Colorado 2013

3

300SHORT

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I have never hunted out of state before and after this year I am more inclined to do so. I am thinking Colorado next year and I just checked out there hunter survey harverst report. Experience speaks volumes more then paper reports. Please, any help would be greatly appreciated. I am looking for a 300+ bull, I don't want your honey holes just decent units with better chances of drawing or purchasing an OTC tag. Thanks a ton. Also any pics would be great of your trophys, I would like to see what I can expect.
 
A 300+ bull on an OTC tag is going to be hard to do. Some guys hunt their whole life in CO and have never seen a 300+ bull in season.

I would lower your standards for now and hunt some OTC units but also start accumulating some preference points for draw units where the odds are much better for a 300+ bull.
 
You start with a legal bull; any legal bull. A 300" bull is a stretch in many of the limited quota, so called "premium" units.
 
300short, if you put the effort in you can get a 300+ bull in otc units in Colorado. Just get away from other hunters, and pass on the small bulls.
 
its very doable my dad has killed 3 bulls over 300 in the last 4 years all public land but we spend time finding them and i think thats the key. and this is all SW CO hunting
 
When I said effort, I meant you have to put some effort in. I doubt guys are going to say over the internet what units hold the better bulls, because they will be crowded with guys looking for the same info as you.

Like I said, put in some effort. Look at maps, look at record books, use google earth. If you don't live in Colorado and don't have the time/resources to actually scout it, then do the best you can with maps and google earth.

Get away from other hunters, which means look for places on maps with no roads. After you have found a place on the map, look it over on google earth.

Another thing is what season are you going to hunt? If archery I would look at some of the units with lots of high country. If 3rd season units with winter range that are by units with high country where they might migrate out of. High country usually means less hunters cause its hard to hunt. And hunters are lazy.

Find an otc unit with nasty terrain next to a limited unit, and you will probably find good bulls there.

I doubt anybody is going to give you a handout though. Find a couple units, then really study them. Do an internet/monster muleys search on those specific units. You will probably be surprised how much you can learn just by searching. Look at outfitters websites that outfit in the units you picked out and see the quality of bulls they are taking.

Somebody already gave you a region to start researching, so that should cut down your research time right there.

Good luck and put some effort into it.
 
300short, you might want to consider a drop camp for your first elk hunt. you won't have to deal with all the camping equipment, hauling in and out etc..

On our first trip we went to a higher population area (unit 24) I took a cow that year and was happy as could be on our first trip. Your gonna learn alot the first trip and you will go back.

Good Luck 300, Nocwalker
 
LAST EDITED ON Jul-12-12 AT 09:45AM (MST)[p]Out of curiosity how many elk have you killed? If you have already killed a good trophy bull or 2 I would definately say look to another state- like NM and buy landowner vouchers



I bet the people who kill 300" bulls on public OTC have been hunting there for a while (with a bit of luck too) to find the secret spots and definately won't say where. Like said before even in the limited units you aren't guranteed a 300 bull!

CO elk hunting is about a lot of opportunity, not monster bulls.
 
What DWALTON said. The expectaions for a person that has never hunted out of state, coming to an OTC unit in CO need to be somewhat like waht Dwalton suggested. Guys that kill quality bulls every year are far and few between and usually live in the area and spend a lot of time knowing there hunting area. Now there are OTC areas to do that but I think the guide/tresspass fees will be around $5-7000. My first CO bull was a mall 4 pt raghorn and it was pretty exciting. 200 is a good place to start.
 
1st year in a unit otc tag anything legal would have a hard time leaving a kill zone. Good luck.

"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".
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LAST EDITED ON Jul-13-12 AT 06:01PM (MST)[p]If you pass on any legal bull on your first OTC hunt there is a 99.78% chance you will regret it. But who knows, guys with a 0.22% chance pull tags every year!

txhunter58

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

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