The Orange Army

U

Ucsdryder

New member
Aug 3, 2017
392
Being my first year living in Colorado and having resident status I got as many elk and deer tags as I could, including a 2nd season rifle buck and doe in a LE unit with leftovers. Most of my hunting has been archery but I figured what the heck, how hard could it be to find a doe to fill the freezer. Opening morning had me walking a ridge before first light working toward a place I could glass some sage between 2 aspen groves.

15 minutes after legal shoot time I hear rustling coming from the aspens...a member of the orange army. He kept moving closer and at about 100 yards he looked up...startled and annoyed I was standing in his path. I decided to move out to get away from him and other hunters coming up from the roads. As I walked I bumped into another hunter....then another...then another...every nob had a hunter, every ridge, every single hillside. It was crazy. I kept moving, looking for a spot to get away, used to archery hunting where the nearest hunter was across a 2 miles canyon. I never got away, but as I sat there I thought...\"the Russians better not invade the US.\" The orange army is strong in rank, and do a crap ton of shooting at first light on opening morning!

I am heading back up tomorrow, as usual, by myself, looking for some meat for the freezer. My 3 year old is cheering me on and my wife thinks it\'s a game...a sick game, where she asks me if I killed something, obviously waiting for the answer she already knows...nope. Then she laughs!!!

Elk season was a bust, even though I had a great time, I have Saturday to stumble upon a deer and then one more cow elk tag before I start thinking about next year. The goal next year is to find a place away from the crowds, which might be easier said than done!
 
Howdy Ucs...~ Welcome!

Like I mentioned to you in the PM, it seems as tho there is growing pains for newcomers that come hunting in Colorado - part of a process it seems
I remember it well

There are plenty here on BTO that live and hunt here in Colorado and thats what we do, help each other.
You mentioned you are in the N Denver area and that gives you a couple avenues to some decent areas

Read thru some of the elk and deer threads as there is some good info that you can glean - ask questions!

How do you like to hunt?
Archery and rifle? One more than the other?
Base camp near truck?
Spike camp in?
Bivy?

I think there will some good opportunities for you once it all comes together!

Brad
 
Welcome to the site USC :up thumb:

Good luck to you on the rest of your hunts.
I hope the orange army doesn\'t bother you too much.

Maybe you can find a nice spot and have all of them push all the deer to you. ;)
 
Thanks guys! It was my goal to find a place to sit and wait and watch for deer but that didn\'t work out. I think I was the guy everyone else was waiting to come by and push deer around! I am hoping this storm gets them up and moving, at least it will quiet things down. Those dry aspen leaves are ridiculously loud! I will let you know how tomorrow morning goes. Only have one day to hunt, one of my daughters is turning 4 on Sunday.

Yeah I was smart enough to get pp for deer, elk, antelope and start the process for moose, sheep and goats. I have 1 point for each at this time

I guess a little about myself to answer cnelk questions....

I am set up for backpack or base camp hunting. I invested in some lightweight backpacking gear and a Kifaru pack this summer. The Kifaru packs are excellent btw. I even picked up a delorme to appease the wife that hates me hunting alone. I really like archery elk hunting (for reasons stated above) but I am not a purist and am fine rifle hunting for deer and cow elk. I have 2 little ones at home who love elk meat and there isn\'t much better source of organic protein out there so my goal is meat in the freezer! Being new to co I am hunting by myself which is fine for now.
 
Welcome USC! I\'ve also experienced the army you speak of, but that was a long time ago & before switching to archery only for big game. It\'s crowded during archery season in most areas as well, but not the same as rifle seasons. Getting farther away from the front range helps but finding solitude is nearly impossible....Anywhere! Good luck filling those tags this fall & again :welcome: to the party!
 
Welcome Ucsdryder! This can be a problem depending on where and when you are hunting in Colorado. As Buglemaster mentioned, hunting units farther away from the front range helps. It also helps to get off of the main roads and trails. I am also a rifle hunter and I have very rarely ever run into a hunter when I am more than a half mile from a road. Most hunters simply don\'t venture that far out. You can also look for certain terrain to help get you away from the crowds: a steep slope or a large creek crossing can sometimes unlock miles and miles of unhunted terrain.

Give us some more details on your hunt, if possible. Not necessarily where exactly you are hunting, but some generalities. How far off a road are you getting? Is there a lot of public land in that unit, or are you restricted to a few choices? Any information you can provide can help us give you more suggestions and ideas. Feel free to PM me as well if you want to go into more detailed information that you don\'t want to share with everyone on the internet. I\'d be happy to help out!
 
Welcome to the forum Ucs. It sounds like you better stick with bow hunting. I know I prefer to hunt when I have a better chance of shooting something than being shot. No combat hunting for me. I am allergic to flying bullets.
 
\"Swede\" said:
Welcome to the forum Ucs. It sounds like you better stick with bow hunting. I know I prefer to hunt when I have a better chance of shooting something than being shot. No combat hunting for me. I am allergic to flying bullets.
Click to expand...

No experience yet, but I am fairy confident I too am allergic to flying bullets. I too prefer to bow hunt but I also like meat in the freezer. Figured my chances of shooting a cow/deer would be higher with a rifle, we will see though.

I don\'t think I am giving any secrets away, I have rifle deer tag for 181 and hunting over by chimney rock along with every other person in Colorado!!! :lol:

I will be in gmu27 November 11-14 for a cow hunt...hoping some weather pushes them down!

I definitely tried to get away but that sage brush country is loaded with roads. You basically end up walking into another road.

I too enjoy pictures. Hopefully I have something better than my ugly mug to send you guys tomorrow!
 
I don\'t know much about 181, but there definitely isn\'t much for public land there. Having said that, I did take a quick look and have a recommendation. PM Sent...
 
Thanks co Hunter checked it out and I think you\'re right. If I have time tomorrow I am going to check it out.
 
Well boys, I got bloody today. Definitely not Bambi\'s dad...lets just say he will eat really well! Head shot, dropped immediately and got the guts and skin off within 45 minutes and cooled down. Should be excellent.

Had a decent little 3 point that was 10 steps on private and had zero intentions of crossing into public, so my consolation prize was a dink!

Excited to put some meat in the freezer. Prefer elk (wife isn\'t a big fan of venison so I end up eating it by myself). Can\'t wait for some chicken fried venison chops!
 
There\'s no getting away completely but it\'s amazing how few people there were vs opening weekend.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

No members online now.
Total: 250 (members: 0, guests: 250)

Latest posts

Share this page

Back
Top