Elk Hunting in Colorado

[crazyice]

Hey guys, hopefully some of you can help me out with this. A buddy of mine and I are in the middle of trying to plan a rifle hunt in Colorado near Glenwood Springs. Neither of us has ever done this before, so we are looking for any kind of tips and reccomendations that others who have done this before can give us.

What we know as of right now is, we are going to be hunting public land, in the first elk only season. The dates on this hunt are going to run Oct. 11-15. So maybe we will catch the tail end of the rut? We are not sure if it will be over with by then or not, so that would be a question that we have as well. We are going to be driving out, pulling a pop up type camper to stay in, we figured that this would be easier than flying and also probably cheaper, as this way we don't have to worry about transportation once we get out there, and we don't have to worry about how to get an elk home if we get one. Big if there on that!

Well anyway, I guess I will kind of leave it at that for now, and just see what kind of responses I get, and if more questions pop up I am sure I will post them as needed.

[Nate McVey]

Crazyice, congrats on heading out to CO for an elk hunt. If you have never been, it will be something you never forget. The dates you have chosen will put you right at the end of the rut. Late Septmeber to early October is the peak bugle and (depending on weather) it seems to hold pretty true. I would assume you are planning on hunting the Flattops Wilderness, which most people say some of the finest elk country in all of CO. The locals get mad when they don't see more than 15 elk (not to get your hopes up) and some big bulls come out of that area. You also should have no problem getting your camper into a good spot, but watch the weather so you don't have to leave it in the wilderness (which happened to me one year).

Are you going to draw your tags or buy them over the counter? If you are buying them over the counter, plan to stop in Avon, CO (45 min. east of Glenwood) and go to Walmart....you can pick up game bags, license, regs, food, etc. all in one stop. A good spotting scope and range finder will also serve you well.

Any other questions, shoot me an email nateatgrandsuperiordotcom.

[crapjeye]

You will definately enjoy. It is awesome out there! I would target cows since this is your first hunt. They are more plentiful, taste great, half the cost and compared to a whitetail, they are HUGE. Just be sure to apply before the deadline. Make sure you are in great shape by next Oct.

[crazyice]

What we have planned so far is, we are going to buy two tags, one cow only and one either sex tag, that way if we happen to see a nice bull we can have a shot at it. We are planning on applying, but really don't know what to expect as far as getting drawn. I spoke with a DOW person and they said that it would be a good idea to apply, but that it shouldn't be a problem being drawn for the areas that we are thinking of hunting.