2018 Elk Hunt?

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  • davsco

    Ultimate Member
    Oct 21, 2010
    8,607
    Loudoun, VA
    After many years hunting whitetails around here, interested in doing an elk hunt (rifle) in 2018, thinking Colorado for no real reason other than it's a little closer than NV, ID, MT, etc and thinking of driving out and back.

    Open to any advice, suggestions, anyone who may want to put a team together or add me to their team, etc. Not really into horseback and prob don't want to hike more than 5 or so miles a day and less is better. I have a quad that would be fun to ride in and out, not sure how that works. Don't want to drop the coin for a guided hunt. Thinking/guessing public land but wouldn't mind paying a little for a better chance (and less nimrods) on private land (trespass fee?). Camping would work as would hitting a cabin or motel every night.

    All i've done so far is hit the Colo state website and look at the areas and # hunters, # elk and success rates.

    Again, open to advice, suggestions, ideas, etc. thanks!
     

    SummitCnty

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 26, 2013
    2,223
    Frederick County
    I’m working on planning a trip to CO for a DIY elk hunt. Probably won’t hunt until 2019 but I’m taking a week in June to backpack some of the areas I’ve narrowed down to try to get a lay of the land.

    I’ve been doing the same and hitting up the CO state pages and looking at google maps. It’s a pretty daunting job so far but it’s been exciting.
     

    Biggfoot44

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 2, 2009
    32,881
    Keep in mind its not just picking an area , and just going there . Lotteries for each particular zone .
     

    Neot

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 11, 2009
    2,394
    South County
    If you're interested in shooting a cow elk, those tickets I've been told aren't too hard to come by in Colorado, especially the Eastern part (this coming from a buddy's uncle who lives there). Don't forget to leave room in the truck for several coolers to haul all that meat back with. I'd be down for a hunt like that except next year we're having our 3rd baby in late April. Mama wouldn't be too pleased if I ran off on a cross country trip haha.
     

    gtodave

    Member
    MDS Supporter
    Aug 14, 2007
    14,169
    Mt Airy
    There's a guy on MD Whitetail that does a diy hunt for them each year, and does a good write up about it. He hunts traditional bow. Try searching around there for it.

    I'd LOVE to do this, but sadly I don't think I'll be ready for it any time soon.
     

    CrazySanMan

    2013'er
    Mar 4, 2013
    11,390
    Colorful Colorado
    PM me any questions you have. I haven't done any big game hunting since I moved to Colorado in 2014 because of shoulder and back surgeries but I have a lot of friends and coworkers who get elk each year. My friend Dennis is a hunting and fly fishing guide here. I plan on getting an elk in 2018.
     

    BigSteve57

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 14, 2011
    3,245
    We're planning an Elk hunt in MT. They truck you as far as they can and then it's the rest of the way on horseback to a camp where we'll spend a week hunting. I'm taking riding lessons this coming spring to hopefully make this a survivable trip.
     

    SummitCnty

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 26, 2013
    2,223
    Frederick County
    When my son gets a little older. I would probably be up for something like this.

    SummitCnty, thanks again for the help earlier in the year. My son went on his first goose hunt this past Friday and he had a blast.

    I saw the pictures in the other thread. Glad to hear it. Looks like everyone had a great time.
     

    Devonian

    Ultimate Member
    Apr 15, 2008
    1,199
    I've done 4 diy archery trips to Colorado if anyone wants to pm me I'm happy to help you get started.
     

    CrabbyMcNab

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 1, 2009
    2,474
    Some things I learned:
    You need to protect your food from mice as well as bear

    Pack a pair of shorts in your truck, humping a “heavy” pack out of the mountains you never know what the temp will be. Was 70 chasing elk in ID and 12 inches of snow in 10 hours in WY.

    Having a pair of camp shoes is nice after a day in boots. I had my llbean slippers which were super comfortable.

    If you are DIY, make sure you know where your water source is, whether gallons from your truck, a portable filter pump or other. You’ll need it.

    The elevation took more of a toll on me then the weight and hiking. Huffing up the hill at 8000 feet is drastically different then the hills around here.

    Checking success rates of the unit does give a general idea of what to expect. But you would be surprised, we’ve seen and tagged when the “odds” were against us. Some folks go a few years before tagging out. If going to ID, get a deer tag as well if you can swing the extra dough.

    I’d do it in a heartbeat. Planning on ID over the counter or putting in for draw WY in 2018. Never had problems getting tags previously.
    Just a few thoughts.
     

    BearArms

    Member
    Sep 25, 2013
    47
    Upper Marlboro
    2 buddies and I are planning for a 2019 Colorado DIY Elk hunt. Subscribed to the thread. We've started reading everything we can, and have a couple areas in mind. I'm also praying for some opportunities through work to come through so I can just up and move there before then :D
     

    Antarctica

    YEEEEEHAWWW!!!!
    MDS Supporter
    Sep 29, 2012
    1,728
    Southern Anne Arundel
    Nothing to add really, but I've been looking at doing this for about a year and a half. I talked to two people that I thought might be game to do it also (read: fit enough, time enough (one was my dad, the other a buddy), but it was obvious we had different ideas/goals(i.e., dad can't see the point of hunting and just wants to walk around in the woods, buddy more inclined to a one shot deal with an outfitter for more money than I'd ever want to spend). So I've been on a path to 'prepare' how to do a DIY quasi-solo elk hunt.

    Some things that complicate this approach or that I wanted to address:

    1) How to do it cheap, and continue to do it cheap.
    2) How to maximize time - i.e., travel out west, amount of time hunting, etc.
    3) How to do this in a way that better prepares me year over year, and that allows me to teach my two little kids how to do it (since no-one ever taught me)
    4) How to handle getting the meat cooled and taking care of it for the long drive home.

    So the path I'm on now is to try to go out next year for a quasi hunt/mostly scouting trip that allows me to get a good handle on an OTC unit for the future (i.e., do I want to continue to hunt that unit, or try a different unit the following year).

    All of the above put me on the path of buying an older slide-in truck camper and truck (TBD on the truck still). That should allow me to take the wife and kids for a quasi vacation for them, shoot across the country as quickly and cheaply as possible (i.e., konk out in a wal-mart parking lot when I get too tired to drive), move the truck around every couple of days or so if I'm not seeing any elk, and haul ass back to MD if I get any meat on the pole.

    For the first year, I'll have far less in the whole deal deal than I would if I went on a guided hunt, and subsequent years are the price of a tag, fuel and food.

    I guess what I'm getting at is I'm making some progress on actually doing this, and I'm not encumbered by anyone else bailing out or bitching the whole time I'm out there. And it will be a helluva fun adventure for my kids.

    Brent
     

    MDHunter

    Ultimate Member
    Mar 12, 2007
    1,207
    Free America
    After many years hunting whitetails around here, interested in doing an elk hunt (rifle) in 2018, thinking Colorado for no real reason other than it's a little closer than NV, ID, MT, etc and thinking of driving out and back.

    Open to any advice, suggestions, anyone who may want to put a team together or add me to their team, etc. Not really into horseback and prob don't want to hike more than 5 or so miles a day and less is better. I have a quad that would be fun to ride in and out, not sure how that works. Don't want to drop the coin for a guided hunt. Thinking/guessing public land but wouldn't mind paying a little for a better chance (and less nimrods) on private land (trespass fee?). Camping would work as would hitting a cabin or motel every night.

    All i've done so far is hit the Colo state website and look at the areas and # hunters, # elk and success rates.

    Again, open to advice, suggestions, ideas, etc. thanks!

    Sign onto a website called HuntTalk (On Your Own Adventures) and take time to read through the Elk Hunting Forum there. From the threads I have seen, if you're hunting public land rifle season in CO, you're gonna have plenty of company and lots of guys walk a lot of miles to find elk.

    Not trying to dissuade you at all, but be honest with yourself about the shape that you're in. It's great to hike 2-3 miles in search of elk, but if you down an elk 3 miles from your vehicle and you're hunting alone, you're looking at a few days' effort to get all of that meat and the antlers back to the vehicle.

    Good luck, hope that you find a hunt that is fun and rewarding.
     

    AlBeight

    Member
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 30, 2017
    4,371
    Hampstead
    Subscribed to this thread as well. Interested in doing a self-guided Colorado trip myself. Trying to convince my 73 yr old father to go, but he’s having none of it. His older brother, my uncle, lives in Centennial just south of Denver. Driving around there there’s speedgoats everywhere, and from what my cousin says there’s elk nearby too. I figure I might get into that one day. My uncle mailed me a bunch of the DNR regs a few years ago, and frankly since I didn’t attend MIT I couldn’t make heads or tails of them. Over this winter I’ll be more serious about figuring this out. Uncle John wants me & Dad to stay with him as a home base for our hunt. Gonna see if I can make that work, even if I’m flying solo. Been some good advice on this thread so far, and I look forward to following the rest as it grows.
     

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