Elk Hunting.

Most of my buddies are all teasing me about the up coming elk hunting season.
in truth it's already started... Archery was opened back in Aug, 30th and ran to Sept 28th.
But... since I only moved back to Colorado last Oct, 2013 I had to wait until I passed that 1 year mark to apply for a tag.


what can I say... I'm a penny pincher and a Resident tag is only $49...Non-Resident tags are $103.
I'm signed up for the 3rd rifle season Nov. 1-9 and my wife's tag is for the 4th rifle Nov. 12-16
Colorado Hunting Maps

when it comes to hunting I guess the first thing to know is where to go. States Fish and Game Department is where you should start...not only will you need to go there to apply for a lic/tag it's there you'll find out where to go and what makes your elk eligible to hunt.

Antler Requirements
To allow bull elk and mule deer bucks to reach maturity, animals
must grow to an acceptable size before they can be harvested. Size is
determined by the antlers. Be sure to clearly identify the size of the antlers
of a bull or a buck.

Here in Colorado that size requirement is 4 points on one side or Brow tines that are 5 inches or longer.


BTW this year I'll be hunting Elk GMU 74

Tips for Hunting Elk
The popular hunting magazines often display colorful photographs of
huge bull elk standing in open meadows presenting easy targets. The
reality in the mountains of Colorado, however, is far different.
Stalking these animals is challenging and most hunters won’t get easy
shots. You’re more likely to find elk on a steep hillside, in a dark ravine or
in thick timber than out in the open.
The hunter success rate for all manners of game in 2013 was 20%

source

You should learn all you can about elk
before you even think about walking out the front door. Know their patterns, habits and habitat, know what they like to eat, where they bed down, how the heard moves at different times of the day. Understand what elk do in response to hunting pressure. Every place hunts differently, even if your only talking about a few miles, so learn your hunting ground... I was up in the canyon where I plan to hunt yesterday morning and again this morning... good god there were hunters everywhere most of them zooming around on quad bikes too. that was down on the far south end of the canyon and it didn't take a genius to figure out all the elk would be on the far north end as far away from noise as they could get.
Go in person to the places you want to hunt... that's my tip to you...the rest you can learn at your local library and on the internet.

There are 3 factors that contribute to making a quality shot on an animal in the field: (1) Practicing with your weapon, (2) Knowing the distance to your target, and (3) Knowing where to aim.

Weapons and how to judge distance have often been discussed right here on ATS and on a plethora of other web sites. So let me talk to you about where to aim. and the general rule for all 4 legged game animals is... Just behind the front shoulder!!!!!




the experts will say there are 5 ways to get a shot into the vital area of a buck (Kill-Zone). and they are

(1) Straight-away (rear) shots,
(2) Quartering-away shots,
(3) Broadside shots,
(4) Quartering-to shots, and
(5) Frontal (straight-on) shots.

Good to know but realistically I say... forget all that...Aim for that sweet spot right behind the front shoulder like in the pictures above and your golden, most every time...

Hunter's Checklist

• First-aid kit, sunscreen, toilet paper

• Compass and maps

• Flashlight, lantern, extra batteries

• Rain gear

• Knife sharpener, bone saw, game bag

• Blaze orange vest and cap

• Extra fuel for a camp stove

• Tire chains

• Cleaning supplies, trash bags, shovel

• Water bottles

• Hunting license and hunter education card

• List of family/friends' phone numbers

I'll leave you with one last tip... Elk are big...Keep this in mind when you have to pack out the boned meat of a 500- to 750-pound elk back to the truck you parked three or four miles away.

ETA.... A link to Elk Hunting University

An Introduction to Elk Hunting UniversityElk Hunting University © CPW

Colorado Parks & Wildlife's (CPW) Hunter Outreach Program, with the assistance of field officers, Huntmasters, and partners from across the state, is pleased to provide an on-line educational program focusing on elk hunting in Colorado. Elk Hunting University (EHU) is designed to provide "how to" information through a series of articles, videos, and other educational tools.

How about you save all that money you were going to spend on equipment and gas, and buy some food at the market and save the magnificent wild animals out there? Take pictures instead. Stop pretending you 'need' the food and it's a cost saving measure; obviously you don't if you can afford all that gear to hunt. You can go take photos in the off-season and not have to worry about all the other idiots out there thinking you're an elk, too...

Must you over-testosteronized types blast everything you see?

Yup the work starts when the critter hits the ground!


Having shot and butchered many deer my neighbor and I decided we could save a lot or money by killing and butchering one of our steers, even with a frontend loader that was a lot of work.

originally posted by: signalfire
How about you save all that money you were going to spend on equipment and gas, and buy some food at the market and save the magnificent wild animals out there? Take pictures instead. Stop pretending you 'need' the food and it's a cost saving measure; obviously you don't if you can afford all that gear to hunt. You can go take photos in the off-season and not have to worry about all the other idiots out there thinking you're an elk, too...

Must you over-testosteronized types blast everything you see?

Where to start with that overly ignorant statement.

He should just 'go to the market' in rural southwest Colorado?

It is better to eat factory-farmed animals than those that are hunted in the wild?

Have you done the math on the dollar cost ratio for his gear versus the yield on an adult elk?

What is the nutritional value of an elk photograph?

Most of us are now very trained in the Elk Hunting game, thanks to GTAV

Feels more comfortable shooting virtual reality Elks anyway, couldn't imagine myself shooting any animal.

In fact I'll never even have a gun in my life time.

a reply to: signalfire

Do did realize this is the Survival section...right?

Plus it's all natural and organic...elk meat is lower in fat than beef, pork, chicken, and even some seafood according to USDA
A 3.5-ounce serving of free range elk meat, or roughly 100 grams, is relatively low in both calories and fats. One serving contains about 148. average cut of elk meat contains about 30.6 grams of protein per 3.5-ounce serving. This is slightly more than chicken and several grams per serving more than beef.

Elk meat also features several vitamins, including over 100 percent of your daily recommended dose of vitamin B-12, 15 percent of iron, 20 percent of thiamine, phosphorus, zinc and vitamin B-6, 45 percent of riboflavin and 30 percent of niacin, according to the Grande Premium Meats website. Vitamin B-12 can help reduce your risk of heart disease and dementia and increase your energy levels, according to the National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements. Elk is very high in selenium, phosphorous and zinc. Zinc helps boost your immune system and reduces the length and severity of the common cold.

a reply to: HardCorps

Awesome awesome thread. S and f buddy

Good luck.
Are the deer still crazy out there? I have a brother in Nebraska who used to get his and process them and his in-laws. Sausage, steaks, he did it all. Until he was sick of everyone expecting him to do it for free in a cold garage in November. He sold all of his meat processing supplies and several rifles and bought a boat and a new rod. No Elk out there, some muleys...and the mountain lions are coming back. With no mountains you'd think they would call them prairie panthers. Anyhow...be safe and have fun!

originally posted by: signalfire
How about you save all that money you were going to spend on equipment and gas, and buy some food at the market and save the magnificent wild animals out there? Take pictures instead. Stop pretending you 'need' the food and it's a cost saving measure; obviously you don't if you can afford all that gear to hunt. You can go take photos in the off-season and not have to worry about all the other idiots out there thinking you're an elk, too...

Must you over-testosteronized types blast everything you see?

Theres not face palm big enough for this......

So youd rather people eat the food from the slaughter houses that everyone cries foul over......

Rather then someone going out and killing a clean animal and filling a deep freeze to feed their own family?

I hunt all the time to feed my family, I dont "pretend" anything, most hunters do the same. I also buy half a beef every year with my uncle that we have our family friend butcher at his shop.

A hell of a lot cheaper then getting that crap at the store and better for your family

SO, hunting =bad mass produced and injected meat = good

What planet do you live on?

a reply to: signalfire

Without us huners, over population of animals becomes quite a problem.

Also, my meat is not jacked up on roids like your store bought meat is.

Lastly, the way I get my meat is waaay more humain than the way animals are treated in factory farms.

You stick to the stores and I'll stck with the woods. I'll still be eating if TSHTF!

originally posted by: signalfire
How about you save all that money you were going to spend on equipment and gas, and buy some food at the market and save the magnificent wild animals out there? Take pictures instead. Stop pretending you 'need' the food and it's a cost saving measure; obviously you don't if you can afford all that gear to hunt.

FALSE
Everything listed except for food, gas, the license, and some ammo are things used again, year after year. A 5 year old bull elk will yield between 200 and 250 lbs of boned out meat. Right now beef is running a national average of $5 to $7 a lb (averaged between ground and common steaks. That means 250 lbs of beef will set you back $1250 to $1750.
1 week of camp food = $150 (or less)
50 gals of gas = $170
License = $50
Box of shells = Variable. Store bought for my primary hunting weapon (338 win mag @ 250 gr) is $70 for 20 rounds, but if you have a more common 308 or 30.06 you'd be looking at less than $35 a box and if you reload, you'd be looking at less than $1.00 a load.

Throw out 50% of your camp food costs because you'd have to eat whether you're in camp or at home, and likely do the same for the gas.


Result: You're getting $1250 (on the low end) worth of meat for about $250.

Save too many of those magnificent wild animals and watch in horror as disease and starvation decimate the herd. Hunting in the modern times is closely regulated and managed. It is truly the primary tool by which the F&G departments keep the herd at their healthiest and most productive. Hunting isn't for you? That's fine, less mice, more cheese. But drop the fairy tale ideology that believes the game management hunter isn't every bit as important to the population of game as the game itself is.

My family has a tradition of bow hunting for elk In Colorado (near Gunnison) and the first thing that comes to my mind is how high up we had to go to find them. Around 9,000 ft altitude. Some years even that was too low if it was unseasonably hot. Every kill we had was a long hike just to get back to camp. If you plan on taking all the meat then 1 person will have to make 5 or 6 trips just to pack it back. Here's where having a horse or a mule can be invaluable. Much of the mountains is too difficult to navigate even on 4 wheelers though they were a godsend to bring all your gear to camp.

Enjoy the hunt! Even if we never got a shot we always enjoyed ourselves but as you know be prepared for any kind of weather as snow started back in September yet temperatures can still shoot up in the 90's during the day.

a reply to: the owlbear

Where I am in far far SW Colorado ... we have to be careful with the mulies around here...

Some of them can carry bovine tuberculosis... over on the front range and up around GJ their safe to hunt and eat... just not where I am... and since we locals leave them be... Damn right the get crazy... standing in the road daring you hit them... a small heard ate up my wife's flower garden...why we've seen en walk down the main street in the middle of the day... crazy deer...

a reply to: Asktheanimals

The San Juans were pretty dry this year... we didn't get nearly the rain fall totals they got in Denver proper... here in Cortez were not quite up 9 inch's for the year... was only slightly more than that up in Rico... with that said, the Elk are not so bunched up and are already on the move to the lowlands... in search of better grazing...

Another item to point out... the fodder is so bad In this corner of the state.. if we don't thin the heard... a lot of em will starve over winter.

originally posted by: signalfire
How about you save all that money you were going to spend on equipment and gas, and buy some food at the market....

Most of the equipment can be used and re-used, and on other species as well. It takes gas to go to the market. Other posters are addressing the nutrient value of game meant.

and save the magnificent wild animals out there?

I'm terribly sorry to have to inform you, but you can't "save" a single one of these creatures. Do you know the other causes of death for elk? vehicle collisions will kill many. The rest will eventually die from starvation and/or disease. There are no retirement home for elk. Do you know why? Because elk do not die peacefully. The ones who do die a 'natural death' will be ripped apart by wolves. Yep, torn to pieces while they die in agony. Compared to that, a hunting death seems downright merciful. "Humane," to be executed by a human.

Take pictures instead.

Let me guess; you don't spend a lot of time in nature. You think a picture is the same as being there. There is nothing that compares with being in the woods, even for just a day, much less a week's hunting trip. It is incredible that as an American, I live in a highly urbanized society but can still get access to nature and wild meat. My ancestors were peasants in Europe, and forbidden to hunt. For now, I have the freedom to hunt in my homeland. I love that. I hope my kids get to experience that same kind of liberty, too.

Must you over-testosteronized types blast everything you see?

Actually, only about 40% of license holders are successful in a given year. You can look up the statistics in colorado online---it varies greatly by which hunting parcel you draw a tag for. And few states spend money on Parks & Wildlife from the state's general fund--- almost all of the nations state and even national wilderness parks are funded by --- the sale of hunting licenses and goods. If you knew more about hunting, you'd know that. You'd also know that Elk went extinct in Colorado about the time of the Gold Rush; the modern herds have been re-introduced at the behest of ....(wait for it).... hunters.

Stop pretending you 'need' the food and it's a cost saving measure; obviously you don't if you can afford all that gear to hunt.

Personally, I feed my family (yes, I am a breeder) with the meat I take. My trophies all fit in my freezer. Also I just really admire the class-ism in the implication that only rich people should hunt.

The fact is that there are quite a number of us who hunt for food. Where I live (not elk country, sadly), ground beef has gone above $6 a pound. If I get a hundred pounds of ground elk, and I spend less than $600 a year in doing it, it IS economical for my family. (Our wild red meat is white-tailed deer; it costs me about a dollar a pound to grind it myself.)

I'm going to take off and go spend the rest of the day with the family....

before I go... Guys... don't let the anti-hunters get to you... their just doing it to get a reaction out of you... and since this is the survival section... kind of lets us know, who's not going to make it....SHTF

anyway... since we have so many experienced hunters... I'll leave you with something cool... A link to a pretty cool hunting story
Wapiti Ambush (Part One: Mountaineering With A Gun) Part 1
Wapiti Ambush (Part II: ‘Bonking’ Bulls)

Stupid questions here man.... I've never hunted elk but want to..


1. Is it better to field clean the meat on the spot or do you pack out the whole carcass... and if you field clean it do I need to take steps to bury the parts to keep the bears and wolves away? Or are bears already in for the winter?

2. Do elk hides make a good rug or would I be wasting my time with trying to make one?


3. I'm assuming so... but I'm not sure... but you clean an elk the same as a deer?



Thanks for the thread again... I could do some think like this for bird, fish, and boar if there is an interest.

originally posted by: skyblueworld
Most of us are now very trained in the Elk Hunting game, thanks to GTAV

Feels more comfortable shooting virtual reality Elks anyway, couldn't imagine myself shooting any animal.

In fact I'll never even have a gun in my life time.

I hope you don't eat meat then!

While I'm not a hunter, I have been hunting in New Zealand and I have shot and killed animals (mostly rabbits at an endangered bird-breeding facility). There is nothing quite as tasty as wild venison, that I have come across.

I appreciated the OP and his efforts to stress the importance of being prepared, and safety first (because death lasts).

I'll just say eat a processed beef?? burger be hungry a few hours later eat a elk or venison burger and not be hungry for 24 hours or more. Tell me what's best for you

The end

I'd say that signal fire got stomped. Get it from the market. You cant make shtif like that up.