mid morning bump

 

Both of those areas have alot of elk.

North of Durango you can have classic high elevation, timber, parks, and aspen hunting. Closer to Durango or around Meeker (excluding the Flattops) you're looking at more of the mid-elevation brush hunts.

 

I didn't know Durango and Meeker were so close..........:wink:

 

I've hunted up there. I really like the area. Like Bob said, it's classic elk country. The thing I liked best was how predictable the people were. A lot of people hunt up there, but they were easy enough to get away from. We had no problem getting away from people and getting into elk.

 

i heard there weren't any elk around durango :wink:

 

Thanks for the info guys. I like to think I can hang with most average folks when it comes to killin whitetails. In the last 5 years I have put 4 on the wall, 2 scoring in the 140s and a 151 and a 155. But when it comes to elk I dont even try to pretend like I know anything. I have been trying to do my homework and getting alot of good tips from different threads on here. I appreciate any help anybody is willing to give and if anybody is ever coming to extreme southeastern Oklahoma to hunt then I would be willing to point them in the right direction

 

... But when it comes to elk I dont even try to pretend like I know anything. ...

Really, the key is finding elk. If you don't find 'em, move on until you do. Might just start out with the binos and spotters since you can roughly cover a 100 square miles an hour.

Stay mobile.

The rest is "just hunting".

 

I hunted Durango a couple years ago, like stated before the key is packing in beyond the other hunters. Good Luck!

 

I live just outside of Durango. If you need any more advice, I can try to help you out. We have had a pretty moist summer and there are a lot of acorns on the oak brush this year...should be a pretty decent hunting season!

 

I might be hittin ya up. We are looking at going toward the end of season. Hows things around there then?

 

I haven't been able to do very much scouting so far this year. I have seen quite a few cows running around and a few rag horns, but nothing that has sparked my interest yet. I am sure the bigger bulls are still well up into the high country, and should be in the process of rubbing their velvet off.

If you drew a deer tag for Colorado this year, you are in luck. I have seen some dandy bucks!

 

I live in Durango and the elk hunting here is OK. When you say Durango, I assume you mean units 74, 75, 741, and 751. Those are the units around Durango. There is a lot of public land to hunt and depending how hard you want to will determine your contact with better herds. It is not he best you can find but it is decent. First I could tell you is try to get a way from all of the rookie elk hunters that watch too much TV and don't walk 10 feet without blowing on a call that sounds like an elk with a speech impediment. Remember, unless you are trying to sell calls on TV, use your calls sparingly. You are in their house and trust me when you blow on a call, they heard it. The more you blow on a call, the easier it is for them to call your bluff or know precisely where you are. In that case the do not call back and walk to right where you are and see you before you see them. It is getting more and more difficult to find herds that have not been boogered up. Elk hunting is not easy even though a lot of TV shows give hunters that feeling that it is. There is no replacement for hunting smart and hard. No magic call, scent or any other crap you see in the magazines and on TV will replace a well put together plan and having the ability to cover ground and find areas where the elk are using. The La Plata mountain range is located to the west of town and Missionary Ridge Is located northeast of town. Both areas have a good amount of elk with decent roads where you can get around and cover ground. Both of those areas are alpine with dark timber and aspens with the lower parts loaded with scrub oak. There are lower elevation areas with elk but pretty much all of those are privately owned and leased out to hunters. For the last several years, archery season has been plagued by heavy rains that seem to stick around for a long time and delay the rut activity. Therefore the bowhunting has not been that great. This year may be different because we have had a lot of rain this past month and I hope we get a much drier September than those of recent past. There is a lot of area to hunt around Durango. Your chances get better if you have access to horses and can get back one or two ridges past the other hunters. Four wheelers don't do much for you around here because there isn't anywhere you can take them that you can't use your truck. If you are in an area with a lot of four wheelers running around, LEAVE!! Go find someplace else. If there are still elk in that area, four wheelers make them go nocturnal. Elk don't like people in their house and when they find people, they leave and unlike whitetails they don't come back for a while. The hunter success rates were down last year which translates into more 5 point and decent 6 point bulls this year. This message is getting a little longer than I thought so I'll stop there. If you have any more Q's PM me and I'll be happy to help you out.

 

741 is almost entirely private farm land.

 

Hunted around there quite a bit. Lived in Bayfield actually north of there close to Vallicito Lake. Never had very much luck with the elk. I was only young teenager and mainly chased around everything behind the house. It bordered BLM ground. Lots of good Mulie bucks.