The Colorado Elk Hunting rifle seasons are near and the early morning air of the Rockey Mountains is chilled and resounds with the proclaiming bugle of majestic bulls. An early detailed discussion of Understanding Colorado Elk and some of the game management officers from the field have sent in a few reports from the early elk Archery and Muzzle Loader seasons. It is fall, time to put down the pen, pick up a pack and rifle and head to the high country.
September 29, 2010
With Chad Bishop, DOW Mammal Research, Ungulates, on Elk Behavior
Archery season has come to a close; we have spoken to a few archers who were successful in the early days but do not have the full details of the season. The warm, dry weather during most of the archery season kept the elk high, moving at dawn and dusk and bedding for the day in the shade of the dark timber.
As hunters, we commonly seek out information on the animals we hunt in hopes it will explain exactly when and where to find them. We quickly learn, time and again, it’s not that simple. All too often, we find that what works one time fails miserably the next, and we can go from a state of euphoria to desperation in the course of just a few hunts. Much of this inconsistency can be attributed to variability in animal behavior, weather, and habitat conditions. Over time, however, we gradually improve our hunting skills by combining our understanding of the animals with lessons learned from our many hunting experiences. Thus, it is beneficial to understand the ecology of the animals we pursue, as long as we keep our expectations in check and appreciate that the systems we hunt can be extremely variable. [Emphasis added; ed.] My objective here is to present a basic picture of elk ecology in Colorado. My hope is to give the novice elk hunter a better idea of where to begin, and to help the seasoned hunter make a little more sense out of past experiences afield.
Topics:
- What do Elk eat
- Elk Habitat use
- Migratory Behavior
- Elk response to disturbance
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