I am planning a my first Elk hunt for this fall for the second rifle season in Colorado. My question is this time of year how are the elk acting. I know the rut will be over. I was wondering are the bulls usually starting to group back up. Or how do they tend to act this time of year. Are the bulls usually moved to heavy timber? Thanks for any information.
Colorado second season strategy
- Thread starter hondo62
- Start date
trkytrack2
Active Member
You'll have plenty of company as it's the most popular season for rifle hunting elk. OTC tags. Orange pumpkins behind every tree. The elk get pressure quite a lot and in some cases they bail off the mountains and head for private ground. But they are moved around a lot and if you hunt the right places, you'll see plenty of elk. Hunt hard and try to get back away from the roads and crowds and you should have some luck. You'll find that there are still bulls with the cows looking for that late "heat" one. Good luck.
Hondo,
You didn't say which unit you were planning on hunting or at what elevation you will be, which can make a lot of difference. The biggest thing to deal with will be the weather. 2nd season can be a boom or bust depending on where you are at and depending on the weather. Another thing to note is the moon phase. The full moon will be on the 19th, right in the middle of 2nd season, so it will be bright the entire time (unless there is a lot of cloud cover). In my experience I always see less game under a bright moon vs a darker moon. Not to say that you cannot find or harvest elk under a full moon, again it depends on the weather, but if there is also a lot of pressure (the elk have already been facing increasing pressure since the first of Sept) then they tend to move at night and hide in the thick stuff during the day. Make sure you are in position at very first light, and again at last light, I like to sit on meadows or saddles to catch elk as they move through. Hunting the thick stuff will just push the elk out for someone else to get a shot at them. To answer your original question, the big herd bulls will still be with their cows, and the satellite bulls will be alone or with other smaller bulls in bachelor groups.
You didn't say which unit you were planning on hunting or at what elevation you will be, which can make a lot of difference. The biggest thing to deal with will be the weather. 2nd season can be a boom or bust depending on where you are at and depending on the weather. Another thing to note is the moon phase. The full moon will be on the 19th, right in the middle of 2nd season, so it will be bright the entire time (unless there is a lot of cloud cover). In my experience I always see less game under a bright moon vs a darker moon. Not to say that you cannot find or harvest elk under a full moon, again it depends on the weather, but if there is also a lot of pressure (the elk have already been facing increasing pressure since the first of Sept) then they tend to move at night and hide in the thick stuff during the day. Make sure you are in position at very first light, and again at last light, I like to sit on meadows or saddles to catch elk as they move through. Hunting the thick stuff will just push the elk out for someone else to get a shot at them. To answer your original question, the big herd bulls will still be with their cows, and the satellite bulls will be alone or with other smaller bulls in bachelor groups.
Old Hunter
Banned
The big bulls will be tired, and hungry from the rut. They don't want to bothered after the rut, and will be off by themselves in tough to get to areas trying to bulk up for the winter.
we will be staying at 11000 ft and plan on hunting between 7000-12000 ft in the area where we are staying. We will be hunting unit 81.