First timer wants to Bow hunt in CO???????

[grit]

Hey James,
We actually have a pop up trailer. You can get in much further than with a regular camper. We use it when we want to bring the wife and kids or grandpa. Sometimes we trophy hunt, sometimes we just want to be outdoors with family. Nothing wrong with iether way.

There are plenty of places you can get a camper to. There will certainly be more pressure. Even so, there's no guarantee you'll get away from it by packing in.

A drop camp'd be a great idea. You could get out of the way, and have a realy neat experience without needing to buy all the gear and be responsible for the stock.

You could do it yourself. But you'd need someone to help you prepare. You'd also have to make a huge investment in time and money to do things yourself.

I think a good option for you would be to have a base camp and yourself and maybe another more ambitious guy could spike camp with back packs.

For me, I'd give up the rifle hunt for the archery every time. It's just an awesome hunt. The peak of the rut is definetly around the end of the archery. This is what I prefer. If you prepare, you can have a great experience too. If you can't commit the time to learning to shoot a bow well and learning to call, than a rifle hunt would be a good way to go.

While you probably have better odds of having good weather on the bow hunt, there's no guarantee. We've had feet of snow in september. This year we had a few inches of snow during the archery hunt. Later, on the rifle hunt, it was clear and sunny for seven straight days.

 

[hillajam]

Well, I'm thinking I'm just going to have to talk with the guys and decide what we want to do. I'm deffinately going for archery but we have to decide if we want to use horses or just do a ton of walking. I think some of the other guys are leary of using horses but well see. Only me and my brotherin law have experiance with them and that experiance was only a 2 hour ride near Yellowstone. My biggest concern with the horses would be taking care of them. I wouldn't want anything to happen to them.
If we were to get horses, how many should we get. Just one per person? (I've seen it where each guy will have his riding horse and a horse behind for packing)I think having anymore would be too hard for inexperianced guys like us. I'll have to look into finding people who rent horses out there. See what they say. Do you know of any websites or places where I can find horse renters?

Do you go every year? If so I'm jealous.

Thanks again Grit.

 

[Buffalobob]

Hillajam, I suspect you have never seen anybody kicked in the head by a shod horse. There will be a lot of blood everywhere.

 

[hillajam]

Well, I talked to my dad today and I don't think I'll be able to talk him into a horse. He actually sounds like he might just go along without hunting. Cool, now I have a cameraman. YES!!!!!!! I have to try to talk him into hunting thought. I wouldn't want him to miss out.

I'm going to start looking at drop camps just incase, let me know if you know of any drop camps with horses in CO. I'm thinking of hunting near Gunnison and Crested Butte 54 and 55 w/ unlimited tag.

Well talk to ya guys later.

 

[dogdinger]

my 2 cents.....

no disrespect intended here, but you sound like a real tenderfoot.......IE: wondering if there are any flat spots for your camper??? here is my advice for you....stay the heck away from horses....even if you are a horse person, they are more trouble than they are worth......a couple of stout guys with backpacks can pack out your average size elk (boned out of course) in one trip......also, forget the rifle hunt first, instead, bring the family out for a summer vacation and camp in the mtns close to where you intend to hunt and turn it into a scouting trip......bring your fishing pole and do a little trout fishing, bring your bow and hunt whistle pigs, do some leg work........then plan your hunt....AJ

 

[hillajam]

Dog,

I didn't take much offense, but I don't like being called a tenderfoot. Wah Wah Just Kiddin!

We wont be using horses. I was just curious about it. I didn't think we actually would be able to use them, just wanted info. We are going in 2009 for the archery season and if we don't get one we are looking at it as an awsome camping and hunting trip. I will be back so I wont get all bent out of shape if we don't connect.

I wouldn't say we are tenderfoots though. I've hunted whitetails all my life, no I wasn't brought up living or hunting in the mountains but that doesn't make me less of a hunter than you. I love challenging myself. There has to be a first time for everyone. I would much rather rough it in a tent way in the backcountry but I know my limitations since I don't have that mountain experiance, I also want my father and uncles to go along and I also know that I should get out there first to see what it's like before I just jump into that game.

You are right about the horses, I don't have enough experience with them and not enough time to learn since we just had a baby boy on Sept 6 2007.

Next time no name calling because I might cry a little. jk!

 

[dogdinger]

you'll do fine....

i dont hunt any of that country over there, but i know there are lots of elk. be sure and stop in at the crested butte chamber of comerce. they have the world record elk hanging there(the plutte bull).....he is a site to see.....also there is an archery factory outlet store in salida.....stop in there on your way through.....those guys will help you out with all your needs....get you an elk call and start practicing now......oh and another thing....carry rolaids for the altitude sickness.....when you start feeling symptoms pop a couple those, it works.....you will probably do like i did in 1974....fall in love with the place and end up moving here......best of luck..AJ

 

[mabell]

everybody has given you a lot of good info. I have hunted co. 5 times for elk 3 with rifle 1 with bow 1 muzzleloader the only time I got one was with a bow that trip we had a base camp trailer and backpacked about 3 miles into the south san juan wilderness I saw about 50 or 60 elk a day for 7 days I missed a 300 + bull on the 4 day 3 days latter shot a cow at 50 yrds I had a deer tag so kept hunting and the 2 guys with me over the next 4 days we saw 3 elk I said all this to get this point across watch the moon the bow season is long enough plan your trip so the moon will be up during hunting hours where we parked our trailer there were camps every 200yrds 10 days in the wilderness I saw 3 people in one camp and they were fishing so I am also a beliver in getting back there hope this helps

 

[hillajam]

Yeah that puts me at ease a little more. I wasn't really knowing what to expect as far as other hunters. I'm planning on getting as many maps as possible. Any maps that you guys think I have to have.
Thanks again

 

[Kaveman]

A set of USGS topo maps of the area you plan to hunt can be valuable as to finding bottlenecks and saddles as well as water holes. Also current aerial maps are good at showing timber and access points. Study your area well. Nothing like hiking several miles to find that you are closer to improved roads than when you left camp.

 

[grit]

I like the National Geographic "Trails illustrated" maps, if they're available for the area you want to hunt.

 

[hillajam]

Well, we've decided on an unlimited hunt. So we can pick any unit that isn't limited. There are some that look interesting. I was thinking if we can't get very far back with the trailer, I might backpack the rest of the way if there seems to be a lot of hunters.

Do any of you have experiance with motorola or midland walkie talkies, and do they work well in the mts. If so, which ones do you recomend. I want to take walkie talkies because I still want to be able to keep in touch with the guys incase someone gets an elk or incase of emergency. I know the Garmin Rhino's have built in walkies but I don't think I can talk the rest of the guys into paying that much for one. Speaking of that, will the rhino's all be able to speak with eachother even if we have different models. This is probably a stupid question but how do cell phones work out there. Probably terrible? Just a thought.

Hey by the way thanks for the rolaids tip. I'll have to add that to my growing list of things to bring. Anyone else have any altitude sickness remedies?

Well, thanks again for all the helpful info. I'm sure I'll have more questions for ya.

 

[Kaveman]

The 110, 120, 130, and the new ones will communicate with each other as well as the motorola and other walkie talkies. Make sure you are on the same channel and the same or no blocker. Also if you are taking a Rhino pick up some rechargeable batteries and a dc charger for your vehicle. These things go through a set of batteries every 18 or 20 hours of use.

 

[Kaveman]

You may already have it but here is the link to the Colorado Division of Wildlife website hunting home page.
Hunting Home - Colorado Division of Wildlife