2016 Uinta Elk?

13689 Views 39 Replies 20 Participants Last post by Clarq, Feb 1, 2016

JT770

Discussion Starter · Jan 25, 2016 (Edited)

Hello all,

I'm brand new to the forum and am looking for a little help or constructive criticism on my hunt plan for next year. Definitely not looking for honey-holes or 10 digit grids, just a point in the right direction.

I'm an active duty Marine that grew up on the east coast as a whitetail hunter but have had the fortune of being stationed on CA/NV border. I'm definitely new to western hunting but have experienced some succes knocking down a couple CA mule deer (eastern Sierra Nevadas) on solo backpack hunts and a Cow elk in CO last year out of a drop camp. Basically, I don't think I'm completely clueless and am definitely not afraid of some hard work or covering some ground.

Right now my group will consist of about 4-6 guys for the Any Bull Rifle season. I have a line on renting some horses and we plan on packing in the 7th then hunting the 8th through the 15th. I want to try to get 5-7 miles off the roads, set up camp, then hunt from there. Most of the guys I'm going with are in there late 20's as well so we plan on covering some ground to try to get on some Elk.

Right now I'm looking at the Southern Slope east towards the actuall wilderness area. My main issue is finding a step off point then a general area to set up camp. I live about 8 hours drive away, so after some serious google Earth and map work, I'm hoping to go backpack and check it out this spring.

From all the reading I have done so far, it looks like I should expect high pressure by the roads and rugged country and low elk densities in the back country.

Any suggestions or advice is greatly appreciated!

Thanks, Jon

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21 - 40 of 40 Posts

CPAjeff

· #21 · Jan 26, 2016 (Edited)

First of all, thanks for your service for our country! Second, judging by your comments it seems you have your heart set on a "traditional" horseback hunt and I can totally understand wanting to experience something like that!

I have a close family friend that has hunted a certain area of the Uintas for nearly 20 years with his three children. Over the last 20 years, he personally has harvested 14 bulls. Over the past ten years, two out of three of his kids gets an elk every year. This guy literally has the elk figured out, he knows where they go when it's warm, where they go when it's cold, where they go when pressured, etc. One time I asked him about his success and his answer was, "I shoot the first bull I see. The years that I didn't connect, were the years I passed up on smaller bulls." I believe 7 out of the 14 bulls are spikes, and the rest are rag horns.

Moral of the story, if you would seriously, 100%, without-a-shadow-of-a-doubt be willing to punch your tag on a spike on an open bull area - I would recommend getting a spike tag, instead of an open bull tag, look at the limited entry units that are rugged and have a lot of elk on there. You can still do the horse hunt deal, will see a lot more elk, and can still get away from the crowds.

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Elkaholic2

· #22 · Jan 26, 2016

Get a tag! Get your ponies! Make sure you have plenty of bourbon! Come out and have an elk hunt! The bourbon is to drink your sorrows away when you get your "A" kicked by uinta elk.

great information that has been shared. To be realistic. With 4-6 guys. Anywhere you hunt I'd wouldn't expect to fill all your tags unless you were in colorado with either sex tags. So for the investment factor. I would want some elk meat to bring home. And I would hunt in areas that have a lot of elk. The uintas is not one of those places!

There is not an easy O.T.C. Tag out there that I'm aware of. But, there are some unit groups and elk herds that I would take a long look at in colorado before I decided on the uintas.

Are the Unitas the worst choice? No. Are the Unitas the best? No.

With money being an issue. I would strongly advise you to get a few cow tags instead of bull tags. Or get both a cow tag and bull tag. That way all of you can have a chance at taking an elk home.

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BradN

· #23 · Jan 26, 2016

Lake Chepeta is a good entry point. I've seen elk to the east and west of Chepeta. The Uinta Highline trail runs the backbone of the Uintas and can be used to access other drainages. I particularly like the area between Chepeta and Whiterocks Lake. Consider a backpacking trip in July or August to learn the area.

RandomElk16

· #24 · Jan 26, 2016

Airborne said:
we generally don't party, don't drink, don't fornicate, and don't do drugs--we take all of our aggression to the mountain with us and hunt like wild men!

I do all of those and still seem to have some success.

We do have a lot of private land Any Bull going on. While his stats could be accurate for the average Joe, there is a lot more that would be looked at for a Non-Res public hunt.

I mainly recommend CO because you can go to public land with an either sex tag. If he is ok with any elk, I assumed a cow would be fine. I feel like that $600 tag, when considering both cow and bull, would yield more success. Especially if they are going on horseback.

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Airborne

· #25 · Jan 26, 2016

RandomElk16 said:
I do all of those and still seem to have some success..

Ha!! Well you don't have to brag about it! I should follow that up with "pics or it didn't happen" :grin:

JT770

Discussion Starter · #26 · Jan 27, 2016

Gents,

Once again, thanks for the varying perspectives and suggestions, its exactly what I was looking for. To circle back on a couple questions and comments:

-As far as horses go and my experiences with them, a rodeo in the back country is exactly what I don't want... If I pursue Utah, I got a arrangement worked out with the wrangler to help with the pack in & pack out to alleviate some of the stress. We would be keeping 2-3 horses in Camp. Still a lot of work, but manageable.

-I have looked heavily into Idaho and Colorado and have not ruled these states out, but... haven't really found a "foothold" in either one to start building off. Last season, I had the fortune (or spent...) of being packed in 7 plus miles in the back country and saw 14 elk over seven days, finally killing a Cow on the last night with a 2nd Season OTC Tag. My friend, was not so fortunate. He is also in his late 20's, in great shape and highly motivated, yet with a LE 1st Season CO Rifle Hunt he couldn't out-hike the roadside crowds and did not see a single Elk the two days he scouted and the 5 he hunted.... I know individual experiences, weather and everything else varies, and that being in the back country away from OTC hunting pressure does not guarantee getting into Elk... but the majority of evidence suggests it increases your chances.... With that said, I'm definitely open to any suggestions such as units or season's in Colorado or Idaho that anyone is willing to offer up.

-I like the Spike/Cow Hunt idea and will pitch it to my group to see if its something we would be collectively interested in. Along the same lines, has anyone had any success with the Elk Control Permits in the South Slope Units? From some initial research it looks like a great way to increase the flexibility of the hunt so we could take a Bull or Cow.

-Finally, CPAjeff and some of the others nailed it for me... Last year I went on what I thought would be the hunt of a lifetime and got exactly that. Now I'm hooked.... I have one more season before I get orders back to the East Coast and the logistics, work and family commitments of planning and executing something like this will be unrealistic so I want to take advantage while I got the shot... I'm in no way, shape or form "above" truck camping or setting up by a road as it offers mobility and you can bring a lot more creature comforts, I just don't want to do it with 500 other people.

Keep it coming and thanks again!!

Jon

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Dukes_Daddy

· #27 · Jan 27, 2016

PM Sent - Good luck

Clarq

· #28 · Jan 27, 2016

Airborne said:
Because most of us are/were Mormon or at least raised that way we generally don't party, don't drink, don't fornicate, and don't do drugs--we take all of our aggression to the mountain with us and hunt like wild men!

I think I'll use that as the tagline for my next hunting video series. Either that or just use it as a signature on one of my other accounts. I never thought about it that way but I think that's not an entirely unreasonable claim to make...

Airborne

· #29 · Jan 27, 2016

Why not apply for Wyoming special, with no points you have an ok chance of drawing, it's around $1100 and there won't be near the people. It's a great tag that comes with a bucketload of opportunity. I know some good areas and if you draw it I will point you in the right direction plus you won't need horses. You can archery hunt the whole month of September then come back in October and rifle hunt for a couple weeks. And if you don't draw then go OTC in another state. The draw results come out quick so you can plan accordingly.

I can point ya in a couple different directions in Colorado if you decide to go that route. I can give ya some areas in the spike areas of Utah if you do that also, but I won't help one bit when it comes to the uintas--that is too precious to give out, just too much blood, sweat, and tears to give anything up....sorry

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CPAjeff

· #30 · Jan 27, 2016

Airborne said:
Because most of us are/were Mormon or at least raised that way we generally don't party, don't drink, don't fornicate, and don't do drugs--we take all of our aggression to the mountain with us and hunt like wild men!

So, since I am a married man, should I sleep in a tent for a couple weeks before the season starts to get that "wild man" back?? /**|**\\

Just giving you crap.;-)

Reactions: 1

Archin

· #31 · Jan 27, 2016

That would be a good start ?

hazmat

· #32 · Jan 28, 2016

JT770 said:
Gents,

Once again, thanks for the varying perspectives and suggestions, its exactly what I was looking for. To circle back on a couple questions and comments:

-As far as horses go and my experiences with them, a rodeo in the back country is exactly what I don't want... If I pursue Utah, I got a arrangement worked out with the wrangler to help with the pack in & pack out to alleviate some of the stress. We would be keeping 2-3 horses in Camp. Still a lot of work, but manageable.

-I have looked heavily into Idaho and Colorado and have not ruled these states out, but... haven't really found a "foothold" in either one to start building off. Last season, I had the fortune (or spent...) of being packed in 7 plus miles in the back country and saw 14 elk over seven days, finally killing a Cow on the last night with a 2nd Season OTC Tag. My friend, was not so fortunate. He is also in his late 20's, in great shape and highly motivated, yet with a LE 1st Season CO Rifle Hunt he couldn't out-hike the roadside crowds and did not see a single Elk the two days he scouted and the 5 he hunted.... I know individual experiences, weather and everything else varies, and that being in the back country away from OTC hunting pressure does not guarantee getting into Elk... but the majority of evidence suggests it increases your chances.... With that said, I'm definitely open to any suggestions such as units or season's in Colorado or Idaho that anyone is willing to offer up.

-I like the Spike/Cow Hunt idea and will pitch it to my group to see if its something we would be collectively interested in. Along the same lines, has anyone had any success with the Elk Control Permits in the South Slope Units? From some initial research it looks like a great way to increase the flexibility of the hunt so we could take a Bull or Cow.

-Finally, CPAjeff and some of the others nailed it for me... Last year I went on what I thought would be the hunt of a lifetime and got exactly that. Now I'm hooked.... I have one more season before I get orders back to the East Coast and the logistics, work and family commitments of planning and executing something like this will be unrealistic so I want to take advantage while I got the shot... I'm in no way, shape or form "above" truck camping or setting up by a road as it offers mobility and you can bring a lot more creature comforts, I just don't want to do it with 500 other people.

Keep it coming and thanks again!!

Jon

I say go for it do a pack in hunt in the uintas it is a beautiful place the experience alone would be worth .

RoosterKiller

· #33 · Jan 28, 2016

Airborne said:
I'll play...

Because most of us are/were Mormon or at least raised that way we generally don't party, don't drink, don't fornicate, and don't do drugs--we take all of our aggression to the mountain with us and hunt like wild men!

I think this is so funny.Pretty accurate too.:grin:

RandomElk16

· #34 · Jan 28, 2016

Airborne said:
Ha!! Well you don't have to brag about it! I should follow that up with "pics or it didn't happen" :grin:

Usually so drunk I forget to take a picture. Since I am right next to the road for the hunt I can just throw the animal(s) in the truck and get back to my cooler and fire.

:mrgreen::mrgreen:;-)8)

colorcountrygunner

· #35 · Feb 1, 2016

RoosterKiller said:
I think this is so funny.Pretty accurate too.:grin:

Do you know why you always want to take at least two or more Mormons hunting with you? Because if you only take one Mormon he will drink all your beer! 8)

Clarq

· #36 · Feb 1, 2016

colorcountrygunner said:
Do you know why you always want to take at least two or more Mormons hunting with you? Because if you only take one Mormon he will drink all your beer! 8)

Pretty sure that joke is as old as mormonism itself...

DallanC

· #37 · Feb 1, 2016

Beer was completely legal and accepted in the LDS church for nearly 100 years. The largest seller of Alcohol in Utah? Brigham Young. There was a massive beer brewery that took up an entire city block... and that doesn't include all the other brewerys strewn about (Lucky Lager etc etc).

History is stranger than fiction at times.

-DallanC

Reactions: 1

Critter

· #38 · Feb 1, 2016

That is because beer was safer to drink than was the water. There is a show on a cable channel that was called "How Beer Saved America"

You have to figure that at that time frame they had no idea of where some of the diseases came from and a lot of them came from contaminated water which was drank without boiling. Beer on the other hand was boiled and got all of the bad stuff out of it.

colorcountrygunner

· #39 · Feb 1, 2016

Clarq said:
Pretty sure that joke is as old as mormonism itself...

An oldie but a goodie

Clarq

· #40 · Feb 1, 2016

DallanC said:
Beer was completely legal and accepted in the LDS church for nearly 100 years. The largest seller of Alcohol in Utah? Brigham Young. There was a massive beer brewery that took up an entire city block... and that doesn't include all the other brewerys strewn about (Lucky Lager etc etc).

History is stranger than fiction at times.

-DallanC

Ok, I may have been exaggerating just a bit... but let's just say I've heard that joke so many times it got old a long time ago. I can pretty much count on hearing it whenever I tell someone I'm an angler.

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