Posted: 12/9/2008 6:10:19 AM EDT
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My brothers and I are looking at hunting Cow Elk in Colorado next fall (2009).
Anyone willing to assist with information. I am looking at trying to set something up where we would set up our own camp, then be able to hunt cow elk without a guide. We would pack out and butcher our own animals. Do Private ranches allow this sort of thing for a fee? If so, what kinds of fees are we looking at per hunter. I would not bring any of my horses because they are not used to mountain terrain. We would have 4-whlrs if necessary but prefer to do the hunt on foot and pack the animals out to a trail or road. Any information on good public land access would also be appreciated. Any assistance is greatly appreciated. |
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You will need to get your tags early. I think the drawing is in March this year. I would go to the Colorado Division of Wildlife website. It is expensive for out of state hunters.
You might want to apply in undersubscribed units. I hunt 501, and it is OK, but I think the unit 500 is better near the Continental Divide, lots of public land. The areas 50, 500 & 501 have special cow only late seasons after Thanksgiving and New Year's that are great if you aren't scared of a little snow. They cover 2 weekends starting on Saturday so you should get plenty of time to hunt. You can camp almost anywhere in National Forest, and there are also designated campsites but I don't think they will be open that late in the season. We have ATV's but almost never use them, trucks are quieter and go to most of the same places. I prefer walking to my stand in the morning. |
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those are pretty decent areas ss109 told you about. applications for licenses for draw tags are due usually by the first week in april, or the last week in march. Read the laws on where you can and can't take your vehicles. Please respect our forrests. DOW is coming down hard on people who break the laws. Especially for driving where they aren't supposed to be. Make sure it is a designated trail/road that allows ATVs or trucks or whatever you might have. Some of them even prohibit horses. Unit 500 has started to become saturated with people. down low there are a lot of homes with idiots in them who are anti hunting. read the laws in the hunting guide and you will find if anyone interferes with your hunt on purpose you can go after them and they will pay. DOW does not like peoples hunts to be interrupted, especially by some crazy PETA type out there while you are trying to get your elk you paid a lot of money for (the tag at least). Other than that, get a book and read up on elk habits, patterns during the different times of the year, where they will likely be at feeding depending on what time of year, the temp, how much snow, hunting pressure etc. Learn to bugle or at least cow call. Depending on when you hunt, if you find a bull, you will generally find cows, and the bulls are smart sending the cows out first. perfect for cow season  good luck |
| Many private ranches will provide the access you are interested in for as little as $200 trespass fee (cow only). I don't know of any off hand, however have received letters from them after applying for a license (i'm assuming they obtain my info from DOW, there is a checkbox on the application for "receiving offers"). You can probably search the internet for such ranches. Once you have done a little research about what area you are interested in etc, you could probably ask more specific questions here for better answers. |
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Great information. Thanks guys.
sniper_tim - That is the type of information I am looking for. Private ranches that would allow access. I have been reading as much as possible on the subject. Several very good books. I am well versed in hunting Whitetail Deer but Elk is another story. We chose to try Cow Elk for our first time to Colorado because we hoped the tags would be easier to get, the license fee is cheaper, and we hoped some Rancher would like the help to remove some excess grass eaters from his property. And in all honesty I have absolutely no use for a large set of antlers. I hunt to enjoy the hunt, then enjoy the meat if I am lucky enough to fill the tag. A nice bull elk would be wasted on me I guess. That may change later if I enjoy the hunting. I would gladly pay $200.00 to $300.00 per hunter to get access to property that might keep us away from the hordes of road hunters that I would guess would surround public land, and allow us to learn this type of hunting. I won't be able to make a scouting trip prior to the season so private land would be ideal. Coming from Minnesota, any public land up here is awash in waves of blaze orange clad hunters once hunting season opens up. I no longer hunt public land because of the number of hunters. |
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50, 500, & 501 are all limited hunting so you don't see the multiitudes elsewhere, in fact, our group is the only one I actually see walking.
There are road hunters, but they can't go everywhere. Now a question from me, are there still over the counter Elk tags for sale in Colorado? I know CDOW is always polling me to ask if the hunting pressure is too high. Usually I have to answer them that I don't think there is enough pressure to move the Elk herds. OP, Some ranchers get land use tags and will sell those to hunters. I think the ratio is every 160 acres, you get one Elk license. The ranchers get priority over the civvie elk draw IIRC. |
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Quoted: 50, 500, & 501 are all limited hunting so you don't see the multiitudes elsewhere, in fact, our group is the only one I actually see walking. There are road hunters, but they can't go everywhere. Now a question from me, are there still over the counter Elk tags for sale in Colorado? I know CDOW is always polling me to ask if the hunting pressure is too high. Usually I have to answer them that I don't think there is enough pressure to move the Elk herds. OP, Some ranchers get land use tags and will sell those to hunters. I think the ratio is every 160 acres, you get one Elk license. The ranchers get priority over the civvie elk draw IIRC. yes, there are plenty of over the counter tags. also lots of leftover tags. As long as you didn't get drawn or already buy a general license, you can purchase a leftover tag. Over the counter tags you can buy but are only good for specific seasons and areas. I bought a left over deer tag this year but passed up a few small mulies...never saw a nice enough one to take. gotta let the little ones grow up to be big boys! there are private land owner tags, but the guys who really know about this...they also know there are plenty of out of state guys that would gladly pay 3K+ for a elk hunt on private property with a warm cabin to come back to each night. You may get lucky and find somebody that has property but you would be hard pressed to actually get the tag from him if he doesn't hunt himself because I can assure you there are plenty of "friends" of his that will gladly pay him or trade him something for a tag and rights to use his property for the season to fill that tag. I had a buddy in sterling that got a lot of private tags for deer and he had some great bucks on his property. the guys land ajoining him also got the tags and sold them for as high as $10K to out of state guys wanting to take a really nice white tale off the river bottom.  that fee of course included 3 nights stay and meals
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Payne,
For a private property cow tag, you will probably have to buy leftover tags, however research first. It doesn't hurt to start putting in for draw anyhow and obtaining preference points (you get your $ back, and as you mention you may want to hunt here some day). Sounds like your first step is finding a ranch. I'm not sure of how to go about it, except continuing to ask on forums, try some hunting forums too, searching the internet. You may be able to call some of the ranches that advertise on the internet for big game hunts and asking if they have trespass options. I've actually been thinking about finding a ranch for the same purpose, to ensure i have a freezer full of meat each year. Please let us know what you find, i'll do the same. I know of a ranch in Estes, Sombrero (or maybe one of the other stables that is right in town) that will charge you $200 for getting rid of a cow on their property, however from what I understand it is not really a hunt. More like get out of your truck, walk to the edge of their parking lot and shoot an animal. good luck, Tim |