https://cpw.state.co.us/thingstodo/Pages/BigGame.aspx

Time to get busy and pick a unit!  Should be an interesting draw, I’m betting a lot of guys will burn their points this year.

Attached File

All of the NW is draw now sure gonna make other units crowded

Im sure kremmeling area is gonna get hammered being close to denver

And yeah gonna burn my points this year !

I hunted these areas the last two years.  Elk and deer took a blow from weather.  This was probably needed to protect the herd.

Now moose where everywhere.

A 1st rifle 2nd choice tag for the flat tops was my backup plan this year. Looks like I might need to reconsider that choice.

I might also put in a 1st choice that isn’t points this year since apparently you can surrender your tag for both a refund of points and tag cost now.

My plan A is a Wyoming cow tag.

Or I’ll be one or those dudes slogging it out in an OTC unit worst case.


One way or another, I’m going elk hunting!

I have blown my points over the years to make sure I could draw unit 500, a mediocre unit but nearly always piled up a small bull or a cow.  Friend has a cabin there.

Now I have 3 lousy points.  I’ll have to dig to see if anything nearby is worth it, but doubt it.   I have to stay near home due to the wife having a health issue.  I’ll end up on the grand Mesa again for archery.  Last year was the worst up there too.  Not one damn bugle all month, but I missed the last of the month.   We often hear them ripping all night from camp. Nothing last year.

Don’t overlook the hybrid draw.  I *think it’s only residents ?

My friend drew this 61 tag last year with 5 points, muzzle season.
I was packing a quarter, another friend had this…..

[youtube]shorts/xH4wGaQyCQQ[/youtube]

I guess IDK how to link a short dammit.  It was this big.

Attached File

I got my app in last minute. I have 3 points so hoping for some luck. It will be my first hunt out west if i get a tag. May go OTC if I'm unsuccessful in the draw.

Good luck guys.  I put in for the grand Mesa archery elk second choice, first was a PP.  also put in for a 2nd rifle cow on the Mesa .

Chronic Wasting got 80% of the deer in my area.  Usually hard to draw a late season buck tag, last year there were leftovers, bet there are more this year.  Neighbor had 4 deer tested last year, 3 had it.  Nephew threw all his deer meat in the dumpster, why take that chance?  FDOW

I’m getting my elk tested going forward.

I'm just in for points this year. I'll do a different trip and realign for 2024.

Nothing wrong with that.  

I’ve just been chasing elk so long I can’t stop.
Been a while since I dropped one, but I keep trying

Attached File

I've been wanting to do it for years. I lived in Silverthorne in '99-'00 just out of high school and would see trucks at the gas station with elk in the back and i've been hooked since. Always been a whitetail hunter so hoping i can get west this year. Have to really do my research if i get drawn to learn elk behavior and tactics.

That area is what planted the elk hunting fever in me.  I was going to school in Denver and would load up my old bronco , as soon as I could bail from work I was ripping up I70 on Fridays in September.

At the inlet to green mountain reservoir the is a Jeep trail that goes up to a trailhead in the Eagles nest wilderness, parked there and would take the pack and bow and hump it a couple miles back toward Silverthorne and camp and hunt.   Damn elk were everywhere and nowhere.  I would lay in my bag listening to bugles all night. Hardly slept, instead napping at mid day.

Didn’t know how to call, didn’t know how to even bow hunt them, didn’t even know where I was half the time lol. Pre GPS.
Never did stick one, had some amazing encounters with them tho.
Watched two small bulls duking it out one morning at 20 yards.  Cows all around me and I swear one stared at me for 20 minutes straight.  I didn’t move the whole time, didn’t even have an arrow nocked.
Found a little draw where the bulls had shed their antlers for years.
Saw one rack, started looking around and there must’ve been six more I found.  Started piling up some huge ones to haul the miles back to the truck and it started raining. Then hail, and lightning so close I thought god was mad at me.  I ran like a scared kid as fast and far as I could.  Cleared up, and I never found that spot again.

I did all that stuff solo.  Didn’t really start hunting with friends till I had killed a couple elk with rifles.  Rifle hunts almost seemed easy compared to bow, so I did the rifle gig for 20 years, then went back to bow.
Pretty lucky to be able to snag a rifle cow tag most years.  I always seem to catch the worst weather on the rifle hunts.
Attached File

Attached File

Attached File


The hardest part is just grinding even when you are not seeing elk.
You gotta keep humping till you see elk, or fresh sign.  All the while looking while humping.
You’ll be tired, sore, cold and have to deal with all weather conditions from t shirt to frigid.   You will learn to hate blowdown.
Keep grinding and keep in mind you have to carry hundreds of pounds of meat out of the hole you kill one in.  Pretty rare we get to use the toboggan.

Awesome story. I drove up past green mtn reservoir a few times but never ventured into the wilderness. My buddy and i were there to snowboard but the elk and mulies I saw stuck in my mind.

I spent ten days in the flat tops last fall on the 2nd rifle hunt. I saw plenty of deer and passed on a few small bucks. Only saw one cow elk. Tons of hunters and I'd say the ratio was 80% elk hunters/20% deer hunters. I'll be back this year with both tags in my pocket.

Haven’t been hunting a few years unfortunately. I picked up a new rifle today and I’m hoping on getting an OTC bull tag and putting it to use