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First time OTC elk hunt help.
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<blockquote data-quote="aspenbugle" data-source="post: 1615163" data-attributes="member: 6481"><p>Well, this thread is a bit stale, but felt like tossing in my $.02 I guess with a thing or two that maybe wasn't mentioned. If this is just a once or twice hunt, that's one thing, but if you plan to try to hunt elk regularly, getting to know an area is key.</p><p></p><p>If you were a buddy of mine, I'd say start applying for some preference points (in several states) so you can get in line for some higher-percentage areas. Don't be fooled, lots of good hunting areas only require a few points (don't need 20). Just getting into a draw unit vs. OTC greatly reduces the hunter numbers and increases the odds, usually.</p><p></p><p>However, if you're going to hunt regularly, find an OTC area that you can hunt while you're waiting to draw and start getting to know it. I hunt an OTC area with horrible success rates, yet I get my bull every year...just because I know it well (and hunt smarter now than I used to).</p><p></p><p>Scouting is nice, but to be honest, it can be over-rated. Getting to know the area well is good, but finding a ton of elk in a place in September often has little to do with where they'll be a month later. You'll go back and find lots of month-old elk sign, is all. Weather, the rut, and hunters move them. You can do tons of good scouting with google earth, and just be ready to spend the first 3-4 days splitting up, putting on some miles and locating some fresh sign. You just need to find the "neighborhood" they are in that week - which often changes week-to-week and year-to-year. Then, back out, and LRH it - glass early and late and locate them. Don't go try to lay eyes on them mid-day, you'll just bust them out of their beds, hear lots of timber crashing and then you can spend two more days looking for the new zip code they re-located to.</p><p></p><p>OTC Colorado is busy, but two things 1) Most people hunt a lot the first 3 days or so, by Tuesday, 1/2-2/3 of the camps will be gone, and those that are around are even less ambitious, and doing more road-hunting and spending more time in camp, 2) I don't question that it's true in some units, but this whole hike-in 10 miles to some remote place is completely not true in the units I've hunted. I don't think I can get 10 miles from a road where I hunt. In most cases if I hiked 5 miles I'd cross another road, or be real close to one. 90% of my bulls have been within a mile of the road. I rarely see hunters more than a 1/2 mile from the forest service road and if so, it is one or two guys on day one or two. To be honest...I often wish more people were out in the woods hunting from day 3 on, since no one is in the woods pushing them at all. If they aren't on one of my favorite ridges, sometimes I have to do a mid-day hike to nearby timbered locations and push them out of their beds so they'll re-locate to a slightly more open place. (It's hard to hunt them in the thick trees when aspen leaves have fallen and things have dried out and gotten crunchy).</p><p></p><p>I'd pick an OTC unit, hunt it regularly and get to know it, while saving up points. Occasionally get the nice draw area, but during other years, you'll start being successful in your OTC area. Final thing is, I'd just pick an OTC unit a little further from the big metro areas since most people would rather drive 2 hours to hunt than 3-4.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="aspenbugle, post: 1615163, member: 6481"] Well, this thread is a bit stale, but felt like tossing in my $.02 I guess with a thing or two that maybe wasn't mentioned. If this is just a once or twice hunt, that's one thing, but if you plan to try to hunt elk regularly, getting to know an area is key. If you were a buddy of mine, I'd say start applying for some preference points (in several states) so you can get in line for some higher-percentage areas. Don't be fooled, lots of good hunting areas only require a few points (don't need 20). Just getting into a draw unit vs. OTC greatly reduces the hunter numbers and increases the odds, usually. However, if you're going to hunt regularly, find an OTC area that you can hunt while you're waiting to draw and start getting to know it. I hunt an OTC area with horrible success rates, yet I get my bull every year...just because I know it well (and hunt smarter now than I used to). Scouting is nice, but to be honest, it can be over-rated. Getting to know the area well is good, but finding a ton of elk in a place in September often has little to do with where they'll be a month later. You'll go back and find lots of month-old elk sign, is all. Weather, the rut, and hunters move them. You can do tons of good scouting with google earth, and just be ready to spend the first 3-4 days splitting up, putting on some miles and locating some fresh sign. You just need to find the "neighborhood" they are in that week - which often changes week-to-week and year-to-year. Then, back out, and LRH it - glass early and late and locate them. Don't go try to lay eyes on them mid-day, you'll just bust them out of their beds, hear lots of timber crashing and then you can spend two more days looking for the new zip code they re-located to. OTC Colorado is busy, but two things 1) Most people hunt a lot the first 3 days or so, by Tuesday, 1/2-2/3 of the camps will be gone, and those that are around are even less ambitious, and doing more road-hunting and spending more time in camp, 2) I don't question that it's true in some units, but this whole hike-in 10 miles to some remote place is completely not true in the units I've hunted. I don't think I can get 10 miles from a road where I hunt. In most cases if I hiked 5 miles I'd cross another road, or be real close to one. 90% of my bulls have been within a mile of the road. I rarely see hunters more than a 1/2 mile from the forest service road and if so, it is one or two guys on day one or two. To be honest...I often wish more people were out in the woods hunting from day 3 on, since no one is in the woods pushing them at all. If they aren't on one of my favorite ridges, sometimes I have to do a mid-day hike to nearby timbered locations and push them out of their beds so they'll re-locate to a slightly more open place. (It's hard to hunt them in the thick trees when aspen leaves have fallen and things have dried out and gotten crunchy). I'd pick an OTC unit, hunt it regularly and get to know it, while saving up points. Occasionally get the nice draw area, but during other years, you'll start being successful in your OTC area. Final thing is, I'd just pick an OTC unit a little further from the big metro areas since most people would rather drive 2 hours to hunt than 3-4. [/QUOTE]
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