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Colorado Unit 40 Hunters

If things don't change again and a bunch of high point holders don't cash in, I should draw a tag this year. Just curious about what guys who hunted it would/wouldn't do, timing, etc. I'm a little limited as I drew a few goat hunters here in Alaska, but I am going with an outfitter. Thanks for any feedback

There's a lot of discussion on here about 40 and much of it centers around how little public there is. I've never killed a bull with a bullet and am working on going with a unit 40 outfitter in 2020, 2019 if he gets an opening. Will be my first ever outfitted trip.

How many points are you going into the draw with, Frank?

11

Frank, you will be right on the edge to draw archery and the only rifle you might have a chance at is 4th. There are permits for sale (landowner) but I have no knowledge of that process.

Mike Lawson with Trophy Class Outfitters. Even if a guy has a hard time swinging it this year, wait until next year to get the most out of your coveted tag. Good luck!

Good luck Frank! As good of a unit as they get! Hopefully we can meet up there this year

Mike is who I'm hunting with, heard a lot of good things about him

Just looked at his web site. Try talking him into better pics, his trophy photos are a notch or two below junior varsity.

Mike has decent bulls on the property but they aren't always there. (He doesn't have the acreage the big ranches do) The herd moves like all elk do, and can have down days. With only a week to hunt I wouldn't be too picky.

I'd hunt 40 in a heartbeat! Was in Junction long enough to see some of the bulls that came out of there. Love the Western Slope!

Wilderness, thanks for the input, first I've heard that. Few guys I talked to who hunted there killed great bulls (320-350) and said it was the best elk hunt they'd been on. Lucky enough to have killed some bulls, so can be picky and if I eat the tag, no worries.

Mike advertises 13,000 acres. That's 20 square miles??? Seems like enough. I asked one of his reviewers (helped him out on the Haul Road) and he had great praise for him. Said he was going back.

more like 4.5 square miles

JRB, you’re math is wrong. Larry’s is right. 640 acres in a square mile = 20.3 square miles.

Misinterpreted as 20x20 miles, my bad.

Anyway, know the area well. Great area for 300-320 bulls. Mike's place gets a fair bit more pressure than the surrounding ranches. But it is about the only easily booked and affordable private land hunt in 40.

The entire unit 40 is almost 20 miles by 20 miles. Mikes area is a fraction of the entire unit 40. 20 square miles would be 5 miles x 4 miles....which sounds about right for the property he hunts.

14000 is not a lot of area by elk standards. I guide on a 20K acre ranch, and we have to be very careful how we hunt in order to prevent running all the animals off the property.

That's the tough thing about 40, all the private. Even if you do have access to a ranch you can't chase the elk onto the neighbors and of course elk don't care who owns what. Mike is a good outfitter, and hunts his property carefully including sanctuary areas you can't go so just because there is a lot of land doesn't mean there are screaming bugles every day. He also maximizes the business and books as many hunters he has room for, (many of the have "long arms" with their kill ;) Not sure which week you are planning to go?

The Muzzy hunt there is the best since you can kill a bull when you see it, while in my experience archery takes longer. That's my biggest concern with outfitters only selling a week long archery hunt, 10 days should be minimum.

Over the last 10 yrs hunting archery 40 (public) it has taken my friends and Myself 20+ days to connect on decent 300"+ bulls.

WW has it right. Archery takes longer although the best bull I've ever taken was on day 1 of a 3 week hunt. 13K acres isn't forever and as pointed out you must be careful. It probably wouldn't suit many who think if they just keep pushing you'll eventually get them.

I hunt a ranch in WY that's got elk habitat, but in fairly small canyons and we are very careful. Don't hesitate to back out if things change and never do we try to cheat the wind. Hunt with trad gear and are not time limited.

I'd really rather sneak in and hunt water. Though chasing bugles is fun and effective, water is deadly, especially early. Glad to hear Mike hunts it smart

I hunted with Mike on the rifle hunt in 2015 and would love to go back for archery. I was able to score on a bull that scored 336 and had 12" broken off so would have been close to 350. He runs a great operation! I wouldn't hesitate at all to hunt with Mike.

I hunted with mike last year with my two brothers and our dad. We hunted the last week of archery and harvested 3 bulls that scored 327-330". We saw a lot of elk and my one brother that didn't harvest a bull passed a few including a couple around the 300" mark. He had an opportunity at a big 7 pt the last day, had him bedded at 35yds but the bull got up and walked away never presenting a shot. The 14,000 acres is not all connected, there are a few draws and ridges that are separated that they put 1 hunter in. Mike, Miranda, and their crew are some of the nicest people you can hope to hunt with. Its not a large ranch so understand you will be somewhat limited depending on how many hunters are there and how long it takes to fill the other tags. There were 6 of us in camp and one guy missed two bulls and wounded another, he had a great area but couldn't tag out so he hunted it all 7 days. Another guy missed one and wounded another as well so it kept those areas locked up instead of being able to rotate hunters through areas as they opened. They hunt the areas cautiously as to not bump the elk on to the neighboring ranches. The area I hunted bumped up against another large ranch that is no longer hunted so if the elk get bumped over they don't come back very quickly. At the end of the day we were happy with our results going 3 for 4 on bulls that we hoped to have chances at. The guides worked very hard to put us on elk and the food and people are first class! It was hard to not just go chase bulls considering we've never hunted private land and have always been DIY public land hunters. Having the patience to sit and watch big bulls bugle all morning and not go after them was something I was not prepared to do and mentally I struggled with that the first few days...I harvested my bull on the 6th evening and couldn't have been happier in the end!

Great bulls, congrats & thanks for the info

That was an awesome hunt! Pretty sure it doesn't get any better than that in Colorado! Congratulations!

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