solo elk OTC what unit?
Elk
What unit would you choose to hunt a solo pack in hunt in C olorado? thanks for any thoughts!
...with 17 PPs for Res and 21 PPs for Non-Res?
Man that's gotta be some darn good elk hunting
Ive done well in 75- or 24 no points needed. Its rugged-no motorist vehicles- on a trailhead hunt in CO you need to stay with units that have no motorist access-horses only. I pick the roughest terrerain to get away from other hunters that allows me to get back 1 mile and be bymyself- remember you have to pack it out-I rarely go over 1.5 miles from a trailhead, but have had great success including a 320 6x6 in 2010- on a trailhead hunt.
61 first, 76 second...if i had my choice of any unit- grin
Really, any of the OTC units will offer what you're looking for. You won't know where hunters are or aren't until you're on the ground.
A good friend packed 4 hours into a remote wilderness basin this year that he'd hunted for years and never saw anyone. I think he saw 10 other hunters, had an altercation with a couple guys who didn't want him to camp where he'd always camped. You never know.
Like Jaquomo said, until you get there you will not know what hunters are there or not. Many guys are willing to get back in now days, so you might be just as good closer to the trailhead. That is also better for you if you are solo.
I am with Beendare on this one. 61 then 76. 2, 10 and 201 are definitely out of reach. Heck 61 probably is as well if you have little to no points. One day I will catch 76.
getting way back into a remote wilderness is way overrated without horses. If you don't know where you are going and cannot scout it you are far better off to stay mobile and not commit to a specific area.
"One day I will catch 76."
I disagree......in Colorado if you can't draw 76 now..you never will be able to draw it as it's the unit everyone is going to when they give up on 61 and 201. I just burned 15 points on it a couple of years ago.
Hiking in a few miles might be overrated, especially hunting the week plus, prior to the ML season. After that, ok but now many seems to have learned to bivi hunt and stay in a week or so, so even 2-3 miles off the trail head or highway may not be far enough.
Some areas early on, the hunting can be ok nearer to the road, that is until the elk get pushed farther back but not all elk head farther back, they may just seek a dark hidding spot.
For example, I day- hunted four different small drainages last year within a mile of the State Highway and each dranage had a bull that I encountered. Sometimes I could hear the traffic on the highway and that noise does not bother the elk but being pushed by a few hunters does.
I agree, try to stay away from any trilheads and if possible, hike across country.
Luckyleo- you are looking for an OTC unit right? The units mentioned here are draw units.
Strait arrow, I have to disagree with you on both accounts. Two years ago I hunted a wilderness area without ever laying eyes on it other then google earth. My partner and I hiked in 4.5 miles set up camp and seen elk every day. Had a couple of close calls that we should have capitalized on. We left thinking it was a successful hunt and we never released an arrow. As for 76. If you take the total point holders ahead of me in all them units I will catch it in ruffly 6 years. The only thing I can not predict is the guys laying in the "buy a point crowd" but there can't be that many to knock me out completely.
I do think the OP was asking about OTC units as well and it's a pretty vague question if you ask me. They all have ups and downs and they all have elk. There are a lot of variables to consider when picking a unit.
Great point "FullDraw1972".
I have hunted and OTC unit in Colorado for six years. Been fortunate enough to take four bowls out of the six years two of them were on a pack in over 4 miles. Long pack out but I will do it again. Maybe horses will be the way to go when I am 60+. At 47 I am still packing in and packing Bulls out. I live for it.
We see lots of elk just of the roads the first week but do go in closer to the rut. We get away from the ML hunters and have had some good success.
LuckyLeo- have you hunted elk in CO before?
Fulldraw, I hope you catch one of the units, because it is a great experience. When cnelk posted the spreadsheet showing the number of people holding each number of points, it was astounding how many mid-range are out there. Hard to say how many are rifle hunters and MLs. Likely lots hoping to catch the Big 3.
The buy a point gang may be bigger than you think. We didn't ever apply until I had 18 and my partner had 20. The minimum to draw has been going up by one every year there as people cash in the points they're holding.
Best of luck and I hope you get there.
Wow Lou...two DECADES of amassing points!! I'd better start saving ;)
The OP asked about OTC units which I have never hunted in CO.
As far as 76, I am one of those whom have NEVER applied for a license. 12 PP's and counting. Plenty of folks just like me. I have studied the stats and I am still not a lock. At current pace and assuming no rule changes, you have been able to gain about 1 point every 5 years or so, regarding 76. Top end units are much worse.
"Two years ago I hunted a wilderness area without ever laying eyes on it other then google earth. "
I have done the same thing many times but the bottom line is that you lucked out with a good spot. I used to think my map scouting was superior and infallable as well. I assure you it will not always work out like that. all I am saying if you can only move by foot you are seriously restricting your opportunities. If you are already on them and they are thick as fleas on a dog then it don't matter.
ELKDIY Last year i hunted with a outfitter near meeker in unit 31 with four other hunter friends on a drop camp. this year friends are not sure about going back. So if I go alone this year im trying to get as much info as possible. Because now i am hooked for life.31 is a draw unit. ??? so if i dont get a draw can i still purchase a OTC tag? just looking for a little help.. thanks
No way of knowing how many of these are rifle hunters vs others, but there are a lot of points to be burned
Wow, I've never seen that photo before. Not mine. Let's try this again!
ELKDIY Last year i hunted with a outfitter near meeker in unit 31 with four other hunter friends on a drop camp. this year friends are not sure about going back. So if I go alone this year im trying to get as much info as possible. Because now i am hooked for life.31 is a draw unit. ??? so if i dont get a draw can i still purchase a OTC tag? just looking for a little help.. thanks
Luckyleo, You sure can buy a otc tag if you don't draw.
Luckyleo- as teeton said, yes you can buy an OTC tag if you don't draw. As far as which otc unit to hunt it's truly hit or miss, most units hold elk you just have to find em. Not sure how accurate the stats are but a good place to start is by visiting the cdow website and find the hunt statistics pages and do the research. It will give you an amount of elk killed in any specific unit for any specific season and will give you the amount of hunters who hunted that unit therefore providing you with a success %. Cross reference this with the hunting atlas on the website and you can find some good time info. Make sure the unit you are looking into has a good amount of public land to hunt and have a great time! Good luck.
The chart is a little confusing. What I mean is, it has zero point holders, but how would the DOW know how many people are going to apply this year. If someone applies for the first time, shouldn't they have one point.
I guess what I am asking is, shouldn't those listed as having zero points, have one point, and then wouldn't everyone else move down one notch?
I hope this makes sense. Regardless, I see where everyone stands, I just don't understand how anyone would have zero points, or is this the number of people that as of last year, either used their points, or had no points and bought a license. I really can't make sense of the zero points things.
Personally, I have 16 points and it is nice to see that I am closer to the top, but between those in the point pools ahead of me, and those in my point pool, it totals about 4,000. So if even 50 applicants ahead of me use their points for whatever unit, that still leaves about 80 years before being at the top. Of course, I would never stay in that long even if I could. Actually it makes me wonder how many of these guys with close to 20 points would still even be able to hunt, especially in 10 more years. That thought may seem strange, but just say 20 percent of those with more than 20 points started accruing points at the age of 50 or older, they would now be 70+. It just kind of makes me wonder about staying in, even 10 more years.
24 is a decent archery draw unit for archery, however it is OTC for rifle hunting.
You would probably be surprised about age and PP's. we have 20 and dad is turning 70 and I'm early 40's.
We are planning to draw a NW corner archery tag.
We were in the same group as Lou and he hunted 3 seasons ago now.
I take it as those were that years applicants. So that is the amount of people that applied with 0 pts.
ToddT that's the bottom line summary from the 2014
Hunt Recap Report spread sheet.
It's simply the total number of applicants in each point class who applied in the '14 draw.
Interesting to note that more than 67,000 of them applied for points only.
ToddT, I wonder if that is not total elk applicants and there points?
Well in the Op he didn't specify OTC- thus my answer.
He doesn't NEED to draw those units to hunt them...there are LO tags...but you guys knew that.
Beendare,
Read the title of this thread ;^)
sticksender, I applied for points-only for 18 years and hunted OTC until I had enough where I believed I'd caught the creep for unit 2. It worked out in my first year of actually applying.
Now I'm hunting a unit that takes zero points but can only be drawn first choice because they cut back the tags. Quite a few guys I know who don't pay attention have tried to draw it as second choice the past few years, getting PP as first choice, and can't understand why they don't draw it anymore. I saw that this past year a good number of people with 1-7 points drew my unit, apparently tired of chasing points so they cashed in. For me, my elk point collecting days are over.
Dido Jaquomo! I cashed in as well and hunt an OTC one year then a unit that only takes 1 point to draw the next year. It works well enough and beats the hell out of hunting Utah for Spike and Cow.
As I am researching OTC units again, I have a question concerning the stat sheets. For OTC units, how do they know how many hunters hunted in the unit?
"hunt an OTC one year then a unit that only takes 1 point to draw the next year"
I am now on that program as well....I don't mind saving up a couple of points. There are lots of 2 pt or less units.
as I am new to the diy CO elk game I really need to figure out this whole point system
ELKDIY i never got your pm???
kyhunter, while you're learning, put in for a preference point every year as your first choice (app deadline is in April) and hunt OTC to gain experience before you use your points to draw a better unit. There are some very good units that take only 2 points, as Straight Arrow notes.
Buckfevered, they have no idea. Nor do they have any true handle on the harvest. They do a random sampling of some hunters and then use a formula based upon historic trends to extrapolate.
The new unit I'm hunting typically has around a 7-8% success rate, though many years the CPW stats show NO cows killed, only bulls. I know for a fact that cows are killed, but I believe they are pretty close on the success percentage.
Then one year the success percentage jumped up to 24%, all bulls, no cows. Nothing changed with the elk herd in that one year. Just a statistical anomaly because the real success rate was likely around the same 7-8%. Then the year after that it dropped back down where it belonged, @7.5%
The other thing to be cautious about is the private vs. public land success ratio and hunting pressure in OTC units. A unit I'm very familiar with has a pretty high success ratio according to the stats, around 17%. But the public land success is very low, probably less than 5% for bulls and cows combined. It is skewed because of the private/outfitted hunting success where the elk flee as soon as the pressure hits.
so if I understand this correctly, I can just basically buy a point once a year without actually entering a draw? meanwhile hunt otc untis to get some experience and then when I feel like I have " bought" enough points to hunt a unit that I think is promising enter the drawing for that particular unit? its that simple?
Yep. That simple.
Every state has a different system. In WY you just pay $50 for the point and can buy it online until September.
In CO you have to apply for it through the regular application process and put in a hunt code of "PP-999-99-P" for your first choice. Used to only cost an application fee of around $3.00 for nonresidents, but they changed it for NRs to require those who didn't buy a hunting or fishing license the previous year to pay a $40 application fee.
The mistake some people make is just applying for points but not hunting elk. Then when they draw a premier unit, they don't have the experience needed to be successful. Saw it happen with the son of a friend who hunted CO unit 2 with 17 points. He didn't know how to elk hunt, as his dad had been getting points for him since he was 12. Saw some big bulls but totally struck out in three weeks of hunting.
"In WY you just pay $50 for the point and can buy it online until September."
...starting in July.
Midwest, thanks for the clarification.
And the CO PP-only code is different for every species. So elk is EP-999-99-P, I believe.
Thanks guys that helps out a ton. As I'm a Midwesterner I'm kind of getting tired of hunting the same old animals. I have been elk hunting twice, but have both been with outfitters and that is not for me. I do plan on hunting OTC to get more experience under my belt although due to my hunting schedule for the next few years I won't be coming out to elk hunt for another 2 years, so just maybe I can't cash in for some of those units that go under the radar.....
lets keep this thread going for us rookies.....we have lots to learn guys
I look for a unit that's draw for all seasons.The ones that are otc 2nd season rifle are draw for archery just to keep hunter numbers down and not chase elk onto private before rifle opens.The quality of bulls isn't great.Less pressure to hunt them is worth something though,and theres a lot of units like that I do agree to hunt as much as possible to get some experience before burning years of points
being a rookie is is wrong to ask some of you guys that have had some success as to what units off the top of your heads should I look at?
KY hunter, nothing wrong with asking but take most answers with a grain of salt. I will also point out the more information you give us the better your answers will be...
For example what do you expect? What are your goals, what sort of shape are u in? Etc. do you want to hunt alpine? Bivy style back country? Camp out of truck? Stay in a hotel? Bringing horses? Etc.
Ultimately the truth is, every unit in the mountains has elk. All units are hu table, and what makes a unit good for one person may make it bad for another.
The best way to get information is to present the topic like this...
Need help finding options for my hunt. I am going DIY and do not have the gear for a body hunt but will be hunting from a truck base camp. I am in decent shape should be able to hike about 2 miles from camp with ease. Etc.
VS.
I a, a wilderness athlete. I enjoy multi day pack trips into the mountains. I am looking for a hunt that will get 7 miles into the high country and look forward to being above tree line before first light. I have all the bicycle gear I need.
Etc.
Please feel free to pM me with any questions! I
KY hunter, nothing wrong with asking but take most answers with a grain of salt. I will also point out the more information you give us the better your answers will be...
For example what do you expect? What are your goals, what sort of shape are u in? Etc. do you want to hunt alpine? Bivy style back country? Camp out of truck? Stay in a hotel? Bringing horses? Etc.
Ultimately the truth is, every unit in the mountains has elk. All units are hu table, and what makes a unit good for one person may make it bad for another.
The best way to get information is to present the topic like this...
Need help finding options for my hunt. I am going DIY and do not have the gear for a body hunt but will be hunting from a truck base camp. I am in decent shape should be able to hike about 2 miles from camp with ease. Etc.
VS.
I a, a wilderness athlete. I enjoy multi day pack trips into the mountains. I am looking for a hunt that will get 7 miles into the high country and look forward to being above tree line before first light. I have all the bicycle gear I need.
Etc.
Please feel free to pM me with any questions! I
great point coelker......I have been on 2 guided elk hunts in Colorado hunting out of a lodge.....these hunts were ok, did not kill either time, both archery hunts. I did however pass on some opurtunities to shoot cows. so when I say im a rookie I mean a diy rookie. so I am willing to do whatever it takes right shy of walking from ky to co to kill a bull elk with my bow. I am 36 years old very active and in decent shape. i would love to do a complete backpack hunt from start to finish possibly have back up camp out of a trailer, but only to have a place to stay once i/we pack out our first elk then go back in for seconds. so to sum things off my partner and i are willing to to do whatever it takes to both kill our first elk diy, even if that means buying every piece of equipment to back pack 7 miles in for 10 days. and we are planning this trip 2 years in advance so that might help us out with some pp......
kyhunter13 - There are plenty of units in Co where you can hunt from your truck and pack in each day a couple of miles. I have hunted OTC Elk in CO for 6 years. I have packed in 7 miles and hunted for days and had some success.
I have also had good success hunting only between 1 - 3 miles off the main road. IMO you have to stay mobile. I put a lot of miles on my boots. Moving, stopping, calling, listening. I don't go back to camp. I stay with it all day until dark. There are many satellite bulls moving from draw to draw.
Last years bull responded to my bugle at 630am on day 5. It took a few hours to get close to him and called him in on a cow chirp at noon. I was only 2 miles off the road but working at it all day every day.
You can do it and this form is a great place to learn from hunters like coelker and others. Take their advice and read up on DIY hunts. Extreme Elk magazine is a great read and resource as well.
I would be happy to help on some units. Send a PM. Do you hunt solo? How long are your stays in CO? What units have you hunted?
