Looking for help - DIY - hike out to camp in Routt NF, CO

[WIhunter]

Hello, first time on this thing. I am looking for some advice from someone who has hunted the area, or a direction to another area. This will be my third time out to CO. The first time was first rifle by Trapper's Lake in the Flatops. We had mules haul our crap up a few hours and hunted from there. I don't want to pay an outfitter. The second time was second rifle just north of New Castle, but we were outran by a bunch of horses.

I am now looking in Routt during first season. My goal is to hike a few hours with all of our stuff to get away from people and get into elk. (Get in elk... isn't that everyone's goal!?) Does anyone have any insight into which trails / roads most hunters spend their time on so I can go the other way? I'm looking into this area, as the topo doesn't look too incredibly steep. I've got two guys in my party that aren't in the best shape.

I'm open to other areas as well. I'll keep researching, but I think we'll be giving Routt a try in 2018.

Thanks, in advance, if anyone can give me some insight.

 

[WW]

Doesn't much matter where you go, you will run into hunters during the rifle seasons. By the way, first season is limited draw. Hope you have some points! You might try going up first creek as far as you can. Most hunters will be within a couple of miles from the road.

 

[cnelk]

Routt NF is huge. Lots of places to go
The area you mentioned is in a draw area if I remember correctly.
And as WW said the 1st rifle season is draw state-wide

I would also caution against naming a specific spot on any Internet forum
For obvious reasons

If you don?t have any PPs, I would look on pg 36 of the regulation booklet as see the otc units for 2nd & 3rd seasons.

There are also some draw units that take 0 PPs and you can find those by researching the CPW stats.

 

[cohunter14]

It looks to me like you should be able to get 1st season bull tags in that area with no preference points, assuming nothing changes in regards to tag allotment for next year and assuming you make that your first choice option. Cow tags are not guaranteed with zero points. Assuming you want to hunt bulls, I would definitely go with 1st rifle if you can. 2nd and 3rd rifle seasons are OTC in that area, which means you will get a lot more hunters.


Just a couple of additional thoughts for you: first, if guys you are going with aren't in that good of shape, maybe even considering camping off a road and hiking each day. This will make things a little easier on those guys and also allows you to be more mobile. If you hike into an area, you are pretty committed to that one spot, especially during a five day season like 1st rifle. Considering you don't have any experience in the area, that's a big roll of the dice. If you camp off a road, you are a truck drive away from a completely new area.


Overall, hiking in and packing your camp on your back has become the new 'fad' to escape the pressure of other hunters, but truthfully if you get more than a 1/2 mile off the road or use a terrain feature to your advantage (i.e. a steep hill climb, a steep hill decent, a creek crossing, etc), you will escape 90%+ of the other hunters. There are many folks who are successful in filling their tag every year who rarely even venture more than a mile or so from any road, so don't think you have to pack a camp in to be successful.


Hope that is somewhat helpful. I've never hunted in that area so can't help with specifics, but maybe someone else can. I believe you need to make at least three posts on the forum in order to receive private messages, so you consider doing that so someone can send you info privately instead of posting on the public forum for the world to see.


Good luck with your planning!

 

[WIhunter]

Well, here is post #2. Our tentative plan was to buy a Seek Outside tipi and have a second camp. Two of the guys would stay by the truck and camp from there and the rest of us would hike out, in theory to get away from people.

Is that the theory with road hunting? Sleep there and hike out a bit, then if you don't see any sign, drive up and hike out again???

 

[cohunter14]

Yes, by camping off a road at a truck, you can hit spots B, C, D, etc if spot A doesn't pan out. And you don't have to waste time moving your camp to do it. Just jump in the truck and go.


Again, don't think that you have to hike out with camp on your back to get away from people. It's not near as difficult to escape the pressure as you would think. Keep in mind that the majority of hunters who fill their tags every year are camped off a road, not packed in. As I mentioned earlier, packing camp in on your back is the new 'fad' and what everyone out there wants to do to escape pressure, but it certainly is not required to be successful. To be honest, I think the majority of folks who do that and hike in from a trailhead are probably dealing with more pressure in their areas than road hunters are simply because of how many people do the same thing. Because of this, IF you do decide to pack a camp in, I would highly recommend packing in from a random spot and not from a trailhead.


If you want evidence of how successful people can be by camping off a road and being mobile, just check out any of Randy Newberg's hunts on youtube or even the Born and Raised Outdoors 'Land of the Free' series they are doing right now. Only one of the five 'Land of the Free' hunts was packing camp in and they punched a lot of tags.

 

[big44a4]

I agree with not wasting time and committing to pack in an unknown area. Also second elk being closer to roads than you might think. Only elk I saw my first try this past year was <2 miles from a road. Spent many miles farther off with no luck. Not that it will always be the case given my small sample size, but just something I learned this season.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[cnelk]

I used to do ?death marches?, miles and miles looking for elk everyday.
Did pretty good but switched it up in 2009 and started hunting more methodical and using hunter pressure to my advantage

Since 2009, we?ve killed over 15 elk no further than 3/4 mi from a vehicle.
And the Closest pack out was 200yds to a truck.

Btw- I hunt Routt NF too

 

[WIhunter]

That sounds too good to be true. I seems like we?re reinventing the wheel. I know the death marches can yield great harvests, I?ve talked to others who have success road hunting and there are so many other theories.

That?s why I like the allure of elk hunting, it?s such a departure from what we do here in WI. I?ve got a 40 acre plot that I?ve been sitting on since I was 10. I know where they come and go. My favorite hunts have been the ones in the Rockies where I didn?t shoot anything.