colorado unit suggestions please

[soulsld]

I am looking for suggestions on units that is wilderness only where atvs and vehicles are not allowed. hoping to park and pack in up to 6-8 miles and hunt from there everyday. hoping to start my research now and get more when co dnr puts out its harvest report and population records

 

[huntelk1]

Hey man.  Lived here last 25 years.  Bowhuntin for the last 21.  Its becoming hard to truly get away anymore.  My advice to you is if you're goin  in that far think about how you plan to get all that meat out before our the warm weather  spoils it!  12 to 18 miles per trip at altitude x 3 trips = SUCKS!  Bring couple buddies and or horses which opens up another can of worms. 

 

[soulsld]

there are two of us going and I am currently training rucking with a 80lb pack once a week 10 miles right now besides the stairclimber and other stuff working out. it may not be that far in if i can find a good spot. unless you have some other suggestions

 

[huntelk1]

I live near Steamboat Springs.  No lack of elk or public land.  U can find them from 6000' to 10,000'+ !
My zirkel wilderness area has some good access and some nice bulls.  Gore pass area(units 15/27) not wilderness and lots of roads.  Colo river area (units 34,35,36,etc) tons of blm and getting some huge bulls around there.  Helped pack out 2 bulls over 340 this past fall.  Call cdow and talk with a few people there they r great wardens around here and are always willing to help hunters be successful.  I've seen in the past when the harvest reports come out that high success units get pounded the next year.  Its happened in some of my spots over the years .

 

[NolanOutdoors]

2012 we went into GMU 54 in the West Elks Wildness area using a drop camp operator, Eagle Mountain Outfitters. Jon with Eagle Mountain took us 12 miles via horseback into the wildness and put use in a camp that no one had been to since the first rifle season last year. Same song different verse, no elk, no bulging, warm weather, make that almost hot weather. Three of us saw only a handful of elk all week. Jon’s other camps were having similar poor results. A few got on elk but nothing close. Each night you check in via radio and we were up high enough, 10,500 feet, that we could hear every conversation with other camps.
I loved going into the wildness area. First time I have ever hunted a week and not seen a foot print that I did not make. I have never hunted a week without running into another hunter, even though one of our guys bumped into a couple of people from Jon’s camp that was about 5 miles downstream from us. I have never been to a place that I felt at any moment the black timber could come alive with elk at any time. I have never been awakened from a noontime nap by a bear from 10 feet away. Never has my back hurt so bad from a 4.5-hour horseback ride getting up the mountain or a 4-hour ride down that same mountain. I have never been to a place where nothing, I mean nothing is level. That is some steep country.
For the life of me, I do not know how in the heck anyone would be able to backpack into the area you need to get into in that part of the unit. There may be other ways to access it but if you can walk in via the Soap Creek trail, and then pack out an elk you sir, are THE MAN. If you take Cameron Hanes and Chuck Norris with you then you might make it. Unless you are an iron man that lives at 10,000 feet my money goes to the search and rescue team that care flights you out.
Just so you know, just to drive to the trail head at Soap Creek it took several hours using 4x4 a couple of times. If it rains, you have to have chains on all four tires, just to get to where you park the truck. Did I mention how rough the country is?
 

 

[Mountain Bowhunter]

yeah I had considered colorado for a diy over the counter hunt next fall but everything i have read says if you don't know where to go you're likely to see more hunters than elk.  apparently there is tremendous pressure

 

[soulsld]

well ive heard a few times to contact colorado dept of parks and wildlife for info so i will start there. and see where it gets me thanks for the info

 

[COelkaholic88]

Ive hunted OTC tags almost my whole hunting career in Colorado. One thing is a definite, and that is you will have overcrowded areas almost anywhere you go. but most of these hunters are lazy and road hunt. I have only hunted units 68,681,and 67. A great OTC is unit 68 more specifically saguache park area. There is limited road access and endless supply of wilderness to be hunted. I get asked a lot by out of state hunters where to go and I say one thing. Elk are everywhere. The question isn't necessarily where to go but how far are you willing to go. If you get out and walk your butt off you can usually find elk with general knowledge even with big crowds. Another great OTC unit I hear of is unit 82. Ive never hunted it but i do know there are thousands of elk there. Most is private land on the blm but if your willing to put effort into it, and hike the Sangre de Christo mountains, you should have no trouble finding elk. The Sangres are all wilderness trails and don't get much pressure. However the terrain is horrifically steep.

 

[indianw]

I have hunted in the flattops I go back between 5 and 8 miles I know the outfitter back there and his clients don't get very far from there camps my first Elk hunt was in 2010 seen elk and a couple of bulls, shot my first Elk a nice 6 point in 2011 and shot another nice bull in 2012 seen lots of Elk but I hunt were most people won't go its dark, steep and nasty but has been well worth it. I contacted CDW and talked to them then contacted the local game warden he told me some drainages to try and it has worked out good so far good luck
http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd472/Indianw/P1080264.jpg
This my camp 5.5 miles back I hunt solo.

 

[Jimbow65]

Wilderness areas are all the rage these days, but don't overlook forest service land and BLM land that may be overlooked. The area we hunt is not Wilderness, but if you get out about  1 1/2 miles, especially rugged terrain the ATV'ers don't go there.