The most common questions I get from first time, out of state DIY elk hunters is about how to find the “best” hunting units.
I usually ask them what does best mean to them. I think most people mean easy. Some elk hunts can be easy, but don’t count on it.
Chances are, you should be able to find elk on every unit on National Forest lands, without any additional knowledge. But more information will always be helpful.
Of course the local hunters know when and where to find elk on units that have few elk, but non-residents will not, so choose a unit proven to have lots of elk during your hunting season.
For me, the best hunting unit has more to do with the quality of my outdoor camping, scouting and hunting experience, but I am also a numbers guy. So in this case, best will be a purely numeric analysis of Colorado’s elk harvest data for the three OTC hunts; 2nd Rifle, 3rd Rifle and Archery hunts.
You can research population estimates in the Herd Management Plans (DAU Reports – AKA Data Analysis Units) or you can see how many elk were harvested in the past and see the hunter success and the amount of hunting pressure.
If you are an out of state hunter, unless you have done lots of scouting before, I suggest you start researching units where at least 50 elk were harvested and also had better than average hunting success.
2019 Colorado OTC Elk Licenses
The OTC licenses are just that, sold over the counter and many of these OTC licenses are unlimited and will be on sale for 2019 starting at 9:00 am in Early August (date not published as of Jan 2019, last year date was August 9, 2018).
Colorado OTC Rifle Elk Hunts
Lets start with the Over-the-counter (OTC) rifle hunts. The OTC rifle seasons are the 2nd and 3rd rifle season. In 2018, the 2nd rifle season was Oct 20 – 28 and the 3rd rifle season was Nov. 3 – 11.
These hunts are for Antlered Elk Only (Bull Elk) and are available in 93 hunt units (GMUs – Game Management Units) in Western Colorado. The latest available harvest data from Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) is from 2016.
We can also look at past harvest data to help choose a hunting unit. The harvest data reported by CPW are available compiled in various ways and it is easy to see harvest numbers, hunting success and hunting pressure for each unit. But it is a little more difficult to separate results from OTC tags from Limited Tags.
Limited Entry (LE) elk hunts for both antlered and antlerless elk do occur during the 2nd and 3rd rifle seasons. There is no overlap in space (units are separated; LE only in some OTC only in others) for the bull elk hunts, but there is overlap in the units for the limited cow elk hunts.
By removing the number of hunters that participate in cow elk hunts from the total, we get a more accurate estimate of OTC rifle hunters and harvest data, but have to assume the OTC Rifle Hunters hunt the same number of days as all hunters in the harvest report that lists all elk taken during the 2nd or 3rd rifle seasons.
Table 1 shows the top 23 units for the OTC 2nd Rifle Season. Data were averaged forr the last three years of harvest data available (2015 – 2017). The left side of the tabel is ranked by total bull elk taken by OTC tag holders in OTC units during the 2nd rifle season. The right side of Table 1 is ranked by Hunter Success.
For total bull elk harvest, the top 23 OTC 2nd Rifle Season elk units ranged from an average of 169 to 69 elk harvested (left side Table 1). I included harvest data from 23 units instead of 20 because half (52.6%) of all Bull Elk Harvest (2nd Season OTC Rifle) came from 23 of the 92 hunt units and it also allowed me to include unit 86 which ranks in the top 20 for hunter success.
For hunter success (right side of Table 1), I limited units to those where at least 50 bull elk were harvested over three years, so some units had higher success than these units, but only had a few elk harvested. I also eliminated units that had less than 9.8% success. So, highest hunter success (with at least 50 bulls harvested) ranged from 30.8% to 16.0%. Total hunter success for the 2015, 2016 and 2017 OTC 2nd rifle season was 9.4%, 8.6%% and 13.7% respectively. The top 23 units ranked by hunter success accounted for 37% of all Bull Elk Harvested for the last three OTC 2nd rifle seasons.
Also notice that 11 units are hi-lighted on both sides of the table. These 11 units (4, 5, 12, 13, 22, 42, 43, 65, 70, 86 and 211) ranked in the top 23 for both total harvest and hunter success.
The original table only had data from the 2016 elk harvest. After averaging 2015, 2016 and 2017 harvest data, 19 of the same units are still in the top 23 for total bull elk harvested. Four new units were added to the top 23 (14,74,86 and 211) and four units dropped out (15, 53, 65 and 85).
Five units (4, 13, 22, 85 and 421) were in the top units for both the 2nd and 3rd rifle seasons for both total Bull Elk harvest and for hunter success.
Table 2 (left side) shows the top 22 units ranked by total bull elk taken by OTC tag holders in the OTC units during the 3rd rifle season. The right side of Table 1 is ranked by Hunter Success.
For total bull elk harvest, the top 23 OTC 2nd Rifle Season elk units ranged from 137 to 48 elk harvested (left side Table 2). The top 23 units accounted for over half (52.8%) of all Bull Elk Harvest during the 3rd OTC Rifle Season(2015 – 2017), I included three more units since they had nearly 50 bull elk harvested and it would also include two additional units (units 43 & 751) that ranked for both total elk harvest and for hunter success.
For hunter success (right side of Table 1), I limited units to those where bull elk were harvest averaged at least 18 for the unit. Some units had higher success, but only had fewer than 18 bull elk harvested. Hunter success (with at least 18 bull elk) ranged from 27.5% to 13.5%. Average hunter success for the 2015 – 2017 OTC 3rd rifle season was 11.5%. The top 22 units ranked by hunter success accounted for 43.5% of all Bull Elk Harvested for the OTC 3rd rifle season.
Notice the 13 hi-lighted units on both side of Table 2. These 13 units (4, 11, 12, 13, 23, 42, 43, 65, 75, 85, 211, 421 and 751) ranked in the top 22 for both total harvest and hunter success.
Colorado OTC Archery Elk Hunts
Now let’s look at the OTC Archery Hunts (Combined Either-sex and Antlered hunts). Table 3 shows GMUs ranked by total Elk Harvested (left side) and by Hunter Success (right side). There are two types of OTC Archery Elk Tags; Either Sex or Bull Elk Only. The 2018 OTC Archery season was Aug. 25 – Sept. 23. The 2019 season has not yet been announced.
There are 137 Either Sex units and 58 Bull Elk only units on public land. There are also 7 additional private only units, but those data are not included. There are 55 units that offer either tag (Either Sex or Bull Only).
Table 3. Top 25 Colorado OTC Archery Units – 3 year Average 2015 – 2017
The top 25 units ranked by total elk harvest accounted for 64.1% of the total OTC Elk Archery harvest. The top 25 units ranked by hunter success (Table 3) accounted for 53.4% of the total OTC Elk Archery harvest.
For total elk harvest (bulls, cows & calves combined), the top 25 OTC elk units ranged from 231 to 63 elk harvested.
For the top 25 units by hunter success, I limited units to those where at least 20 total elk were harvested. Some units had higher success, but only had a few elk harvested. So, highest hunter success (with at least 20 elk, ranged from 24.9% to 12.0%, compared to average OTC Archery Success (2015 – 2017) of 11.5%.
Again, notice that after the latest update, 16 units are now hi-lighted on both sides of Table 3. These 16 units ranked in the top 25 for both total harvest and hunter success.
It is also interesting to note that the top 25 units by total harvest had 55.6% of all OTC archery hunters and 57.3% of all hunter recreation days. Ranked by hunter success, the top 25 units had 38.9% of all hunters and 40.1% of all recreation days.
High Hunter Density is not all Bad
Who doesn’t want to hunt all season and never see or hear other hunters? On public land that is not the reality. Yes, the units with the highest harvest numbers also have lots of other hunters. But remember, most hunters don’t hunt everyday, most don’t hunt all day long and most don’t get more than ¼ mile away from a road.
Many days, I see other hunters at parking areas, and I hear them driving around on the roads, but I rarely see or hear hunters in the woods. I usually coordinate with other people I do see to make sure we don’t end up at the same place.
Also, if a unit has lots of hunters, that is usually a good indication that area has lots of access points to disperse the traffic. Of course, some areas can get very crowded, but with a few days to scout, you should be able to find less crowded areas.
Also, some hunters will go deep to find elk and they almost always bump elk (I know I bump elk that other people may get to see), those elk have to go somewhere and they might just run over you.
These tables are just to help you get started with the selection process. These are the units in Colorado where the most elk are harvested and those that have the highest hunter success. Spend a little time researching the combination of these factors and also consider the size of the units, the number of access points and the amount of hunting pressure they get.
There is also an OTC Plains Rifle season in eastern Colorado. These units obviously don’t have as many elk or public land as the western units, but they do offer long hunting seasons and the opportunity to hunt either sex elk with an OTC tag. The total harvest in the plains units is relatively low and most elk are harvested by local hunters that know the country and know when elk can be found there.
If you are considering a hunt in the plains units, make sure you know where the public land is and that elk should be using those areas at the time you want to hunt. Many of these units do not have any elk harvested during the season.
I no longer rank the Plains Rifle units because CPW makes it impossible to find or to separate the data.
For More info on Hunting Elk with OTC tags in Colorado and to see units maps, read my post here or download the newest Colorado Big Game Brochure here.
So now when guys ask we what is the best hunt unit in Colorado for an OTC tag, I’m going to start by sending them to this page. Good luck on your hunt.
This article was first published on: https://www.backcountrychronicles.com/top-colorado-otc-elk-hunt-units/
"If you're a beginning hunter and are looking for information about how to get your hunting license, have a look at this article https://www.archerystreet.com/hunting-license/ ."