Colorado 2022 Archery Elk

[James]

I just climbed out of the CO mountains this morning. Laying in hotel bed after a full 10 days of DIY solo trip (otc unit). I was into Elk most every day but I worked my but off too. I went deep into the unit I was in and lived out of my pack for those 10 days. This is my second season back. Last year I hit a bull high but otherwise had a hard time getting on elk. This year I was into them a lot easier but no shot opps. One night I should have gotten it done but he hung up just out of range. The other time he was in range but I had already strapped my bow on my pack for the night and didn’t expect to walk up on him.

I hope you have success. I plan on being back every year that I don’t draw a elk tag in another state. Last year the pressure from other hunters was intense but this year was non existent. I think the pandemic build up had something to do with it last year.

I’ve been a whitetail fanatic for years and never contemplated that your Elk season can be done and over before whitetail even opens. Now Elk has been taking over my addiction.

[gostovp]

That’s awesome that you were into elk! We are planning to try and be mobile with our truck camp, but we have gear to spike out if needed. Its interesting to hear that the pressure in your OTC unit was down… I’m really wondering how it will be where we are.

[Andr3wxmma]

An army buddy and I plan to go next year. I had already started buying gear for this year but he had to get married in sept. Right now were thinking idaho if we can get the disabled vet tags. If not we'll go to colorado. Our biggest concern is getting ourself ready for elevation we both can ruck 12-15 miles up and down out small hills but know doing it on the big steep mountains at a higher elevation will be a different game.

[DeadHeadSpread]

I’ve been to Colorado twice for public land elk rifle hunts. I’ll add some wisdom that would be applicable to bow hunting also. I went with a guy that has been there over 15 times, so he cut down our learning curve tremendously.

We camped at 9800 el and hunt between 10,800 and 12,000. We got there to setup camp 5 days before season starts. Early bird gets the good camping spots. Every day before season we did a good 3 or 4 hour hike up to around 11000 feet and scout/explore. By the time season starts nobody has any problems with elevation from all that acclimation. I think 5 days is more than needed for acclimation but any extra days you can afford to get there early will be helpful in that regard. In those 5 days I went glassing almost every morning and evening with a cheap spotting scope. Saw a ton of elk and was able to plan a couple locations to hunt. I could see bulls racks over 2 miles away with a $70 eBay scope with $30 tripod. Binoculars are good to find them, then spotting scope to watch them.

OnX works even if you don’t have phone service. I used it a lot to navigate. Charge your phone every night (if you can), and have a compass with a laminated paper map for backup. If you are going backwoods style, I’d only turn on the phone when you need it to navigate and shut it off most of the time to maximize your battery life.

Milkweed works just as good in the Rocky Mountains as anywhere else. Use it,a lot, and Keep the wind in your favor.

I never use chapstick at home, and use it 20 times a day on an elk hunt.

Never trust a fart above 11000 feet! I know this from experience.