Colorado Do it yourself Elk Hunt

[Lil' Tanker]

Just looking for any info. anyone may have on Elk hunting around Colordo Springs. My brother in law is getting restationed at fort Carson and we want to go on an Elk hunt this Sept. for around 1000 bucks.

Any insite would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Briar Field]

I did my first elk hunt with a buddy a couple years ago in colorado. We took out back packs, food, and camping supplies and headed in about 3 miles. Most of the people we saw only hunt about the first 1 to 2 miles from the road. There was one outfitter about the 2 mile mark, who was probably making $3000 a person hunting the same area we were for free.

We set up camp and hunted withing 300 yard from where we set up. I took a nice 6X3(broken antler) and my buddy took a nice 4X4 both opening day.

Cost was about

$200 for backpack
$100 for food
$100 misc equipment
$500 for License
$??? For gas
Other equipment like a tent and stuff I already had.

Camping was free and remote, but elk could be heard everywhere. When I get the chance I would do another back packing hunting trip.

Almost forgot, we talked to a couple people at the camp by the trail head and they let us borrow there horses to haul the meat out. All that cost us was lunch for them. You may need to pay $50 or $100 depending who is there and if they are willing to loan you a horse. You can always pack it out yourself which we were prepared for.

[judohunter]

If you are going to archery elk hunt, the tags you can get over the counter but if you want to try for a rifle or muzzleloader tag you have to apply. Most areas you are going to need preference points and you have to apply by April 3rd.

Colorado has one of the best state wildlife division websites.

http://wildlife.state.co.us/

I've been to CO a few times. We archery elk hunted in Eagles Nest and we saw elk in Zirkel last year when we were mule deer hunting.

You could look at Holy Cross wilderness or the Maroon Bells.

We did all our hunts ourselves. Packed in on foot and stayed a week each time.

[zeronine]

Do your homework on locations - dont be stuck on "it has to be less than a 3 hr drive" and things like that. Go where you can get tags and where the hunting is known to be good - settling for less will end up being just that...less.

I hunted Federal land on Quaker mountian in Routt county and my entire party tagged out - we did this all DIY and no guides/private land etc. The one thing we did do was secure horse rental since no motorized vehicles are allowed in the wilderness area. In that area there are alot of good mountains with large chunks of all fed/state land and they are very huntable. If you look at Quaker mountain, check out camping in the California Park area - the town of Hayden was our closest store/fuel etc while in camp, though we only came down off the mountian one time to get things there.

Your DIY Elk hunt on the cheap can be done, you just have to invest time instead of cash.

Check out my photo album if you want to see whats walkign around up in the Routt area.

[bullcan]

Briar Field, did hunt rifle or archery and did you purchase your tags over the counter or did you draw a limited entry area? I have some points saved up in CO but always wondered if it was neccessary to build points.

Also, how was the vehicle access? One of my biggest concerns is getting stuck way back in the middle of nowhere.

[willy05]

Been looking at Colorado for a couple months now, seems to me from their DOW website that just about the whole western half of the state except for a couple units are over the counter sales of tags for the second and third rifle hunts. You need to apply for muzzle loading, first season and the late season. Need to talk with people who have been there hunting, because the Colorado website makes it sound like each unit is loaded with elk. If I get any good info on DIY elk hunting I will post it. I have never been elk hunting and this year or next it will happen.

[Chuck]

Do alot of research on the area you want to hunt in. Look at Arieal Images and topo maps to get a good feel for it.

You can try this web site for specific questions. http://forums.bowsite.com/TF/REGIONAL/threads.cfm

Also if you click the home page and go to the ELk hunting page there is more info in there on hunting elk than you can ever read.

Before I went I spent about a year researching (realy 2-3 in general but 1 year researching Oregon), and that was researching the hunt, topos of different areas, talking to different outfitters and as many people as I could find that had hunted the area I was interested in. I think all the time I spent preplanning realy helped when we got out there. Me and my partner scored on 2 bulls each, both years we went with a bow on a DYI. After hunting state land for deer in MI hunting every where else is easy! lol Im kidding of course.

The best advice I got was to get into the best shape you can get into and while your out there drink ALOT of water.

There are alot of questions to ask your self before you go. If you get a elk how are you going to get it off the mountain? IF you take back to camp how are you going to keep the meet cold? Is there going to be lots of water in the area your hunting? Water can be haevy to carry a long wase.

It seems like if you have alot of the gear you may need you could do it for 1000 or less.

Alos the first time you hear a bull bugle in the valley you will be a ELKaholic! :) And whe you have a bull come into your cow calls and urinate all over his bealy and bugle at 30 yards away with drool running out of his mouth you will pry wet your self! lol (thats what the second bull I shot did and ai ended up shooting him at 10 yards with a bow) There is nothing like it so if you get a chance go.

[EYESON]

We went to Colorado last year for the first time, but we did a "drop camp". We hunted second rifle season up in the Flat Tops Wilderness Area. It is a great experience, but like stated above you have to do alot of work. I called the DOW and got the names of the bilogists in our area. They also offer all the topo maps on the DOW website so buy those. We purchased one with a migration overlay on it which was nice. If you are going archery the weather will probably be good, but rifle season can be a different story. We were there and had three feet of snow in the mountains, which made for a hard hunt. Walking was tough. The one thing I will tell you to do for sure is if you think you are in shape........your not, get in better shape. My wife had me walking six miles a day around the county park and I was still wore out climbing those mountains. As for the DIY hunt, check with some of the outfitters in the area. The outfitter we used offered a plan that they would pack you and all your gear in and then pack you and any animals out for you. The nice thing if you go this route is you can figure you are at least going to be put in a decent area.
Goos Luck

[Luv2hunteup]

I also used to do the Flat Tops hunt. We either went in via the Marvines or Trappers Lake Lodge. We alway got into elk but using a stick and string made it a hard hunt. I passed on legal bulls everytime our there but this is a young man sport and I don't qualify anymore. :sad:

If you are seriously thinking about going; get outside and get into shape now. This easiest way I found to force myself to hike a specified distance was to have my wife drop me off so I had to hike it home. If you're not hiking at least 10 miles in a day prior to your trip you may find yourself disappointed in your preseason conditioning.

[Chuck]

Here are some more links I had that might help you get started

http://www.gmuresearch.com/elkarchotc.php?pageNum_rs_otc402=1&totalRows_rs_otc402=112

http://wildlife.state.co.us/Hunting/SeasonDatesAndFees/BigGameDatesAndFees.htm


If your brother is already out there have him make as many connections as possible with any and all other hunters he can. You might meet someone who will help you out for the first time.

Getting in shape cant be stressed enough. The elevation is what can get you so the first day take it easy to get acclimated. Also traveling 5-10 miles in mountians at elevations of 9-12000 feet is alot of work. You can look down into a valley and see elk and it it can take you all day to get there to try and hunt them. You will also want to do a few hikes here with all your gear you will be carring to get any small things worked out.

To get ready for the hunt I rode my mountain bike 4 days a week averageing around 25-30 miles. I also hiked 3-5 miles in the sand dunes near the lake with a 40 pound pack. The last month I mostly just hiked up and down the largest sand dune I could find with a 40 pound pack on. I would also do sprints to help build lung capacity. I hate running but if you can, do that too.

Drinking lots of water at least 1 1/2 galons a day while out there will also keep you in good shape. Dehydration will ruin your time out there and fast. I mixed alot of the water with EmergenC to flavor and get some vitamens. The cold mountain water out of a stream tatses pritty good though. You want to make sure you filter it or treat it. I used a product called Aqua Mira and it works great. It dosent leave any bad taste to the water like Iodine and it is way better for you too. The Iodine tabs are realy bad for you. I also went with the Aqua Mira to cut down weight (a filter can add bulk and weight to your pack). You can carry two small bottles that will treat up to 30 gallons of water. It weighs a few ounces. You will want to do waht ever you can to cut down weight.

You also want to think about if you get lost so have a small container with 3 or 4 cotton balls covered in vasiline. This will start just about anything on fire in an emergency and it weighs a few ounces.

With water and food I carried around 25 pounds in my day pack. That included 3 different knifes (one I carried on my belt, a filet knife in my pack and a good knife for cutting up a elk)and a sharpener. GAme bags, a 12 ounce tarp and parachute cord. A few extra clothes. Most of the weight was water and food.

We usually left base camp at 3am to beat the elk up the mountain and didnt come back to base camp until 10pm. Sometimes we would Bivy hunt too from base camp. Then your carring a little more weight but it lets you hunt alot more flexible and hunt more ground. Then we would be gone from base camp for 2-3 days.

I would loose between 10-15 pounds on each trip and I ate like a teenager.

Bagels make good sandwiches becouse they dont smash up in your pack like regular bread. Also Mountain House freeze dried meals are areal good. They taste way better than MREs and are real easy to use. Just heat up water and dump it into the bag and let it sit for 10 min and you have a real good tasty warm meal.

Once you pick an area to hunt call sporting goods stores in the area, meat processors, and any place else you can think of to get any insite you can on the area you want to hunt. The more work you do before you go the better hunt you will have.

[Briar Field]

Briar Field, did hunt rifle or archery and did you purchase your tags over the counter or did you draw a limited entry area? I have some points saved up in CO but always wondered if it was neccessary to build points.

Also, how was the vehicle access? One of my biggest concerns is getting stuck way back in the middle of nowhere.

I went out there for the rifle hunt. We had to apply but we were able to get the first rifle season the tags for the area we hunted near Bufford. I was told to get a muzzleloader tag for the area you would need I believe 3-5 points. If you apply for a season 2 or 3 tag you would more then likely get one, but in the mountains you may get a blizzard.

The roads were not bad no two tracks. All dirt roads, but with so many hunters you would not be stranded long. Just make sure you follow the law exactly.

When we were comming out (there is only one road in and out) the DNR had a station set up. The DNR approched our vehical and mid way through his sentence "Did you ge.." he saw my bloody pants from butchering the elk and said pull over to the check area. The DNR was very nice in checking everything out, and was happy to see younger people comming out. I made the mistake of having my tag attached to the Antlers, when it is ment to follow the meat. So we retied it to the meat bags and we were on the way. But while there I heard a couple tickets issued for not haveing the bulls tesicals still attached to a full hind quarter. Just check on it. I had the elk butchered in the field so all I had was meat and the hide, no bones and they had no problem with it.

[bullcan]

Thanks for the info, I was in Montana a couple years ago on a pronghorn hunt and the roads were pretty good there also.

[Violator22]

You can actually just go west, sw of Fort Carson and get a decent hunt, if you are just going as a mall group, remember, you only have till the 3rd of April to get your tag entry in. Les

[TNL]

We go about every other year. Western slope near Meeker. Usually go doorknob to doorknob for just under $1000, including $500 tag.

We use a canvas wall tent with stove and a smaller canvas tent for a cook shack. I got a cheap Outhouse blind that we actually use as an outhouse. Cots, a GOOD sleeping bag, regular camping items, and prepare for any weather including a blizzard and you should be fine. Be sure to include tire chains--every local has them and if the weather turns bad, they're invaluable in the mountains.

A flat shooting rifle and good optics are a must. Spotting scopes and range finders are optional, but helpful. Good boots (broken in) are very important because of the climbing.

Elk hunting is not Michigan deer hunting. You are always on the move at some very high elevations. The previous posters mentioned conditioning--you can never have enough. I live at 600' above sea level. It takes everything I got just to function at 10,000'. Water is gold. Drink as much as you can. It will help you avoid altitude sickness. Deep breaths to get oxygen in your blood and help out those muscles.

Here is an excellent website. I highly reccommend his Elk Hunting 101, 201, and 301 books. They will help you out a great deal. http://www.elkcamp.com/

Apps are due April 3. If you have any questions, shot me a pm. Good Luck!

[barry county jim]

Is there a cost to apply for a tag?

[sullyxlh]

www.wildlife.state.co.us (http://www.wildlife.state.co.us) you would send in the price of a cow tag,I think they keep $25 on the first time and $3 there after,your refunded the price of the tag minus that amount,april 3rd is the deadline
someone please correct if I'm wrong here

[Violator22]

You get a full refund on the tag if you are not drawn, I have been getting one for the last 2 years as the area I go is quite popular. And April 3rd is the deadline, must be postmarked by then if you use snail mail. I do. Les

[TNL]

You send in the full price and get a refund minus a small handling fee. You can also simply apply for a preference point, I think it costs $25 or so. Many bull tags are available OTC. You can also wait until after the draw and get one of the leftover tags. The risk is you may miss out altogether.

Figure out where you want to go, do some research (CO's, biologists, etc. are more than happy to answer your questions), figure out as best you can when the elk will be there. It's not an exact science because the weather is involved, but elk migrate towards wintering grounds. They can handle a few feet of snow, but anything more than that and they are out of there. Plus if you got 3 feet of snow in the mountains, you might find yourself abandoning all your gear just to get down. Something to think about.

[bucketbuster]

deer $300, bull elk $500. cow $254. also need a habitat stamp for each spicies not sure but maybe $15 the dead line is i believe apr. 3rd.. you can put in for the lic., or preference point only, or pref. pt. and as a second choice the species you want to hunt but you must remit the full amount and if unsuccessful will get a refund minus $4 some time in july. you must have a valid orv stamp from any state if using one. get the game laws and read them very carfully. many different things then mi. including blaze orange only not camo blaze and if using a muzzleloader during that season no scope, no pellets, and no sabots. get your legs and lungs in shape cause you won't be on flat land and sea level anymore. all can be don online with a credit card

[Lil' Tanker]

Thanks for all the info guys. We are in full swing planning mode right now and I am pretty sure we are going to give it a shot.

Nice bull from 04 zeronine I would take him anyday.

[Violator22]

also need a habitat stamp for each spicies not sure but maybe $15

This is false, you only pay for the babitat stamp once a year, not on each individual license. I live in Colorado Springs. For any questions go to here.

Colorado DOW hunting page (http://wildlife.state.co.us/Hunting/)

[worm jacked]

My buddies and I just pulled 3 bull tags for AZ rifle in Nov. time to hit the gym :yikes: . I still can't believe it . First try with no preference points.