First Time Archery Elk Planning

[BigBob1212]

I understand this post is coming extremely early, but getting a group guys in their late 20s organized for a 1200 mile trip to hunt Elk for the first time takes some planning. We all grew up bowhunting whitetails in Ohio, I have since moved to Nashville and have spent some time hunting in the smokies. I don't say that to give the impression those mountains will prepare you for the rockies, but simply to save that I have car camped and hunted many times. I go fly fishing every year out west, so I am comfortable with how the elevation affects me.

As of now, that is our plan for this elk hunt. We will be road tripping across the country with the trucks loaded down, and plan to car camp. I know this limits our mobility, but not everyone in our group or 4 has experience backpacking, or the necessary gear to make that happen. I have done a good amount of scouting online, and am beginning to narrow down potential units. As of now, I am narrowed down to unit 65, then units 71&751. Before I even begin trying to narrow down specific locations within those units to hunt, I want to make sure that we will be able to access them without problem. Does anyone have experience car-camping in these units? Should we be looking to campgrounds or try to find (open) dirt roads near wilderness/public areas and just use pull offs? Appreciate any and all info about camping throughout these units, access roads to look at, etc.

Thanks all and happy holidays,

 

[LCH]

I assume you're talking about Colorado. 65 has good road access and tons of places to pull off and camp. A few elk in there too. Just keep in mind that easy access+elk+unlimited licenses=lots of hunting pressure also.

 

[jakewood321]

I've only been once but learned a lot the first time out, you won't regret being in good shape before you go, not having the right gear can make your hunt miserable. Expect a lot of pressure with OTC tags. Don't have any info on those units but my experience is the further back you go the less hunters your going to run into, it'll be a lot of work just depends how bad you want it! Good luck this fall you're on the right track starting now!

 

[BigBob1212]

Thanks for the replies. And yes I talking Colorado. Could've mentioned that. Good heads up on the pressure. I hunt public land in TN so dealing with pressure comes with the territory. Another big question is deciding dates. Obviously everyone wants to be there in the heat of rut, but I know muzzle loader season occurs around the 3rd week of Sept. In your experience, should we really try to avoid ML and pick a week on either side?

 

[jakewood321]

Thanks for the replies. And yes I talking Colorado. Could've mentioned that. Good heads up on the pressure. I hunt public land in TN so dealing with pressure comes with the territory. Another big question is deciding dates. Obviously everyone wants to be there in the heat of rut, but I know muzzle loader season occurs around the 3rd week of Sept. In your experience, should we really try to avoid ML and pick a week on either side?

I caught the first weekend of ML season in Colorado when I was there in 2018, personally I would try to avoid it. It may come down to whatever ends up working best with everyones schedule, but for the unit I was in there was a lot more traffic. Almost twice as many trucks at the trailhead on the Monday we left!

 

[BigBob1212]

Thanks. We will definitely try to avoid it. I've seen the "elk in every unit" comment a lot on various sites, but my understanding is that we will want to be at higher elevation (let's say 9-12K ft) during archery season. Any thoughts on how this should affect my unit selection. I chose those units above based on public land, and wilderness areas (to avoid motors), but also because of driving distance. They also happen to be at those higher elevations.

 

[Bullshot]

BigBob - something about the wording of your post tells me you are gonna be fine. Keep your expectations grounded, but the sky is the limit with effort. Usually there are plenty of roadside camping opportunities in the NF. Just avoid those "perfect" sites that everybody aims for. If you camp and hunt from an area that is just a little bit harder and slightly less comfortable than the norm you will probably do great. So what if it's not 100% level. So what if it doesn't have sweeping vistas overlooking a beautiful meadow. A short (1/4 mile) but very steep climb up or down to your hunting spot will weed out so much competition you won't even believe it. If it looks nasty on the topo, chances are it is worse in person. And most people won't bother, even if there are good looking areas above or below the slope. If you drive through a couple miles of bad road and then see a beautiful camp site, back up and go a mile back to the bad looking area. If you meet with success, just take your time one foot in front of the other to get the elk out. It's not that complicated really.