Illustrated Guide to Unit Selection

This is the part of the script and illustrations to a series of videos that we are working on. What I’d like to attempt to do here is to show all of what goes into planning a successful hunt or three. And rather than sit on this for a few months until the video is complete, I’d like it out there for folks to be able to think as we head into hunting season. It’s my plan to do follow up pieces to this with remote scouting, on the ground scouting and hunting season updates throughout the 2010 season:

For me, there is no offseason. Hunting season does not begin in the fall, it is a yearlong procession of research, applications and scouting seasons, all culminating in the hunt. I put a lot of effort into this process; have developed some different ways of doing my research to put myself and my hunting partners on the ground in productive country, and would like to show how it is we are able to routinely harvest in new country every year. Because we are unit hoppers, we never get to intimately know an area the way someone would who has hunted a specific drainage for the past 20 years. I don’t find that to be a handicap, in fact, I feel that you are missing out by not exploring new country whenever possible. When you are wed to a specific unit, you stay with it through the good years and bad years, never feeling comfortable with the idea of trying a new location, not knowing how your wisdom will translate, and not knowing the specific movement habits of game in a new spot. I accept that I will never know have a complete understanding of the unique movements of game in every area, but I feel that knowledge and wisdom gained through hunting many places will apply to most situations I will encounter. While I may eventually settle down to hunting a few units routinely, by being flexible and keeping my eye on the population trends, I am able to hunt more places at their peak, and I don’t ever feel “stuck” with the same old, same old.

Unit selection is all about putting the odds in your favor. Most elk and deer hunters throughout the west go home empty handed more often than not. On average, elk hunters in Colorado harvest about 20% of the time, and deer hunters are successful about 40% of the time. Average isn’t good enough for me; I want to have the chance to harvest every time I go out. To do that, I feel it is advantageous to put yourself in more productive country. But how do you identify those areas? What do I look for when selecting a unit? After I’ve selected a unit to hunt, then how do I go about narrowing down the options for selecting a specific region to hunt? This script will attempt to show you the statistics and research that I looked at for this year and then show you the sign, habitat and terrain features that will encourage or discourage me from hunting in a specific area. Then hopefully, we’ll be able to put it all together for a successful hunt.

To begin the 2010 application season, my partners and I all had differing amounts of preference points and hunting preferences. We are all Colorado transplants, and so we do not have deep connections to any particular area within the state. We are mostly rifle hunters, but we also dabble in muzzleloading and archery now and then to expand our hunting opportunities. In 2009, very few of us were successful in drawing our first choice deer and elk tags, so we mostly hunted on second choices, OTC tags and leftovers. We had an up and down year with a few blown chances sticking in our collective craws making the season seem not quite as successful as we had hoped. As a group, our deer preference points were all over the map, with one of us having 0 points, one having 1 point, 2 having 2 points, one having 4 points, and two with 5 points. Only one of the 3 with a high deer point count had a plan for his points, the others were just blindly accumulating. For elk, we had fewer points as a group, with one having 5 points, but the rest of us had either one or two points each.

So our first order of business was to sit down and have a Meeting of the Mighty Hunters to map out our plans back in February. This was already past the application deadline for Wyoming elk, but none of us seemed interested in attempting an elk hunt Wyoming this year. For the last couple of years we have been going to Wyoming for a doe antelope hunt, so our first set of deadlines was going to be March 15th. New Mexico elk was on Ryan’s radar, and I decided to apply again for Nevada mule deer, as the last cheap and easy western hunt left now that New Mexico requires the full fee up front. But other than those hunts, the majority of our efforts were going to be focused on our home state of Colorado.

As with every group, some take a more active role in the planning process than others, with the less active members being more amenable to whatever the planners decide on. First order of business and that which most of us plan our year around is the elk hunting. In 2009, the main group hunt was a 1st rifle cow hunt in and alongside a wilderness area. We also had a 3rd rifle OTC bull elk hunt for 3 of us, while others hunted muzzleloader and archery seasons if they hunted elk a second time. Ryan had just taken up muzzleloading in 2009 and had an awesome experience with elk bugling in his face. As a dedicated waterfowler, the game calling aspect also appealed to him. To me, l liked the idea of having first crack at an elk with a firearm, and love mid September in the Rockies. We were also able to get more guys to commit to a backcountry elk hunt in September as opposed to October or November. Thankfully, we have access to Adam’s horses, which would make packing in a lot easier for all of us. Still, not everyone in the group was willing to commit to this hunt, but enough of us were willing to give it a shot.

Previously, I wasn’t willing to consider muzzleloading for cow elk until 2010 when the regulations changed. The previous statewide muzzleloader cow tag was a List A tag. But now that the statewide tag had been broken up into numerous units, with those tags that were List B for rifle hunts, now being list B for muzzleloading, it made it so that if I drew a cow tag, we wouldn’t lose an opportunity at a bull with the OTC tags or a leftover. While we were sold on muzzleloader season for our elk applications, we were well aware that our success rates would be much lower than a first rifle season tag. Traditionally, here in Colorado, 1st rifle season stands head and shoulders above the other seasons in terms of success rates. Of the 106 units I follow closely 1st season has approximately twice the success rates of the OTC seasons. Part of that is due to the common either sex tags, part of it is due to the fact that the elk have not been bothered for several weeks, and have not been run off onto the lower elevation private lands. But as you can see in the graph, 1st and 4th seasons are generally your best bets to kill an elk. These are 5 year averages reflecting either sex success rates for archery, muzzleloader, 1st and 4th rifle season, but bull only success rates for 2nd and 3rd seasons.


But where to go? I’m not the kind of guy who’ll chase a hot tip, and I try to put the experiences of others into perspective when listening to their advice. And most guys who’ll suggest a place to hunt have no perspective, and don’t really know what’s out there. Looking over data will help put things into perspective. And while it can be manipulated, I trust it more than the biased opinions of most hunters.
The unit had to be List B, so that those who drew cow tags could still hunt a bull. We also wanted a high density elk unit with low pressure. I want to hunt in units where I at least have a solid chance at shooting what I consider a trophy bull, basically anything approaching 300 inches. I have a sliding trophy scale, depending on the circumstances of the hunt; how many days I have left, what caliber of bulls I am seeing, what caliber I expect to see, and how many, if any elk I’ve already seen. The stat that I’m most willing to compromise on is success rate, as there are so many variables that affect a success rate that I feel it does not accurately reflect the way I hunt. Some of the guys were going to only put in for cow tags as a second choice so they could continue to accumulate preference points, but we were totally unsure of how the new muzzleloading elk units would draw out. There were no draw odds, and no tag quotas announced ahead of the draw, so it was going to be a gamble.

Anyway, our unit possibilities boiled down to the following units, some of which we had hunted in the past, others were new to us: Units that ranked highly on my lists that we had hunted recently and were considering returning to A, B, C, D, E, F and units that we had not hunted recently but were very interested in W, X, Y, and Z. Included on this list were some units that had previously had limited muzzleloader tags, but since we were unsure of how the breakup of the statewide tag would affect tag demand, we gave them some consideration too. All of these units had significant roadless area, most of which was federally designated wilderness.



As you can see in the chart, unit X has a significant elk density advantage over the others, and was a unit we had had our eye on for the past several years as the elk population had been growing.

Unit C, also has a substantial elk population, we were very familiar with it, but it was basically considered a raghorn unit, as you can see in the % of the bulls being harvested there last year. In fact, while only 30% of the bulls had been harvested out of that unit in 2009, that is considered a down year for that unit, as typical harvest percentages are in the mid to upper 40% range, leaving very few older bulls in the population. However, while Unit Y was a little below average in elk density, it is the top trophy potential unit, right next to unit X.



When you examine the number of elk per hunter in these units, once again unit X comes out on top, with only unit B coming in a close second. But unit B, which we hunted last year, doesn’t come close in terms of trophy potential and has half the elk density.



We do however like the extremely low hunter density in unit B as compared to unit X, but it’s not like X was particularly bad. When we hunted Unit C a few years ago, the hunter density was a real turn off for us, despite the fact we all harvested elk. Unit Y came up as another good possibility for low hunter density and good numbers of elk per hunter.



The main downsides to both units X and Y were the success rates, indicating difficult to access elk populations, especially compared to units C, E and Z.



Still, since we had decided to backcountry camp this year’s muzzleloader hunt, we were willing to disregard the lower success rates that are typical of units where a significant portion of the area is wilderness. We also knew we had to step up our scouting efforts in order to find good populations to hunt during muzzleloader season, as we wouldn’t be able to up and move very easily during the limited amount of time we’d have to hunt. But our decision had become a no-brainer at this point. With the expanding elk population in Unit X, which still wasn’t on the tongues of many hunters, we had to hunt this unit while it was still at its peak. Unit X is tops in nearly every category and the mediocre success rates could be explained away by the poor access that we could overcome through backcountry camping.

So that solved one of our primary elk hunt. Myself and Adam would put in for the bull tag as a first choice but were unsure how many points it would take to draw it. Ryan, Mike and Jason would apply for the cow tags with a second choice; while Matt and a friend of his from Florida, Chuck, would bow hunt the unit. We all applied separately, no group applications.

That left our deer applications for the other major group hunt. Having two or more resident points really opens up a lot of excellent possibilities. Determining a season can be almost as important as determining a unit. For us, primitive weapons hunts for deer hold little interest, but the early, high country rifle hunts have a lot of appeal. When you look at Western Colorado as a whole, there is little reason to spend the points on 4th rifle season, and the early rifle season is a terrible value. Although we still remain interested in the early rifle hunt, it would also conflict with our muzzleloader hunt this year.



However, when you look at some of my top rated units, you’ll see a few that truly represent excellent value. No one in the group had any special attraction to previously hunted units, and in fact hadn’t been happy with the ones we had hunted in the past, and had not drawn any tags since we had recently been following the data as closely as we do now. Jason and I had applied last year to unit A, but did not get drawn. However, a customer of mine had an excellent hunt in the same area we intended to hunt. I was open to a variety of units and seasons for 2010, but really dislike the amount of pressure that the 2nd season sees due to the number of OTC elk hunters. Traditionally, 2nd season has nearly twice the hunter pressure that 3rd season sees, and the deer success was lower. So it had to be a truly stellar unit to interest us in a 2nd season deer hunt. The units we were looking at for this year also had to require 2 points or less so most of us would have a chance to draw.

Unit A 3rd season, Unit B 3rd season, Unit C 2nd season, Unit D 2nd season and Unit E 3rd season, were the only units given much consideration. This was not going to be a meat hunt for most of us, we were after a quality experience. In the group, our trophy standards are all over the place, with some guys willing to shoot the first buck they see, others willing to be a little more patient for a buck. The unit also had to be OTC for elk, so those who only drew cow tags in muzzleloader season could come along on a bull hunt. Also, we had another friend, Tom, who wasn’t up for the backcountry muzzleloader hunt with his son, but would be more willing to jump in on an OTC bull hunt. He would be hunting a unit we had good success in for 1st season a few years ago.

Each of these 5 units had something going for them, and we knew that whichever we selected would be a slight compromise. But we had some incredible options to mull over. First, looking at the deer densities, unit E was the obvious standout, and is one of the top deer density units in the state.



But Units A and B were not too far behind in deer density.

One of the real downsides to Unit E 3rd season, which is even worse in worse in 2nd season, is the hunter density.



So, negating Unit E 3rd season, we looked at A and B for 3rd season, which were the next highest deer densities, and you’ll see both have low hunter densities. In terms of trophy Potential, Unit B 3rd season, begins to separate itself from A 3rd season.



However, unit C has excellent trophy potential. But the real downside there is the low deer density. Also, Unit C has a poor success rate. While that normally wouldn’t be the deciding factor, it did play a small role in this decision.



Of the last major statistical categories that I decided to look, Bucks per Hunter, Unit D 2nd season really stood out from the pack:



As I said, this was a tough decision. All of these units were ranked in the top 15 to 20 units in 2nd or 3rd season, and amongst the top values. The first to be eliminated was unit E 3rd season. It ranked the worst of these units, but the incredible deer density kept it in play in the discussions. Unit D 2nd season is the top ranked second season deer hunt, but because it required one more point than the other units, it would eliminate some of our hunters from drawing, and those with the minimum number of points, might not actually draw. So that left Units A, B and C. Unit C 2nd season only had the high trophy potential going for it, everything else looked poor in comparison with units A and B. And unit C 3rd season required more points than most of us had. So, in reality it came down to unit A versus unit B in 3rd season. Unit B was ranked slightly above A in our rankings, but because A was so close to our elk muzzleloader elk area, we had knowledge of the unit, the success rate was higher and the landownership pattern and terrain more conducive to our hunting styles, we decided to compromise and go with A. A did not lead any category, but was still an excellent unit.

Deciding on which units to apply for in New Mexico and Nevada went through similar processes. When we first started antelope hunting in Wyoming, we went on the recommendation of an area by a friend of ours. Productive hunting, and research showing we’d have to travel a lot further to greatly improve our hunting has had us staying put in the unit we know and like. Plus the tags are easy to get.

To be continued next time with the draw results, remote scouting and spring scouting…

Last Minute Leftover Tag Prep

Wyoming’s leftovers are currently on sale, Montana’s go on sale Monday the 9th, Idaho is presently conducting its second chance drawing and Colorado’s leftovers go on sale Tuesday the 10th. It’s not too late to do a little last minute prep and scouting before committing to a tag. As I mentioned last week in “Why is this tag a Leftover?”, not all leftovers are junk. But some are more headache than they are worth.

So let’s walk through a few steps we should consider before purchasing a tag. As a data guy, the first thing I’ll look into is how the unit stacks up in my rankings. Everyone has different priorities, but for me personally, I want above average game densities, solid trophy potential if it’s a buck or bull tag, and low hunting pressure. I will sacrifice success rates, except in the case of meat hunts. But if a unit has unusually low success, I will want to try to figure out why, and whether or not it is something I can overcome by hunting smarter or hunting harder than the average.

The next thing I do is look at the landownership pattern. Checkerboards and small parcels of public land work for me for antelope and some deer hunting, but not for elk hunting. In heavily private areas that have tempted me to look into their tags for whatever reason, I will also look at any public access programs like Wyoming’s Hunter Management and Walk In Access areas, Montana’s Block Management, Idaho’s Access Yes! and Colorado’s Big Game Walk In Access Areas.

Next I’ll do some quick remote scouting of the publicly accessible areas on Google Earth, to make sure they look like proper habitat from the air. I’m not concerned with where exactly to hunt at this point, but I want to know that there is the kind of habitat that looks appropriate for the game of interest and works for my hunting styles.

After that, I’ll try to do a quick drive to and around the unit. Try to schedule your drive to be out during peak game hours. If the place I want to look at is 4 or 5 hours away, I will be leaving in the middle of the night to be on the roads at dawn. If that’s not possible, be sure to be driving through your most likely areas by dusk. This tactic is better for deer and elk, as antelope are more active mid to late morning and late afternoon. But I want to see that there is at least some game. If I have time I’ll hike around looking for sign that I mentioned in this scouting article a while back:

http://wildlife.state.co.us/Hunting/ElkHuntingUniversity/EHULessons/EHUScoutTips.htm

When doing that I’m just trying to get an idea of relative animal densities. How does this area compare to others that I’ve hunted? Is there more or less browsing pressure on the plants than I’m used to? Can I see hedged shrubs along the winter range areas, indicating high winter concentrations of game? What about fresh tracks in the road and along the cut banks of dirt roads? It doesn’t take much to get me excited, and validate my decision to hunt an area, but it’s best to have some perspective. If you don’t know what a lot of sign looks like, head out to one of the higher game density reputation areas in your state(or take a look at my stats), then compare it to wherever else you’re considering hunting. Montana and Colorado hunters, you still have one more weekend day to do this.

It’s also important to know what kind of a chance you have of getting the tag you are interested in. Are there only a handful of tags available? If that’s the case, be ready with a backup plan. This year in Colorado, there are only 8 public land heavy units with rifle buck deer tags available. That’s as few as I remember ever seeing, so you’ll want to have several back up plans if you’re eyeing buck deer tags. Guys who have several members of a party going for a small number of leftover tags have additional issues. If you can’t pick up the leftover tags with all of your friends at once in the same place, make sure you stay in touch with everybody in the party. You’ll want to know if the tags have sold out and you’ll want to be prepared to purchase some sort of secondary license for that area if you intend to go anyway. That might be a cow elk tag or doe deer tag instead of a buck or bull tag. If you know members of your party can’t or won’t be first in line for that limited tag, you might have to think more seriously about a unit with more leftovers so you are all more likely to get a tag.

Additionally, if you have to return a tag before you can purchase a new one, do that before leftover day (that means Monday at the latest for Colorado hunters). You’ll have to that at a Division of Wildlife Office, which is the last place you’ll want to be on leftover day.

For Colorado’s mad rush on leftover tags, another good tactic is to head to less well known and less well stocked hunting stores for your leftover tag. Sportsmen’s Warehouse and Wal Mart are just as bad, if not worse than the Division of Wildlife Offices. Frequently, the counter help at big box stores are not aware of List A versus List B and List C rules, so if you see someone struggling as they are continuously rejected, don’t be afraid to let them know what’s wrong with their tag selections. Every year I see someone try buy more bull or buck tags than they are allowed, or try to buy a List A cow or doe tag in addition to the buck or bull tag. Also, there’s no need to buy your OTC tags while there are so many people in line. Those are unlimited.

You still have plenty of time to scout, but you should start getting ready to commit to a unit, if you haven’t already done so.
Good luck out there

Why is this Tag a Leftover?

With application season pretty much behind us, leftovers becoming available and hunting season just around the corner, most of us have our plans pretty well fleshed out. However, many of you may still be contemplating the leftover lists, looking for an opportunity to hunt.
I’ll mostly talk about the Wyoming and Colorado leftovers here, but the thought processes should apply elsewhere.
More often than not there’s a reason tags go unclaimed in the draw, and it’s not always because it’s a bad tag to have. But you need to do your research BEFORE you buy a tag. It all boils down to supply and demand, but we need to look into both variables to see why the tag has leftovers, and whether or not it’s worth having.
On the supply side, units with high game populations frequently issue a lot of tags. So just because the tags are available, it does not mean no one wants them. It’s just that there’s a tremendous number available. Here in Colorado, a unit with one of the highest deer densities and excellent trophy potential is available as leftovers most years. Areas with population problems often make it to leftovers. Colorado’s top elk density unit has tags available in leftovers for nearly every season. Areas that are just in a population maintenance mode, are rarely as good for a meat hunt as those whose populations are above objectives.
Sometimes there will be areas that traditionally to draw out, with a fairly steady number of applicants. But if the managing game department suddenly increases the tags, the public may not have been prepared and the unit will go undersubscribed. Check out the draw stats for both this year and last year. Was there an increase in the number of permits? That might indicate a growing population for you to take advantage of.
One of the big factors affecting demand would include public access. This is easy enough to figure out with a simple atlas or map showing public land ownership and the major county roads. The antelope tags I buy in Wyoming every year are always available as leftovers, but Wyoming Game and Fish discourages people from purchasing tags for that unit with their asterisk, meaning public access is poor. It may not be full of contiguous blocks of public land, but there’s enough, especially when you include Wyoming’s Walk In Access and Hunter Management Areas. And don’t overlook checkerboarded areas for deer and antelope hunting. My favorite parcel for antelope is just a single 640 acre (1 sq mile) section of BLM land. It always has a large herd of antelope on it after 10 am.
Wilderness and difficult terrain conspire to discourage many hunters. If you’ve purchased my full data sets, you’ll see that some of the best units are wilderness-heavy and/or incredibly steep, rugged country. In Wyoming, that’s a major issue for nonresidents, because you can’t hunt a designated wilderness without a guide, but it shouldn’t hold back a hardcore hunter in other states. Also, look closely to see what proportion of a unit is wilderness. Is there still enough country left to hunt outside of the wilderness area? Most hunters just don’t want to fool with backcountry camping. But if you’re willing to, you’ll open up tremendous possibilities for yourself. Road closures to popular areas also discourage some hunters who had traditionally hunted in a place they could drive to.
But, as often as not, a tag goes undersubscribed for good reason. Frequently the game numbers are way down, and even the locals are giving up on hunting the area. While most hunters don’t pour over the statistics, long term trends of poor success and infrequent game sightings go noticed eventually. Heavily pressured areas take a toll on those who are intolerant of “pumpkin patches”. Despite an areas popularity, few hunters dream about hunting elbow to elbow with other strangers. But tolerance to hunting pressure is relative. If you’re used to heavily hunted areas in your home state, what locals consider heavy pressure may not bother you at all.
Sometimes, it’s just the season that hunters don’t like. Here in Colorado, 2nd season deer tags and 4th season elk tags aren’t very popular; leaving some high quality tags available in places that you wouldn’t think would have leftovers. 3rd season is very popular for deer hunters, but low on most elk hunter’s priorities.
New hunts and new boundaries also create confusion or poor awareness amongst hunters. This year, with 3rd rifle season in Colorado being extended to a full nine days, you’d think more people would know about it. But many of the folks I’ve talked to had no idea. Also, keep your eye out for new late or early season opportunities that are outside of the traditional hunting seasons. Because game departments tweak their seasons and hunting opportunities each year, new hunts pop up without the knowledge of many long time hunters. In fact, I talked to an outfitter this year that had no idea that there was a new late elk season in his area. Many of those guys just don’t pay enough attention to the new regulations each year. Yes, they’ll know for next year, but having first crack at migratory herd in an area of heavy public land appeals to me, and there are leftovers of the tag I’m talking about.
Lastly, we usually have a few weeks between finding out what the leftover list looks like and the date the permits go on sale. So try to get a little scouting in if you can to verify that an area looks like it holds game and the public lands are accessible.
My point is that there are many factors that go into whether or not a permit is available as a leftover. Sometimes it’s a supply issue, other times it’s a demand issue. So make sure you do your due diligence when considering a leftover tag. Also, keep in mind that a limited permit isn’t always better than an unlimited one. But more often than not, we need to take advantage of leftover limited permits in order to maximize our hunting opportunities. They aren’t all marginal permits, some of them can be fairly desirable. Wyoming leftovers are on sale now, Colorado leftovers go on sale in person and over the phone August 10th. Good luck out there and do your homework.

Gear Talk, Part 3: Elk

In the last installment of Gear Talk, I discussed the variables of antelope habitat and hunting, and how it would affect your gear selection. Antelope habitat does not vary nearly as much as deer or elk habitat, so this time we are going to have to cover a wider range of hunting scenarios and habitats when discussing elk. While there is no “normal” elk country, it can be lumped into a handful of habitat types, which usually have an effect on hunting techniques, which should dictate which gear you bring, and which you should leave at home.
By now you should have an idea of what the country looks like, even if you don’t know a proper name for it. Within an individual hunting unit, elk country varies by time of year, snow levels, slope, aspect, vegetation cover types, altitude, latitude, region of the country and individual microclimates. Within the Continental US, the further north you go, the more precipitation you have, and therefore the forests are denser and more shade tolerant. Within a given latitude, your north and east facing slopes will also be denser than your west and south facing slopes. So, the Southern Rockies in New Mexico typically have sparser Ponderosa Pine forests at an equal elevation and aspect compared to Northern Idaho and Montana’s dense spruce-fir habitats. Those sparse Ponderosa Pine forests have excellent shooting and sight lanes, but the dense Douglas Fir and Lodgepole Pine forests throughout the Northern Rockies leave very little for shooting lanes.
Altitude has a very large effect on habitat types. Within most elk country, you can have low elevation cold desert and farmland winter ranges all the way up past timberline in the summer time. Timberline changes with respect to slope, latitude, aspect and precipitation. In the Northwest, where you have high precipitation (snowfalls are what’s important here), and higher latitude than say, Southern Colorado, timberline is closer to 10,000 feet. On the drier slopes in Colorado, timberline is over 11,500 feet, sometimes exceeding 11,700. As elevation approaches the tree line, the timber gets sparser, growth becomes stunted and twisted forming what is called krummholz (German for twisted wood). Extending below this tree line and the krummholz are your dense spruce-fir forests. The higher altitude increases precipitation and retains snow for a longer period of time, growing larger, more shade tolerant trees. Below this band of spruces and firs will be your typical pine and aspen habitats, depending on the successional stage that the mountain is in.
Because pines tend to burn frequently, the stands may still be in aspens or mountain mahogany and other shrubs, but the climax species below the spruce-fir zone tend to be in less dense, shorter pines where you have decent sight lines. Below most pine zones in the Rockies, the vegetation communies tend to be either Pinyon-Juniper, scrub oaks or various mountain shrub species. These areas are often winter range and late season hunting areas, though in some canyon country these communities are found through the highest elevations. These habitats tend to be much more conducive to spot and stalk hunting than the spruce-fir zones, though the visibility isn’t quite as good as when hunting in alpine and krummholz habitats.
ELK GUNS:
Where and how you hunt should play a large factor in your elk gun selection or build criteria. A standard factory sporter-weight .30-06 with 180 grain soft points and a variable 3-9x40 scope will be more than adequate for most situations. But since this article is about specialized gear, I’ll go over some features to consider when looking for an excuse to tinker with what you’ve got, buy something new or build something a little more festive than what you’re packing now.
Most of us can’t hunt with a rifle when elk are still above timberline, so the highest habitats we’ll be rifle hunting are the krummholz and spruce-fir zones. It takes over a foot of snow to really force the bulk of the elk herds to migrate much below that. So the reality of most elk hunting, is that shots can be very short. However, you must still be capable of handling a long shot across a large, wet meadow. I find short barrels to be of no real ballistic disadvantage, but I also don’t find that shortening a barrel helps in the handling very much. Shortening the length of pull on your stock tends to be of more help in handling a quick shot. Also consider that you will likely be wearing bulky clothes in late October or November, so a shorter stock will shoulder much more easily. A longer barrel will help you swing with a moving target. So if you are trying to build the best handling gun you can, barrel length is a tough compromise. A short barrel might be nice if you prefer to still hunt or track elk and hope to take short, quick, but stationary shot. The actual length should depend on the contour of the barrel, but the balance point for those stalking the dense spruce-fir zones should be right around the front action screw on a bolt action rifle so that it will swing properly. If you aren’t comfortable with a moving shot, then bring the balance point back to the middle of the receiver. Don’t forget to factor in the scope weight and position when trying to determine where a good balance point for you would be. Forward mounting a scope on the barrel will help the balance if you choose to shorten the barrel severely. Overall weight is less important than balance in this situation.
There are only a few places where a true long range elk rifle serves much of a purpose. Any rifle that can hold 1.5 MOA out to 600 yards will easily remain within the vitals of an elk, provided the shooter is up to such a shot. The only places where I could see the use of dragging around a dedicated long range rig would be for late season hunts on winter range, Wyoming’s Red Desert country, and some sparse canyon country. In BLM-heavy canyon country, you can occasionally see elk from extremely long distance, and roads may quickly get you to the edge of a canyon, where you would lose sight of the elk if you attempted to cross it. The danger of building such a specialized rifle is that you lose the versatility needed to handle the majority of elk hunting situations. A 12 or 15 pound, 30 inch barreled .338 Lapua with a 20X Nightforce scope and McMillan A5 stock is a poor choice of rifle for sneaking through the woods and climbing the mountains.
I think it is far better to improve your abilities at extended ranges with a more versatile rifle than to intend to hunt with something that specialized. If you think the country you hunt will present you with a situation where a 500 plus yard shot is possible, you’ll be better off having practiced those shots with your current rifle than be caught holding something wholly unsuited for a quick shot in the timber as you approach your vantage point. A good compromise is to stay with a high comb, sporter-style stock and not too heavy of a barrel. I’ve killed 3 elk in quick situations at under 100 yards with a 27.5 inch #3 contour(0.625 at the muzzle) .264 Win Mag with a 15 inch length of pull. I designed it as a somewhat long range deer rig, but I tend to use that gun for almost everything, as it is versatile enough to not be a handicap for quick, short range situations. If the elk in your area will stay in and around the krummholz for rifle season, longer shots may be presented, but you aren’t going to want to carry a heavy gun up and over 12,000 foot ridges. You’ll be happiest with a lightweight rifle with some long range capability. Fluting, skeletonizing, restocking, using a smaller scope, switching to lighter scope mounts and shortening barrels will work to cut out a significant amount of weight from most guns without reducing effective range.
I find bipods to be of little use for elk. In most timbered elk country, you can find a rest if you need it for longer shots. And a little ingenuity will give you more options to get a steady rest above the vegetation than a bipod. A bipod designed to be used from prone will rarely be used in areas with decent grass length or substantial shrubs. Shooting sticks are more useful, but even your binoculars will make a decent rest if need be. For those you that sit meadows and trails, a sitting length bipod or shooting sticks will work well to minimize the amount of movement necessary for a longer shot. I would take the bipod off when you are moving between areas or still hunting the timber. A sling is crucial. Not just to free your hands up when navigating difficult terrain, but also for steadying a shot from any position. Really wide, fat slings are comfortable, but of little use when trying to tighten up for a shot. A rangefinder is useful when sitting a meadow, as it can be difficult to judge distance in places that have very little vegetation. However, most shots must be taken before you have the time to judge the range.
I feel bullet selection is more important than cartridge selection. My basic guidelines are to use premium, controlled expansion type bullets with magnum cartridges. Basic cup and core bullets were designed for standard velocities and impacts below 2800 fps generally. I prefer heavy for caliber spitzers when using cup and core bullets, and light for caliber bullets in the monometals. You can choose too tough of a bullet and cartridge combination, just as you can choose too soft of a combination. A .308 Winchester and 200 grain Barnes TSX combination with a 400 yard shot into soft tissue is asking for trouble due to poor expansion. A .300 Weatherby Magnum shooting a 125 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip shot into heavy bone at 50 yards is another disaster waiting to happen. Nearly anything can kill an elk, but to do so efficiently and properly requires some forethought and understanding of operating windows for the bullet selected. Along that same line of thinking, if you have to ask whether your bullet and cartridge combination is up to the task of a severe quartering shot, it probably isn’t and you’ll be left wishing you chose a better bullet. My favorite rifle is my .264 Win Mag, but using my 3700 fps 100 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip antelope loads on elk would be irresponsible. In my .358 Norma Magnum, I wouldn’t use bullets designed for the .35 Remington velocities either.
Regarding muzzleloaders for rut hunting, keep them short and handy. Front globe sights are great for precision shooting, but cumbersome at short range. A peep rear and small, bright front dot works well in most conditions, but a larger, brighter front sight is useful in the dense timber. In Colorado, sabots aren’t permitted, but I wouldn’t use them anyway. I’ll stick with a heavy, solid lead conical.
OPTICS:
When scoping an elk rifle, you’ll want to think about the likely distances and conditions involved in the habitats you’ll be hunting, as well keeping an eye on the effect of weight and balance with your rifle. As mentioned before, a versatile 3-9x40 will handle nearly any situation well, just make sure you keep the setting at 3X unless you have time to set up for a long shot. There’s very little a simple fixed 4x scope wouldn’t work well for. The field of view allows quick shots, and the magnification is just good enough to be precise with your placement. I personally don’t like fixed 6x scopes, as I find the field of view a little limiting on short shots. A 4.5-14x or 4-12x works well, as long you keep the setting at low power. In reality, most guys could err on the side of low power variables, such as a 2-7x or 1.75-6x and be very happy with their nice, lightweight scope. The mid elevation pine-aspen and low elevation scrub oak/winter range hunter will have more long distance shot opportunities than the high elevation spruce-fir elk hunter, and might better appreciate slightly higher magnifications.
I was once guiding a hunter for mule deer in Western Nebraska, and two does and a decent buck came up out of a timbered draw, with the buck dogging the a doe 75 yards away. I pointed the buck out to my hunter and she said, “I can’t find him!”, turns out her scope was on 9 power and the field of view didn’t allow her to find the buck before he went up and over the ridge less than 50 yards away. We never got back on that buck after discovering her error. In short, if you have a variable power scope, check it to make sure you are on low power when you arrive in your hunting error. It’s common to leave your scope at max power after sighting in at the range.
Thick crosshairs are best for most elk hunting. Timber hunting dictates you find your crosshairs quickly on moving objects or in heavy shadows. Thick crosshairs are also useful for hunting during the typical primetimes of dawn and dusk for the meadow and trail sitters. If you like bullet drop compensators, realize those are typically designed to be used at maximum power, so if you have to take the time to figure out bullet drop, take the time to crank up your magnification. For the long rangers, custom reticles matched to your bullet drop or turret adjustments are great. But for most elk hunting situations, those are superfluous. Good eye relief is another important factor in an elk riflescope. We tend to choose hard kicking rifles and it helps to be able to keep sharp aluminum tubes from banging into your nose and eyebrow. But more importantly, long eye relief is great for fast target acquisition without too much of the “staring down a black hole” feeling.
I find spotting scopes useful for only two types of hunting: Road hunting in areas where you can see long distances, and when hunting from ridges above timberline in the early seasons. I know, I know, I should condemn the road hunters, but let’s get real, in some places that’s called hunting smart, and a lot easier than bumbling around the ridges. For the timberline archer or rifleman, a compact spotting scope can save you miles of walking by determining whether or not the small herd of elk you’ve spotted has a legal bull or a bull up to your standards. They are also great for peering into the krummholz and edges of the spruces and firs from above, while looking for bedded elk.
For most people, binoculars are all that is necessary. The big timber spruce-fir rifle hunter and bowhunter will do fine with a medium power 6,7 or 8x with a wide field of view. High magnification cab be a detriment if you’ve snuck up on elk in the timber. If you can’t find the elk, focus your binos and get a steady view of the antlers or what’s behind your target, they are worthless. Those hunting sparser country can benefit from greater magnification. In large aspen stands or dense scrub oaks you can often pick elk out easily with the naked eye, but will need powerful binoculars to make out the sex and antler size against the twiggy background. I’ve always used cheap glass, but only recently have come to regret it. I left my binoculars in my pack with a leaking water bladder and now one barrel of the binoculars are permanently fogged. Don’t make that mistake.

Part 4, the continuation of elk gear, including clothing, footwear and camping gear will be coming soon…

Gear Talk, Part 2: Antelope

In the introductory article on equipment pairing, I said I’d break down the articles by guns and loads, clothing and footwear, and camping equipment and specialized gear. But I think it makes more sense now to do it by species and habitats. I’m going to start off with antelope gear and the conditions under which they are normally hunted. If you’ve done your homework assignment from last week, hopefully you have an understanding of the terrain and vegetation in which you’ll likely be hunting. Terrain and vegetation are every bit as important considerations as the species being hunted when selecting or purchasing specialized gear.
As I mentioned in last week’s introduction, even antelope country varies, certainly not as much as deer or elk, but it’s important to understand the basic habitat features in your hunting area. I’m going to go over the major differences in each habitat and how your gear selection might be affected. The rangeland texts have 3 broad categories of range; deserts, prairies and grasslands, each of which have several subcategories. Of the deserts, you have Sonoran, Mojave, Chihuahuan, and Cold Desert (or Great Basin) deserts. Your prairies are generally categorized as tallgrass, mixed, shortgrass, Palouse and fescue. The grasslands are categorized as California, semidesert and mesquite-acacia woodlands. Each habitat is dominated by specific grass and brush species, some which can dictate your antelope gear and tactics. I’ll try to address these where the habitat difference may affect gear selection as we go.
The Antelope Gun:
I’m not going to get into archery equipment for antelope, other than to say you need to be prepared for longer shots. Archery equipment is also less fascinating to me, so I’ll focus on rifles, and throw in a little bit on muzzleloaders. When looking over your choices for what to take on a hunt, first know the legalities of the state you are hunting. Many states do not allow .22 caliber centerfires, even for antelope, most states have limitations on magazine capacities for semi autos, some states also have different minimum calibers for elk and larger game. We all know, or should know, shot placement trumps all talk of cartridge choice, action design, stainless vs blued or synthetics vs wood arguments. But I’m going to go through some scenarios and thought processes for elk, deer and antelope gun selections, including personal preferences, beliefs and feelings with the understanding that when I declare something better or more suited for the object at hand, it implies all other variables being equal.
As I mentioned before, not all antelope habitat is equal, and therefore some specialized guns are more suited to certain types of terrain. However, you should be prepared for windy country and long distance shot opportunities. The Interstate 80 region of Wyoming is the only gap in the Rocky Mountains, which acts to really focus winds more than anywhere else in the United States. And there’s a lot of antelope there. Antelope usually feel safest in areas with the least amount of cover so they can see danger coming. Antelope are also close to half the weight of deer and even more lightly built with a slightly smaller vital zone. This means that above all, you’ll want a rifle that allows you to be precise in your bullet placement. Magnums aren’t necessary, but because they flatten out the trajectory and higher velocity cartridges drift less in the wind (given equal weight and ballistic coefficient), they tend to be quite popular. Retained energy is of low priority when selecting a chambering for antelope, but it usually goes hand in hand with flat trajectories and minimal wind drift.
Other factors to consider when selecting or building an optimum antelope rifle includes stock style and rifle weight. Some specialized stocks, such as the newest generations of tactical stocks and many thumbhole stocks are designed to be shot from the prone position. A wide forend is also handy when resting the rifle over a pack, but awkward in shooting sticks. An oval forend is a good compromise over a round forend when it comes to using rests with a sporter style stock because they tend to roll less. I also recommend a longer length of pull for stocks you intend to shoot from prone. Your eye and forehead will be a little further from scope and less likely to be dinged in recoil, which is also a good reason to not go with too heavy of a cartridge.
One good thing about antelope hunting is the terrain is usually gentle enough that you won’t scratch up a beautiful gun. The stability of synthetics and laminates are nice for precision rifles, but properly sealed wood can be nearly as stable. So if you have a nicely stocked rifle, antelope hunting will give you the least amount of heartache. Rocky country can be hard on the gun, so use a tight sling when crawling to keep the gun off the ground (slung across your front). If it’s raining or snowing, the antelope will be difficult to find and you’re probably better off waiting until the storm passes. Therefore, blued steel is rarely a problem in antelope country either.
The most common and useful accessory in antelope country is the bipod. They are a wonderful aid in steady shooting from the prone position. The most stable versions will have you closest to the ground, but you are also limited by grass or shrub heights in some areas. When strategizing on your stalk, look for areas with bare ground, lower shrubs or small dips in the terrain to better utilize a short bipod. I find bipods that are designed to be used while sitting not particularly stable. Longer bipods are certainly better than an unsupported rifle, but a short bipod and shooting sticks seem a better combination. If you have a muzzle break on your rifle, be aware of the dust signature it will put off after you fire. If you place your shot well, it doesn’t matter if the antelope pinpoint your position, but the dust cloud may also obscure signs of a hit for you or your spotter. At a bare minimum place a handkerchief below the ports to minimize the dust.
When considering a bullet for antelope hunting, consider that the bullet needs to expand well at the reduced velocities that are a reality of long range shooting. A high ballistic coefficient is helpful to reduce drop and wind drift, but often requires stepping up in bullet weight, thereby negating the gains in BC. High ballistic coefficient bullets really shine at longer range than most are capable of shooting at, so study the ballistic charts to come up with a bullet that will shoot flat, but still expand. Few rifle bullets will expand reliably below 1800 fps, and even fewer below 1600 fps. Nosler Balllistic Tips and Hornady SSTs seem ideally suited as antelope bullets, provided impacts are kept below 3000 fps. Penetration is low on my list of concerns with an antelope bullet, as their chests are not much more than 12 inches wide and their bones are much lighter than deer’s.
Gun weight is of minor consideration in most antelope country. However, in terrain that is severely broken by breaks, coulees or badlands you may not want a very heavy rifle. Heavy rifles and heavy barrels are great for stable shooting, but a pain to lug around. Also pay attention to the amount of roads in your area. If there is contiguous public land 3 or 4 miles from a road, you’ll want to stay with a sporter weight rifle, something under 10 pounds.
For muzzleloaders, my top priority is a flat trajectory. In states that allow it, I’d consider a .45 caliber. If you’re stuck with a .50 caliber, drop bullet weight as much as possible in order to increase velocity and flatten trajectory to reduce your margin for error. Where scopes aren’t allowed, consider a combination of rear peep sights and front globe sights. The major disadvantage of globe sights, poor visibility in low light situations, is negated by the fact that antelope aren’t very active at dawn and dusk. A long sight radius is helpful in precise shot placement; so long barrels serve two functions here. They slightly increase velocity and increase sight radius, creating less margin for error in your shooting. Another way to increase your sight radius is to move your rear sight further back on the barrel. Most muzzleloaders are designed with a steep drop at heel for shooting from the offhand position. This will make proper sighting more difficult when shooting prone, so consider at least a leather cheek piece to raise your head on the stock to get better alignment with the sights.
Optics:
For rifle scopes on a specialized antelope rig, I like the higher magnifications. There’s little doubt that a 4x scope is sufficient for antelope hunting, but with a thick crosshair, it can be difficult to be precise with shot placement beyond 200 yards. If this gun is a dual purpose rifle and you want a smaller scope, go with a fine crosshair. A thick crosswire may appear to be the same thickness of an antelope’s leg at longer distances. Since you shouldn’t need to make a fast shot in low light on an antelope hunt, there’s no need for thick crosshairs. I’m not concerned about weight in antelope country, so 18-24 oz scopes don’t bother me. Large objectives aren’t necessary, but they often go hand in hand with high magnification. Turrets and bullet drop compensating reticles are also very handy, if you know how to use them.
In flat, open country, a rangefinder is extremely valuable. But the biggest drawback to most designs is the poor ranging of nonreflective targets (like antelope) at longer distances. Here’s where it pays to have the best you can afford. Beyond 300 yards trajectory matters and many of the cheaper laser rangefinders are worthless at those distances. If there are no large rocks in your area to get a good reading, investing in a higher quality rangefinder makes sense. Trying to get a reading on antelope, grass clumps and brush can be an exercise in futility.
Many people think a spotting scope is useful in antelope country, but unless you are good enough to trophy judge the difference between 13 or 14 inch long horns, or 70 versus 80 point B&C scores, leave it at home. Remember, antelope do not hide, so there is little need to try look under every sagebrush bush with a 60X lens.
Binoculars are useful if you are doe hunting. Does are obvious when they are standing next to a buck, but sometimes you’ll come up on a lone antelope and not have a reference for the black cheek patch and the ears may be obstructing smaller horns. 8, 10 or even 12X binoculars can be put to good use here. In hilly country with a good vantage point they are also useful for determining whether antelope spotted at long range are moving or lying down and helping to pick your visual cues for waypoints on a stalk. If there is any snow on the ground, antelope can sometimes be difficult to pick out when lying down.
Clothing and Footwear:
Here’s where the habitat really matters when antelope hunting. In some mixed grass prairies, you can get away with tennis shoes and shorts. In Great Basin sagebrush country, or with badlands, breaks or coulees, you’ll want something with better ankle support if you’re climbing in and out of minor drainages. While knee high snake boots aren’t normally necessary, they can give you a little piece of mind in early season hunts. If you’re hunting steep, rocky ground, get something closer to 8 or 9 inches high. In steep, rolling sandhills and sandsage, you’ll want high ankle support. Insulation really isn’t necessary in most antelope country and uninsulated boots will keep your feet cooler on longer hikes. Waterproofing isn’t necessary either, but I like it as I sometimes can’t quite clear a smaller creek. Typical upland bird hunting boots can be comfortable in the longer grass of the mixed grass prairie.
Regarding clothing, noisy clothes aren’t a big concern, but durability is when slithering around in the rocks and cactus. Knee and elbow pads are useful due to the 1 to 3 inch high prickly pear cactus that is so common in all but the mixed grass prairies and sandhills. If you aren’t planning on bringing elbow pads, a fleece or thick jacket and leather gloves may help ease the pain on some stalks. Scent proofing can’t hurt, but I wouldn’t purchase it just for an antelope hunt. Antelope do use their sense of smell at shorter ranges. I’ve underestimated their noses many times and have been frustrated by fickle winds when trying to get within 100 yards when guiding youth hunters. Sage-heavy camo patterns look odd in open prairies where the only thing resembling a shrub is a sharp yucca. Waterfowl camo blends well with most prairies, but not so much in the sagebrush deserts.
Packs and Camping Gear:
I frequently hear from people stating their desire or willingness to pack into some remote area to hunt antelope. That just isn’t necessary, and more than likely will be unproductive because you just can’t cover enough ground. Antelope are generally spotted and then stalked from a road. If they aren’t in the square mile you are presently in, you just drive on to the next piece of public land where they are visible or stalkable. Throughout most antelope country, the landownership pattern is too spotty for you to want to commit to one small area.
Due to the accessible nature of most antelope country, backpacking gear and horses are just a burden. Camper trailers and RVs can get you close to most of the country you might hunt. It’s unlikely you will experience a significant snowfall in early to mid October throughout most of the plains, so tire chains are probably superfluous.
A small backpack that you can use as a shooting rest is very convenient in antelope country. On rocky ground(typical in Cold Desert/Hot Desert/Great Basin or just overgrazed country), it is easier to get a steady rest over a pack than it is with a bipod. But if the grasses are over 6 inches high (anywhere outside of the deserts and shortgrass prairie habitats), it’s difficult to use a pack as a rest. You’ll rarely be out of sight of your truck for very long, so you don’t necessarily need a large pack that holds a lot of gear. A wheeled game hauler is a nice luxury but antelope are easy to drag with two guys. On longer stalks, it’s probably faster to just drag the antelope back with you rather than go back to the truck for the hauler. A portable game tripod and winch for skinning and butchering is a very useful addition to the camp gear. Cooling the meat off in warm weather and getting the meat into a cooler to keep it clean will make the meat much better for the table.
Other Specialized Gear:
I mentioned knee and elbow pads and snake boots in the clothing section and a rangefinder under the optics. But decoys and blinds are other pieces of gear to consider for the archer. Decoys should not be used during rifle season. Long sits in a blind are accepted by archers, but rifle hunters will benefit from being more mobile. Crow calls and doe bleats are often used by bow hunters to get a buck to stand still for a shot, but similar noises can be made with your mouth. A map and GPS with UTM grid coordinates is another useful tool. BLM lands are often illegally posted as private lands, but more often there is no sign at all. So it’s important to know exactly where you are. There will not always be a fence to help you differentiate between public and private lands, and sometimes a fence separating public land pastures will confuse you if you aren’t well equipped with maps.
Like most men, I find gear planning an integral part of hunt planning. Can you hunt antelope without any of the fun stuff mentioned above? You bet. Having general purpose gear allows you to handle a lot of hunting situations to some degree of adequacy. But if you’re looking for an excuse to purchase something new or specialized, or don’t know which categories of your gear cache could use the most updating; hopefully this article was of some use to you.
I’ll follow up with elk and antelope gear pairing articles in the following weeks.

Gear Talk, Part 1: Intro

Most hunters view their gear as more than just tools to use in the pursuit of game. Many of us find equipment selection an integral and enjoyable part of the hunt planning process. In some cases, less than ideal equipment can lead to minor frustrations, annoyances and limitations. In other cases it can ruin a hunt or put your life in danger. We all have budget, weight and space constraints to work within, so it helps to know what you can leave at home and where to spend any fun money you have available to upgrade equipment. Some of our equipment is useful for a variety of hunt types, but other gear is more specialized and poorly suited to some hunts. Matching your specialized gear to the game, terrain, season, or weather is an important and sometimes fun part of hunt planning. Under the broad category of gear includes weapons, ammo/projectiles, optics, clothing and footwear, tents and shelters, sleeping bags, packs, cutlery and navigation tools. But what do you take, and what do you leave at home? What do you need, and what can you make do without?
Some basic understanding of the game and terrain in your hunt area is necessary to make these decisions. I’m sure we know what game we are after, but the terrain that you will be hunting should guide even more of our decisions. If you’ve never laid eyes on the country you think you will be hunting, there are many ways to get both aerial and ground level views. First and foremost should be Google Earth. There is a layer called Panaramio that you should select if you want to see pictures of the major terrain features from hikers and photographers. Usually those pictures will be taken in areas of high visibility, so pay attention to what the surrounding country also looks like. If you can identify outfitters with a website who hunt the area you will be working, they likely have numerous photos of their hunters, as well as pack and fishing trips that will show you what kind of vegetation, steepness of mountains and visibility to expect.
If you can identify any major terrain features labeled in an atlas, run a search for photos of it. It might just be a famous, rock, peak or monument, but most photographers also include a little bit of the surrounding country in their photos. Habitats vary tremendously, even for antelope. Pronghorn antelope can live in shortgrass prairie where the gramma grasses are rarely more than 6 inches high, and shrubs are few and far between. In this country, you’ll expect even longer shots than in cold desert sagebrush country, or yucca and cholla flats where large shrubs or cacti and broken ground can hide your approach. In sandhills, mixed grass prairies, CRP or mountain foothills the grass may be too high for a 9inch bipod. Breaks or badlands country may make your approach easier, but the hiking involved may make you regret carrying a 12 pound rifle. Elk and deer country varies even more than antelope, so pay specific attention when examining photos of new country (or when scouting) to the visibility, availability of rests or difficulty of the topography.
Over the next several weeks, I’ll be going through what I consider ideal gear for different hunting situations. The next article will focus on guns and loads for elk, deer and antelope, and follow ups will include camping gear, clothing, footwear, and how to match those to your quarry and country. So, if you’re one who follows what I write, your homework assignment over the next week is to get familiar with the environment you will be hunting, so you can picture it when we go over the major variables, and how they may affect your gear selection.

Getting With the Times-Using Technology in Modern Elk Hunting

Originally published for the Colorado Division of Wildlife Elk Hunting University:
http://wildlife.state.co.us/Hunting/ElkHuntingUniversity/EHULessons/EHUElkHuntTechnology.htm

Technological advancements have affected every aspect of modern life, so it is only fitting that it has affected modern elk hunting. Today’s hunters have tools available to them that were inconceivable even 20 years ago. None of these tools will revolutionize elk hunting, but learning to use them to your advantage can improve your knowledge, your odds of success, your comfort and your safety. Advancements in synthetic materials and metallurgy have created lighter and better performing gear, but the biggest leaps in technology have been in navigation and information gathering. Other articles will go into detail on specific gear selection, but I will touch on some advancements and how you can apply that to your gear. However, the main focus here will be navigation and information technologies to improve the way you hunt and select where or when to hunt.
Synthetic clothing materials have created lighter weight, waterproof, breathable, scentproof, silent fabrics that are all the rage. These aren’t cheap, but neither is wool anymore. Wool is the gold standard by which hunting clothes are measured, and no synthetic can yet rival the warmth and silence of wool, nor do they insulate as well when wet. However, wool is typically heavy, so outer garments are not well suited to the mobile western hunter. Light wool pants, sweaters or shirts, used as an intermediate layer is where wool still shines brightest, as modern synthetic undergarments and lightweight waterproof outer layers can be used over wool clothing. Another modern convenience is the hydration bladder. It hasn’t revolutionized hunting, but it is much more convenient than having to dig through a pack for a water bottle. If you are in the market for a new pack, you’d be wise to focus on those with hydration bladders. Titanium cookware, smaller stoves and lighter tents have also increased the mobility of the back pack hunter.
Rifle stock technology has greatly advanced for those looking to save weight and increase durability. Carbon fiber, Kevlar, Aramid and other materials are being used to drop firearm weight more than any other single advancement outside of titanium receivers. However, while using a titanium receiver requires the purchase of a new gun, simply changing the stock out on your old rifle can save over a pound. Aluminum scope mounts, and smaller, yet brighter optical coatings also allow you to save weight on your gun. Further advancements in gunpowder technology and case design allow hunters to save weight and/or increase power in lighter, more efficient, short action cartridges, and shorter rifle barrels. Archery equipment has also advanced over the past 20 years with lighter, faster equipment for extended range and more accurate shooting.
The above advancements are just that, incremental steps to decrease weight or increase performance for gear we already have. However, the common availability of the personal GPS, satellite phones and beacons has added to the gear we now use. GPS technology is the foundation of our modern star-wars weaponry systems, the way most land surveys are now conducted and preferred method for global navigation. The GPS has many beneficial uses for hunters and outdoor recreational users. It is beyond the scope of this article to explain all of what it does and how it does it. I suggest that you search some websites such as geocache.com (http://www.geocaching.com/) that has some very good articles on buying, setting up, using a GPS. Also, the site has information on almost one million hidden caches that you can search for and develop your GPS skills. Many are probably located right in your neighborhood. A good GPS will cost in the range of $100-400. You pay the extra bucks for more bells and whistles, such as added memory, color screens and better antenna systems. The better GPS receivers are capable of displaying topographic maps. Again, this is usually an additional cost but a wonderful improvement for elk hunting. Many GPS receivers have a built in compass. However, I still prefer to have the old tried and true magnetic compass. And IF your GPS conks out or your batteries die, at least you can tell north from south at anytime or in any weather condition.
A GPS is best used in conjunction with a topographic map that has UTM lines. These should be marked off in 1,000-meter intervals. You will need to setup your GPS to be compatible with this system of grid lines. In the GPS setup screen for “position format” select “UTM” or “UTM UPS”, etc. Under map datum you will need to select the datum that was used for produce your map. On a U. S. Geological Survey 7.5 minute topographic map the datum can be located in the lower left hand corner and it will usually say something like “Polyconic projection 1927 North American Datum. If this is the case, use “NAD27 CONUS” which is an abbreviation for “1927 North American Datum for the Continental U.S.). Other popular map Datums for Colorado includes NAD 83 and WGS 84. The map datum is the mathematical formula that is used to make a flat map from a curved surface. Failure to use the correct map datum will usually result in an error in locations on the ground up to 200 meters! While this may sound overly technical, knowing how to use the X-Y UTM grid system will allow you to find your exact position on a map, rather than just your proximity to objects you marked or those you have preloaded. This is a snap using UTMs. It is just reading a graph with the easting (X coordinate, the distance in meters from the central merdian ) and northing (Y coordinate which is actually the distance in meters north of the equator). The other parameter is zone. Colorado has 2 zones: zone 13 is east of a north-south line that basically runs through an area just east of Parachute CO. The rest of the state west of this line is all in zone 12. Zones are just a way of refining the accuracy of your position from the 3-D earth to a 2-D grid system. See http://www.maptools.com/UsingUTM/ for more info on using UTMs.
So, do you need a GPS? No. But with one, you can use the GPS receiver to navigate to all those hidden and secret elk magnets that you’ve have identified from your remote scouting efforts. You can also use your GPS to locate your camp or car so you should not get lost. You can use your GPS to navigate to your hunting stand in the dark. Just turn on the “tracks” function in your setup and it will leave a “breadcrumb trail” that you can follow to your stand. Hint – make sure that you set your map scale to a low level by zooming in on the screen so you can tell if you are on the trail or not. Once you find your position on a map, you can also determine the best route to the nearest trail or you can find that heading straight back to your truck as indicated by the GPS will take you through an obstacle that is best avoided. The confidence of being able to hunt unknown country, navigate your way home or to a hunt area in the dark is a huge advantage in the modern era of short elk seasons and limited time off from work. I cannot emphasize enough to make sure that if you are relying on this tool for navigation that you have a backup system: a map, compass and extra GPS batteries (usually AA). Failure to find your camp in a late season or wilderness hunt could be fatal - use caution.
Satellite beacons, radios and satellite phones have become common place among hunters. Satellite beacons are useful, especially if hunting solo in a wilderness area. They allow loved one to know your last location, and some models also permit one to send signal letting folks know that you are either alright or in need of assistance. Satellite phones of course allow you direct communication with folks back home, but are expensive. There are services that also rent satellite phones. Radios are much more commonplace than either of the above devices. To avoid ethical and legal violations, radios should only be used to let others in your party know your location and status. Garmin Rino GPSes have the added function of having a radio built in to them. This can be used for direct communication with your party, but the digital radio also sends your location out to other Rino users within range, displaying your location on a map every time you touch the “push to talk” button.
The other major advancement has been in information technology. The internet has revolutionized the speed with which we can obtain information, but also created new sources of marginal, biased sources. Google Earth and Geographic Information System (GIS) overlays have revolutionized remote scouting. Google Scholar and the digitizing of scientific journals have given those with a thirst for knowledge beyond what the average hunting magazine can offer a new source of high quality information. The Colorado Division of Wildlife and other government agencies have also responded to the public’s thirst for previously low demand information by publishing harvest and population survey results, game management plans, habitat management plans and travel management plans on their respective sites for the world to access.
The Colorado Division of Wildlife’s website (http://wildlife.state.co.us) and those of other state game agencies are not just for posting regulations, seasons and license fees. Harvest stats are great if you know what you are looking for. Most people are only looking at success rates, while some also pay attention to hunter numbers. Yet few people bother to truly compare which seasons are best in an individual unit. Without getting into how to select a unit (covered in other articles), one can select the best time to hunt a unit by seeing how success rates and hunter numbers vary over time. Some units are better in earlier seasons, others better in the later seasons. In Colorado, of the four rifle elk seasons, first season is traditionally the highest success rate, which then falls off significantly in second season, bottoming out in third season, then increasing again in fourth season. Second season usually has the most hunters, but other seasons can vary wildly depending on access conditions in each unit, perceptions of historical game movements and tag allotment. Also available through the DOW’s website is the Natural Diversity Information Database (http://ndis.nrel.colostate.edu/maps). This allows a hunter to look over maps of game movements and landownership. The system is a little awkward to use, but it is free. It should be used in conjunction with Google Earth to view aerial photos of the areas in question.
A far more user friendly, but somewhat expensive application is Hunt Data’s Big Game Maps (http://www.huntdata.com). These allow one to overlay elk migration and concentration maps or landownership maps into Google Earth, right over the top of the aerial photos. A slider bar allows you to fade the overlay in and out to make sure you are looking at the correct spot in the photos. If you can’t interpret what you are looking at in Google Earth, then it won’t do you any good. While it may be obvious which features are trees, what hillsides are open and which mountain is bare rock, it does take some getting used to. Aspens and scrub oaks whose leaves have fallen off are extremely difficult to pick out from grassy areas. So look closely. Having some knowledge of what vegetation to expect at different elevation ranges also helps. Looking at a conifer at 6,000 feet or 11,000 feet, a little bit of knowledge should tell you the low elevation trees are pinion pines or junipers, not big spruces or firs. Google Earth will also show you where timberline is in your area, and just how high you may need to be hunting. In some places in Colorado, timberline is barely over 11,000 feet, in others; it is close to 11,700 feet. While some topographic maps will show you that a ridge is barren, you won’t know whether it is alpine tundra or rocky scree without looking at the photos. Identifying parking areas, trails and water sources are also important skills when using Google Earth. You also need to be able to tell the difference between rangeland and irrigated croplands that elk may be feeding in at night.

Your Google Earth maps will also allow you to create wind direction maps. By tilting the viewing angle, you can get a full 3D view. Having an understanding of thermals will allow you to create trails to your hunting areas that will not blow your scent to where you expect the game to be located. Knowing that your scent will fall early in the morning before the sun warms the mountains, then rises until the late afternoon when the sun falls below the horizon will help prevent blown stalks or blowing you scent from your vantage point into the game. In general, hunt up the mountain in the morning, and down it in the afternoon. The prevailing winds blow west to east, but use your maps to sketch out alternate plans for unusual weather patterns. The other great thing about the 3D view is that you can get an idea of the areas that will be visible from a specific vantage point.
Another way to “ground truth” or educate your mind’s eye is to use Google Earth’s embedded photos to get a more realistic view of an area. Look past the hikers posing in the foreground to get an understanding of the scale of the terrain, and type of habitat. Another way to find pictures of an area is to do a search for outfitters or professional photographer’s portfolios to look at the landscape. Looking through outfitter websites will also give you a feel for which trails are being used and possible camp locations. The USFS can also help you figure out where permitted outfitter camp locations are at.
Herd management plans and habitat management plans can also be found on state and federal websites. These will give you a leg up on other hunters for determining where the game may shift their concentrations. Hunters often exclaim that a specific drainage used to be great in the “good old days”, but the elk or deer are just no longer there. The game may have shifted their usage to an area where prescribed burns, wildfire or timber harvest has produced younger, more palatable forage, and the vegetation in the previous drainage is now older, more fibrous, decadent or grown over in a thick stand of lodgepole pines. The USFS will also post travel management plans, letting you know in advance which roads will be gated and which will remain open for hunting season. You can also find out when cattle are being removed from the public land in your area. The National Interagency Fire Center is another site to keep your eye on during the summer. If you aren’t paying attention, you may arrive to a completely blackened landscape in October. No forage and no cover, means no elk. You can also search for historical fire data to try to find 2 or 3 year old fires which may be attractive to game. CDOW herd management plans can also be used to identify problems with achieving desired harvest due to private refuges or other access issues. They can also give you a clue as to whether the DOW will increase or decrease tags and why. The plans typically contain more than 20 years of harvest and population data, so if when someone tells you an area “used to” be great, you may be able to put that information into better perspective.
Internet discussion forums such as those on 24hourcampfire.com, BigGameHunt.net and the Colorado Division of Wildlife’s new forums are a new way of getting local information on specific hunting areas. Asking, “Where is the best place to elk hunt in Colorado?” will not likely garner much response, but asking more detailed questions about an area that you have done your homework on will probably get you better information. If you haven’t done any homework prior to putting your questions out on the internet, you won’t be able to see through “smoke screens” put out by those who don’t want any additional hunters in “their” area. If you don’t want to openly ask a question, use the search functions to see if someone else has asked questions about the area you are interested in in the past. Searches may also turn up individuals who seem more knowledgeable than others, don’t be afraid to send them a private message instead of posting on the public forums.
The single most underutilized resource freely available to hunters is that which is produced by the scientific community. Scientific journals such as the Journal of Wildlife management are full of very specific diet, population, movement and behavioral studies. It is expensive for a private citizen to subscribe to JWM and other journals (about $700 per year), but they are freely available at many university and some larger public libraries. In these journals, place names will be mentioned, oftentimes maps will be incorporated into the document showing home ranges of specific elk herds and how they react to hunter pressure. Preferred seasonal forages will be discovered, and the peak date of the rut can be determined in a specific area. Your university library, if it has a wildlife or ecology department may also have theses by Master’s and PhD students on the elk or deer populations. These can be full books on the behaviors or demographics of an elk herd that you can hunt on public land. If your local university doesn’t produce its own wildlife research, those theses can be had for free through interlibrary loan. Also check out cattle and elk interaction studies in your area, and whether or not elk avoid them or the associated activities with public land ranching or whether elk will prefer to move in behind the cattle, which may be grazing down the coarser grasses, exposing the newer blades for the elk. Don’t forget, that in addition to the published research, there are graduate students conducting new research all the time. Don’t be afraid to find out what students at Colorado State University and other schools that produce significant wildlife research are up to. Graduate students and technicians might love to have someone tag along and help with their data collection. By volunteering your services, you may be able to see where exactly the elk are during the summer, or gain insight you never knew to ask about.
Weather research can also be utilized to better time your hunt or better prepare you for the conditions you will encounter. Weather Underground and Weather.com have historical weather data available, as well as averages. Beyond determining what kind of weather to expect during your hunt, you may be able to fine tune your hunting plans by monitoring how harsh or mild the summer has been. If you were planning a hunt in a canyon country unit, where water is much more critical, you’ll want to do some research to determine where the most reliable water sources will be. During wet years, marginal sources of water may hold game in an area better than a dry year. Many times, smaller creeks won’t flow at higher elevations if the snowpack and summer rainfall was subpar. So don’t place all your planning eggs in one basket, and do some early scouting to help you figure out whether or not a certain water source will be dry. This is another reason to have a backup plan.
It’s not enough to merely educate yourself on elk behaviors, movements, habitats and the like. If you’ve bothered to do your homework, you should have a plan on how to apply that new found knowledge. If your research has uncovered a plant which elk forage on significantly more than others in the Flat Tops, learn to identify that plant, and where it grows. If you’ve determined when the peak of the elk rut occurs in the Poudre Canyon by backdating calving dates, be sure you are out hunting during that time period. If you’ve uncovered a behavioral study that shows elk flee towards the nearest private refuge in South Park at the onset of hunting season, position yourself to take advantage of this. This is the difference between knowledge and wisdom. You must be able to act on the knowledge that all these new information sources can provide, otherwise it is useless and you have wasted your time.