Has anyone hunted unit 80 in early rifle season for elk was wondering if there are a good number of elk and what to expect for quality of bulls. looking at a diy hunt with horses and info would be great. thanks guys
unit 80 otc
- Thread starter Retterath
- Start date
xtreme
Very Active Member
I think you can have a good hunt in unit 80. There are some places you will want to avoid, like Conejos Peak. Look closely at the Dow web page. Elk summer near North Mountian and Grayback Mountian, in late summer they disperse to the surrounding forest. Using horses I would go down Wrightman Gulch from Summitville. Another place is the east end of Hogback Mesa. The area all the way back to North Mountian. Look on the map at the area between Sheephead and Lookout Mountian. There is a closed road through there that you can ride but expect some hunters in there. There are some 300-340 bulls but most will be smaller. Easy places will have lots of hunters, I have tried to list places with less pressure.
Looked into it a little more won't be using horses any more, I will be backpacking in. Those areas u listed u think backpacking trip would be ok. I just want to get my first elk. Willing to work hard and put on miles. Another unit was unit 4 and a couple more just can't make up my mind. How do I decide what unit for OTC?
woodtick
Veteran member
Unit 4 gets pounded hard and all the elk seem to migrate to private, I'm assuming its the same all across the state. But I couldn't believe the pressure!
xtreme
Very Active Member
Unit 80 would be a good unit for 1st season rifle. A couple of years ago preseason there six good bulls were using in the area of Summitville. A local guy in Del Norte was able to pre scout and tell me about them. I saw one good bull behind Summitville during rifle season. I didn't have a tag, my friend and his grandson were tag holders.
One thing to keep in mind is weather, these elk will not stay high if it snows any at all. They don't like hunters either but there is plenty of good places you will be able to use to your advantage. Enough bear to warrant a bear tag if you wand to shoot one. I found a cow elk killed by bear. I should be up there in June and July however those elk will be gone by late September.
One thing to keep in mind is weather, these elk will not stay high if it snows any at all. They don't like hunters either but there is plenty of good places you will be able to use to your advantage. Enough bear to warrant a bear tag if you wand to shoot one. I found a cow elk killed by bear. I should be up there in June and July however those elk will be gone by late September.
The elk will be out of the high country be end of sept? I'm thinking of 2nd or 3rd season causing don't want to really use my points yet. Even with a base camp can u still get away from all the people instead of backpacking in cause I think it will probably be maybe a little nasty weather by 2or3rd season. Xtreme-do you hunt that unit every year?
xtreme
Very Active Member
No I don't hunt up there every year. Now I hunt down in 81 because we have a cabin there. Hasn't been long since I took my friend and his grandson to hunt 80. I go in there every year a couple of times per year. I think I misstated what the elk do. You could go in june and july and see 125 head lying in the pastures between North mountain and South mountain, by the end of September they will disperse into the nearby woods, then if it snows they will go lower at once, even during the snow. I have experienced this. Yes you could hunt from base camp and I really don't worry much about the weather in the first season, that said, it is high country. My base camp was 11876. The 21 year old got altitude sickness so I had to. take him out and down. That is too high but there were elk nearby like a quarter of mile. Last year we drove through a deep snow during third season last year. It was snowing so hard I could not see Elwood Cabin from the road and just west of Elwood was a tent camp. Another friend Archery hunts up there, they always have a good hunt
I'm going to just have to go out and experience it myself in colorado.thanks for the info on the unit. greatly appreciated
i was also looking at other units in colorado some up towards the nw part like 4,5,214 but went through all of 20 pages on the colorado thread and didn't look like many people were asking about hunting up there. they were more like76,77,78 80,81 and units central or south end is that because they have better quality bulls and less pressure?