzzle loader cow tags, no luck either time and that's the extent of my elk hunting experience, I hunt whitetails here at home. I'm looking at the area to the southwest of Platoro just because we have vacationed there a couple times, taken a couple of hikes but for the most part I'm unfamiliar with the area. Now I know not to ask where the elk are (they're in the woods), but I have a few questions more related to tactics for the area and time of the season. My hunt dates will be roughly September 11 through 22 and I've left myself some room to add a couple of days if I think I need to. From past trips there I know there are quit a bit of roads and atv access, and I have a side by side that I could bring, but I don't want to hunt out of it and I would rather leave it home unless any of you that know better would advise me bring it. I'm mainly planning to be on foot, bivy camp style where I can just stop wherever I am at the end of the day. I will be solo. So if there is a way to get to spots where most people don't want to go that's what I'll be trying. So I'll list out my questions and whoever would like to respond to any of it I'll appreciate the guidance.
How has the rainfall been in the area this spring and summer?
What elevations should I be concentrating on?
Are they very vocal, does calling work much, passive or aggressive calling, more cow talk?
Are my hunt dates more pre-rut or will they be getting close to breeding time?
Should I even consider another area like more up into unit 80? (The reason I ask that is I know there is an outfitter who has five or six campsites in the Conejos peak area that he packs hunters in to. I've gone on his site and seen the map of the locations and even tried calling him to see if he could offer any intel or about possibly helping me pack out if I have any luck but I haven't been able to reach him yet. But if unit 80 is a little more remote and not what some of these packed in hunters want to deal with that may be a better option.)
I was at a trade show yesterday and an outfitter I visited with who hunts Colorado told me a good strategy is to hunt ambush style over water because these areas are usually fairly dry, that's why I asked about rain, so does that sound right to any of you?
I've been reluctant to pay for a mapping app because I just don't need it here at home, I have Avenza, but I've decided the ONX one state deal isn't too bad (beats getting lost I guess) and will get that in a couple days unless anyone has other suggestions.
And since I'll be alone I'm planning to rent some kind of communication device to keep in touch with the wife to let her know my status, so a sat phone or Garmin in reach or something. Does anyone have suggestions on that?
Well, that's a lot and I apologize for the word vomit , but any advice is appreciated, and good luck to everyone in the woods this fall.

Welcome to HT

 

[shb]

20 years ago, I could find the elk within a few days and then spend two weeks in the middle of them hunting. Now this unit is overrun, I've seen very few elk over the last two years and now debating if I should point the boys elsewhere. I've never seen the elk so cautious and call shy.

This is the state of the union in the hunting world now.

Doesn't matter where you go.

Forums, message boards, social media, and the outdoors whores have all sacrificed the golden goose.


If you want to see elk doing elk things, network, or buy your way onto some private land.