Wondering how others fared in NW Colorado for the 1st rifle elk season? Three of us hunted unit 33 and the Southern edge of 23 and didn't see a single elk after Friday afternoon prior to opener. We saw a nice smaller (15-20) herd around midday Friday that had a nice bull and a rag. After that nothing. We found that herds beds and they moved at night. We had tracks most morning where they were on the move at night. The warm weather didn't help. The last day of season, we ran into the warden in the afternoon and he said he only registered 6 bulls and 1 cow. Said is was one of the slowest he's seen. After getting back I've heard of 5 other groups that came home empty. I'm not surprised we didn't fill a tag since it was the first time in the area, more surprised at the lack of shooting and what the warden had to say. The plan is to go back next year if we draw and learn some more. Try the steep and dark timber more.
