# Best OTC unit in Colorado for elk?



## ZA206 (Oct 28, 2004)

What's everyone's opinion on THE BEST OTC unit for elk in Colorado?
Take herd size and trophy bull size and hunting pressure into account with your answer.

Just curious.... I know that I can always look up the stats, but the subjective part is what I'm after.


-ZA


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## Campo (Sep 20, 2006)

Tired of coming home empty handed buddy? :chortle: :wink:

From what I have heard, there are many great OTC units in Colorado, but if I told you, I would have to guide you through hell's creation, so, I am not going to tell you.

Unless we can work out a deal for some tree ladderage? :wink: 

Check you PMs friend!


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## Campo (Sep 20, 2006)

Ps. Are you just looking for the best OTC unit or are you looking for the best OTC unit that has public land to hunt...


BIG DIFFERENCE!!!!


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## crankbait (Jul 17, 2007)

There are a ton of good OTC units in CO. The harder you work preparing for the hunt and the hunt itself the more rewarding. That includes spending time researching units. There is a ton of info out there on this and other forums. Spend the time like most of us do, do some on the ground scouting and just go hunting.


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## SEOBowhntr (May 13, 2005)

Campo said:


> Ps. Are you just looking for the best OTC unit or are you looking for the best OTC unit that has public land to hunt...
> 
> 
> BIG DIFFERENCE!!!!


I agree 110% on this.


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## Campo (Sep 20, 2006)

Trust me, Za206 has spent more than his fair share of time scouting (or, what it hunting) various areas of Colorado.

Ask him about the 330" bull that was quartering ever so slightly to him!  :wink:



crankbait said:


> There are a ton of good OTC units in CO. The harder you work preparing for the hunt and the hunt itself the more rewarding. That includes spending time researching units. There is a ton of info out there on this and other forums. Spend the time like most of us do, do some on the ground scouting and just go hunting.


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## CenterMass (Feb 21, 2006)

I'm not sure I can really say one OTC unit is better than another. I've hunted a bunch of them all over this state and run into similar quality and elk #'s everywhere I've been. :wink:


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## dlhredfoxx (Feb 5, 2008)

Good question... 

I can tell you that as far as 300+ class bulls, I'm not qualified to answer the question since I've never tagged one out yet (with a bow)...

For raghorns... 53 and 54 are ok, but do not expect to see elk if you day hunt these areas... their are just too many dayhunters 2-3 miles fro any road. These are part of the West Elk Wilderness, you can't get to the elk (after opening day) on an ATV or a 4X4. In fact, the trails are so poorly maintianed and the terrain so steep, leave the mules and horses at home. You have to go in on foot and you have to go in deep and high. Do that and you'll have lots of raghorns to yourself... or maybee a nice fat cow if you're really good...:wink:

521 is ok (North of Paonia) but they need to install traffic lights for the hundreds of ATV's plowing around back their... 

22 and 31 (Northwest of Rifle) are easier to hunt, but as such have alot of pressure and lots of vehicle traffic. More mulies than elk in that area, least their were before this winter...

These are all OTC area's keep in mind...


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## a3dhunter (Dec 27, 2005)

Unit 80!:zip::zip::zip:


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## Bobmuley (Jan 14, 2004)

I think there's more to it than just "stats". 

For trophy quality you need limited access. That means tough terrain that will make others turn around, distance, or enough private property to block those unwilling to negotiate the mosaic parcels or do the distance thing around the private land. There also seems to be "destination" areas in most units. There are those areas within a unit that look so good and fairly easy that everyone wants to go there. 99% of the folks will disregard the two hundred square miles they drive through to get to "the spot". Some of these bypassed areas are pretty danged good.

They also need age. It doesn't matter if an August bowhunt for elk is tough. We don't kill that many bulls. What you need to consider is where the elk are during the later rifle hunts. If the elk are easily killed because of heavy snows every 2nd to 4th years during rifle season they'll never get old enough to be "big". They need refuge, and that often comes in the form of some low to mid-elevation private property that doesn't get hit as hard as the surrounding public. 

I don't think the unit matters as much as what you know about the unit you're in.


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## VorTexan (Jan 8, 2005)

a3dhunter said:


> Unit 80!:zip::zip::zip:




What he thought.


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## ZA206 (Oct 28, 2004)

Campo said:


> Ps. Are you just looking for the best OTC unit or are you looking for the best OTC unit that has public land to hunt...
> 
> 
> BIG DIFFERENCE!!!!


Well.... best OTC unit with land that I can hunt FO FREE!:wink: Public land works, private lands works better if I get an invite!:becky:

(I haven't gotten any PM's)

-ZA


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## dlhredfoxx (Feb 5, 2008)

*I agree.*



Bobmuley said:


> *I don't think the unit matters as much as what you know about the unit you're in.*


Good point... thanks for sharing the insight...


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## ZA206 (Oct 28, 2004)

Looks like I need to find a "step & fetch" ..... errr.... a "scout"..... errr... a "buddy" to gimme the scoop on a few good areas!:wink:

-ZA




Bobmuley said:


> I think there's more to it than just "stats".
> 
> For trophy quality you need limited access. That means tough terrain that will make others turn around, distance, or enough private property to block those unwilling to negotiate the mosaic parcels or do the distance thing around the private land. There also seems to be "destination" areas in most units. There are those areas within a unit that look so good and fairly easy that everyone wants to go there. 99% of the folks will disregard the two hundred square miles they drive through to get to "the spot". Some of these bypassed areas are pretty danged good.
> 
> ...


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## Illustrator (Aug 9, 2007)

ZA206 said:


> Looks like I need to find a "step & fetch" ..... errr.... a "scout"..... errr... a "buddy" to gimme the scoop on a few good areas!:wink:
> 
> -ZA


Pick Campo... that way you can nap while he does all the legwork!


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## a3dhunter (Dec 27, 2005)

Illustrator said:


> Pick Campo... that way you can nap while he does all the legwork!


I wouldn't sleep anywhere near Campo........find a nice quiet place, that yankee never shuts up!:blah:



Besides that, he might have a little animosity from a NR hunting with him last year!:wink:


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## Campo (Sep 20, 2006)

Animosity is an understatment! :angry7:



a3dhunter said:


> I wouldn't sleep anywhere near Campo........find a nice quiet place, that yankee never shuts up!:blah:
> 
> 
> 
> Besides that, he might have a little animosity from a NR hunting with him last year!:wink:


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## TCR1 (Dec 22, 2004)

ZA206 said:


> Looks like I need to find a "step & fetch" ..... errr.... a "scout"..... errr... a "buddy" to gimme the scoop on a few good areas!:wink:
> 
> -ZA



I don't think you could find a better one. Bob makes my head spin with his knowledge of the animals all around where he lives and hunts. Even talking to him in generalities has made me much better at finding and calling in elk, and I have never hunted with him:wink: 

I think a sign of a truly committed guy is one that won't leave his house without his binoculars


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## 5MilesBack (Feb 28, 2007)

TCR1 said:


> I think a sign of a truly committed guy is one that won't leave his house without his binoculars


I have a pair in my truck that stay there year round. My wife hates going anywhere with me because I might have to stop just about anywhere to do some glassing. That is unless it's been some time since her last potty break, then she loves the stops.

There's an OTC area I have hunted many times and never thought there were any decent bulls there. Then one year I saw a 6x6 that some other guy had just shot. 325"+ easy. I was surprised as heck, as was he. I think Bob's got it right.....IF these bulls have a place to escape the rifle seasons, then you can get some decent bulls in some of these spots. Otherwise, OTC units in general are not going to yield many decent bulls. That's why I shoot the first legal one I can in an OTC unit, because it might be the only one I see. However, last year I found a decent bull back in a hole. I'm hoping that he survived the rifle seasons and the winter....and I'm going in after him. I might just have to camp back there with him for a week, but this year I'll be passing on everything except him until the last few days of the season. Unless I find that he's not there this year.

Other than that...I hear Unit 80 is the best.


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## Bobmuley (Jan 14, 2004)

5MilesBack said:


> ... However, last year I found a decent bull back in a hole. I'm hoping that he survived the rifle seasons and the winter....and I'm going in after him. I might just have to camp back there with him for a week, but this year I'll be passing on everything except him until the last few days of the season. Unless I find that he's not there this year.
> 
> Other than that...I hear Unit 80 is the best.


There are good bulls in all units. Instead of finding a better unit to hunt, you learn to hunt your unit better. 

I thought binos in the truck was a state law? :wink:


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## Westside (Apr 1, 2007)

I really like 28 there is some tuff country and lots of timber that is allowing some bulls to get into that 300" range year after year. there are 3 wilderness areas in the unit as well as a high % of public land. I was into elk every day last year and often had multiple bulls bugling at the same time. I also saw one bull that was 350+ This was my first time in the unit and I got my bull after 8 days I have hunted elk alot in my life and 28 compared positively with any OTC unit I have ever hunted. WA,ID,MT,OR,AK

Its all subjective though I talked to some guys that did not have a good hunt for one reason or another.......

I think Colorado is what you make of it, the entire state is good elk habitat so the elk can move around alot compared to other places I have hunted so locating them can be tricky. If they get bumped they just move on and never come back as they can find the same meadow a couple of miles away....The other thing about 28 is its a migration driven hunt so the elk seem to be in random places from day to day to day IMO.

That's all I know about that.

I forgot the pressure part....in 8 days I saw two other hunters and they were packing up to go home. Im sure there were other hunters but I never saw one or heard a bugle that didnt come from me or a bull.


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## mudslinger2 (Jun 25, 2006)

It is a rarity in the OTC unit that I hunt not to see at least 1 or 2 bulls in the 350"+ range and severall over 300". Of course this is public land and in a wilderness where we have only seen a handful of other hunters in close to 20 years of hunting there. We go in by horseback and have talked to many that were going to walk into the area or drainage we hunt, but we never do see them. Unfortunately I lost a 6x6 scoring between 320" & 330" this past year after clipping a willow brach at 32 yards. Not a lethal shot, just a poor shot. We hunt somewhere north of Pagosa Springs and south of Lake City. We saw a full 7x7 this year with matching kickers of both G 5's scoring around 350" and a 6x7 that was a better scorer than the 7x7.


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## 5MilesBack (Feb 28, 2007)

mudslinger2 said:


> We hunt somewhere north of Pagosa Springs and south of Lake City.


Unit 76 is not OTC.:wink:

Actually, IMO I'd be willing to bet that SW and southern CO have more 300" bulls in OTC units, than anywhere else in the state. There's just too much rough country in there for most hunters to make any impact. Lots of hiding places down there.


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## ZA206 (Oct 28, 2004)

5MilesBack said:


> Unit 76 is not OTC.:wink:
> 
> Check that.... my last statement was made w/o my morning coffee.
> 
> Actually, IMO I'd be willing to bet that SW and southern CO have more 300" bulls in OTC units, than anywhere else in the state. There's just too much rough country in there for most hunters to make any impact. Lots of hiding places down there.


Maybe they hunt 77 & 78.... hmmm.


-ZA


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## natec63 (Jul 15, 2006)

Sorry, 66 is a draw unit, not OTC.


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## dlhredfoxx (Feb 5, 2008)

According to CO DOW, 66 and 67 are limited draw GMU's, unless that changed for 2008...




ZA206 said:


> Maybe they hunt 77 & 78.... hmmm.
> 
> 
> -ZA


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## natec63 (Jul 15, 2006)

Ok, ZA, we'll let ya slide


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## ZA206 (Oct 28, 2004)

natec63 said:


> Ok, ZA, we'll let ya slide


I'm all better now.... hot cup of joe in hand.:wink:

Thanks for the patience.:becky:


-ZA


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## C-NOGLE (Jan 6, 2003)

O.K. I want to fish here too. Whats the secret unit?:wink:


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## a3dhunter (Dec 27, 2005)

ZA206 said:


> I'm all better now....
> 
> 
> -ZA


Matter of opinion there.......:zip:


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## a3dhunter (Dec 27, 2005)

C-NOGLE said:


> O.K. I want to fish here too. Whats the secret unit?:wink:


Unit 35, hunt the Castle Peak wilderness study area and fish the Colorado River! Had some good times last year during deer season and there were some elk up high.


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## Bobmuley (Jan 14, 2004)

5MilesBack said:


> Unit 76 is not OTC.:wink:
> 
> Actually, IMO I'd be willing to bet that SW and southern CO have more 300" bulls in OTC units, than anywhere else in the state. There's just too much rough country in there for most hunters to make any impact. Lots of hiding places down there.


FWIW, there isn't a damn thing wrong with the unit he's been huntin'.:zip:


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## Bobmuley (Jan 14, 2004)

C-NOGLE said:


> O.K. I want to fish here too. Whats the secret unit?:wink:


SW CO. Animas, Dolores, San Miguel Rivers and a gazillion little streams.


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## a3dhunter (Dec 27, 2005)

Bobmuley said:


> FWIW, there isn't a damn thing wrong with the unit he's been huntin'.:zip:


Oh yeah.....which UNIT is that?????:wink:


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## JohnMCannon (Apr 27, 2007)

There are a lot of elk in unit 117.


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## C-NOGLE (Jan 6, 2003)

Seriously, I hunted 54 last fall. From my experience it can produce a few bulls over 300 but the majority of the elk I saw coming out and at the processor were usually 220-260 bulls. That includes some of the rifle kills I saw in 07. I have not hunted in other unit in CO. I went way back in the wilderness and saw some old sign but few animals. Later in the hunt, I traveled to a sliver of N.F. land surrounded by some private, and bingo found some elk. I would think a unit that has good (but not easy) public access around the private land hayfields would be the ticket. I really wanted to take an elk waaaay back, but they wanted to be around the agriculture/ forest mix type land from what I saw. No surprise I guess.


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## dlhredfoxx (Feb 5, 2008)

C-NOGLE, could not agree with you more... your comments hold true for most of the West Elk Wilderness (including unit 53). I've tromped around on foot through that whole area high and low, into the deepest darkets canyons and holes for years and have never seen a Big Bull (eg: 350+) in that area. LOTS of smaller rahorns in the class you describe below, just no bigguns... if the snow melt is early and the summer is hot and dry, the elk seem to be deep and high and fairly concentrated. In cooler/wetter years, it seems like they are more disperesed as water and nice green browse is more readily available. That's my observation anyway, at least of these two GMU's... 




C-NOGLE said:


> Seriously, I hunted 54 last fall. From my experience it can produce a few bulls over 300 but the majority of the elk I saw coming out and at the processor were usually 220-260 bulls. That includes some of the rifle kills I saw in 07. I have not hunted in other unit in CO. I went way back in the wilderness and saw some old sign but few animals. Later in the hunt, I traveled to a sliver of N.F. land surrounded by some private, and bingo found some elk. I would think a unit that has good (but not easy) public access around the private land hayfields would be the ticket. I really wanted to take an elk waaaay back, but they wanted to be around the agriculture/ forest mix type land from what I saw. No surprise I guess.


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## 5MilesBack (Feb 28, 2007)

a3dhunter said:


> Oh yeah.....which UNIT is that?????:wink:


One of those that start with "7"....good luck. Actually unit 7 in a totally different region of the state used to be pretty decent. Haven't hunted it since college, but it was good then. It's not OTC, but it might as well be. They have leftover tags every year.

Basically, the elk will be where they are....wherever that may be. When I first started elk hunting in the 80's, we used to pass right through some BLM land right above some rancher's fields at about 6000 feet. We passed through and continued up to about 10k feet where we always hunted. We were always successful where we hunted, but one year while heading up to our spot, a large bull ran across the road in front of us on that BLM land. We did a little scouting and found that a herd of about 60 elk were living above the fields in the cedars....year round. They never left there, never had to.

For the next few years that's where we hunted, and it was a sweet little honey hole, with no one else around. Then almost overnight, a bunch of other hunters found it too. ATV's everywhere. So we moved on.


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## ZA206 (Oct 28, 2004)

Bobmuley said:


> FWIW, there isn't a damn thing wrong with the unit he's been huntin'.:zip:


I never said there was.:wink: I just wanted to know if there was a "consensus" best OTC unit. I'm 90% sure that our crew is headed back to the same place we've been hunting the past two years. If Campo gets a new job (where he's been looking), he might join us.

It would have been nice to have some hot, dry weather on our hunt so that the elk would have been more predictable on water sources.... as it was, it rained half of our last trip and there were ponds, creeks and streams every 500 yards in every direction. We found tons of weeks old sign, week old sign, couple day old sign, and FRESH sign.... we just pretty much suck and don't know what to do. It didn't help last year that one of our guys spooked the lead cow as I was about to arrow her fat butt. That pretty much did us in for the week.

I don't think I heard one elk bugle the entire trip last year..... I heard several hunters bugeling though....

-ZA


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## dlhredfoxx (Feb 5, 2008)

*ATV's everywhere*

We could start a whole sepearate thread debate on the ATV issue...



5MilesBack said:


> One of those that start with "7"....good luck. Actually unit 7 in a totally different region of the state used to be pretty decent. Haven't hunted it since college, but it was good then. It's not OTC, but it might as well be. They have leftover tags every year.
> 
> Basically, the elk will be where they are....wherever that may be. When I first started elk hunting in the 80's, we used to pass right through some BLM land right above some rancher's fields at about 6000 feet. We passed through and continued up to about 10k feet where we always hunted. We were always successful where we hunted, but one year while heading up to our spot, a large bull ran across the road in front of us on that BLM land. We did a little scouting and found that a herd of about 60 elk were living above the fields in the cedars....year round. They never left there, never had to.
> 
> For the next few years that's where we hunted, and it was a sweet little honey hole, with no one else around. Then almost overnight, a bunch of other hunters found it too. *ATV's everywhere*. So we moved on.


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## bowhnter7 (Dec 6, 2004)

5MilesBack said:


> Actually unit 7 in a totally different region of the state used to be pretty decent. Haven't hunted it since college, but it was good then. It's not OTC, but it might as well be. They have leftover tags every year.



Unit 7 ( which is part of 8,9,19,191)has been one of the worst and best units I have hunted.:zip:

I don't hunt there anymore.


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## a3dhunter (Dec 27, 2005)

ZA, the rains werer there before your hunts as well.

I was up in the high country in late July and had rains every afternoon, I thought it was no bigge, bust the normal monsoon season up there.
Was back up there for the first 12 days of the archery seaosn and had rain on half of those days. Some real soakers too.

I had some areas I would take a step and slide down the hill, half in control and half out of control!
One place I was hunting was so steep going in that if it rained before you came out you had to walk twice the distance around the mountain to get off of it, if you tried coming straight down you would end up hurting yourself. The elk trails were literally the safest place and they were cut right into the side of the mountain.

The rains were a big problem this year for what I found in Colorado. The last weekend of the season we saw rain everyday in northern Colorado(fri-sun) and the next ten days it continued and even dumped snow 3 times on us in southern wyoming before Oct 1st.


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## ZA206 (Oct 28, 2004)

We had about three nice days of weather, but it was warmish.... Never really got that cold, and I think the elk were just kinda subdued and were obviously somewhere else.

We went out the last week of the archery season last year.... the year before, we went out during ML. This year, we are going earlier.... the week before ML or the week before that. I don't think we want to be out there during the first week though.... well.... maybe. I dunno for sure...

-ZA



a3dhunter said:


> ZA, the rains werer there before your hunts as well.
> 
> I was up in the high country in late July and had rains every afternoon, I thought it was no bigge, bust the normal monsoon season up there.
> Was back up there for the first 12 days of the archery seaosn and had rain on half of those days. Some real soakers too.
> ...


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## a3dhunter (Dec 27, 2005)

ZA206 said:


> We had about three nice days of weather, but it was warmish.... Never really got that cold, and I think the elk were just kinda subdued and were obviously somewhere else.
> 
> We went out the last week of the archery season last year.... the year before, we went out during ML. This year, we are going earlier.... the week before ML or the week before that. I don't think we want to be out there during the first week though.... well.... maybe. I dunno for sure...
> 
> -ZA


I wouldn't recommend it, I have hunted the first ten to twelve days of the season the last two years on otc national forest land and last year I also hunted the last weekend of the season, I had more action the last 3 days than I did the first ten days.
The elk were more vocal and overall conditions seemed better, more movement and such.
Next trip that I make specifically for elk will be the last two weeks of the season, or as close to that as I can schedule.

The earlier season is hot and doesn't show much movement compared to later in September, if you are able to scout through the summer, then you would be better off hunting early due to patterning the elk. If you plan on going the week before ML season, this is the year to do it. The season is moved back a week and each of the next five years it creeps earlier by a few days, until it resets again.


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## mudslinger2 (Jun 25, 2006)

We camp within 10 yards of 76 right on top of the Continental Divide and I have hunted unit 76 when I drew, but the unit I hunt is definitely OTC and very good, but very remote. We can actually hunt 2 different units depending which way we decide to go.


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## a3dhunter (Dec 27, 2005)

mudslinger2 said:


> We camp within 10 yards of 76 right on top of the Continental Divide and I have hunted unit 76 when I drew, but the unit I hunt is definitely OTC and very good, but very remote. We can actually hunt 2 different units depending which way we decide to go.


So you're saying you go both ways????

Stay away from me!:zip:


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## 5MilesBack (Feb 28, 2007)

a3dhunter said:


> So you're saying you go both ways????


You're killing me.

Mudslinger, just be careful camping so close to 76, even perception can draw some unwanted company. A few years back the DOW were back in there cold-camping keeping an eye on things. Busted some folks hunting in 76 but camping outside the so-called line. BTW, I knew exactly where you were talking about the first time.


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## a3dhunter (Dec 27, 2005)

5MilesBack said:


> You're killing me.
> 
> Mudslinger, just be careful camping so close to 76, even perception can draw some unwanted company. A few years back the DOW were back in there cold-camping keeping an eye on things. Busted some folks hunting in 76 but camping outside the so-called line. BTW, I knew exactly where you were talking about the first time.


I now know where my next elk camp will be!:wink:


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## mudslinger2 (Jun 25, 2006)

We are careful where we go being so close to 76. Basically everything to the north and east of us is 76, so we tend to go south. The regs and how they are worded are a little fuzzy as to where the boundaries are between 76 and the others, namely 751, so we tend to to steer away from those boundaries. We have been told by the outfitter that packs us in that the warden will sit on his horse and watch you with his rifle stock mounted spotting scope. We have never seen him, but we know he is there.


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## Jwillman6 (Jun 4, 2007)

I live in unit 43 and hunt it mainly because I can scout it and look for new spots year around. I definitely think there are better OTC units than 43, but being able to scout makes a difference. I have see more good bulls this winter than normal because of the massive amount of snow, but I think a lot of these bulls head to private land after the first arrow flies. Many of these ranches allow little or no hunting. As far as which is the best OTC there are many variables, quantity, quality and amount of public land and although I have been all over elk country in Colorado I cannot give a good answer. I think I have seen more good bulls from southern CO, but many of these bulls came from private ranches and draw units. I love the habitat that 55 and 54 offers, but there is a lot of pressure, and I did see a 365 bull that was claimed to be killed in unit 54. This kind of bull is rare in most OTC units.


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