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    Originally posted by drthornton View Post
    Note: The MT archery Elk season runs to the middle of Oct.

    3 or 4 days would be OK if you already knew where Elk were. You could consider a week+ long scouting trip during the summer(before school) and try to find a few different groups and fresh sign. That would allow you to do a bonzai for 3-4 days during the season. As long as the Elk you find are off the beaten path they will still be in the general area come season. If you couldn't locate any Elk you could save yourself the $600 and try it again next year.

    You've got a built in 3 day weekend for labor day. You will probably be looking at 12hrs each way for drive time though.

    Colorado's Archery season for 2012 will be 8/25 – 9/23
    Yeah, I've thought about just getting a couple of days at Labor Day. I hope it can happen. If not, rifle it is. I will put in for CO and NM I guess. Bull for NM and either for CO OTC. My plan is to take the family to Yellowstone this summer, but because the kids are still young, we may only make to CO. Either way, I will be stopping for a few days at a TBD wilderness area.

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      Originally posted by drthornton View Post
      No cow tags for non-residents thru the draw anymore...All cow tags go to residents as of this year. You will have to buy a landowner tag if you want to hunt cows in New Mexico.
      You are correct sir, I forgot about the changes. Yet another reason that the NM folks are going to lose their butts.

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        IF I am looking at this correctly, CO has OTC hunts for deer as well. I noticed that they have a late season archery, Dec. 15-31. That is for mulies, correct? It also says that it is for plains deer or East of I-25. I know it will be colder than Hades, but I may try it if it is OTC. I may do it if its a draw hunt also. I want to chase elk and mulies, but I am just trying to line up my times.

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          Originally posted by marshrat View Post
          IF I am looking at this correctly, CO has OTC hunts for deer as well. I noticed that they have a late season archery, Dec. 15-31. That is for mulies, correct? It also says that it is for plains deer or East of I-25. I know it will be colder than Hades, but I may try it if it is OTC. I may do it if its a draw hunt also. I want to chase elk and mulies, but I am just trying to line up my times.
          I'm pretty sure that all deer in CO is draw now.

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            to my knowledge all colorado deer tags for non residents are draw only. but there are several units that can be drawn with 0 preference points.

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              All deer licenses in CO are limited. Eastern CO is almost all Private...you need a place to hunt before you go for that. If there are tags it probably means there is no public land to hunt and the tags were leftovers. Eastern CO is a mix of Whitetails and Mulies.

              Don't know if this is what you are getting at but I would not try to combo hunt anything with Elk. When you combo hunt you tend to water down both species and usually come back disappointed.

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                Yep, deer are all draw. The crop lands and fields east of the Interstate can be awesome awesome hunting, but I believe that it is also pretty much all private land. Doesn't mean you can't find somebody out there who would be willing to let you hunt. Do a Google search to find land that looks good, find river bottoms and the like, then you can find out the parcel pieces and then find the ownership of the parcels and start making phone calls. You can do it, just gonna take more work than most folks are willing to put into it. Me personally, I'm doing that exact thing in a few spots in Montana. Lots of nos and heck nos. But it is all in the fun of DIY!!! Worth so much more too if you get a critter down.

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                  Several general questions again. Sorry if the info is redundant. To apply for a muley tag, I have to pay for the license up front, and then if I don't get drawn, they send me a refund minus their application fees in CO? Is that correct? I have mainly been concerned with archery, but to have a chance to even go during elk season, I may have to pick up a rifle. So, I am assuming that there OTC tags for rifle elk? I am looking at the 3rd season to try and burn vacation days.

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                    Not trying to combo anything. I am just trying to get a workable game plan together. This hunt is the reward for something that I am trying to accomplish right now that means a lot to me. I want an elk more than anything, and once I accomplish this goal, I will be better prepared to take one. I am training with weights, walking with weighted packs and doing cardio. I also have plans, tentative mind you, for 5Ks and the like to get me further motivated. The only thing that is stopping me is the timeframe. I doubt I can hit CO with the family and scout during the summer. It just ain't gonna happen. I can't get where I need to go off the beaten path with three small children and my wife. For some reason, that is not their cup of tea. LOL. This is something that I have to do. It is a reward and personal goal all in itself. So, if scouting during the summer for a week is out of the question, then I guess I will have to pick up a rifle tag OTC, and then take the days off in November. I will have to scout for a few days and hunt the rest, hopefully. The more research I put in and find out what to look for and where to take a chance, the more successful I will be. If I don't come out with one, I will know that I have accomplished more in the last year than I have in a long while, I will be more experienced, have a heck of a photo album started, and will be better prepared for the following season having navigated terrain and seen sights that most hunters will never even attempt to see. That in itself is success in my book as well.

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                      By the way, thanks to all, especially TWP and drthornton for helping me on this crusade. I know I have MANY questions, but that is the student in me. I want to learn all I can, down to the most minute detail. Thanks, again.

                      TC

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                        Originally posted by marshrat View Post
                        Not trying to combo anything. I am just trying to get a workable game plan together. This hunt is the reward for something that I am trying to accomplish right now that means a lot to me. I want an elk more than anything, and once I accomplish this goal, I will be better prepared to take one. I am training with weights, walking with weighted packs and doing cardio. I also have plans, tentative mind you, for 5Ks and the like to get me further motivated. The only thing that is stopping me is the timeframe. I doubt I can hit CO with the family and scout during the summer. It just ain't gonna happen. I can't get where I need to go off the beaten path with three small children and my wife. For some reason, that is not their cup of tea. LOL. This is something that I have to do. It is a reward and personal goal all in itself. So, if scouting during the summer for a week is out of the question, then I guess I will have to pick up a rifle tag OTC, and then take the days off in November. I will have to scout for a few days and hunt the rest, hopefully. The more research I put in and find out what to look for and where to take a chance, the more successful I will be. If I don't come out with one, I will know that I have accomplished more in the last year than I have in a long while, I will be more experienced, have a heck of a photo album started, and will be better prepared for the following season having navigated terrain and seen sights that most hunters will never even attempt to see. That in itself is success in my book as well.
                        Good for you brother! Keep on working for it, and your health and progress will be a reward in itself. Taking an elk would just be icing on the cake.

                        My suggestion, do the rifle hunt this year in CO. Starting this week, start calling the biologists in the southern part of the state. Find out about where all the elk end up during the third season. Go from there and start working on your long range shooting. Also, make sure to get a good tent with a good stove and be prepared for cold weather and maybe horrible weather. It is very very important that you know how to 1) build a shelter in a hurry 2) have several ways to start a fire in as many ways a possible. A good synthetic bag would be a very good idea also, just so you don't have to worry about getting a down bag wet. The weather can/will change in a hurry that late in the year, and you need to be ready to take precautions just in case. Also, make sure to get a GPS in case you get in bad weather and can't see to get your bearings. Great, water proof boots are a must also. Good luck!!!

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                          if you are serious about getting a plan together, for this year, or in the future you need to start building points this year, and keep after it. if there is a group, all needto be committed to the cause and stay constant with thier applications. because if anyone misses a year out of applying for points, it throws the whole group backwards. and if you do have a group apply as a group, either everybody has a tag, or nobody has a tag. when groups apply as individuals, sometimes it can be hard to get the non hunting parts to commit to coming along in the fall.

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                            Check out the video of Season 3 Episode 4...it is a 3rd season Elk hunt in CO.
                            Randy Newberg is a hunter. Randy is the voice of the public land hunter in America. Decades of chasing all species across public lands has provided both experience and perspective that has allowed Randy to become the leading advocate for the self-guided hunter; hunters dependent upon public lands for hunting access. What started by accident, has grown into two popular TV shows, Fresh Tracks and On Your Own Adventures, accompanied by the long-standing Hunt Talk web forum. Now added to those platforms is the Hunt Talk Podcast where you get Randy Newberg, unfiltered. Randy uses his platforms to advocate for hunters and public access. In addition to representing hunters in Congress and state legislatures, he serves as a volunteer and board member for many hunting and conservation groups.


                            The show, website and the Forum(Hunt Talk) are a great resource for western hunting.

                            Comment


                              Originally posted by drthornton View Post
                              Check out the video of Season 3 Episode 4...it is a 3rd season Elk hunt in CO.
                              Randy Newberg is a hunter. Randy is the voice of the public land hunter in America. Decades of chasing all species across public lands has provided both experience and perspective that has allowed Randy to become the leading advocate for the self-guided hunter; hunters dependent upon public lands for hunting access. What started by accident, has grown into two popular TV shows, Fresh Tracks and On Your Own Adventures, accompanied by the long-standing Hunt Talk web forum. Now added to those platforms is the Hunt Talk Podcast where you get Randy Newberg, unfiltered. Randy uses his platforms to advocate for hunters and public access. In addition to representing hunters in Congress and state legislatures, he serves as a volunteer and board member for many hunting and conservation groups.


                              The show, website and the Forum(Hunt Talk) are a great resource for western hunting.
                              Great link!

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                                Originally posted by tommyp View Post
                                if you are serious about getting a plan together, for this year, or in the future you need to start building points this year, and keep after it. if there is a group, all needto be committed to the cause and stay constant with thier applications. because if anyone misses a year out of applying for points, it throws the whole group backwards. and if you do have a group apply as a group, either everybody has a tag, or nobody has a tag. when groups apply as individuals, sometimes it can be hard to get the non hunting parts to commit to coming along in the fall.
                                I am assuming that even though I'm going OTC, I can still get points or put in for preference points for later?

                                Also, I wish I had a group to go with, or hell, for that matter, a partner. I don't have anyone who is willing to make that trip with me except my wife, and I think she believes we would be staying at a "Guide Series" lodge. But, I guess that will be the fun in it: trying to figure out what I'm made of. Also, since I am not acclimated to this area, I would hate to slow someone down my first time out. I'm not ruining anyone's hunt because I need to find my "mountain legs." Maybe in the future though. I hope in the future.

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