Today was a good day and a lifelong hunting buddy and I drew and will be hunting unit 76 muzzleloader this year. We are hoping to get down for a few scouting trips this summer and give this one a full pull effort. Has anyone hunted this before and do you have any thoughts or tips you can share on the unit? Our scouting trips will be in July and August so I am hoping to complete all my digital homework before then. Thank you in advance and I hope everyone has an awesome hunting year.
Unit 76 muzzleloader thoughts
- Thread starter Skibum81
- Start date
Colorado Cowboy
Super Moderator
tdcour
Veteran member
Thats no joke. We hunted 10 days last year and got poured on 9 of those days. Rain, snow, hail. We weren't in 76, but it was a similar story all across SW CO
cmbbulldog
Active Member
- Jul 18, 2011
- 264
- 21
Big big country. Hope you are in good shape! Or have packers. I would pick a drainage/trailhead and stick to that country. We found elk almost everywhere we went, but it was work getting to them. Scouting trip will help. Pack in style hunt is something I would strongly consider. Good luck.
Thanks bulldog. We have mostly hunted off of our backs in previous hunts and plan to spike camp. We also have some help for pack outs. Just wondering did you, or anyone, happen to hunt it after the big fire. I have had good success hunting old burns, and wondered if anyone had that experience there?
Don K
Very Active Member
Im headed there myself for Archery. If you look over the burn map there is very large areas that burned.
Everyone I have talked to relay the same information as posted there is elk in almost every drainage, just get in great shape and have fun.
Everyone I have talked to relay the same information as posted there is elk in almost every drainage, just get in great shape and have fun.
cmbbulldog
Active Member
- Jul 18, 2011
- 264
- 21
We didn't end up hunting in the burn, it was one of many areas people told us about though. I do know a couple guys that went in there and had a good hunt though. The hardest part is committing to a spot in the unit.
COLOelkman
Member
Hi Skibum - I drew 76 archery. Almost applied for the muzzy but would have been on the bubble to draw it. I too am hoping to scout it 2 or 3 times this summer. Not sure I have any helpful tips as I'm learning the area myself. As of now I'm going solo so I plan to look into horses to pack out in case I venture too far back so solo packing meat. If you might consider joining up, I might be interested as I've been talking with a guy that hunted it last year so I have some areas I plan to check out this summer. PM me if interested in talking about it!
JimP
Administrator
There have been very few fires this year so far. And the ones that have started they have gotten them taken care of very quickly.
The only large fire was out towards Rangly in the north west area of the state.
The only large fire was out towards Rangly in the north west area of the state.
Don K
Very Active Member
I hope everyone's scouting trips are going well. I just wanted to up this thread incase anyone else might have some thought or advice? I am getting out for 4 days of scouting and camping over the weekend and will post some pics and findings when I return.
Don K
Very Active Member
Bring some mosquito spray they where bad!!
I just spent 5 days there. Put 840 miles on a rental, and 20+ miles on my feet. Everything was very green, saw some decent groups of elk, one very large bull. Actually had bulls bugling at 1:40 in the day when a thunderstorm blew in.
Big steep country, awesome scenery................
I just spent 5 days there. Put 840 miles on a rental, and 20+ miles on my feet. Everything was very green, saw some decent groups of elk, one very large bull. Actually had bulls bugling at 1:40 in the day when a thunderstorm blew in.
Big steep country, awesome scenery................
Scouting Report,
This is certainly a very beautiful unit. My trip began with hiking a few of the the big high elevation drainages on the western half of the Unit. The vertical is no joke getting to where the elk were. I found small herds just under 12,000 feet. I also saw 2 really nice bucks. With the amount of dead trees there seems to be good feed everywhere. I would liked to have spent more time glassing, but rain and lightning chased me back of the mountain. Hiking 3 hours in a downpour is not fun. Next I moved onto the eastern half of the Unit. What I found was pretty similar. Dead trees with good forage everywhere. I didn't find the concentration of sign I did in the western half, but it did seem to be scattered everywhere. To be honest usually after my first scouting trip I have things pretty narrowed down, not so much this time, we will see where I am after trip 2 in a couple weeks.
My thoughts and questions I need to figure out.
1)With so much feed everywhere how much will the elk actually herd up? It seems to me they are much more dispersed than other units I have hunted.
2) Is pressure much of a thought with the amount of tags in this unit? I am considering that maybe I don't actually need to backpack in that far.
3) I really hope the afternoon rain slows down by muzzleloader season.
Any thoughts would be very welcome and happy summer scouting to you all.
This is certainly a very beautiful unit. My trip began with hiking a few of the the big high elevation drainages on the western half of the Unit. The vertical is no joke getting to where the elk were. I found small herds just under 12,000 feet. I also saw 2 really nice bucks. With the amount of dead trees there seems to be good feed everywhere. I would liked to have spent more time glassing, but rain and lightning chased me back of the mountain. Hiking 3 hours in a downpour is not fun. Next I moved onto the eastern half of the Unit. What I found was pretty similar. Dead trees with good forage everywhere. I didn't find the concentration of sign I did in the western half, but it did seem to be scattered everywhere. To be honest usually after my first scouting trip I have things pretty narrowed down, not so much this time, we will see where I am after trip 2 in a couple weeks.
My thoughts and questions I need to figure out.
1)With so much feed everywhere how much will the elk actually herd up? It seems to me they are much more dispersed than other units I have hunted.
2) Is pressure much of a thought with the amount of tags in this unit? I am considering that maybe I don't actually need to backpack in that far.
3) I really hope the afternoon rain slows down by muzzleloader season.
Any thoughts would be very welcome and happy summer scouting to you all.
JimP
Administrator
Elk are herd animals, about the only time they will wander off by themselves is during the caving season or a bull that has been chased out of the herd and even then the bull might hang close to the rest of the herd. Through the summer the bulls will form bachelor herds, they are buddy buddy until the rut.
Pressure is a open question that you can never answer the correct way. It doesn't take much to push a herd out of a area, so they will be where you find them. It is best to have 3 or even 4 different plans of attack depending on what is going on.
The rains? A few years ago you needed a wet suit to hunt during the muzzle loader season. You just never know about the weather from rain to snow and then 90 degree heat.
Pressure is a open question that you can never answer the correct way. It doesn't take much to push a herd out of a area, so they will be where you find them. It is best to have 3 or even 4 different plans of attack depending on what is going on.
The rains? A few years ago you needed a wet suit to hunt during the muzzle loader season. You just never know about the weather from rain to snow and then 90 degree heat.