CO Unit 15 first timer frustration.... advice?

[streetdoctor]

The wife and I went out to unit 15 for our first time hunting. I've been scouting this area since august and have a pretty good idea of the layout. I also got some sage advice from a co-worker (but this was like pulling teeth) that hunted the area for 10+ years. Overall I feel like we put in a lot more effort than most people I saw packing out animals. Obviously we're doing something wrong. Over the last 4 days the GPS says we climbed over 13,000', hiked 25 miles, and spent 43 hours in the field. We saw 20+ deer, 3 bull moose, and a bear, but zero elk. The most frustrating part is every evening at 5:30-6:30 there was at least 3 or 4 shots all around us. There is lots of elk in the area, we saw them in game bags- a few cows, a couple small bulls, and one giant with a rack as wide as the bed of a pickup.

Lessons learned, the bad:

1. hunting in the mountains with two people in a 2 person mountaineering tent is a bad idea. You need a heat source to dry clothes and room for all your shit. We started our hunt in the green creek drainage and ended up moving to a second location after we got 6" of snow.

3. If an elk answers your cow call and bugles at you from a few hundred yards away in cover at 7am on opening day, you should pursue him and not assume finding more elk will be easy. This was beginner stupidity, I waited for him to come out instead of slowly moving in and I think he snuck out the back.

4. Pack ibuprofen. Lots of ibuprofen. Even in the field. I'm in excellent shape, but my knee was killing me by day 4.

Now on to the good:

Unit 15 is gorgeous. I spent the last 4 days with my wife in weather that ranged from T-shirts to heavy snow and 35mph winds in less than ideal camping conditions and she was a trooper. We were on the trail everyday by 5am and usually didn't get back until after dark. She never complained, and was even waking me up when I was tempted to sleep in. I learned a lot more about the area.

Our strategy was to sit on a meadow in the morning/evening, and stalk the north/east facing slopes and dark timber in the day. Originally I think we were moving too fast but the last two days we were able to get within 50 yards of deer without being spotted and within 40' of a bear. Generally we'd take a few steps and pause. We tracked a group of elk in fresh snow for 5 hours this way and eventually lost the trail when it intersected with a shit load of deer track.


I have a second season cow tag... anyone willing to take on a newbie eager to learn and willing to help pack meat? I'm in great shape, have all the gear necessary to be self-sufficient, safe, and can share the areas where there are definitely elk. I'm a paramedic/firefighter by trade so have some experience in that department as well. Looking for a mentor type, obviously we're doing something wrong and I have a feeling we might have walked past a lot of bedded down elk. Advice is always welcome also. I'll be solo for 2nd season.

 

[mattdeere]

Hey Steetdoctor, I would say most importantly you have a great hunting companion who is willing to do the hard work to hunt with you. That's really impressive!! Secondly, keep working hard and you'll get into them! But you are already successful in my opinion! Elk are where you find them, keep looking!! Matt

 

[CrossCreeks]

When I went on my 1st Elk hunting 22 yrs. ago in Colorado I made a couple of the same mistakes as you did. You however did cover a lot of beautiful country, learned a few things, put forth a ton of effort and spent quality time with your wife and made some great memories. You only come up short on what you put in the freezer or maybe on the wall ! I have to agree with " mattdeere " you had successful hunt. Good luck the second time around, you will benefit from your 1st experience.

 

[ddress00]

keep your head up. the learning curve is steep. steep steep steep. i've been after it for years and still feel like i know 0%. i'm sure you were covering the approriate land, speed, distance. could of been the weather playing against you. elk get spooked easy too with increased pressure. best tip i ever got from an old timer.......call your friends and figure out where everyone goes....and go the exact opposite

 

[OregonJim]

Be patient my friend we have all been there......

I have a few nuggets of advice.
Invest in a good wall tent. I spend at least a couple of weeks per year in mine which is about 15 years old.
I was in the same snow event and I witnessed some miserable tent hunters.

In addition to the Ibuprofen I also take Glucosomine.

#3 above is spot on...... been there.

Finally my best advice is to spend more time glassing than walking.
I spent some time trying to help out some other hunters after opening day success and it really surprised me how much ground folks were covering without stopping to glass. I don't take more than 10 steps without stopping to glass.

 

[streetdoctor]

Thanks for the replies. Headed back up tomorrow with the wife for a couple of days. Was hoping to get some cooler weather/snow but will have to make do!

 

[Retterath]

Good luck and enjoy your time with your wife.

 

[Gr8bawana]

Good luck, keep at it. I think about now the bulls are looking for cows that were not bred during the main rut. So if you find some cows look around the edges if the herd in whatever cover there is. Most of all use your binos. Last month my brother and I hunted for his bull in AZ for 9 days before we finally saw one and he put it down.

 

[In God We Trust]

A few pointers for you. If there is elk in the area and it sounds like there is then keep at it. Unit 15 can be drawn every year so keep hunting and scouting the same unit year after year. You will learn the unit and will be amazed at how many elk you start to see. Find a high point where you can glass into south facing pocket meadows and quakie faces that are towards the top of the mountain with dark timber on the back side (north side). Elk love these areas because during rifle season they can come out to eat in the meadows and quakie patches and then drop right back over onto the north facing timber for bedding and protection in the dark timber. If a snow storm comes through your area make sure you are out hunting the evening and or morning after the storm blows through. The elk will always come out to feed after a snow storm. I was hunting an area during second season with my dad when the weather was way too warm the first four days and we struggled to see elk. It snowed 6" during the night and the next morning we found a lot of cows and a group of bulls feeding out in the quakies and pocket meadows until 9:00 a.m. We didn't have a bull tag that year but I stored that nugget of info in my memory bank and I have killed a few bulls on the same face we saw them on that morning in recent years.
Don't give up, I hunt an area with my dad and brother that takes 0 points to draw so we hunt it every year. The first four to five years we were semi successful and we walked a lot. Now that we have found the best places to glass big areas and learned where the elk move through and where they like to feed we tag out on good bulls and cows almost every season. It is all about learning the area. Good luck and if you have any questions shoot me a P.M. I am not an expert by any means but I will try to answer some of your questions if I can.

 

[RICMIC]

If at all possible, try to get more time for the hunt. For some reason, day 4 or 5 seems to be the golden time for me, and especially with elk you may need a couple days after the kill to get the meat out. If you live close and can learn the area, then this may be less of an issue. A wall tent is great if you aren't packing it on your back. I would never use less than a 3 person tent for two, or a 2 for 1. The extreme hunters can stay awake nights shaving ounces, but keep your wife happy above all else and you have a (hunting) partner for life.

 

[kesand72]

You can't put a price on the knowledge you gained on that hunt. Good things will come your way!!

 

[Stevo]

I hunted in Colorado first rifle season in a different unit. Saw lots of elk on public land glassing from the road for two days prior to opening morning. Hiked in where I'd seen them, no elk to be found. I stayed there until mid morning and decided to go up higher elevation where I've seen them in previous years. Figured the warm weather was keeping them up high. Didn't see an elk opening day. Went back to high elevation day two, saw a small bull with about 4 cows in the timber, couldn't get a shot. Day 3 and 4 did not see an elk. I was walking 8+ hours/day, glassing a lot, not seeing anything! Most hunters were very discouraged and had left the area by day 3. Last morning I decided to go lower in elevation. I walked down the only trail in the area that allows 4 wheelers. Was no one else on the trail that morning, but there were 4 wheelers on it every day prior. Was walking very slow, and glassing every area that looked like it could hold elk. Walked about 3 miles and ended up shooting a cow about 70 yard off of the trail. I don't know why the elk were lower in elevation because it was so warm, but I knew they weren't where I expected them to be in the higher elevations the past 4 days. One thing I learned is to change areas, I was too focused on finding them in areas I had found them before.