COLORADO 1ST SEASON

AMMOT10 · Feb 16, 2009

THIS WILL BE OUR 8TH YEAR(SAME GROUP OF 4) IN COLORADO, OUR 1ST 1ST SEASON,BEEN OUT FOR 2 3RDS AND 5 FOURTHS,ON AN AVERAGE WE HAVE DONE FAIRLY WELL OVER THE YEARS NO RECORD BUCK BULLS JUST AVERAGE JUST WONDERING WHAT TO EXPECT DIFFRENT IF ANYTHING,HUNTING SAME AREA THAT WE HAVE BEEN UNIT 28

hatrick · Feb 16, 2009

the only differnce will be the amount of orange it will look like the pumpkin patch just opened for sales instead of at the end of the winter- Hatrick

NickJ1980 · Feb 16, 2009

The elk will probably be higher. No deer hunters to contend with. Some areas may have bulls still bugling, but if not the bulls will be burried in the thick and nasty recovering from the rut.

AMMOT10 · Feb 17, 2009

THANKS FOR THE INPUT ARE THEY USUALLY STILL VOCAL OR IS IT HARD TO TELL FROM ONE YEAR TO THE NEXT, THANKS

bigandtasty · Feb 17, 2009

Use your same tactics, as you do in the later hunts. The only hunts that you would follow, are the archery and muzzleloader hunts. Get up high and find some good places to sit and glass. Let the people push animals to you.

AMMOT10 · Feb 18, 2009

THANKS FOR THE INFO

FamilyMan · Feb 18, 2009

I have been into bugeling elk during the first rifle season, but I have never hunted Unit 28.

Mark

camonick · Feb 18, 2009

the elk can still be bugeling in the 1st season, but I wouldnt count on it.especially in an area with a lot of pressure, once the 1st shots are fired if they were talken they will shut up.

Hondoarcher · Feb 18, 2009

LAST EDITED ON Feb-18-09 AT 09:40PM (MST)[p]They should still be bugeling especially if you can get away from the crowds. Use the bugels to locate them then move in. Hunt their escape routs from the other hunters. I have found that many times they will move to the heavy timber or towards their wintering grounds especially if the winter grounds is private land. If you can take a light pack and go in the day before to get ahead of the others hunting from the road. This way they will push the elk to you and you can have your pick as they run by.

I find the first season to be the best and easiest if you can stand the crowds. It can be a bit like a rodeo with elk running everywhere and people shooting so much. I feel like I need a kevlar vest sometimes.

After you hunt share your experience and what you learned on the forum so others can benefit from your experience.

Good Luck.

Califelkslayer · Feb 18, 2009

The unit I hunt 1st season has 10,000 ft elevations. Always hear bulls, always!!

First bull I took in there (01) was bugling his head off the SECOND day of the season after I heard over 100 shots the first day. And while I was quartering him, another bull was going off a couple hundred yards downhill. In 06, we took 10 elk on the opener. While packing elk out on Sun AND Mon I heard bulls. Is this normal??? For there it is since it's happened all 3 times I've hunted the first season. Is it normal elsewhere??? I don't know.

If you see scrape/rubs where you normally hunt, they should be there 1st season. If not, go higher. Even when we had 12" of snow 2 days before the opener, the elk were still on their summer grounds when the season opened.

They tend to hang in aspens more before the shootin starts. Then they move into dark timber.

huntharder · Feb 21, 2009

Our group has had had great luck the 2 times we've hunted the 1st season, with the elk still bugling and rutting. Our area also has 10,000+ elevations. The bull I killed in '07 still had his cows and was shredding a pine while I waited for him to move out for a clear shot. But they are on the tail end of the rut, so don't expect them to come running to calls. In my opinion, weather and previous pressure will dictate how much they'll still be rutting.

Also haven't seen the hoards of other hunters mentioned, but maybe because this is an OTC unit after the 1st season. I know the 2nd and 3rd seasons are wall-to-wall blaze orange, but we actually didn't see another hunter in '07. We also pack way in and hunt high.

txhunter58 · Feb 21, 2009

LAST EDITED ON Feb-22-09 AT 07:00AM (MST)[p]"If you can stand the crowds"

Not sure I understand this comment by several people. There are no deer hunters in the woods and at least in 2007, there were not that many more elk hunters. So there should be a lot less total hunters in the woods.

1st season: 527 hunters had a 21% success
2nd season: 517 hunters: 16% success
3rd season: 709 6%
4th season: 438: 7%

The hunters that I know that have gone to the first season love it.

txhunter58

venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)