Bow hunt during rifle season
Contributors to this thread:Elk
From: Stickhead
05-Oct-16
A friend of mine wants to come out and bow hunt elk, during 3rd rifle season. Have any of you had any success trying something like this, on OTC public land? Any advice on GMU where this makes any sense? Or should I just tell her bring the rifle?
From: Wyone
05-Oct-16
Colorado?
From: Stickhead
05-Oct-16
Yes,and I am located South Central just north of Westcliffe. Rifle season is a whole new game for me, after bow season here, I always head out to Michigan for whitetail hunting and cutting wood on the wife's family farm.
From: coelker
05-Oct-16
For elk I would not consider it a viable option at all. You can do it and you must wear the full amount of blaze orange. But with the number of other hunters, the way the elk act and where they end up (thick nasty and steep) you have very little chance of success. If you have a private place or a field they are going to nightly and can set up on a trail maybe, but just hunting with everyone else on an OTC tag etc. Would be very rough.
Add in this issue and it would be an absolute no go for me. You find a bull you are sneaking into a shooting position after 2 hours of a stalk you are getting close when a guy from across the canyon makes a 300 yard shot and the bull is dead....
I have thought about late season mule deer and that is a little different due to the rut, but for elk during a rifle season OTC not a chance.
From: Stickhead
05-Oct-16
Yeah, thanks, pretty much my thoughts, just wanted some confirmation.
From: CurveBow
05-Oct-16
This raises a question for me - If you buy an archery tag, can you hunt using that tag in a rifle season? Or do you have to get a rifle OTC tag and use the bow as your choice of hunting implement?
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From: Rock
05-Oct-16
CurveBow, In Colorado if you buy an Archery License you can only hunt during the Archery season and cannot buy a Rifle license unless you get a leftover Cow tag.
From: CurveBow
06-Oct-16
Thanks Rock. That's what I thought.
I presume that if you bought a rifle tag, then you could use a bow as your hunting weapon in place of the rifle?
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From: Stickhead
06-Oct-16
You can use a bow during rifle season, if you have a rifle tag. You must wear the required amount of orange in rifle season, if you are hunting with a bow. You can buy an OTC cow archery tag, then an OTC 2nd or 3rd season bull rifle tag and use your bow if you want.
From: fubar racin
06-Oct-16
Notsure of the area your considering but the area I hunt the bow during rifle thing is doable all my gun shots but one have been 35 yards or less, the problem I see with it is that in my area from the second week of archery season until the snow pushes the elk out onto the sage the hunting sucks!elk are mostly on private ranches and you can't access them without deep pockets.
From: Thornton
06-Oct-16
I've thought about it because I hunt 2nd rifle quite a bit in Colorado. There is actually a few opportunities that would be safe as long as you wore the required blaze orange.
From: Hayguide
07-Oct-16
My last Colorado Rifle Bull in 2014 was at 20 yards-after I called in out of Black Timber into a rock slide-its possible. A small herd went into the dark Timber at early light to bed.-I set myself up on the trail for an evening hunt, hoping they would use it on the way out again-with only 15 minutes of light left I said what the heck and called with my Hoochie Mamma- a nice 5-5 can trotting to me wheezing and grunting-easy bow shot with my 300 ultra. Flat Tops unit 23
From: Stickhead
07-Oct-16
Hayguide, was that 2nd or 3rd season?
From: Kdog
26-Oct-16
I really don't rifle hunt much at all. But after getting my first elk this year and eating some of it I think I would stick to a rifle. Good stuff!! Sorry I am no help other than that.
