Colorado GMU 49 Archery

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Awick

New Member
Sep 23, 2016
6
0
Has anyone hunted this unit? I have 7 points and want to make the most of the hunt. I plan on getting back on the wilderness for atleast 7 days. What should my expectations be and is this the best unit for that amount of points? I want to have a guarantee draw, so forfeiting a point or two is not that big of a deal. Thanks for any help
 
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Slugz

Slugz

Veteran member
Oct 12, 2014
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Casper, Wyoming
Work2hunt said:
I'm assuming elk. His post is in the Elk forum.
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Duh.....not sure how I missed that. Awick with 7 nonresident points I think you have some other options depending on what type of hunt you are looking for. Are you horn hunting? Want action and screaming vice bigger bulls?
 
W

Work2hunt

Veteran member
Mar 2, 2013
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St. Louis, MO
We all have one of those days once in a while. ;)

Slugz said:
Duh.....not sure how I missed that. Awick with 7 nonresident points I think you have some other options depending on what type of hunt you are looking for. Are you horn hunting? Want action and screaming vice bigger bulls?
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A

Awick

New Member
Sep 23, 2016
6
0
Slugz,
I am hoping for a 280"+ if possible. Would love to see "the show", but I am a realist and know that the tv hunts only happen 7-10 days a year and it's unpredictable when those days will hit. I'm wanting to take a guided hunt back into the wildernes in whichever unit I decide to go. It's just hard to figure out the best option when I am not sure what my expectations should be in each unit. I'm not after the 350s, but I would to love to know they existed in the area. As long as the satellite bullla are 280+, I think I would be really happy. I just don't want the be hunting 4x4s and 3x3s
 
Fink

Fink

Veteran member
Apr 7, 2011
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West Side, MoMo
In my point range, this unit seems to be about my best bet, as I'll never catch up to the better units taking 10+ points, and will most likely be where I burn my points in the next few years. I'll be curious to see how you do, if you hunt it.
 
Slugz

Slugz

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Oct 12, 2014
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Casper, Wyoming
I'd be interested to hear how you guys came up with that data.....not saying anything is false just interested cause it sounds like you want to horn hunt solid 5x5s and bigger......and here is why.

GMU 49 is part of the Buffalo Peaks E22 DAU made up of GMUs 49/57/58. It traditionally has a bull to cow ratio of 30/100 which is just slightly above average and a rolling average total herd # of roughly 3300 animals.

There is 10 Elk DAUs that all have significantly big bull to cow ratios those bull numbers are ( 71, 48, 59, 51, 50, 43, 37, 47, 55, 40) interpret that as " horn hunters should go in those DAUs".......IMO

Those 10 DAUs make up 26 some odd GMUs. Now granted some of those you dont have points to get into, some of those you do.....and.......some are OTC units that you can hunt every year on National Forest Public Land.

If you are gonna go guided.....I'd be going on a hunt on National Forest land in a GMU that has a bull to cow ratio of 40 or above......you tend to find your bigger bulls there.

Just info for ya and by no mean poo pooing your plan.....just offering perspective for guided options.

Now all that goes out the door if you have some special access place lined up obviously. Good luck and feel free to pm me.
 
ColoradoV

ColoradoV

Very Active Member
Oct 4, 2011
820
941
If you are looking to go guided not sure if 49 is what you are looking for as most of the guided permits stop at the county line of Chaffee/Lake county. So you either get north or south of that line with a guide.. I would either hunt it with out a guide or if you are going to do a guided hunt look at unit 40 as there is some great private land/guides combo in there that will give you what you are searching for but they do not come cheap.

49 is not a easy hunt by any means as has been said lower elk numbers and it is a steep high unit the wilderness gets hit hard as lots of folks especially out of state seem to gravitate toward the wilderness. Some bigger bulls can be found with luck or a lot of scouting but IMO the quality has taken a drop lately due to guys dumping points here who scout/hunt hard. Also not sure if a drop camp or pack in camp is best as there will be pressure no matter where you are in the unit so if the animals move on you need to be able to do the same. While a couple of bigger bulls are taken each year I would not pass on anything close to a 300" 6x6 unless you are quite all right with eating your tag as that is the class of bulls normally hunted.

49 is also real close to the chitty's of the front range.. So it is close enough for that crowd to easily scout it in the summer and many do put in the time in the summer to find animals and hunt hard just something to think about. I would place mobility as a priority over wilderness seclusion if your goal is success in 49.
 
A

Awick

New Member
Sep 23, 2016
6
0
Thanks for the info. We are planning on a hunt for Elk in the 280-320" range. The challenge for us is making sure we are set up with the correct guide and have positioned ourselves in the right unit to make this possible. If we come home with tag soup, that's just part of it. But I don't want to go in there thinking expectations are falsely high. If this is a realistic unit of this caliber of Elk, I would like give it a try. But if I'm chasing a unicorn here, I am hoping to know that upfront. Thanks again for all of your inputs and shares knowledge. Any more information would be welcomed. Thanks again.
 
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C

cmbbulldog

Active Member
Jul 18, 2011
264
21
49 is a good unit, but it is big country. Be in really good shape. If you are going guided, I'm sure you would get into elk.
 
CODAK

CODAK

Active Member
Aug 8, 2016
380
335
Johnstown, CO
Matthoek21 said:
You should have no problem with that size range in 49 if going guided.
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Unit 49 has really lost it's luster of about 7+ years ago of solid big bull numbers. Seems like the unit has really blown up for PP's since then and IMO there are so many better units to burn that many points on!!
 
In God We Trust

In God We Trust

Very Active Member
Mar 10, 2011
805
0
Colorado
I hunted this unit in 2012 and a buddy archery hunted it last year. It is a good unit with some good bulls. Not sure I would use 7 points on it if I was going to use an outfitter though. I'm sure you could find a better unit for bigger bulls guided with 7 points.
 
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huntinfool590

New Member
Dec 21, 2018
1
0
Slugz said:
I'd be interested to hear how you guys came up with that data.....not saying anything is false just interested cause it sounds like you want to horn hunt solid 5x5s and bigger......and here is why.

GMU 49 is part of the Buffalo Peaks E22 DAU made up of GMUs 49/57/58. It traditionally has a bull to cow ratio of 30/100 which is just slightly above average and a rolling average total herd # of roughly 3300 animals.

There is 10 Elk DAUs that all have significantly big bull to cow ratios those bull numbers are ( 71, 48, 59, 51, 50, 43, 37, 47, 55, 40) interpret that as " horn hunters should go in those DAUs".......IMO

Those 10 DAUs make up 26 some odd GMUs. Now granted some of those you dont have points to get into, some of those you do.....and.......some are OTC units that you can hunt every year on National Forest Public Land.

If you are gonna go guided.....I'd be going on a hunt on National Forest land in a GMU that has a bull to cow ratio of 40 or above......you tend to find your bigger bulls there.

Just info for ya and by no mean poo pooing your plan.....just offering perspective for guided options.

Now all that goes out the door if you have some special access place lined up obviously. Good luck and feel free to pm me.
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I have been thinking about putting in for 49 and I came across this thread. What are DAUs? And I assume a higher bull to cow ratio means that they will be more bulls to see and they will be more active during the rut?


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