School me on Colorado Elk

[jstone]

I am going to start to do my research, just need a starting point.
Are most units over the counter?
I will be trying to eat up my Washington quality Bull tag up. Hopefully
So if I don’t draw again this year would Colorado still be for sale?
Does the fish and game send maps and are they informative?
Web site friendly?

[vandeman17]

Gohunt is well worth the money and helped me learn a lot about multiple states

[knighttime25]

Gohunt is well worth the money and helped me learn a lot about multiple states

  Pay the $149 annual fee for GoHunt and you won't be disappointed if you're at all interested in hunting out of state 

[jstone]

Thank you Gentlemen. I will look at that this weekend

[knighttime25]

Thank you Gentlemen. I will look at that this weekend

Use promo code "Elk Talk" and they will give you a $50 credit to their gear store, so then it essentially becomes $100 for a year...

[Karl Blanchard]

CO has a great website. No need to blow money on gohunt to figure out elk in CO. Dang near the whole western half of the state is otc for archery, 2nd rifle season and 3rd rifle season as well as multiple 4th season 0 point options. No quota so literally drive there, stop at fish and game and give them your $660 and go hunt.

[Stalker]

CO has a great website. No need to blow money on gohunt to figure out elk in CO. Dang near the whole western half of the state is otc for archery, 2nd rifle season and 3rd rifle season as well as multiple 4th season 0 point options. No quota so literally drive there, stop at fish and game and give them your $660 and go hunt.

   You can even save a couple hundred by purchasing a cow tag, almost guaranted to bring home meat.  Give yourself a couple of years to get to know an area and then spend the extra on a bull tag. Been going to CO for years to enjoy the area, getting to gether with friends and bring a cow home almost everytime. 

[jstone]

I already have done some reading on the web. Some people say places are crowded.
Question; is it crowded off the roads like Washington?

Sometimes when people say crowded is it Washington crowded?

[Stalker]

I already have done some reading on the web. Some people say places are crowded.
Question; is it crowded off the roads like Washington?

Sometimes when people say crowded is it Washington crowded?

I gave up hunting WA a few years ago due to WDFW and just do ID & CO so I do not know how crowded it is any more. 

I hunt western units (NW / SW of Grand Junction) 4th season rifle or early archery season.  4th rifle my group may run into half dozen or so hunters when we are close to roads.  We have no issuse with getting several miles from roads and rarely come across others. I think most residents focus on earlier seasons as 4th rifle you can be into some serious snow.  I've had a couple seasons where we could not get out without snowmobiles.  Hope this helps.

[cem3434]

Lots of good information here. Both CO's website and gohunt have a lot of useful information as others have suggested.  I have a couple of points so I'm looking at trying to hunt CO this year too for the first time.

[Karl Blanchard]

Any otc elk unit is gonna be crowded. It'll be unlike anything you have seen in WA. 4th season is a bit different because they are all on a quota.  2nd and 3rd seasons are busy. Just gotta learn to use it to your advantage. You arent gonna outwork everyone so you gotta out hunt everyone. The big difference is regardless of pressure, there is just WAY more game!

[the1rod]

Colorado has alot of area to hunt,  and alot of times to hunt for elk.  With the game regs and onx you can find multiple areas. Pick a spot and go have fun. You can find harvest statistics and all the information you want to dive into. I lived there five years and unfortunately only got to hunt one year and never got anything.  But it's different country and beautiful at that. As others have said there's definitely more game,  I always saw the animals i was hunting for,  just never made it happen.  I hiked into the flattops wilderness area and it was a great time,  helped another hunter pack out a cow.  It's rough terrain and once you get back in there you don't see too many people. One thing I can tell you is to be prepared for a quick change of weather.  Know that if a storm hits,  you may have to pack up and get out of there quick depending on where your at.  Most the hunting areas there are forest service,  and it's not like driving the logging roads in WA.  They are rocky,  rutted up,  and when they get wet can turn to a slick sloppy mess in an instant. If you have chains take them,  and make sure your spare tire is in good shape.

[Taco280AI]

Lots of game, lots of hunters, lots of high altitude hunting so show up in shape.

The area I hunted was public land up high with ranches down below. The elk would be on public stuff during archery and move down low before rifle, before the snow even. They knew they were safer down there, even though there were high dollar hunts on the ranches.

[jstone]

Ya I would only be going archery elk.

[cavemann]

Colorado has alot of area to hunt,  and alot of times to hunt for elk.  With the game regs and onx you can find multiple areas. Pick a spot and go have fun. You can find harvest statistics and all the information you want to dive into. I lived there five years and unfortunately only got to hunt one year and never got anything.  But it's different country and beautiful at that. As others have said there's definitely more game,  I always saw the animals i was hunting for,  just never made it happen.  I hiked into the flattops wilderness area and it was a great time,  helped another hunter pack out a cow.  It's rough terrain and once you get back in there you don't see too many people. One thing I can tell you is to be prepared for a quick change of weather.  Know that if a storm hits,  you may have to pack up and get out of there quick depending on where your at.  Most the hunting areas there are forest service,  and it's not like driving the logging roads in WA.  They are rocky,  rutted up,  and when they get wet can turn to a slick sloppy mess in an instant. If you have chains take them,  and make sure your spare tire is in good shape.

Tail end of this response is probably the biggest thing to consider..  First time I was there the rains hit.  Being from WA, whats the big deal and why is everyone heading out??  Scariest drive out we've ever had.  The clay is much worse than any snow/ice you've ever experience hear.  We had several near misses, winched out 4 or 5 times and nearly had to abandon the quad trailer and truck and get out on the quad in hopes to come back later for the truck.  Worse then the hairy trip out, that stuff tears up your vehicle.  Took hours to house off and even chisel off that stuff once it dries.  You need chains and two sets for all 4 wheels.  Snow or mud.  Some of the ruts bottomed out the truck and nearly high centered us and there are several places the ruts are the only way on narrow spots..  We were more prepared the second time but still was a mess.