Anyone familiar with the area?I’ve hunted units 12 23 24 north of white river and unit 22. Am I missing something or did they change this since the article was written?This is the hardest part of elk hunting in my opinion… We hunt, find and learn their rules if we want to play their game.I called CWD before and was told that OTC tags were good for only one unit. That also usually means lots of hunters, but it also means lots of elk and elk habitat is some balance of reasonable access without too much access.In most cases, if you are willing to get off the roads, you will find good places to hunt without too much competition.Instead of looking for the best access, I personally prefer to hunt certain elevation bands and habitats depending upon the time of season. Don’t know where you are from, but if you aren’t living at over 5,000 feet, hunting at elevations above 9,000 feet may be tough. Are the fire roads in good shape or should I try to travel with just the truck? I’ll bet you have plenty of stories to tell.
I am more familiar with the Utah side of that area, but yes, there will be snow up high by mid November (going to snow above 7,000 feet here tonight (Sept 21). MjBL1XT'��p;�U��sH/S),��(��Z`�.A�u�3�()��6JJ#���ԉ��O)�K��:�h�Ek1Ŭ3��K��MZ�������&�\�wճ%��MԳ�����%k�����s,Y#��M�H�٤t~x(�!�z�z��%��v��hS)�J9 ]Q�7�Am� �Q9�*a���W����ls���t:E$�` �)�
75% success is dang good. Somebody killed elk there.
For hunter success, neither unit made the top 20, but two of those unites were above the state wide average (GMU 74; 24th place at 12.8% success & unit 77, 27th place at 12.3%).
I’ve been Archery,Rifle and muzzle seasons. I wrote the Good luck on your hunt and let me know how it goes.Hey! Get off the roads and trails with traffic and find areas that have water and thick cover.Good Luck on your hunt and let me know how it goes.As southern college students looking to hunt elk for the first time, your articles have been extremely helpful in determining if that was even a possibility, so thank you. Looking for any thoughts and recommendations you may have. Personal knowledge of a unit is the most important thing. I also prefer to hunt areas with long ridges or rolling hills over areas that are straight up and down, but where is that information available?You have to find those areas, either on topos, Google Earth or on the ground. Any insight/guidance would be greatly appreciated. Some units had higher success, but only had fewer than 18 bull elk harvested. H��c`bd���������@� � I also do less scouting so there is less chance of disturbing animals in my honey holes before the hunt starts. Every unit should have sanctuary areas and they are not always 10 miles off the road, just places where people don’t go. If you are an out of state hunter, unless you have done lots of scouting before, I suggest you start researching units where at least 50 elk were harvested and also had better … I know of several units in different states that had one elk harvested, so somebody was 100% successful.High elk harvest and high numbers of hunters goes together (they are very highly correlated). Colorado has the largest elk herd in the country.
Ideas?? All three units are about 50% public land and range between 205,000 – 388,000 acres; GMU 42 is largest and GMU 16 is smallest. But it is a little more difficult to separate results from OTC tags from other hunts that occur at the same times and places.Limited Entry (LE) elk hunts for both antlered and antlerless elk do occur during the 2nd and 3rd rifle seasons. Then you are primed for learning.Hello I’m 64 yrs. So it’s time for the grand and great kids to take over. Thanks in advance.Hi Caegan. I called again and was told they were good for all listed units (They are good for all listed units).My husband, son and son-in-law are planning to bow hunt in Colorado this year. Anything helps!Hi Caegan. You can research population estimates in the Herd Management Plans (DAU Reports – AKA Data Analysis Units) or you can see how many elk were harvested in the past and see the hunter success and the amount of hunting pressure. The total harvest in the plains units is relatively low and most elk are harvested by local hunters that know the country and know when elk can be found there.If you are considering a hunt in the plains units, make sure you know where the public land is and that elk should be using those areas at the time you want to hunt. If you get headaches above 8,000 feet, drink more water. That depends on many factors; like rain, snowfall, dry weather and human activity. Thread starter DETjake; Start date Jan 22, 2020; Jan 22, 2020 #1 DETjake New member .
Unfortunately the past 7 years they haven’t brought any elk home. Why not pick the last place unit?
I am fit and able to travel a ways but I did not want to commit to a unit if its hardly accessible. And in the “checkerboard” areas, there is lots of public land, but it is illegal to cross from corner to corner, so there is no access.I’m leery about sites claiming to show you the “best unit”. I finally found a big herd with at least 80 elk and guessed correctly where they would come out of the trees before dark.If you commit a lot of time and energy into a deep camp, you could get bogged down in snow and you have given up the option to move around or change from high elevation to low and back.Anyway, good luck. I leave it to you to decide if the combination of numbers of elk harvested, numbers of hunters, percentage of successful hunters etc. I’ll bet you have plenty of stories to tell.
Overall success is low, but lots of elk are harvested, so lots of hunters are 100% successful.If I applied these same “rules” to my own local hunting area, I would not hunt here.