Colorado Elk hunting advice

[dennishoddy]

Been Elk hunting since 1986, I f you are hiking in put your longjohns and heavy coat in your backpack and hike in. Once you get where you are waiting you will cool down and than put your dry warm clothes on. I personally dont head out until shooting light because unlike whitetail deer, If you bump into Elk into the dark they might change drainage's on you . Good Luck and enjoy!

Excellent advice about stalking during daylight. Your absolutely correct about elk changing zip codes when spooked.

 

[Oklahomabassin]

They sell those bottles of oxygen all over in the mountains. .

Gimmick

 

[dennishoddy]

Gimmick

I wondered about that. I know you talked about trying one sometime. Evidently it didn't work as described?

 

[Kev1Doggy]

If you have the time its really beneficial to be at your camp 3 days before season so you can acclimate to the altitude. I used to camp in the Flattops Wilderness at 11k and it was really tiring getting fire wood cut with axe and bow saw, but saw a lot of Elk.

 

[radarmonkey]

They sell those bottles of oxygen all over in the mountains. I've wondered about trying one to see if they can help on a climb up the mountain. Not a spring chicken anymore so I'm curious if one of those might help. We hunt in the 8500' to 10,000' altitude.
10 years ago walking up and down wasn't an issue but every year gets harder.

They used to sell those in multiple truck stops marketed toward improving alertness. I tried them a couple times with zero benefit.

 

[Jared]

Ive battled altitude sickness in the past. If I can get 1 full day of acclimation before i hunt then im usually good.

used a product called “solitude” by mtn ops last year. Not certain that it was the reason, but I did feel great during the hunt.

the tag soup i ate on the way home kinda hurt my belly a bit though…

 

[GnometownHero]

Chewable baby aspirin chewed up with fruit juice and hold under your tongue sublingual, and drink a liter of water per hour helps a bunch. I hunt western Saguache county, 10,500 ft at camp, up to about 12,000 on top, take your time, enjoy the woods, face in the wind and eyes wide open. I always carry half dozen red map gas O2 cylinders in the rig, a few breaths really help when you're back at camp and need restful sleep

 

[mr ed]

 

[Aviator]

It’s hard to add to the already great advice you got here. You’ll have a great time regardless of if the elk cooperate or not.
One thing that might help, several of us were hunting the high country north of Pagosa and finding elk sign but not many elk. We decided to try some of the lower ridges just north of pagosa and found quite a few elk. Just be careful as there is quite a bit of private land also.
Good luck!

 

[Toothpick]

I owe y’all a thanks and some pictures. 4 of us got skunked, but hunted hard and had a great time. I climbed Rick Mtn on opening day and had a group of at least 6 elk with the lead cow at 10 yds. She looked me over, “barked” and down the mountain they went. These were the only elk I saw. The elevation went from 9600’ to 10,000’ in 500’ distance. Lay downs everywhere from some kind of beetle that killed at least 1/2 of the trees. We were in the San Juan Forrest and hunted a couple of days in the Wimenuche wilderness area. Weather may have been cooler here (~ 30 for lows and highs around 60). Hopefully Chadh2O did well!