In our recent article, we gave you some tips about how to choose a good hunting flashlight and in this article, we have decided to write more about Colorado Elk hunting in order to help you better plan your trip.
Colorado is a hunting heaven for elk fans because, if you gain some experience and work hard to develop your skills, you will not be able to return home without bringing home a trophy. The fact that hunting sessions are extremely engrossing and that they will spend the entire day traversing through challenging terrain in order to grab their prey while remaining physically active is a big draw for experienced hunters.
It is necessary to examine certain factors prior to embarking on an elk hunting expedition in this area, and we will go over them in depth one by one so that you will understand why they are vital and how to go about addressing them.
Permits in Colorado
Every seasoned hunter understands that in order to go elk hunting, you must first obtain a hunting permission. If you are a novice hunter, you will need to become acquainted with a few concepts before embarking on your hunting expedition.
There is a general hunting licence that you may obtain that allows you to hunt in a few sections of the state, and it is referred to as the ‘general season’.
The majority of people prefer to go elk hunting in Colorado because it is the state with the highest concentration of elk. As a result, you will have no trouble obtaining a permit because there are numerous public areas to choose from. However, because the terrain is difficult and there are numerous targets to chase after, you will be out hunting for the majority of the day.
A hunting licence in Colorado costs a little more than 600 US dollars, but if you prefer rigorous hunting sessions, you will definitely get your money’s worth out of the experience. You will have to submit your application until the end of February, and you will receive a response by the middle of April. Permits are often distributed by a lottery mechanism.
- Limited permit
The hunting privileges granted by this sort of permit are only valid during specific periods of time and in specific places. When planning your trip, pay close attention to the regions you intend to visit because you will need to factor in the time you will spend on the road getting there.
- Ranching for Wildlife
This permit allows you to go elk hunting on specific ranches that have entered into an agreement with the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Department, but only if you are a resident of Colorado.
- Leftover Draw permit
Provided there are any permits left over after the draw for the limited permits concludes, you may be selected for a Leftover Draw permission, but only if you checked the appropriate box on your initial application for the permit.
- Private Land Only
When applying for this sort of license, you must first verify with the property owner to ensure that you will be allowed to hunt on their property. If the owner does not agree to allow you to hunt on their property, your permit will be rendered ineffective and will be returned to you.
Things you need to consider:
- Your finance limitations
People who have never gone elk hunting before do not realize how much they have to spend on these trips. There are many ways to do it and you can pay someone to get you to a certain place. However, you can also choose the cheaper version of backpack hunting.
Before you plan your trip, you should consider how much you will have to spend on your gear and on transportation and only after that you should consider the other costs according to how much money you have to spend on them. Furthermore, you have to spend money on your permit which is also a really important aspect that you need to take into account.
There are a lot of square miles of public land in Colorado where you can plan your hunting trip, but there are also a lot of private lands where you can hunt in return for a fee and they differ among owners according to the number of elk they have on their property.
- What gear will you need?
This is one of the most important aspects that you have to consider because the environment that you will be hunting in is not the friendliest and, if you are not capable of living with it, you will have to end your trip prematurely. We are going to tell you what the essential items are and why you should consider them.
Your backpack is the key to a successful trip, even if it might feel like there is no connection between it and the actual hunting experience. First of all, you have to carry your essentials in it, but you also have to bring back the elk. So a robust backpack is something that will always be worth your money.
In terms of protecting your body in this harsh environment, you should invest in a good pair of boots. They will help you go far without having your feet full of blisters and will also help you arrive home safely. If you can’t walk well, you will not be able to get very far and you will get tired easily, and you definitely want to avoid that.
In terms of clothes, a good practice is to invest in waterproof top layers and in base layers that have the capability of warming you up, but also of cooling you down pretty easily, like merino wool. A good way to approach this is to look for clothes specially made for mountain hikes.
- Your physical strength
It might seem like something that is not very important, but your physical capabilities make a difference when it comes to a successful elk hunt experience. There are more ways to kill elk and some of them involve sitting in a camp. However, if you want to take this experience to another level you will want to go deep into the wilderness.
Therefore, it is very important to be able to handle all the downsides that come with that. You have to be strong enough to carry your backpack which might not seem heavy when you have to carry it for an hour, but when you have to carry it around for 10 miles it can get a little uncomfortable.
Also, the altitude might be a problem if you are not accustomed to low oxygenation levels while engaging in physical activity. So all these aspects have to be taken seriously if you want to come home with the fulfillment that a successful hunting session brings.
What you should consider first is that you will be carrying around a heavy backpack. This is why it is important to work out your back, but especially your core because your abs also help you in carrying heavy weights without engaging your back muscles that much. This will also help you become less tired.
Because the terrain is not even, you can get injured easily, especially if you carry around heavy equipment. So it is important to bulletproof your ankles. Great distances on uneven terrain are hard to manage without strong leg muscles, so these should be a priority as well.
- How much time do you have on your hands?
When you are planning such a trip, it is essential to know how much you have to travel in order to actually arrive at the hunting area and how much time is left for the actual hunting experience.
Colorado has a total surface of 104,094 square miles, which does not make it the largest state in the United States, but it is also not too small either. Therefore, you should consider the time that you have to spend on the road and add it to your actual hunting plan. A good practice is to choose a place close to you in order to have more days available for hunting.
Final thoughts
If you are new to elk hunting expeditions, you should be aware that if you follow all of the advice we have provided in this post, you will undoubtedly have a wonderful experience. Hunting can be a very rewarding activity, and returning home from a hunting expedition with nothing to show for it is not a pleasant experience. However, if you follow our recommendations, you will never have to go through this ordeal.