We did a few scouting trips during the summer to get a lay of the land, spent time with maps and Google Earth and talked to a bunch of people who were very helpful. It's a HUGE area that is basically impossible to cover; even with 4 hunters. One scouting weekend we covered about 120 miles on ATV's and another 100 just in the truck. We managed to see every corner of the unit and started to get a feel for the terrain and where the public and private property is. I hunted about 16 total days of the season, my dad about 20 and my cousin and uncle about 10. The first few weeks we definitely saw elk, a few big ones but a lot of smaller ones. Lots of 6x6 raghorns, some good 5x5's and more spikes and 4x4's than I anticipated seeing. The weather wasn't extreme in the early weeks. Some rain storms but it was never scorching hot like we were told it could be. Because of that the water holes weren't great places to spend significant time on.
I sat on a water hole one night early in the season and passed a few shots on small bulls. I will admit that I passed up a few shots that I never would consider passing in any other season or unit. There was some bugling early in the season but not a lot and we barely saw any cows. The bulls we did see early were pretty quiet and seemed to move around with a non-chalant attitude. Some of the best advice we received was from Jaquomo who said "don't spread yourself too thin." Meaning don't try and hunt a bunch of spots, just key in on a few good locations and figure them out.
As the season progressed none of us had killed anything and no shots had been taken. I was beginning to feel the pressure that accompanies every hunting season as it nears the end. However this year I felt a little added pressure because of this license specifically. The hunting did get better as the elk became more vocal and we started seeing more cows and bulls coming into areas. We had been told this would happen but were getting impatient while waiting.
My dad had hunted an area a few nights in a row and had the elk patterned so on his 3rd night he went back and made a great shot at last light on a great bull. It was a very symmetrical 6x6 with great thirds. (everyone says the thirds are typically bad in Unit 2...who knows.) That was on the 17th of September.
My dad and I came back for the last 4 days of the season and hunted an area in the "lower county" of the unit. I will have to say it was drastically different terrain than the high mountain elk country I'm used to...but fun nonetheless. Thursday, Friday and Saturday of the last week saw the best hunting of the whole season. Bulls were bugling, herds were moving all over the place and small bulls were coming into calls like crazy. I drew my bow back 6 times in those last 3 days. But as you guys know things have to be just right. 1 step this way, 1 more second, drawing too soon, drawing too late...all kept me from loosing an arrow on those chances.
On Saturday morning we knew exactly where the elk were going to be and formulated a great plan. We got in there early and sure enough there were 5-7 bugling bulls and the type of hunting we'd been expecting all season. We chased some all morning but they kept giving us the slip. As my dad and I walked back to meet my cousin and uncle we cow called and got an answer. Two cow calls (and about 2 minutes) later a bull was coming right in. I saw long 4th points, but by this point of the season the antlers didn't matter. I drew back and made a good 45 yard shot in the drizzly weather. We backed out for about 45 minutes and then followed his tracks (easy to follow in the wet sandy soil) and came upon him bedded down in some very thick cover. His head was down but he wasn't quite dead so I had to put one more arrow in him. I was ecstatic to find him and so excited to have my dad, cousin and uncle with me.
I'm still processing the whole season and the hunt. Lots of ups and downs (as is typical with hunting) but having this license brought some extra challenges. Never in my life have I had to look at a bull and think to myself "Should I shoot him or not?" Usually 4 points on one side and I'm ready to shoot. There is a bit of added pressure (maybe self-imposed) when hunting with a limited draw license...especially unit 2. The really difficult part is that by the end of the season we had a great handle on the area and how to hunt the area...but of course we'll never be going back. I suppose that's why guys who have hunted the area previously are so helpful.
It wasn't quite what I was expecting, but that's neither good or bad. It was a very fun hunt and I was lucky to share it with family. We also made a few new friends along the way so that's always a success. And in the end my freezer is extremely full and I will have a new set of antlers to hang on the wall and admire. So no complaints on that end. We saw some big bulls and 2-3 truly giant bulls. We hunted hard and certainly had our fair share of chances. Was it worth waiting 20 years to hunt? I'm not quite sure yet.
I know of one muzzleloader hunter (out of state) that killed a great bull. He said it measured 347". I heard that 2 other bow hunters killed bulls. One was "impressive" the other one "not as impressive." But I didn't personally see any of those bulls. It's definitely an interesting area with A LOT to consider if and when you draw the tag.
As Andrew posted, the later part of the season was starting to pick up when I had to leave. I hunted 12 days - some hard, some not so hard. I had access to private land and hoped that was going to pay off but nothing even close to 300" was on my cameras.
I didn't personally see the 2 bulls he's talking about either but think they paid a trespass fee to a local landowner. As you can tell, it's definitely not a slam dunk hunt as it's likely 4/8 or 5/8 on archery success. I know 1 ML hunter who left empty handed with using 24 pts.
Was it worth 20 points? I can't answer either but was let down on the quality of bulls. Honestly didn't expect to see some of the 'deformed/non typicals' that were on my camera and a LOT of very thin tined 4x4 and 5x5. Thought overall genetics were better. Even though it's a huge unit, I do know at one time all 8 bowhunters were within a few mile radius and most camped in same general area. Likely my biggest mistake was not having enough back up spots.
Congrats to Andy and your Dad. Really cool to do it with family.
I have seen several people leave that unit unhappy with their hunt and part of it I feel is their expectations being super high due to them waiting 20+ years for the tag. Waiting that long seems to put a lot of stress on guys to kill a 350+ bull when realistically the average guy in that unit probably kills a 310-320 bull.
You do need to have proper expectations for that hunt. Can you kill a big (340+) or better bull? Absolutely! Guys do it every year. The bulls are there and the hunting pressure is low. But don't be disappointed if it doesn't happen. Can you kill a 290-320 bull? Definitely. But if it doesn't happen don't be disappointed. The bottom line is that it's not "easy" hunting (heck I would argue that bowhunting is never easy). Like Russ said the archery success this year was 50%.
One of the fun things about the hunt is getting to talk with guys who have hunted there in the past. I also enjoyed learning a new area from scratch and creating a plan to hunt it. So is it worth 20 points to hunt? Well if you have that many points then absolutely it's worth it. There was no doubt which area I was going to be applying for with that many points. It's an area that I've wanted to hunt for a VERY long time, so for that reason it's definitely worth it. It also gives you some "Colorado hunting street cred" to say that you've hunted Unit 2. We are lucky here because we can hunt every year, so I didn't have to wait 20 years to elk hunt. If you have a lot of points then I would say use them on Unit 2 and you won't regret it. But if you draw that tag definitely do your homework and focus more on expectations and how to hunt it as opposed to where to hunt.
As for bull quality, there are some great bulls, but as mentioned the unit is huge, and is not easily accessed. Even for a person living in Craig it is still a long haul. For those out of state or those across the state it is really hard to get anytime in the unit.
I am glad to see success, but can echo the idea that the unit is still hunting. They are still elk and it still takes hard work and luck.
I don't think the DOW would go for a management hunt, at least not during the same seasons as the trophy hunts. Guys already get upset with the cow hunters and the low tag numbers is the real selling point of that unit.
