GMU unit 61 Colorado
Contributors to this thread:Colorado
From: Nailem
04-Jun-23
Archery elk that I shot in September of 2021 in the Black hills of South Dakota
Archery elk that I shot in September of 2021 in the Black hills of South Dakota
I've been applying for preference points for 27 years. I always wanted to draw unit 10. The last 15 years I have not gained on drawing the tag. I finally figured out I was never going to be able to hunt the unit with a bow. I decided on unit 61 and Drew it. 4 non-resident as I am, it is the once in a lifetime hunt. For resident you could probably draw it two to three times if you're lucky. I would be interested in talking to archery elk hunters that have hunted the unit in recent years. What's the closest town to where I'll be camping? Is there drinking water available closer than town? Basic questions like that. Thanks, Mark Anderson, Brandon South Dlakota.
From: Brun
04-Jun-23
Congrats, it's a really fun hunt. It's a big unit, so if you camp in the northern half you're closest town is Delta. If you camp in the southern half you will be closer to Montrose. I'm not aware of a closer source for drinking water than those towns. If you end up on the southern half and drop down a long way you may be closer to Nucla. It's smaller, but would certainly have drinking water. In my experience there are elk all over the unit. I would suggest picking either the southern or northern half rather than trying to learn the entire unit. There are a lot of guys on here that know the unit well, so you may get differing opinions on where to hunt, but I expect most will agree you should drop below the Divide road to get some more space to yourself. When I hunted there I had no issues with overcrowding, but there are others who have experienced more congestion. This seems to be especially true over Labor Day weekend. There are a lot of campers and other recreational users during that period, but after that you should be able to get away from others pretty easily if you are willing to walk. Good luck and have a great hunt!
From: Glunt@work
04-Jun-23
Fun tag. I hunted mostly the south end 2012 I think. Helped a buddy and we were mostly on the north end a few years ago. My take is it's the type of unit you could show up the night before season and after a few days be on to an area you like. Obviously, learning access, locating water holes and getting eyes on areas before hand is a great idea.
It is much busier earlier in the season as Brun stated. Mostly on the roads. There are ATVs, dirt bikes, wood cutters, ranchers, etc but it calms down later in the season. Off the road a ways you should have it mostly to yourself. Not a lot of bugling the first couple weeks on 3-4 day trips when I hunted and then we hunted the last week and had nights where it seemed like there wasn't a full minute of quiet all night. Then they would clam up for a day for whatever reason.
Good luck and I would focus on learning access before season. Elk are spread all over.
From: cnelk
04-Jun-23
There’s a well known Bowsiter that gave me some very good advice when I drew 61.
In September, There are archery elk hunters, archery deer hunters, ML elk hunters, ML bear hunters, turkey hunters, campers, atvs, cattle.
I was told to get it done before ML season. So I did.
Good luck
From: Buglemaster
04-Jun-23
Get off the roads a couple miles. A lot of elk are taken off the divide road but you need to drop down a ways.A lot of elk in 61 but they’re not behind every rock & tree. A buddy drew one of the hybrid tags so I’ll get to play come sept. Good luck !
From: Billyvanness
04-Jun-23
Best of luck! Really a fun hunt. Not many huge bulls but a lot of good ones. Drop off divide road 500’ vertical and you’re in elk most likely. Closer to mid September it gets rowdy. Enjoy
From: Nock
05-Jun-23
Hunted it last year. You are in for some good times. Spend the entire season there if you can. PM me to discuss.
From: Surfbow
05-Jun-23
Divide Road is an absolute circus, don't expect solitude any where near it.
From: Nailem
18-Jun-23
My only archery elk hunt in the snow. the day before Thanksgiving 2003. Custer State Park, SD
My only archery elk hunt in the snow. the day before Thanksgiving 2003. Custer State Park, SD
I screwed up! I'm new to the site & not the "brightest bulb" when it comes to forums/technology. A few people reached out to me by a PM. I glanced at them but did not have time to do them justice (or save the material). I tested with 1 hunter. the others, I assumed that I could pull up latter and save material as needed. Unless you know something I don't, there are gone! One hunter told me about a story he had written in the past about his hunt. He was 67 years old at the time. I replied to him I was looking forward to reading it. Please, if any of you private messaged me, hit me back again . If there is a way to pull up PM's let me know. Thanks, Mark Anderson, a slow learner.
From: Serrano
18-Jun-23
There is a water faucet near the Colombine Campground on top of the divide.
From: Cheesehead Mike
18-Jun-23
Go to the upper left have corner and click on the 3 horizontal lines. Then click on "My Bowsite". Then click on "Archived Messages" and you'll see the previous private messages. Then print them out or do screenshots so you have them.
From: Brun
18-Jun-23
Nailem, https://forums.bowsite.com/tf/bgforums/thread.cfm?threadid=486637&forum=5 This should get you to the story of my solo limited entry elk hunt. Good luck. Also if you make any comment at the end it will bring the story back to the top of the list and then it's really easy to access for a couple of months or so. Brun
From: Nailem
18-Jun-23
Pickleball in Florida spring of 2023.
Pickleball in Florida spring of 2023.
Thanks for the reply.
From: Aspen Ghost
19-Jun-23
Aspen Ghost's Link
Serano, Are you sure about water at the Columbine Campground? USFS says there is no potable water there
From: Serrano
19-Jun-23
The water is not in the campground. But it isn't far.
From: Flincher
19-Jun-23
It is not a faucet. It is a concrete spring box with a pipe coming out of it. It is located at what is called the Columbine Picnic Area (the old original Columbine Campground) a couple hundred yards north of the entrance to the new Columbine Campground. The water is not tested by anyone but people have been getting water there for decades. There is also a spring that has been developed with a 1 inch black plastic pipe that runs into a ¼ barrel at the junction of Cottonwood Creek and Cottonwood Road. Probably not as sanitary as the one at Columbine but still drinkable. Again, used by people for decades.
From: Buglemaster
21-Jun-23
I messaged you about the 2 years we hunted 61. For a great read, Google this thread by BB (Bill Allard) “ Between broken Hope & broken horns” You can thank me later. It’s a loooong thread but guaranteed to get you fired up as well as give some terrific intel. Good luck man! You will have fun! You may even bump into the Buglemaster.??
From: Firsty
27-Jun-23
The biggest bulls are usually down in the lower desert country, even during archery.
From: Pop-r
01-Jul-23
It's not at all what people think. We constantly have people get on here and tell they've drawn and get advice..i BEG them to relay their hunt with us but it goes so unlike they thought it would we never hear back from them. Brad killed the best bull in the unit when he hunted there last. Call the CO's in the unit. They told me accumatively they see three 300" bulls a year dead and alive. That pretty much sums up 61.
From: MathewsMan
06-Jul-23
My father-in-law Jim passed away a few weeks ago and yesterday a unit 61 Bull Rifle tag came in the mail yesterday. I told my wife to go turn it in today at the Montrose office and they will issue it to the next person on the draw list.
From: eaglescout
04-Aug-23
I hunted unit 61 a couple years ago and had an amazing time. We camped in our RV, which ended up be amazing. I can give you GPS coordinates if you want to reach out. We talked to quite a few guys that were holding out for a 320+ bull and saw a lot. I wasn't as picky as they were,but I can let you know where they were getting into those.
From: Orion
04-Aug-23
Don't listen to Pop-R he's never been in the unit and he isn't even a resident. There are way more then 3 300 bulls in the unit every year. My buddies and I have all killed bulls much bigger than that in there. There are numerous 5x5s in there that will go over 300
From: cnelk
05-Aug-23
My 61 bull, right before I killed him. He came in silent, never made a sound
From: In2dmtns
08-Aug-23
There are way more than three 300 bulls killed in 62 every year. Not to mention 61.
From: Firsty
09-Aug-23
Popr must be smoking crack
From: Dikndirt
09-Aug-23
From: Dikndirt
09-Aug-23
From: Dikndirt
09-Aug-23
Photos of my sons and my 61 bulls… very fun hunt.
Photos of my sons and my 61 bulls… very fun hunt.
From: In2dmtns
07-Oct-23
What's the story? How did the hunt go?
From: >>>--arrow1-->
23-Oct-23
27 inch whale tails
27 inch whale tails
From: In2dmtns
25-Oct-23
Congratulations great bull.
From: Glunker
02-Dec-23
Looking to purchase a landowner tag to hunt unit 61 during the archery season. I did try the State people that handle the tags but they do not give out names of landowners that have tags to sell. If anyone can share some insight other than Huntin Fool please pm me.
From: Aspen Ghost
02-Dec-23
I imagine there aren't that many large parcel landowners in unit 61. You could check the county assessor/GIS website and get landowner names and mailing addresses. Send them a letter or call them (it's pretty easy to find phone numbers on the internet) to see if they might have landowner permits available next year.
From: Jaquomo
03-Dec-23
There were only 9 transferable landowner archery tags available for that unit this year, from 31 applications. All but one took a point to draw.
From: Nock
08-Dec-23
You see the 61 LO tags pop up every once in a while. Typically ask around 12K. Probably more now. You could do a fully guided hunt in a good unit for that.
From: Glunt@work
08-Dec-23
One of the broker sites (whoops, I mean listing site or "designated agent" sites) has estimated prices from $7k- $13k for rifle.
