West elk wilderness

Cferdet3113

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Good afternoon! A buddy and I are planning on our first archery backpacking trip. One night at the truck, 3 on the mountain. Doing that 3 times. Our plan is in unit 53. Looks like low pressure, good elk numbers and no roads. Anyone have any advice or tips they would like to share! We can not wait tell sept! Thank you everybody!
 
This isn’t 53 but, it is the west elk wilderness. As you can see it can probably be a real ass kicker. I can’t imagine it would be low pressure. Good luck, welcome to the forum.
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53 and 54 are in the top most asked about CO units aside from 28/18/371.

There is an outfitter on the west side of 53, another one on the east. It’s had a 200% increase in archery hunters since 2010, and most of the unit is within reasonable walking distance of a road.

Don’t forget their will be lots of guys in their with rifles chasing bears and then archery deer hunters.

Pretty typically OTC Colorado unit, if you can put the pieces together you will get a crack at a 5pt.

Don’t kid yourself though it’s not going to be a magical wilderness experience, bugle shot that unicorn in 06’.
 
It's beautiful country, enjoy your time. OTC is tough, just go into with realistic expectations and you’ll be fine. I would not consider 53 or 54 low pressure. Curious what lead you to Believe that?
 
It's beautiful country, enjoy your time. OTC is tough, just go into with realistic expectations and you’ll be fine. I would not consider 53 or 54 low pressure. Curious what lead you to Believe that?
low pressure was the wrong words to use. Just seemed like a little more tough access being it has so much wilderness area. I’ve also seen a lot of people use a lot of horseback and mule in those areas. So I was just kind of thinking maybe a backpacker might come across less pressure or a little less pressure in that unit versus some of the others ?
 
low pressure was the wrong words to use. Just seemed like a little more tough access being it has so much wilderness area. I’ve also seen a lot of people use a lot of horseback and mule in those areas. So I was just kind of thinking maybe a backpacker might come across less pressure or a little less pressure in that unit versus some of the others ?

Wilderness in and of itself does not denote tough access... but your thinking the right way.
 
So I have a question, is it possible in that unit without a wilderness area to get far enough away from wheelers?

Absolutely. In any elk unit look at cover and topography as much as roads.

Hiking in 1-2 hours typically gets you to possible elk sanctuary. 2 hours could be 1 mile if it means losing 500 then gaining 600ft through oak brush/willows/fallen timber.

A lot of guys think getting in deep is blasting 8 miles down a trail on to find a pack of other hunters their.
 
So I have a question, is it possible in that unit without a wilderness area to get far enough away from wheelers?

I have a 54 first rifle tag. I have a couple spots picked out that are in the wilderness. But if you hang around this forum, or others you will see that EVERYONE thinks that going “deep” into the wilderness is the answer. I won’t fault someone for thinking/doing that. If that’s the experience you want to have, that’s awesome. I would imagine that wilderness areas in states that don’t have a non resident restriction probably get more pressure. I don’t have evidence to support this, it’s just an assumption based off forum traffic. I don’t like seeing people, I like 4-wheelers even less. Topography and boot leather will get you what you want. I walked my ass off a couple weeks ago and found some roads and trails that were so over grown you’d have to be an idiot to ride a 4 wheeler on it. But I found evidence of success on the “road”. My plan is to mostly hunt the fringes of the wilderness area and go dive in when the time and or situation dictates. Good luck.
Zach20DC06C1-171B-4FE9-8B5D-DA2B7DBE5719.jpeg
 
So I am just going to throw this out there because we are close to the same boat as you. Thought the West Elks Wilderness looked perfect... even got a recommendation from someone who had scouted it back in the early 2000s. Go google "hunting elk in west elks wilderness" and you will be very disappointed in what you see on other website forums. It is no secret what trail heads are used by backpackers, and the hunters who come in on horse will push farther back leaving very little vacant area besides complete hell holes out of the way that my inexperienced group might not be able to find/handle yet. Every forum says: "you can get on elk in west elks wilderness if you....." For our first time, we will not be taking the risk of having to avoid a different group over every knob and climb. It is supposed to be fun, not frustrating. I honestly hope that you guys have some good luck and that isn't the case. But do a lot more research before you commit is my advice. We still haven't found our place but we won't be taking the risk of that area.
 
low pressure was the wrong words to use. Just seemed like a little more tough access being it has so much wilderness area. I’ve also seen a lot of people use a lot of horseback and mule in those areas. So I was just kind of thinking maybe a backpacker might come across less pressure or a little less pressure in that unit versus some of the others ?
Going way back in the rough and nasty spots with your bros is the cool thing to do right now. I don't mean to discourage you, but, like I said, just go into it with realistic expectations and you'll be fine. I don't think the West elks are any worse or any better than any other otc unit in the state. Just pick a spot and go. Personally, I don't commit to spending half a day packing in somewhere unless I know there's elk in there. I think staying mobile is a better strategy, until elk are located, and the situation warrants packing in.
 
If you guys had to drive all the way across the state to hunt the west elk, or would you rather stop and hunt a different area before you hit the West elk?
 
If you guys had to drive all the way across the state to hunt the west elk, or would you rather stop and hunt a different area before you hit the West elk?

Tough to say when you say "before" generally I would tell a NR pick a spot 3-4 hours away from Denver and at least 45 min to an hour off of I-70.

But honestly you aren't going to be alone in any OTC unit...
 
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