Plan A, B, C.......

[AZbywayofWI]

Good Morning! I have an Elk hunt this fall and I have been setting up plans and ideas on what to do for the hunt and any possible scenarios that come up; such as hunting pressure, can't find the elk, can't find water, so on and so forth. The unit I am hunting seems to have a lot of hunters and non-consumptive users (hikers, bird watchers, campers). My Plan A (first days of the hunt), is to get into a roadless wilderness area about 7 miles in, it's great area with food, water and only one trail going into it. It will also be the third week of the Archery season that coincides with a Muzzleloader Season, my thought is this area would be where the Elk hideout due to pressure. My Plan B, is to tackle another area that has more trails with possibly more people but it has a couple of great burns and I had planned to hit this mid-week with the hope that Joe Hiker and Harvey Hunter will be at work thus alleviating some hunting pressure. Plan C is to go as far North in the unit I can and hunt a boundary area that has also had some burns but also has a ton of trails. My question is, what do I do when all my plans fall through? Pack up and head to another unit? Go back to your original plan? How do you guys adapt to stuff that throws your plans out the window?

Thanks!

 

[wtrfwlhunter]

To be honest, I don’t think there’s much of a substitute for how well you know
an area. I’d stick with the same area for the season.

If the other unit you would switch to is also a general type tag with high pressure and you’ve also never been there, you’d basically be moving just hoping to get lucky. If you Go through your plan A,B,C and don’t shoot An elK you still have all that knowledge gathered about the terrain, Hunter pressure, and animal Behavior. Which to me, will do more good than pretty much anything else. You spend all the time regathering those basics if you move units entirely.

Elk on moderately pressured, mostly public areas move a lot. Just because there weren’t elk in one of Your zones for a day or two doesn’t mean you Can’t get up there the third day and see a herd right out in the open that got
Pushed into the area by another hunter or whatever else.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

Good Morning! I have an Elk hunt this fall and I have been setting up plans and ideas on what to do for the hunt and any possible scenarios that come up; such as hunting pressure, can't find the elk, can't find water, so on and so forth. The unit I am hunting seems to have a lot of hunters and non-consumptive users (hikers, bird watchers, campers). My Plan A (first days of the hunt), is to get into a roadless wilderness area about 7 miles in, it's great area with food, water and only one trail going into it. It will also be the third week of the Archery season that coincides with a Muzzleloader Season, my thought is this area would be where the Elk hideout due to pressure. My Plan B, is to tackle another area that has more trails with possibly more people but it has a couple of great burns and I had planned to hit this mid-week with the hope that Joe Hiker and Harvey Hunter will be at work thus alleviating some hunting pressure. Plan C is to go as far North in the unit I can and hunt a boundary area that has also had some burns but also has a ton of trails. My question is, what do I do when all my plans fall through? Pack up and head to another unit? Go back to your original plan? How do you guys adapt to stuff that throws your plans out the window?

Thanks!

It's Colorado archery... you are going to see a lot of people. 7 miles on a trail is nothing... honestly there is no place in the state that you can hunt where you wont see people. That doesn't mean you wont be successful, just push that idea of being all alone in the mountains out of your head and don't let seeing fellow hunters and or lots of hikers discourage you.

I switched units in 2018 for elk. I had scouted to 2 units, hunted the first one and the elk had moved out of where they were in July due to pressure so I switched to a second unit that had better security. I had found elk in the high alpine before the season, clearly those elk had been targeted and push out first week of archery so I focused on areas they would go when heavily pressured.

I could have moved to a new location in the first unit and done fine I just hadn't scouted out a spot.

In 2019 hunting deer, I moved from one side of the unit to the other. I wasn't seeing any deer, so I switched to a different part of the unit with different slope aspects, forest types, etc.

 

[AZbywayofWI]

It's Colorado archery... you are going to see a lot of people. 7 miles on a trail is nothing... honestly there is no place in the state that you can hunt where you wont see people. That doesn't mean you wont be successful, just push that idea of being all alone in the mountains out of your head and don't let seeing fellow hunters and or lots of hikers discourage you.

I switched units in 2018 for elk. I had scouted to 2 units, hunted the first one and the elk had moved out of where they were in July due to pressure so I switched to a second unit that had better security. I had found elk in the high alpine before the season, clearly those elk had been targeted and push out first week of archery so I focused on areas they would go when heavily pressured.

I could have moved to a new location in the first unit and done fine I just hadn't scouted out a spot.

In 2019 hunting deer, I moved from one side of the unit to the other. I wasn't seeing any deer, so I switched to a different part of the unit with different slope aspects, forest types, etc.

Thanks for the advice! I wasn't under the assumption that I could find an area void of human life, I realize it's Colorado and other hunters and hikers are pretty much a guarantee. But coupled with the distance and how steep the area is, I was hoping that this would deter some hikers and hunters and maybe be a spot where the elk would hang out. To clarify; it would be 7 miles to where I'd camp not necessarily where the Elk are going to be. I think I'll just roll with my plans and see what happens.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

Thanks for the advice! I wasn't under the assumption that I could find an area void of human life, I realize it's Colorado and other hunters and hikers are pretty much a guarantee. But coupled with the distance and how steep the area is, I was hoping that this would deter some hikers and hunters and maybe be a spot where the elk would hang out. To clarify; it would be 7 miles to where I'd camp not necessarily where the Elk are going to be. I think I'll just roll with my plans and see what happens.

There are a bunch of spots 15+ miles from a trail head that are crawling with wall tents on google maps.

Just because you see folks doesn't mean they will find or hunt the elk that you're after.

 

[AZbywayofWI]

There are a bunch of spots 15+ miles from a trail head that are crawling with wall tents on google maps.

Just because you see folks doesn't mean they will find or hunt the elk that you're after.

Valid points. Thanks!

 

[Browning55]

Here’s another thing to consider. Yes the elk respond to pressure And yes they move but in my experience hunting lots of otc elk on public land in CO, people fall into the I have to hunt high or the pressure moved them out of here Trap. Remember the bulls by muzzleloader season or 3rd week archery are going to be seeking cows or may already be cowed up. Those cows move to their rutting areas a week or two before. During the first two weeks of archery I usually can find satellites and raghorns already with the cows acting like they have their harem just for the big bulls to come kick them out a week or two later. Talk to your biologists in the area and ask if the bulls travel very far to rut so you can have a better understanding of where the elk went. In some areas here in co bulls move 5 to 20 miles. Some it’s maybe a mile at best but they move out of their summer grounds and down to where the cows want to be. a good example is you find elk in the dark timber and pines all summer but you very well could find the elk down in scrub oak and aspens come mid to late sept.

before writing off your area hunt different elevation bands. Where I hunt the elk are highly pressured but they have pockets they can move to to escape it. They dont blow completely out of the area, maybe a drainage or two over but they are on the same mountain. For a few seasons we could not find any legal bulls but we a kept getting into raghorns or spikes. Those bulls had been kicked out from the cows by the more mature bulls. They were hanging out between 10k and above. We got so many mature bulls on camera from July-early September but it was like they disappeared. Finally we started hunting lower and lower and what would you know we were locating more elk. We started hunting that 8k to 9500 range and we started getting daily encounters when we hunted the aspens. That knowledge was crucial and we have been hunting otc bulls that are anywhere from 5x5s to 6x6s. Maybe not monster 300”bulls every day but good otc bulls. In a nutshell I would also say try and locate calving ground from spring and you might find the cows like to rut there too. Finding cows will be key from my experience. don’t be affraid to hunt lower in elevation even if everyone says you have to hunt at 11k

 

[AZbywayofWI]

Here’s another thing to consider. Yes the elk respond to pressure And yes they move but in my experience hunting lots of otc elk on public land in CO, people fall into the I have to hunt high or the pressure moved them out of here Trap. Remember the bulls by muzzleloader season or 3rd week are going to be seeking cows or may already be cowed up. Those cows move to their rutting areas a week or two before. During the first two weeks I usually can find satellites and Raghorns already with the cows acting like they have their harem just for the big bulls to come kick them out a week or two later. Talk to your biologists in the area and ask if the bulls travel very far to rut so you can have a better understanding of where the elk went. In some areas here in co bulls move 5 to 20 miles. Some it’s maybe a mile at best but they move out of their summer grounds and down to where the cows want to be. a good example is you find elk in the dark timber and pines all summer but you very well could find the elk down in scrub oak and aspens come mid to late sept.

before writing off your area hunt different elevation bands. Where I hunt the elk are highly pressured but they have pockets they can move to to escape it. They dont blow completely out of the area, maybe a drainage or two over but they are on the same mountain. For a few seasons we could not find any legal bulls but we a kept getting into raghorns or spikes. Those bulls had been kicked out from the cows by the more mature bulls. They were hanging out between 10k and above. We got so many mature bulls on camera from July-early September but it was like they disappeared. Finally we started hunting lower and lower and what would you know we were locating more elk. We started hunting that 8k to 9500 range and we started getting daily encounters when we hunted the aspens. That knowledge was crucial and we have been hunting otc bulls that are anywhere from 5x5s to 6x6s. Maybe not monster 300”bulls every day but good otc bulls. In a nutshell I would also say try and locate calving ground from spring and you might find the cows like to rut there too. Finding cows will be key from my experience. don’t be affraid to hunt lower in elevation even if everyone says you have to hunt at 11k

Thanks a lot for the response! Great advice! I won't over look the lower elevations!

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

Thanks a lot for the response! Great advice! I won't over look the lower elevations!

Yeah it’s a great point, I went from 11,500 to 9,000 and found elk.

 

[FlatlanderAZ]

I would consider potentially reversing your plans from A, B, C to C, B, A. Packing in a camp 7 miles and then hunting beyond that will be a huge time commitment. In my experience sometimes when I make that kind of an investment I sometimes become emotionally attached and have a hard time pulling the plug even when I know I should. If you over invest in that portion of your plan you may not have much time or energy to push through plan b or c. If you do it in reverse order, you will sort of build excitement and optimism for that big hike and it may help you keep a good frame of mind from start to finish and if you end up in that remote country you know you have nothing to lose by riding out the rest of your hunt by checking every crack and crevice of that place.

 

[D_Walt]

I’m not sure what your elk packing experience is, but 7 miles in is a 14 mile round trip back to the truck. A bull elk with head will be 3-4 loads out for most of us mortals, plus the gear you take in. That’s 42-56 miles of hiking with meat and the spoilage clock will be ticking if it’s warm. That would be tough to do solo (don’t think you mentioned a partner?). In my experience you’re a lot better off looking for closer places that are steep & nasty (usually up but down works too) rather than farther on a flat easy trail.

 

[AZbywayofWI]

I’m not sure what your elk packing experience is, but 7 miles in is a 14 mile round trip back to the truck. A bull elk with head will be 3-4 loads out for most of us mortals, plus the gear you take in. That’s 42-56 miles of hiking with meat and the spoilage clock will be ticking if it’s warm. That would be tough to do solo (don’t think you mentioned a partner?). In my experience you’re a lot better off looking for closer places that are steep & nasty (usually up but down works too) rather than farther on a flat easy trail.

Great advice from everyone! Just FYI, I will be hunting with my future Brother-in-law so there will be two of us. For Plan A (Plan A was the area recommended by the local Game and Fish Warden), the initial trail to the Y intersection where I would head south into the remote area is about 3.9 miles but it is pretty straight up, I think it goes from 9,200 feet to 11,600 feet. So about a 2,400 feet in elevation gain. I could turn north from here and I would be in elevations from 11,600 all the way down to 8,200 with some steep hillsides, open areas and according to ONX as well as the Colorado Hunting Atlas a Elk Migartion Corridor, but there are a lot of hiking trails and according to theAlltrails App; a lot of these trails are fairly popular. Although I would be a lot closer to the truck, I worry that all the trails and people will push the elk out of there. Plan B and C, I can get back pretty far on my UTV and then hike a couple miles from there but like I said before there are tons of trails there and seems to be a pretty popular area. Am I overthinking this to much? Not gonna lie I am starting to second guess my plans.

 

[azelkhntr]

Did you choose an area with good harvest stats?

 

[AZbywayofWI]

Did you choose an area with good harvest stats?

I researched the Harvest Statistics on CO Parks and Wildlife for the last 5 years and the harvest trend is rising, with 2018 being the lowest success rate season in that 5 years.

 

[azelkhntr]

I researched the Harvest Statistics on CO Parks and Wildlife for the last 5 years and the harvest trend is rising, with 2018 being the lowest success rate season in that 5 years.

Well no worries then right? The elk are in there but that's doesn't mean its going to be easy, but then again never pass up a good thing. As long as there's food, water and cover you'll have a chance but that mostly comes down to your abilities. I personally wouldn't hump 7 miles in. When you do that you generally run into the outfitters camps/drop camps and then you're back in the crowd. Most hunters in a wilderness area wont go more than a 1/2 mile off the road or trail. Best advise I can give you is just pick one drainage at a time and hunt that slow slow slow. Hit the meadows in the morning and evening and during the day creep into the dark shaded timber half way or so upslope. If you find a well used wallow sit on that for awhile. Its not so much the quantity of ground you cover as it is the quality of the ground. Best of luck!

 

[AZbywayofWI]

Well no worries then right? The elk are in there but that's doesn't mean its going to be easy, but then again never pass up a good thing. As long as there's food, water and cover you'll have a chance but that mostly comes down to your abilities. I personally wouldn't hump 7 miles in. When you do that you generally run into the outfitters camps/drop camps and then you're back in the crowd. Most hunters in a wilderness area wont go more than a 1/2 mile off the road or trail. Best advise I can give you is just pick one drainage at a time and hunt that slow slow slow. Hit the meadows in the morning and evening and during the day creep into the dark shaded timber half way or so upslope. If you find a well used wallow sit on that for awhile. Its not so much the quantity of ground you cover as it is the quality of the ground. Best of luck!

Man great advice, I really appreciate it. Thank you!

 

[eshunt]

Well no worries then right? The elk are in there but that's doesn't mean its going to be easy, but then again never pass up a good thing. As long as there's food, water and cover you'll have a chance but that mostly comes down to your abilities. I personally wouldn't hump 7 miles in. When you do that you generally run into the outfitters camps/drop camps and then you're back in the crowd. Most hunters in a wilderness area wont go more than a 1/2 mile off the road or trail. Best advise I can give you is just pick one drainage at a time and hunt that slow slow slow. Hit the meadows in the morning and evening and during the day creep into the dark shaded timber half way or so upslope. If you find a well used wallow sit on that for awhile. Its not so much the quantity of ground you cover as it is the quality of the ground. Best of luck!

Some good words of advice here. I would disagree a bit on some of it though. If there are no elk around, then it doesn't matter how well you cover the ground, you won't find any elk. When I first started elk hunting an old timer gave me some advice. He said to hunt where the elk are. I asked how do you know where the elk are? His reply was, the elk are where you find them. So even though you may have great habitat and plenty of old sign, if the elk aren't home then there's no amount of looking that will turn them up. They may show back up at some point though.

I do agree that hiking back in 7 miles in the expectation that you will get away from people isn't always realistic. I have killed a number of elk and the farthest I have packed any of them back to the truck is 3 miles. I have killed elk and butchered them within sight of a road with all the 4-wheelers and side by sides blasting by without even noticing me. I have also chased bulls into deep dark holes 3+ miles from camp and decided to back off because there is no way I would get them out, even with the help of several buddies. Don't be afraid to stop and look for sign in areas that get easily overlooked by the guys that are heading in several miles. If you see fresh elk sign, stop and investigate even if it isn't exactly where you planned on hunting.