alrite guys iv always avoided these units that allow any kind of motor vehicle traffic cuz iv heard nothing but bad things about em till now, my buddy just went on his first elk hunt ever in colorado on a draw unit that his friend knows well and draws it each and every year, they just got back and my friend killed a 5by5 and his friend killed a cow they seen about 8 bulls and several cows how is this kind of hunt possible were there is so much traffic?? has any one else heard of this kind of luck ??
units that allow four wheeler traffic
- Thread starter dying to kill
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Colorado Cowboy
Super Moderator
You don't say which unit they were in. In all the National Forests here in Colorado there is LIMITED 4 wheeler use. There are a few that have dedicated 4 wheeler trails, but for the most part 4 wheelers must stay on the same roads that all the vehicles use. Ask your buddy how and where they used the 4 wheelers.
it happens alot more often than you would think. if the area you are hunting in holds alot of elk it holds alot of elk, all there is to it. 4 wheelers and trucks wont scare them out of their beds or feeding areas. its when u stop that gets them alerted. also.... if its anything like the general elk hunt in some se idaho units you will have litteraly hundreds of hunters walking in the woods causing the elk to be constantly moving. i know that in idaho, in most units, if you have a loaded weapon on your 4 wheeler you will be given a ticket. ammo has to be in a seperate place than your person. ive taken lots of cows this way, even though its not my style of of hunting, often ill run into game while im headed to a base to hike from. we all agree that dragging game thats close to a rd is hard to pass up. but this seems to be alot of guys staple. these 4 wheeler rd hunters really bug when you are following the off rd restrictions just to see guys blairing up the trail with rifles on back.
i believe they were some were near rifle colorado, and he said there were people ridding quads all over the place all hours of the day, i will also add, after about the 4th day of the hunt they werent seeing any elk wich i figure if u take advantage of ur chances u dont need the whole season hu
let me ask u this ivory, in ur experience do you think the elk would take pressure like this during first rifle and return to the area second season? i ask cuz im planning on taking a trip to the pagosa springs, co area next year and talked to a guy that said second rifle is better than first, is this even possible?
that was kinda my thoughts MT thats why my jaw dropped when he sent me the pic of the 5by5 , but heck like i say im the rookie in the elk huntin woods maybe quad areas is the way to go it jus dont add up to me
dying to kill, all depends on the elk population in ur hunting area. where i generaly hunt elk there are so many elk that yes they will be there, if not them another herd. and second season im guessing is in november??? if snow the snow will play a huge roll if its snowed and it looks like a nice wallop is going to be moving through the mountain west. you have your high mountain elk and your lower elevation elk. the ones that hang out low year round are very use to traffic and shooting. heck last year we were getting ready to pack in for a 3 day bull hunt and not even 200 yards away from a popular 4x trail as we started our pack trip in we jumped a big bull from his bed that my brother shot, it scored 320. elk are smart critters but also i think there will allways be elk where we dont think we will find them. try it out, if you find some fresh sign put your feet to work. good luck.
Vanish
Member
If he's talking second rifle season in Colorado, it is happening right now. Third rifle is in early November.
Limited entry hunts typically have very little pressure on the animals, at least hunting pressure. Sometimes lots of recreational traffic during the summer makes the animals feel comfortable around motor vehicles, kind of like Yellowstone or other national parks. Many Utah LE hunts have hundreds of ATV's driving tons of roads all day long. There is literally nowhere else for the elk to go. But these elk see the ATV's all summer long, and even during the rifle hunt only one in 20 ATV's carries a tag holder. So the mature elk stand there, and on occassion get shot when a tag holder comes by. It is a steep learning curve.
llp
llp
Colorado Cowboy
Super Moderator
One thing you all must remember, lots of states Game & Fish Depts (At least the ones I'm familiar with out west) don't put the restrictions on the travel of ATV's. On public land it's usually federal agencies that have the travel rules. Some areas of state land will also have restrictions. My local area NF (San Jaun NF) covers a bunch of hunting units, G & F only has rules about carry firearms on ATV's when hunting. But when it comes to enforcement of any of the rules for travel, firearms carry, etc, any law enforcement type can write a ticket.
thanks ivory tip,llp,and cc very good advice ,i never really though that these areas would even be worth looking at, but its sounding like i need to re think that one!!
Vanish
Member
Colorado doesn't really have a "general season" for anything. For elk, there are 6 or 7 different seasons and your tag is only good in that particular season. Archery, Muzzleloader, First Rifle, Second Rifle, Third Rifle, Fourth Rifle, sometimes there may be a late season. The closest thing to a general season we have is second and third rifle, which is OTC in many units.
Deer is the same way, with no OTC at all.
ha jk OT.