So I'm goin to Colorado for the first time to elk hunt.
I was wondering if anyone had any advice for me besides get in shape, I've been working on that for a month now. I'll be goin to Uncompahgre which is just south of Grand Junction. It'll be the week of Labor Day which I know is a little early but that is when the guys I'm goin with decided to go. Thanks

I hunted Uncompahgre for Mule Deer twice saw a few Elk but can't really give you any advice on how to hunt them. I will say this enjoy it to the fullest and most of all Good Luck!

Drink LOTS of water to combat altitude sickness. Drink more water. Drink water until it comes out the same color that it went in.

invest in some good boots that are at least 9 inches... your ankles will thank you later

dont know much, but good luck and have fun! dont forget lots of pics and a good story lol!

Get a good pair of boots and wear them every day from now till your hunt,and keep working out.

I'm jealous, so jealous, never been myself so the only advice I have is live it up and take lots of pics so you can share with us!

I headed to CO myself and some budies in Oct. That early in the year the elk will be high. They dont like the heat. Hunt the shaded areas dark forest on the North faces. Be perpared to do alot of glassing.

I have hunted the area about 10 miles from wolf creek ski resort near there. The area is breathtaking so is the hiking. Good luck Be safe

Wow...I'm jealous. I've elk hunted in New Mexico and I recommend: layered clothing with rain gear, good hiking/walking boots, light pack, bull/cow call, binoculars, hydration pack, sharp knife, gps, accurate elk rifle, and plenty of aerobic exercising to get conditioned for high altitude walking. Did I mention you need to exercise to get conditioned to the altitude? I am in shape but my lungs had a hard time catching up with my breathing at 8000ft elevation. My guide on the other hand, was a smoker, but lived in the area and was conditioned to the thinner air and outpaced me at every step! Good luck and post pics....

I've been on a few Elk hunts at higher altitudes. The most important thing is to get in shape. You're already addressing that.

Get there a couple of days early so your body can acclimate to the altitude. It's amazing how much difference 48 hours can make. We always go 2 days early, and let the red blood cell count get back up before we start the strenuous activity (hunting). These two days also allow us to get familiar with the maps, terrain, and lay of the land in the area we're hunting.

Get good topo maps of the area you're hunting. Study them in depth at home. Call any ranger stations in the area and talk to the people who are there every day. Call up any outfitters in the area. Ask them if they'll be hunting in the area, and if they might pack meat for you, for a fee of course, if you get something down. This accomplishes two things. One, if they will, then you might spend less time dealing with meat as a group, and the rest of the group can get back to hunting sooner. Second, the guide might actually tip his/her hand to where they will be based in that unit. Ask them what their fees might be to guide you for a couple of days if they tag their hunters out early. Sometimes they will work you a heck of a deal since they're already in the area ready to hunt, and you're not a burden on them cause you already have your own camp, food, etc.. Also, find cold storage facilities or processors in the area ahead of time. Have a plan for every thing! Obvious reasoning for this. Less time spent searching for resources gives y'all more time to hunt (which is what you're there for).

Getting in shape is great. But staying that way while hunting is too. Simple sugars provide quick energy. Complex sugars and proteins take longer for the body to convert to energy, but will last longer. Find a balance and understand the uses of both. I carb load at camp in the evenings when my body has time to process. On the hunt, I snack periodically throughout the day on 50-50 ratio of sugars and meat, limiting the carbs. Never letting myself get hungry. I stay moderately full all day so my metabolism is always working. I try to avoid a lot of caffeine because I seem to experience crashes when it wears off. I have no more than one cup of coffee in the AM. And drink tea in the evenings. Like others suggest, drink plenty of water. If you're not sure if you're drinking enough, drink twice as much.

Keep your pack as light as you can. Don't carry anything you're not sure you'll need. But also, carry what you need. Everyone is different on this subject. Some people carry enough to survive for several days, some carry the bare minimum. I'm somewhere in between. Your physical condition will largely dictate this. Look at every little trick you can find to carry small tools that will accomplish large jobs. Weight is everything. Teh way I see it, in an all out survival situation, the two most important things to me are food and warmth. So I carry plenty of high protein-high sugar foods (the choices are endless), and at least three different ways to start a fire.

Realize the limitations of yourself, and your fellow hunters. Work at your own pace, and allow others to do the same. Pushing someone, or having someone push you, too hard will only complicate things. Don't let yourself, or another hunter, ever feel like y'all are holding anyone else back. Make changes to the days plan, split up, or even swap hunting partners within the group to accommodate this. Move at a pace that allows you to continue moving pretty much endlessly. Pushing hard for whatever distance doesn't do any good if you have to stop and catch you breath too often. The guy moving at a slower pace will cover more ground in a day (kind of a tortoise and hare scenario). And he'll do it quieter too. Everyone will be different in this aspect. It's nothing to be ashamed of, as long as you're not dragging anyone else down. Realize what's going on, and account for it, so everyone gets out of the hunt what they came to get. Talk about this with every hunter in the group before going. Let them have time to chew on it a while. It's all for the good of the group, and the success of the hunt. Anyone who doesn't understand this, will, after going on the hunt. My hunting partner and I are about the same physically. But when hunting together, he likes to talk a lot. So I make it a point to plan my hunt to where we walk in together, split up early, meet up about mid-day, split up again for the evening hunt, and then meet up to come out in the dark together. We're always within reasonable distance of one another. But covering more ground, and hunting more effectively.

Hunt all day long. If you need a nap, sleep in the woods. You can cover more ground in a day, and it makes it easier on you to get in farther than the average hunter will venture into the woods. At about 1.5-2 miles in, you'll see most all signs of man disappear. This is where you want to hunt. Remember, the locals pay a lot less for a tag, and they don't have near the travel expenses we do when going Elk hunting. So a lot of them simply don't hunt as hard as we are willing too. And a good number of them will only hunt on weekends. Use this to your advantage.

I have my ear list made up for our hunt this year. I could PM it to ya if you'd like. We're gonna be hunting at about 9,000-10,000 ft in Oct. So my list will reflect the different weather we're likely to encounter. But you'd get some idea of what we carry along.


Jay

What psycho says is good advice. I also forgot, you'll need lotsa help with an elk pack out. We had to make two trips with 4 people to haul the quarters, head/rack, and loin/back straps UP AND DOWN a pretty large foothill. Carry some large game bags and plastic trashbags with rope or twine. A sharp knife and saw with sharpening stone also.

Thanks for the advice guys. I just can't wait for the hunt to get here! I'm chompin at the bit!

Glass, glass,and glass some more. Either a nice pair of binocs or a spotting scope are a must.