Anyone hunt the 5A late bull?

[ready2hunt]

Hey everyone. Nephew-in-law reached out to me asking to help him. It will be his first hunt ever.

I applaud him for being a man and putting in on his own without asking for help but a lack of scouting and experience has brought him to me unfortunately.

I have hunted 5A archery bull many times and pulled one out in 2023 but I have NEVER hunted the late rifle. 

My question for anyone who has hunted it in November- if it stays warm do you think the elk will be in the same general areas?? Other than fishing at Blue ridge reservoir I don't spend any time in 5A after Sept. 

Thanks for any guidance.

[Flatlander]

Junipers and canyons.

[ready2hunt]

Thanks for the tip. That's the plan so far. Get high and glass deep. 

[Markleo21377]

39 minutes ago, ready2hunt said:

Thanks for the tip. That's the plan so far. Get high and glass deep. 

They absolutely will be dispersed throughout the unit right now. From rim to north flats. I have a cabin in 5a and I scout a lot. Bulls are everywhere they have good cover, feed, and water. Density in junipers is low unless rim gets 2’ snow

[PRDATR]

We drove a lot of the roads SE of Clints Well chasing squirrels and scouting for our spring turkey hunt a few weeks ago but only saw a group consisting of three Cows and a Spike. We didn't notice them until we got out of the truck and grabbed out gear to go walking about. 

The Spike trotted off pretty quick but the Cows just hung out before wandering off over a little ridge. We did a lot of moving around from about 8am until 11 and saw fresh sign in quite a few places but very few other hunters and zero turkey sign but we didn't walk any tanks to look for tracks just in case there was a hunter sitting close by. Best of luck, I know there in there. I think the hardest part is getting away from the roads as they seem to be everywhere. The was also a lot of tree cutting going on too.

[Viper]

I have the same hunt and wondering the same thing. I think their location will depend on weather. Does it take significant snow along the rim to push them north?

[ready2hunt]

6 hours ago, Markleo21377 said:

They absolutely will be dispersed throughout the unit right now. From rim to north flats. I have a cabin in 5a and I scout a lot. Bulls are everywhere they have good cover, feed, and water. Density in junipers is low unless rim gets 2’ snow

That is what I was thinking. I appreciate that info. I figured there is probably a few groups of elk down lower with a good % of the hunters chasing those same groups on side by sides. That's neat you got a cabin up there. Beautiful area.  

[ready2hunt]

8 hours ago, PRDATR said:

We drove a lot of the roads SE of Clints Well chasing squirrels and scouting for our spring turkey hunt a few weeks ago but only saw a group consisting of three Cows and a Spike. We didn't notice them until we got out of the truck and grabbed out gear to go walking about. 

The Spike trotted off pretty quick but the Cows just hung out before wandering off over a little ridge. We did a lot of moving around from about 8am until 11 and saw fresh sign in quite a few places but very few other hunters and zero turkey sign but we didn't walk any tanks to look for tracks just in case there was a hunter sitting close by. Best of luck, I know there in there. I think the hardest part is getting away from the roads as they seem to be everywhere. The was also a lot of tree cutting going on too.

Thank you for sharing! That has been my experience as well, get out and walk and see what you bump. Good luck on your turkey hunt, hopefully you get lucky. Also, kudos for showing respect to those possibly hunting a tank. 

[Markleo21377]

6 hours ago, Viper said:

I have the same hunt and wondering the same thing. I think their location will depend on weather. Does it take significant snow along the rim to push them north?

It does take a fair amount of snow in my experience is to get them moving. The amount of good canyons throughout give them lots of great secluded areas to recover from the rut. Good luck! It is a great hunt!