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? Silver CreeK Outfitters Steamboat, CO

Anyone have any experience with these guys? If I don't hit the draw jackpot, I'm contemplating going this way with a friend.

Bowmania

If your looking at steamboat area check out Colorado high lonesome. They great guys and have a great backcountry camp.

Similar to a lot of OTC units in Colo the elk get pounded pretty hard on public land. Many of the elk that summer near Steamboat make their way west to winter range. On the way through the public land they get hit pretty hard by OTC rifle hunters. Many don't live long enough to grow mature beyond raghorns. I noticed quite a few photos of a gorgeous bull one of their rifle hunters harvested but it's hard to say how many bulls they may get that size? I didn't look in detail but didn't see any archery harvests?

Before going with any outfitter I would advise getting a reference list of ALL of their hunters and calling some of them from the past 2 to 5 years....and in particular their archery hunter references. If they don't have any archery references that may be something to be concerned about!

You may also want to see if they hunt private vs public land. If I was going on a guided or semi-guided hunt in Colorado there is no way I would pay for a hunt in a OTC elk unit if they were hunting public land! I couldn't find a price list but if it is very much $ you may want to consider a private ranch hunt where there will likely not be competition from all the OTC public hunters. Even though they may hunt wilderness you may run into other hunters? Anyway, I would ask these and other questions when talking to references!

A couple years back I ran into a pair of hunters staying at one of their wilderness drop camps. It was my first year elk hunting so during the summer my family and I took a scouting trip (from WI) and found what I thought to be a good area about 7mi back in the wilderness. The first day of my hunt I walked back in to that area to find that there was a Silver Creek drop camp set up there.

Having passed a couple of groups on the way in I decided to cut my losses and head back to the truck and head to my plan B spot. On the way out I ran into the guys that were staying in the drop camp. One of the guy's asked if I was staying in the other drop camp farther down the ridge and inquired how I "got back in there". When I told him I hiked in he became very upset and started cussing out the guy he was with saying I can't believe we spent thousands of dollars for a drop camp, have yet to hear an elk, and this guy walked in here for free. After I told the guys I was leaving because I didn't drive 1500 miles to hunt within the same drainage as anyone else, the guy simmered down a bit he said that the out fitter ran a pretty good operation with the exception of them seeing any elk.

I am not saying that experience is indicative of all of their hunts, but it is the only experience I had with the outfitter/their customer. If they had a private land hunt, I think it would be more appealing, because the public ground they were set up on was pretty accessible and had quite a few groups hunting it.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

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