Colorado archery elk trip 2020

[rooster]

In the final stages of planning my trip to colorado for elk. Didn’t draw any of the tags I put in for so I’m gonna go join the flat bull army for otc. Looking at routt national forest and the area east of flat tops wilderness as my main areas of focus.

Going it alone because I decided life’s too short to wait for someone else to want to do the things I want to.

anyone been out to either of these areas before hunting or otherwise and have any wisdom to share? Anything would be appreciated only time I went to Colorado was for a long weekend in Denver.

 

[den57]

LOT's of information to be had here: https://forums.bowsite.com/biggame/section.cfm?gameid=5

 

[roscott]

Make sure you bring your physical hunters Ed card with you. Forget it and you risk not being allowed to hunt.

Put in plenty of physical training now. The pack out is the toughest part, and ankles unaccustomed to descending uneven terrain under weight is an easy way to get injured.

Most of the bugling you hear is other hunters. The elk figure this out quick too. Check out some YouTube videos on cow calls and other calls to differentiate yourself from the other hunters. Look into diaphragm calls. Once you get used to them, you can call hands-free, and be ready to draw.

Don’t move too fast. It’s easy to want to pound out miles looking for fresh sign, but I’ve bumped elk in areas with very little sign because I wasn’t ready.

Pay close attention to where you are, and utilize a compass or gps to know your general headings and a back azimuth. It’s way bigger than midwestern hunting areas, and struggling to find camp when it’s getting dark and cold is not fun.

Let us know how it goes! Are you planning to backpack camp? How far do you plan to venture from the truck? What altitude will you hunt at? Why a bull tag instead of a cow tag?

It’s a blast. You’re gonna love it.

 

[yetti462]

I've been to route national forest. In archery they should be in the black timber.

 

[rooster]

Archery elk trip has turned into a muzzleloader trip to unit 15/27 thanks to a leftover tag I picked up today. Sarvis creek wilderness. Should be interesting. Plan on backpack hunting it and carrying camp on my back.

 

[Gingerbeardman]

I used to live out that way, wonderful country. Be advised, the high elevation can be taxing. Get breakfast at the moose creek cafe in Walden, and if you go to the Stockman Bar ask about the bullet hole in the bar. In Steamboat there's a downstairs sandwich joint that's good. If you go through Laramie, the bar in Woods Landing was started by people from Indiana. I don't know much about hunting, but the drive from Walden to Grand Lake is phenomenal, as is going from Walden to Fort Collins over Cameron Pass. Get a Gazeteer if you're going to be on back roads, there are a LOT of national forest roads and you can camp on BLM land for quite awhile before you have to move camp. Oh, and there's a free gun range a couple miles east of Walden if you need to check zero. Just head east past the town hall about 3 miles, it's on the left. 600 yards and never crowded.

If you go through Parschall at dinner time get whatever's on special at Parschall Inn, also good food at the Glory Hole cafe in Hot Sulphur Springs. If you come through Kremmling and have time, head south out of town, cross the river and turn right onto the Trough Road. It's heads west but it's one of the greatest roads in the state. If there's snow go carefully.