Colorado unit 49

[montanaelk31]

Montana guy here, drew archery unit 49 with a buddy in Colorado. 4th state I will have hunted elk in. Love taking our "show" on the road. So we have a bunch of experience in OTCs and have done pretty well.. Feel like we can find where elk should be, and call them in.  [/size]Yes, 49 is a draw but its not like its a legendary unit or anything. Pref point creep was catching up. Coupla questions for those that have hunted it successfully over the years, particularly archery...Pressure- how much and where was it the worst?Would you recommend bivy or truck camping?How much did pressure increase with Muzzleloader season, significant?When was the "peak of the Rut" when you hunted it?


Thanks in advance
Dennis

 

[cohunter14]

Dennis, I've never hunted there but quickly pulled numbers on the unit. There are 170 archery tags given out for 49 and there are 140 muzzleloader tags, so pressure should certainly increase a bit during that week. Good luck!

 

[Elk Noob]

I know of at least 3 people that hunted it last year during various season. All got bulls, none saw monsters.

During archery I heard there was plenty of bugling pretty much the whole month. I was in the woods during 1st rifle glassing for a couple friends and still heard bugling and saw tons of elk.

There is a lot of pressure from both Hunters, and recreationalists, but the Elk didn't really seem to mind that much. We truck camped and were able to access everything int he morning/evening relatively easy.

If you're looking for huge bulls this isn't the unit to go to honestly, but if you're looking for a good, fun hunt you'll have a great time. Take the first 300" bull you see because there aren't many in there.

 

[montanaelk31]

Dennis, I've never hunted there but quickly pulled numbers on the unit. There are 170 archery tags given out for 49 and there are 140 muzzleloader tags, so pressure should certainly increase a bit during that week. Good luck!

Yeah was looking at that and figured the MZ guys that draw the unit are pretty committed given the number of points it would take to draw. Our initial plan here is to go Sept 3-13. So far, I think that sounds better than after mz season.  Thank you!

 

[montanaelk31]

I know of at least 3 people that hunted it last year during various season. All got bulls, none saw monsters.

During archery I heard there was plenty of bugling pretty much the whole month. I was in the woods during 1st rifle glassing for a couple friends and still heard bugling and saw tons of elk.

There is a lot of pressure from both Hunters, and recreationalists, but the Elk didn't really seem to mind that much. We truck camped and were able to access everything int he morning/evening relatively easy.

If you're looking for huge bulls this isn't the unit to go to honestly, but if you're looking for a good, fun hunt you'll have a great time. Take the first 300" bull you see because there aren't many in there.

Thanks for the information, man. Greatly appreciated.  Not looking for any size in particular, just the opportunity to call in multiple bulls.  I'll likely take the first 3 year old I get a shot at.  We have so many predators in Montana that it limits the amount of elk you can call in. At least in the wolf/grizzly areas I hunt.  I hunt multiple states so that I can experience elk acting like elk!  thanks again

 

[mandrroofing]

HELLO,I have the same archary tag in 49.should be a fun hunt[emoji106]

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

 

[wapiti_will]

Hunted 49 the entire archery season a few years ago.  Now that archery runs during the entire month of September, this year you get a week and a half after muzzleloader ends rather than just a week...so hunting the end of the season might be a good option if you're wanting more screaming bulls and calling action.  It was very quiet the first two weeks I hunted there, then bulls started to get fired up, then shut down when muzzleloaders start cracking off, and finally got fired up again a few days after muzzleloader ended.  The last weekend was a blast for sure, and guessing the point creep comes more from the quality of the hunt vs the size of the bulls (although I did see some nice bulls).  Not sure how the fires last summer may have impacted elk movement in the areas I hunted, but you're welcome to PM me and I can probably point you to a couple areas that will produce some elk.

 

[AJHURD]

Dennis,


I sent you a private message with a question about the unit.


Thanks,
AJ