I frequently see posts on various forums asking where and which week to go hunting during Colorado archery season. For the most part you will get the same answers over and over.
Basically the first couple of weeks find the elk somewhat undisturbed, not very vocal, and will probably come into some non-agressive calling. As the month wears on the elk will become more and more vocal, and may come running in head long bugling their heads off.
But this is not always true. In fact I think pressure has a great deal to do with how vocal elk are in early season. Here is my rational. Elk that are used to seeing, hearing or smelling people during the summer are more likely to be vocal or come to calling early in the season. The same holds true for areas with very little activity during the summer (like a wilderness area).
I also think elk are 'remembering' or associating certain activities with impending threats. Here is an example. I scouted a real nice area, seeing lot's of elk up to and including the week before hunting season. During my scouting I ran into lot's of cattle up on the hill, which at the time didn't appear to bother the elk.
Come opening day, I was up high very early in the morning. Danged if those elk (and cattle) were no where to be seen. In fact, there was a complete lack of fresh sign. At first I thought it was me (and it could be), but after analyzing the changes in the environment, I came to the conclusion that the elk beat feet when the ranchers came up to move the cattle. This patterned repeated the following year.
Educated elk drive me nuts. Yes I understand that they need to learn and adapt to survive, but I'd like to be the one teaching them. This last year, my buddy and I were up in a wilderness area the last week of the year, and were having good daily success in locating vocal elk. About mid morning one day, some yahoo came blasting through, pounding away and 'Hoochi Momma', just cruising down the trail. Those elk shut right up, they had heard that call before. No I'm not saying a HM won't call elk, but smart ones won't.
Another thing new hunters run into is expectations. Elk don't read movie scripts! They don't show up on cue, nor is a hunt done in 20 or thirty minutes. While those kind of video's are really fun to watch, your learn to expect it to happen to you. Yes it could happen, and it very well might. But most likely you are going to hunt your butt off for a week or more and only get one chance at an elk. So don't expect it happen quickly. It will take a few days for you to figure out where the elk are. Plan on at least one solid week on the ground out here, two is even better.
I'll discuss fitness, hydration, and elevation in the next article.
