New Unit or Hunting Area - What are you looking for?

[AaronJohnson]

When looking for a new unit or hunting area, what are you looking for? What are you looking for in terrain features, online searches and the statistics posted by the DOW or otherwise? Be interested to hear the responses. Thanks guys!

 

[cohunter14]

There is a lot you can learn from the statistics page, including estimated harvest percentage and estimated number of hunters. That is definitely something I consider right off the bat. Preferably, I also look for a unit that has a draw option with lower participation, i.e. I can draw the unit as a second choice option and still get a preference point. This will also work for an over-the-counter unit, but I try to avoid an over-the-counter hunt simply because of the number of hunters (at least in rifle season). Another thing I look for is units where you can get either sex tags. At least I have started doing that lately.

One other thing you can use to your advantage on picking a unit is the CPW hunting atlas. Use it to see how much public land versus private land in a unit, how many roads there are, and where the elk might be at during the time of year you are planning on hunting.

As you get your choices down to a couple of units, I would also try calling the warden for the area and talk to them. Typically they can give you a good idea on the overall unit and might give you good ideas on where to start your search if you do pick that location.

Once you pick a unit to hunt, then the fun begins!

 

[cnelk]

Aaron,
I am researching the Wyoming area we drew as we speak. I have been there once, and with John?s time there we have been formulation a plan of attack.
But for right now, I have been using GE a lot. I pick an area then I zoom in and zoom out. I look at the same area from all directions N/E/S/W. I use tilt function to see the terrain at all directions. By doing this, I can see where pinch points are, how thermals will break over ridges, where draws meet meadows, possible bedding areas, water locations, etc.
I also use the distance tool to see how far from camp each area is and determine the best route to get to/from each area. If I need to hike 1 mile to get to a spot before daylight, I know it will take me no less than 30 min [depending on the terrain I see].
Soon I will preload waypoints in my GPS so when we do our 1 scouting trip, I can hike right to a certain spot.
I will also print aerials and mark them up, laminate them and have them to study/memorize before I get there.
To me, knowing the terrain is the key. The elk will be there. Somewhere.

 

[Swede]

I do similar research as Brad does. Besides hunter numbers, success rate and size/gender of animals, I look for drier lower elevation spots that will hold a few elk.

 

[Jaquomo]

After learning that the CO success and hunter number stats were way off in the new units I researched, I wasn\'t concerned with that anymore.

I started studying the road and ATV trail systems to find blocks of near-roadless areas that weren\'t designated wilderness (wanted to stay away from the Sitka Army that mobs the wilderness areas in these units). Closed logging roads were a plus, as I mostly hunt alone.

Then I started looking for terrain breaks with what appears to be water posibilities, some feeding meadows, and denser stands of timber on north-facing for bedding. Aligning Bing/GE with topos gave an idea of benches, saddles, finger ridges, and the overall steepness of the area. After that began the ground-work. I probably spent 50 days on the ground checking out different places over three summers before I hunted the units. Honestly, probably 80% of what I scouted was discarded for one reason or another.

But really, everything changed once I started hunting during season and learned where others were. I\'d printed out aerials of every place I figured was a possibility, and laminated them. Some spots I thought would have a bunch of hunters had none, and others had hunters where I didn\'t expect them. I stayed mobile and adjusted on the fly.

In general, I found that if I stayed away from designated wilderness and hunted an honest 1-2.5 miles from any road I was able to find elk, with virtually no hunter pressure. The majority of hunters hunting from roads/base camps seem to have no idea how far they really (don\'t) walk to hunt. They overestimate. I knew how far to go from plotting it out ahead of time, and rarely saw another hunter in the woods beyond 1/2 mile in.

 

[Deertick]

They overestimate.

Don\'t we all? :lol: There\'s an joke there, but I\'ll pass.

I am a map junkie. I love maps -- on-line, and paper. I have no idea if they really help, but I like to think that by looking at the map I can predict where other hunters are accessing the country ... and the next step is to assume that the elk know, too, and if they adjust accordingly, I should as well.

Even if maps aren\'t helpful, though, I love them ... they\'re magnetic for me.

 

[Olympushunt]

They overestimate.

Don\'t we all? :lol: There\'s an joke there, but I\'ll pass.

I am a map junkie. I love maps -- on-line, and paper. I have no idea if they really help, but I like to think that by looking at the map I can predict where other hunters are accessing the country ... and the next step is to assume that the elk know, too, and if they adjust accordingly, I should as well.

Even if maps aren\'t helpful, though, I love them ... they\'re magnetic for me.

That\'s funny John....I thought I was the only weird one. I loooove maps. 1 to 24Ks to be specific. Some have shoe fetishes...I have map fetishes. Don\'t get me wrong...I like my Google Earth but a good paper 7.5 minute map and I am happy. I really like ordering custom maps from mytopo. I have one quad map I custom ordered that would take 9 regular quad maps to encompass that area.
For me...I start with stats from fish and game. They provide a ton of info really. ODFW puts out how many hunters are in a unit for a hunt, their success and their success on mature animals. Then I head to my topo maps. I look for roadless areas, water, meadows and nasty canyons. The uglier the better. Then I head to GE to look for meadows, trails, wallows and even elk themselves. Finally it\'s boots on the ground time.
I find a ton of enjoyment in the homework of finding a new area.

 

[Jaquomo]

Olympus, CO CPW puts out the same statistics, but in many units they are way, way off. I\'ve talked with my local WCO about this and he has no answer for why they\'re so far off. They do a small random sampling and extrapolate from there, but my home unit that is historically around 7-8% success rate for archers for either sex (bulls+cows) suddenly jumped to 26%, with all bulls killed, no cows (I personally know of cows killed, and very few hunters who killed bulls). This was so inaccurate that it\'s almost fraudulent, and could lead some hunters to burn points to hunt this supposedly \"great\" zero-point unit. In reality, it\'s one of the toughest units in the state, not one of the best.

As for topos - I have TopoUSA on my computer, and it lets me zoom in and out to different resolutions as needed for any area. I can print them out for the cost of ink, tape them together if needed and laminate them. Can also save areas as \"projects\" and add push pins. Love that little program.

 

[Olympushunt]

Wow! That\'s ridiculous they can do that! I would be pretty upset burning my points on a hunt only to be misled like that! I agree...borderline fraudulent. ODFW does some \"new\" math too I\'ve seen. I have seen things like \" 2 spikes, 3 cows taken for a total of 6 animals for unit X.\" Hmmmm.....

I will check out that mapping program. I print out maps too and tape them together. I even bought waterproof paper but I more and more like having a full quad map. When you order them from mytopo you can choose to have them pre-folded or not. I like the idea of having a \"war\" room with poster sized quad maps to day dream from and mark spots I will visit. So sometimes I order pre-folded and other times not. You also can pay a bit more and have them printed on waterproof paper.

 

[Swede]

Remember GIGO? Garbage in, garbage out. In Oregon we have mandatory reporting. I know this will be hard to believe, but I am convinced some people lie when they report. No kidding. Before mandatory reporting, hunter surveys were taken. The data received was extrapolated on. Some units data, that had lots of hunters was more accurate, than those with only a few. At best, you would need to review several years worth of data, to get a good idea about the merits of a unit. Even then, cynical me, I suspect some hunters lied and covered up.

I do not think, we gain anything by not being honest with the system. If we say we got nothing, then the game department says to themselves \"people are not getting many elk and the herds are not growing\", so they manage accordingly, and restrict hunting. If we lie and say we got something, they do their surveys and say \"the herds are stable and hunters are doing well, so we can maintain or increase the tags offered\", yet the hunting is really poor already. I believe, we are better off being honest, and let the game departments manage based on accurate information.