opening weekend

[ctdad]

If you are hunting the opening weekend in Colorado, which kind of hunting methods do you use?

Cold calling using cow calls?
Location bugles just like during the rut, then moving in and cow call/bugle?
Spot and stalk?
Sitting over wallows and water sources?
All of the above?
Something else?

Does your approach change compared to three weeks later in the season?

 

[cnelk]

I have never missed opening weekend.
And I have never taken an elk then either!
Plenty of opportunity tho.

Cold calling using cow calls? Yes, most definitely

Location bugles just like during the rut, then moving in and cow call/bugle?
Not unless Im hearing bugles

Spot and stalk? Not so much

Sitting over wallows and water sources? Sometimes, depends on the weather


Does your approach change compared to three weeks later in the season? No, same as above

 

[Colorado_Lew]

For me all of the above.
I\'ve taken 6 bulls opening day and several more during the opening weekend here.
Some years the bulls can be very vocal on the opener, others you never hear a bugle until after the 7th of Sept.
Sitting on wallows can be very productive, as can watching parks late afternoon and calling a bull over when one appears.
Spot and stalk can be the ticket depending on how dry it is, mostly the leaves haven\'t fallen yet.

 

[F M]

In the area we hunt now the first couple of days are the best then around a week later it gets better again.

It is allways hot and dry so hunting around water is allways good.
We do some cold calling.
Spot and stalk. Not in this area because it is so thick in most spots they could be 20 yards for you and you can\'t see them.

To tell you the truth we really hunt them like I hunt whitetails here. Tree stands in well known travel spots and around water. And on the ground in travel areas.

 

[JJ OVERKILL]

im not doing what I did last yr, I filled my tag on day 3 of the season. so that means no bugling and soft chuckles for me this yr

 

[Deertick]

Opening day will by spot-and-stalk for me this year ... on pronghorn.

The opener in WY is Sept. 1 ... I think it\'d be pretty tough to get to my area, kill an elk, AND get it out in one day ... I\'ll try speed goats that day.

But if I had more time, I\'d be doing the cold-calling thing.

 

[ctdad]

JJ, I read your story but now I can\'t recall the details. Did you do bugle and chuckles as a cold calling setup or was he talking too? Did he come in silent or did he call to you?

I\'ve never hunted that early in the season and this year I\'m going to be hunting the first four days of the colorado season. It\'s an area I\'ve been in during the last couple weeks of the season, but never the opening weekend. I\'m just trying to make a game plan going in.

 

[JJ OVERKILL]

I was in a area that i felt was holding elk andi gave a bugle waited 30sec and gave some light chuckles. It was a cold call. The bull came in silent. I was just fortunate enough to be looking in his direction.

 

[Stringunner]

I will more than likely be sitting tree stands but all of the above can work.

 

[trophyhill]

I cow call mostly early season. After reading what some have wrote, (accept JJ) I may mix it up a bit more this year. I do like to still hunt too. Almost closed the deal opening morning a few years ago while still hunting. That 5 year old cow sure would have tasted good.

 

[elkmtngear]

Like others, a lot of calling setups, but I\'ll still hunt as well.

I\'ve walked into elk in their bedroom many times when they are not sounding off (I often smell them first).

If it gets good and warm...I\'ll be looking for high waterholes mid-day.

Evenings are usually calling and/or ambushing outlets to feeding areas...or sitting a tree stand if I know of one that I think will produce.

IF my routine changes, it usually means someone has flipped the switch and the bulls are sounding off...then, I\'m runnin\' and gunnin\' :upthumb:

 

[ctdad]

If it gets good and warm...I\'ll be looking for high waterholes mid-day.

When you are sitting waterholes, do you set up the slip system and how do you use it? Are you behind it? is it off to one side of the water and you the other?
I\'ll have one in hand on my trip opening weekend.

 

[elkmtngear]

If it gets good and warm...I\'ll be looking for high waterholes mid-day.

When you are sitting waterholes, do you set up the slip system and how do you use it? Are you behind it? is it off to one side of the water and you the other?
I\'ll have one in hand on my trip opening weekend.

Pat, I\'ll put on a camo cover if I\'m sitting a mid-day waterhole...so I\'ll tuck into a \"natural blind\" and use it as frontal cover where I think I need it. I don\'t want to chance using a decoy because animals in general seem to come into water on their guard, and it could potentially spook a young bull to see elk near water (thinking he\'s gonna get his ass kicked).

Lou Phillippe uses this same type of setup on his Plains Muley hunts, and he and his partner killed two monster bulls from this blind (with Trad Bows), just a couple days apart, last September: