Post your CO GMU 181 results!

[danadrums]

Well, being the stubborn sort, I'm heading up to unit 181 again for 1st rifle elk. Haven't been successful yet, but I've seen elk come out of there, so I know it's not a dry area. I've always heard that you need to hunt an area for 5 years to get to know it. Hope that's true. This will be year 3, and if nothing else I've eliminated some spots.

Post your experiences in this area from past years, and from this year after your hunt!
No, I'm not asking where your honey-spot is, just how it went, what season, were they up high or down lower, general hunt talk kind of stuff.

Thanks! I'll post how I do, elk or no elk.

--Dana

 

[elkocd]

I've always heard that you need to hunt an area for 5 years to get to know it.

That can be quite true, but I would never go back to an area that I did not shoot, or at least have a chance to shoot a bull the 1st year. There are just too many great hunting spots that you can find elk right out of the gate with research and some hard work, to spend years searching a spot that is not producing. Just my 2 cents.

 

[cedahm]

My nephew hunted 181 (and 17) through archery. I hunted with him a couple of times. We were on a couple of bulls in a particular basin before Muzzy but couldn't make it happen. After Muzzy they seem to have scooted off to parts unknown as they stopped using the meadows and wallows that had been very active.

We were in bow range of moose on 4 occasions. Be mindful of that.

I hunted the closing weekend with him and the snow kicked us out of camp the day before season closed (camp would have been fine, but the road in to camp is 4 miles of nasty even when dry).

From our past experience in that unit the elk will be starting to move - slowly - towards the private. I drove through the unit yesterday on my way to and from my own camp further NW and there's not as much snow as the other side of Rabbit Ears. I don't think they got very much in the storm last night either, but I would expect them to be utilizing southern and eastern exposures for feed. Once the pumpkin patch turns up, they'll be buried as deep in the timber as possible but unless there's another 12" snow, a lot of them should be on the forest ground still. Use those other guys to create a funnel and be on the spigot end.

Good luck! We were encouraged by the archery season.

 

[danadrums]

Thanks for that Cedahm. I was wondering how much they got with the last couple of snows. The rest of this week looks pretty mild. I wish I could get up on Thursday, but work gets in the way. I'll head up Friday early, set up camp, and scout as much as I can on the spots I've picked out.
I have 3 spots e-scouted, all of which meet the requirement of being at least a mile from nearest road access.
It's gonna be tough sitting here at work for 4 days. I can't wait to get up there!

--Dana

 

[danadrums]

That can be quite true, but I would never go back to an area that I did not shoot, or at least have a chance to shoot a bull the 1st year. There are just too many great hunting spots that you can find elk right out of the gate with research and some hard work, to spend years searching a spot that is not producing. Just my 2 cents.

Well, yeah... I could see that, if you're a good elk hunter. I'm not, at least not yet.
Also, in my defense, last year I was coming off of knee surgery in mid-August, so I wasn't exactly mountain-goating it up and down the mountainsides.
If I can get to where I find "the spot" in this area, I could comfortably go there year after year. It doesn't get a ton of pressure, at least in first rifle, and it's only about 3 hours from home, so there is a convenience factor as well.
Thanks for the input.

--Dana