Colorado 3rd and forth Rifle

[porkchop401]

Hey fellas , Looks like I will not be able to make the 1st or 2nd rifle season ( work ) . I have never hunted the 3rd or 4th any suggestions are greatly appreciated . I once hunted gmu 711 in the 1st rifle season but the elk had not came down . I know nothing about later season hunting and migration routes . I will be hunting alone more than likely . Thanks Mike

 

[cohunter14]

A lot just depends on the weather. There are years when 3rd rifle season can still have 60 degree days in the mountains and there are other years where there is three feet of snow. Best bet is to have a plan of where you will hunt if the elk haven't begun their migration yet and another plan for if the migration has started.

 

[Timber338]

A lot just depends on the weather. There are years when 3rd rifle season can still have 60 degree days in the mountains and there are other years where there is three feet of snow. Best bet is to have a plan of where you will hunt if the elk haven't begun their migration yet and another plan for if the migration has started.

exactly. Last year was a good example of this where we had an unusually warm fall. Elk were up high very late in the year. If you plan for one scenario, you can almost guarantee that the opposite will happen.

And it doesn't necessarily have to be two totally separate areas. One place where I elk hunt has access from the top/back side of the mountain around 11,000 ft, and a trail head at the bottom near 7,000 as well. In years where there is too much snow up top, I can just park down low and head up until I find the elk.

 

[porkchop401]

How are the hunter numbers compared to 2nd rifle?

 

[Timber338]

My experience is that hunting pressure is dependent on how close you are to a road, not any particular season. All of the seasons get a lot of pressure, and if you want to avoid other hunters then you've gotta put in the work to get several miles away from roads.

 

[cohunter14]

My experience is that hunting pressure is dependent on how close you are to a road, not any particular season. All of the seasons get a lot of pressure, and if you want to avoid other hunters then you've gotta put in the work to get several miles away from roads.

I agree with this for the most part. However, I wouldn't even say several miles away from roads. If you get yourself 1/2 mile or more off a road, you are not very likely to stumble on many hunters. I would also say that in my limited experience of hunting 4th season, if you are comparing it to an OTC unit, it has a lot less hunters simply because it isn't an OTC tag compared to 3rd season.

 

[Timber338]

I'll also add that one of the units I hunt gets a huge amount more pressure during the 2nd and 3rd OTC seasons than compared to the 1st season draw. It does not require any preference points to draw a bull or a cow, so I'm not really sure why it gets such considerably less pressure. My guess is the draw tags just take more planning, and the general hunting population like the easy OTC tags.

 

[cohunter14]

Yeah, more planning and the 2nd & 3rd seasons are also longer, which seems to attract the folks from out of town. 1st season is only 5 days long...

 

[TOM H]

First and Fourth season here in Co is by game unit so you can only hunt those unit(s).

2nd/3rd Bull OTC is limited to appr 90 units west of I-25 and there about 40 units there no OTC tags.

Unit I like hunt 1st or 4th season elk tag is either sex.