2019 OTC ELK

[JakeUSMC]

My dads lifelong dream is to harvest an elk. I got my first elk this year on a donated tag thanks to Hunts for Heroes. My family lives in Wisconsin and I live in Arizona. I've been separated from them for the past 7 years, since joining the Marine Corps and then meeting an Arizona girl. Got me to thinking, now that I am out west and I don't get to see my family often I would start a little tradition that will start in 2019 and hopefully carry on for generations.

 

I grew up hunting whitetail and grouse in the northwoods of Wisconsin. It was a family tradition that has been around since the 1930's when my great grandpa bought land during the depression for dirt cheap and moved his family to northern Wisconsin from Chicago. Sadly it is slowly starting to come to an end. For the past 3 years only my younger brother and grandpa have been hunting, since the land doesn't produce big deer, my uncle and cousin hunt elsewhere, my dad isn't into it anymore, and my older brother is a yuppie.

 

After tasting sweet sweet success in 2017, harvesting a 312" Bull with my bow I am absolutely elk crazed. I practice calls daily in my truck to and from work, I shoot my bow daily, and I read forums and watch videos like mad. I study maps and hike etc.....planning for the future. So let me get to the point.

 

In 2019, I want to take my dad and my 2 brothers on an elk hunt. I am thinking OTC Colorado Archery, since I know the woods will be alive with bugles and rutting elk and I want this hunt to really reignite the love and passion my dad once had in hunting. I honestly believe he is no longer into deer camp anymore because his oldest son lost interest and cares more about his city life and I have been away with the Marine Corps. I want to take these guys on an amazing hunt they will never forget. My dad is already preparing so I know he is jacked. When I first told him of this idea he was over the moon with excitement. he's listening to podcasts, getting up at 4am to workout and really really getting into. Same with my younger brother. IDK what my older brother is doing...Anyways. I am looking for advice and ideas. Is an OTC CO archery elk hunt a good one? Should I do a wilderness/backpack hunt or have a base camp set up ? I am looking for any help planning. Ideas of where to go, what hunts to do, anything. I am game for any western state that offers OTC elk because I don't want them to have to deal with the draw odds etc...So any western state as long as it is OTC. Rifle hunting hasn't been ruled out either, but I figured chasing bulls in the rut would be more exhilarating. I know any hunt will beat anything they have ever done though...since whitetail hunting in WI consists of freezing your a** off in a tree stand for 10 hours a day waiting for a deer to walk by or a squirrel to scare you to death. Thanks in advance.

 

Semper Fi

[Delw]

Grand Mesa wilderness area, we had a blast up there lots lots deer and elk and the trout fishing is off the hook.

did 4 trips to colorado wilderness areas wish they would have all been at grand mesa. white river sucked, wenamuchie wilderness area sucked and there was one other forget the name.

reason they sucks is because most of these socalled wilderness areas allow quads on them in certain areas so you my hike all dang day to a spot only to wake up the next morning with atvs coming in from another direction. Look closes at the forrest service maps.

 

Grand mesa we parked right on the edge next to a lake dad hunted the non wilderness area buddy and I hunted the wilderness area. never saw one person or tracks or people either.

we were on the east edge of the wilderness area.

one thing always be prepaired carry a space blanket with you and some rope. we were maybe 6 hard miles from the camp and a freak snow storm came it(1st season elk rifle OTC) buddy of mine and I got caught in it. 6 inch of snow on the ground in a matter of a hour or so. in mid morning is was light jacket weather( we just went for a quick hike) I had a day pack with some summer saugage and a space blanket a pack of cigarettes and a lighter as well as water proof matches, buddy had a day pack with a knife and some food as well.

snow started and it got cold fast, then came down heavier and heavier. we went under a few trees and a made a make shift lean too then wrapped ourselfs in that one space blanket sitting in front of a small fire. stupid me wore tennis shoes and so did my buddy.

after about 3 hours we were freezing and couldnt see as it was almost blizzard conditions. we knew where we walked plus 2 sides were roads on the edge of the wilderness so we put the sun behind us and walked out. we got back just before dark dad was worried but had a huge fire going. Buddy and I both thought we would freeze to death at least it crossed our minds.

we were also soak and wet as I fell in a stupid beaver pond that was covered by snow.

Defiantly was a great time and my dad who ever since I was a kid always made me carry that stupid wallet sized space blanket goes see I told you it would save your butt when I told him that its a good thing we had that space blanket.

[yotebuster]

Grand Mesa wilderness area, we had a blast up there lots lots deer and elk and the trout fishing is off the hook.

did 4 trips to colorado wilderness areas wish they would have all been at grand mesa. white river sucked, wenamuchie wilderness area sucked and there was one other forget the name.

reason they sucks is because most of these socalled wilderness areas allow quads on them in certain areas so you my hike all dang day to a spot only to wake up the next morning with atvs coming in from another direction. Look closes at the forrest service maps.

 

Grand mesa we parked right on the edge next to a lake dad hunted the non wilderness area buddy and I hunted the wilderness area. never saw one person or tracks or people either.

we were on the east edge of the wilderness area.

one thing always be prepaired carry a space blanket with you and some rope. we were maybe 6 hard miles from the camp and a freak snow storm came it(1st season elk rifle OTC) buddy of mine and I got caught in it. 6 inch of snow on the ground in a matter of a hour or so. in mid morning is was light jacket weather( we just went for a quick hike) I had a day pack with some summer saugage and a space blanket a pack of cigarettes and a lighter as well as water proof matches, buddy had a day pack with a knife and some food as well.

snow started and it got cold fast, then came down heavier and heavier. we went under a few trees and a made a make shift lean too then wrapped ourselfs in that one space blanket sitting in front of a small fire. stupid me wore tennis shoes and so did my buddy.

after about 3 hours we were freezing and couldnt see as it was almost blizzard conditions. we knew where we walked plus 2 sides were roads on the edge of the wilderness so we put the sun behind us and walked out. we got back just before dark dad was worried but had a huge fire going. Buddy and I both thought we would freeze to death at least it crossed our minds.

we were also soak and wet as I fell in a stupid beaver pond that was covered by snow.

Defiantly was a great time and my dad who ever since I was a kid always made me carry that stupid wallet sized space blanket goes see I told you it would save your butt when I told him that its a good thing we had that space blanket.

How was the hunting? You kill any elk?

[Delw]

 

Grand Mesa wilderness area, we had a blast up there lots lots deer and elk and the trout fishing is off the hook.

did 4 trips to colorado wilderness areas wish they would have all been at grand mesa. white river sucked, wenamuchie wilderness area sucked and there was one other forget the name.

reason they sucks is because most of these socalled wilderness areas allow quads on them in certain areas so you my hike all dang day to a spot only to wake up the next morning with atvs coming in from another direction. Look closes at the forrest service maps.

 

Grand mesa we parked right on the edge next to a lake dad hunted the non wilderness area buddy and I hunted the wilderness area. never saw one person or tracks or people either.

we were on the east edge of the wilderness area.

one thing always be prepaired carry a space blanket with you and some rope. we were maybe 6 hard miles from the camp and a freak snow storm came it(1st season elk rifle OTC) buddy of mine and I got caught in it. 6 inch of snow on the ground in a matter of a hour or so. in mid morning is was light jacket weather( we just went for a quick hike) I had a day pack with some summer saugage and a space blanket a pack of cigarettes and a lighter as well as water proof matches, buddy had a day pack with a knife and some food as well.

snow started and it got cold fast, then came down heavier and heavier. we went under a few trees and a made a make shift lean too then wrapped ourselfs in that one space blanket sitting in front of a small fire. stupid me wore tennis shoes and so did my buddy.

after about 3 hours we were freezing and couldnt see as it was almost blizzard conditions. we knew where we walked plus 2 sides were roads on the edge of the wilderness so we put the sun behind us and walked out. we got back just before dark dad was worried but had a huge fire going. Buddy and I both thought we would freeze to death at least it crossed our minds.

we were also soak and wet as I fell in a stupid beaver pond that was covered by snow.

Defiantly was a great time and my dad who ever since I was a kid always made me carry that stupid wallet sized space blanket goes see I told you it would save your butt when I told him that its a good thing we had that space blanket.

How was the hunting? You kill any elk?

 

nope not one. Dad saw a decent one running across a flat right through a camp they fired twice missed.(grand mesa) we saw a ton of sign but weather killed us in the wilderness area.

and tons of over 4point deer

 

in whenimuchi wilderness a friend dropped us off on horse maybe15- 20 miles. buddy found one elk dead in a mudbog which was decent. we hiked pretty far after that to the base of the mountain range (that has snow all year long) with the spotting scopes we found tons of elk all sitting on the snow on the side of the mountain. another 5-10 miles away (3 miles as crowflies) probably cause it was 90 f'n degrees up there also. was extreamly hot very high up.

that area probably would have been better but a few people were scouting for elk the week before and there plane went down starting a huge fire. Forrest service cut roads through getting to plane. opening morning we saw tons of people seems FS or G&F decided to open the locked gate and atvs and people were everywhere.

wish we would have known cause we could have drove to that spot walked 1 mile and been at camp. we were rdy to come home after day 3 but needed horses and had no cell service. buddy came with horses 2 days early to hunt as well we just packed up and headed to his place. and shot some whitetails on his farm.

 

in white river we saw a few. small ones no deer

 

the other place which I cant remember(was straight north of grand mesa about 2 hours) the name open morning saw one cow. I saw 3 big bucks worth shooting so went off after them couldnt connect. then meeting up with dad and friend we figured we would head up this trail. atv after atv driving up trail.

 

This was all back in the mid and late 90's

 

 

if I do it again with my daughter will be to grand mesa.

we hunted early season and middle season

[JakeUSMC]

Thanks for your input sir. I will look into grand Mesa.

[JakeUSMC]

I was looking at the San Juan National Forest. I am thinking now because of my dads age and my brothers inexperience with elk hunting and my relative newly gained experience elk hunting we will set up a base camp as far in as we can go, so we can come back to a fire and hot meal every night and sleep on cots LOL. I have a large Kodiak Kanvas cabin tent.

[wannakillabigbull]

I hunted the San Juan National Forest two seasons ago for archery elk during opening weekend. I'll tell you that most of the San Juan is very difficult to get away from roads, and that it's incredibly crowded compared to Arizona. And that's coming from a guy that grew up hunting OTC elk every year near Grand Junction which is one of the most popular areas in the state.

 

I was curious so here's some comparative stats. 71 and 74 are two of the better units in the SJNF and 7W was where you got your bull this past year.

 

7W 71 74

Hunters 175 1049 853

Sq Miles Public 416 441 519

Hunters/Sq.Mi. 0.42 2.38 1.64

Success Rt. Bulls 33% 5.8% 9.3%

 

The harvest and total hunter stats are never perfect but they give you an idea of what to expect. So for every hunter you ran into in 7W expect to see between 5 and 6 times that many in Colorado. And it's perhaps 3 to 6 times easier to kill a bull in 7W than in those Colorado units.

 

All that being said I had a fun time and you can too. Opening day I had two separate chip shots at cows that I passed on, and ended up sneaking up on a 5x5 bull feeding in the evening but couldn't get closer than 100 yards before the wind switched. Second day was a wash, literally, it never stopped raining. Third day I hiked to the highest peak in the area in the dark to get away from all the people and got into a small herd of cows above treeline, then another on the way back to the truck. Issue was all the rain had frozen and I was basically trying to sneak in on elk while walking on an ice field. Tough conditions for staying quiet. My hunting buddy is a wuss though and refused to go back with me any of the other weekends because it was too wet and he refused to invest in rain gear or waterproof boots. I hunted the rest of the season elsewhere.

 

I would not assume that the woods will be alive with bugles, though. Those elk are heavily hunted and heavily hunted by lots of first timers and guys with not a lot of experience. As such a lot of the elk are extremely call shy. You're likely to hear more bugles from hunters than elk. Hopefully you can find that pocket where the elk are having a rut fest. Regardless, with a positive attitude and good company you'll have a great time! Let me know if you have any questions about the SJNF or any other general questions.

[yotebuster]

We killed a few bulls out of the San Juan forest years ago. Tough hunting but it is hunting atleast. You will see hunters, everyday and lots of them. If I were you and you were going to camp at a trailhead I would concentrate more on the front country then the back country. You either need to get way way back (horses or backpacking and staying) or work the fringe of the private down low. Anywhere in between will be loaded with hunters. People want to stay in their comfort zones, and that means they may not be willing to offer the physical work needed to get way back, or the mental work needed to work the edge of private. Its far easier to just hunt in between but there wont be many (any) elk.

[brademan76]

This was all back in the mid and late 90's

 

 

 

Figured this had to be the scenario from the beginning of your story. CO OTC seasons are nuts with people nowadays. Tough to get away from the crowds. Kinda like the circus that 6a/6b can be.

 

I've hunted Routt and San Juan, would do San Juan again if I were to choose between the two. I have heard good things about Grand Mesa and Gunnison.

 

Good luck and surely with a solid plan you guys are going to have an enjoyable time regardless of success!

[JakeUSMC]

Thank you for all the info gents! I am open to other western states as well for this hunt, as long as they offer an OTC hunt. I also haven't ruled out a rifle hunt, especially since my dad isn't even a bow hunter but was planning on getting setup this year for it. I am open to any seasons and any western state. I was also thinking about the Utah general season tag, I think it carries over into archery if you don't get one.

[JakeUSMC]

I have told my dad and older brother to decide whether they want to invest in archery equipment or not and if not then we can look at the 2nd and 3rd otc rifle seasons in Colorado. A mule deer hunt OTC rifle would also be a viable option (wrong thread I know!)

[JakeUSMC]

Drop camp?

[Flatlander]

Idaho has lots of OTC options for deer and elk. If you arent afraid of grizzlies then the Island Park zone has decent elk numbers.

 

There are a number of other areas with plenty of elk, just dont expect an AZ like rut. Its just not the same, but it wont be in any otc hunt.

 

Nice thing about ID is that archery deer and elk overlap.

[Delw]

 

This was all back in the mid and late 90's

 

 

 

Figured this had to be the scenario from the beginning of your story. CO OTC seasons are nuts with people nowadays. Tough to get away from the crowds. Kinda like the circus that 6a/6b can be.

 

I've hunted Routt and San Juan, would do San Juan again if I were to choose between the two. I have heard good things about Grand Mesa and Gunnison.

 

Good luck and surely with a solid plan you guys are going to have an enjoyable time regardless of success!

 

Always wanted to hunt gunnison heard that was a very rough hunt but very rewarding ith tons of elk.

 

the durango/cortez area back in the 90's looked like a California traffic jam. we drove that area seeing if we wanted to hunt it back then, thats why we headed up to the white river wilderness.

I Would equate durango / cortez with opening day of dover hunting here close to the valley but for 3 entire seasons. lol

buddies have gotten nice bulls and bucks out of that area every year, they told us you just have to deal with it. for a bunch of old guys they were pretty patient

[Delw]

I have told my dad and older brother to decide whether they want to invest in archery equipment or not and if not then we can look at the 2nd and 3rd otc rifle seasons in Colorado. A mule deer hunt OTC rifle would also be a viable option (wrong thread I know!)

do they still offer combination tags for muelys and elk? all 4 times we went they did. deer had to be 4 point or better and elk if I recall had to be branched