CO rookie elk goals

[amoor983]

I need help. I have a steadfast resolution to harvest an elk. Last year, my first, I struck out in MT and WY after hunting 12 days. Does anyone have advice on a Colorado hunt unit where I can get an OTC cow rifle tag with good chance at a public land cow? It does not have to be an easy hunt; I am willing to hike the miles and hunt remote, rugged terrain. It would be handy if the unit were in the northern and/or eastern part of CO. I have zero points here and can’t pay full price for a bull tag. I am not currently equipped or confident to hunt archery or muzzleloader. If not personal experience, do you know a biologist or other resource that would provide sound advice? I am looking to provide for my family and gain experience so I can instill in my two boys (and daughter!) our rich North American hunting heritage. I know there is much wisdom here; tips are appreciated.--- Andy in NE

 

[JimP]

You are going to be hard pressed to find a elk in eastern Colorado, very few venture east of I-25.

Other than that you are going to have to wait until July 18 to find out what is left out there as far as cow licenses are concerned.

 

[SunnyInCO]

If you look in the big game book at the hunt codes, the one's with a * (if I remember correctly although it is stated in the book) had OTC tags available last year. That would give you an idea of what could be available. I would give you the same advice that many people who ask the same question receive, pick one of these units and do some homework. Not sure any are better than others. If they were, they probably would not have left over tags.

To narrow down your search, many of the units in Grand County (Winter Park/Granby) to Yampa.Steamboat typically have leftover tags. As far as I am aware, most of the available units up and down the front range have either very little elk and/or are mostly private land.

 

[colohunter]

Late season cow rifle tags are usually higher success and often can be had as a leftover. There are a lot of elk in the Northern part of the state and lots of public land but like JimP said, you aren't gonna find very many east of I25. The CPW website has lots of statistics and maps that should help in your search.

 

[colohunter]

PS- Don't put so much pressure on yourself. Hunting should be enjoyed. A successful out of state hunting trip is going to cost more than the supermarket price to feed your family in the long run taking into account gear, travel, processing, tags, etc.

 

[amoor983]

Thanks guys, that is helpful. Here is my strategy so far- look up statistics on units where many rifle cows are harvested at high success rates, with an abundance of public land. Then, cross reference those with units that had leftover permits last year, and success rates during those respective seasons. I also checked the Parks and Wildlife maps on elk summer, winter, migratory, and winter concentration range and figured that into ranking. Is this a sound strategy? It seems that the biggest wild card will be timing (i.e., buying a permit season that coincides with weather, phenology and elk presence), and if/where there will be leftover permits. Is there something I am missing in this equation?

 

[NE69]

Have you checked left over tags in WY? You have some experience there so it might be worth it. They go on sale in July. Reduced price tags in some areas are pretty high success.

 

[amoor983]

I may look into WY some more. There is just a higher elk abundance in CO, and a good swath of elk habitat within a five or six hour drive. My friend has a contact in WY Unit 59, but it's nearly all wilderness. And, it literally takes hours to sort through the units, statistics, land ownership, etc. to narrow down prospective units.

 

[cntryep3614]

I don't know if anyone has more info on this but the last couple years I've seen some adds for a guaranteed shot opportunity on a late season cow tag through an outfitter who's name is slipping my mind right now. I think it was cheap and fair chase. Hopefully someone else knows where I'm talking about

 

[Slugz]

Lots of late season cow hunts are in the interweb in CO for around 800-1000$ from some outfitters/landowners.

In addition to the + sign in the big game book you can look at the draw recap .PDF file that's online and see each hunt code that has leftovers.

IMO 18/181.........42/421 is a good take a kid cow hunting GMU.....nice trails.....good numbers.

As others have said....only elk east of I-25 are usually on RFW ranches with high fences.....and a few rouge animals running around that require land owner permission to whack one......I live east of I-25 and practice my glassing all year long on a herd down in the valley from the front porch.

 

[colohunter]

You can get a good feel for how many tags may be available for leftovers this year by taking a look at the 2016 draw recap. You have to sift through all of the pages instead of having a concise list, but at least you wont run into the issue of checking out a unit that had leftovers last year but may not this year.

Once again my biggest advice for success on a cow is to hunt as late as possible (4th season or later) in a unit with a high population and the winter range/migration areas have plenty of public. There ain't a lot of these scenarios but there are a lot of tags handed out for these types of hunts. These specific hunts are where CPW sees the best success on culling down the herd to the populations they are looking to achieve.