Any pointers on doing an otc archery hunt? I’m struggling on deciding on a unit. You can pm me if you don’t want to post it. Any help is much appreciated!

I've DIY hunted otc archery in the flat tops wilderness and west elk wilderness. Didn't connect on either trip. Giving up on CO and gonna try MT next.
I liked the flat tops better than west elk. We had cattle all over the place and it was miserable hot last year in west elk. The cows were so bad we had to take blow down trees to fence off our spike camps or we were concerned we'd be trampled on in the night.

My boys go every year. The weather is different every year, so the elk are at different elevations according to weather. Never the same year to year. CO has the best elk population of all states, I've heard, and has 4 major elk herds around the state. But, there is also a lot of trees to hide in, then mix in a lot of private properly and it is tough. And the boys have had to leave some areas as there are more black bears than elk. And, more often than not you'll run into other hunters rather than elk. They keep going back though, so it's about the hunt, not the kill.

Gather as much info as you can and make the best of it .

It's an adventure and you have a much better chance of killing an elk there than you do from your couch.

personally, I'd ask here https://forum.eastmans.com/
and here https://www.rokslide.com/forums/forums/elk.50/

my advice would be to save your money and apply for better states. colorado is a joke, you'll run into less people in the wal mart parking lot vs. the elk hunting in colorado. ya you'll read they have more elk than any other state, what you dont hear is how many are on private or just not accessible. I heard it said on an elk hunting site one time that colorado is for residents with special access and non residents who dont know any better. colorado has lots of OTC tags and its the closest elk state and straight shot west on I-70 for everybody coming from back east. dont mean to dash your hopes but id rather hear reality than fairy tails of elk behind every tree and void unspoiled wilderness

And there you have it. Straight from the Master himself.

So you have never been here?

I was there. Not super impressed. Don’t get me wrong, a guy in our party killed a very nice 6x6. But, it happened in the first hour of day one when some guys from the next unit bumped him into his lap. That was the only elk we saw the entire second gun season. If I were going back to do it again, it would be either black powder or archery. If I’m going with a rifle again, I’ll go to Montana or Wyoming.

I haven't hunted Colorado in over 20 years, but made 4 trips there. Had good chances at bulls 3 of 4 trips. Filled my tag twice. My All Purpose Boy filled his the last trip out. He was 15 then. I never saw a legal bull that trip. A lot can change in a year or two, never mind 20+!

Colorado has great hunting but you do have to your due diligence to find a good spot. Unless you are really lucky you probably won't find a good spot on your first trip. Just go and have a good time and learn, there's nothing like spending time in the Rockies.

I wouldn’t do this. Going on these sites and saying “hey, not looking for any honey holes or secret spots....just looking for a good experience and a respectable elk” will get you a more negative response than admitting to dating Hillary Clinton in college. These days, everyone’s into western hunting. The guys that are successful on public land work hard to achieve success on a consistent basis. They aren’t looking to give up anything at this point. The second someone goes on these forums with a question about a specific unit, there are 200 lurkers out there that just zeroed in on that same unit. Websites like gohunt can give you some general numbers and background on certain units. There’s elk out there, just pick a unit, and go work hard for it.

I have been applying to several other states and building points. Just looking to go get my feet wet in the elk hunting world while waiting to draw a good unit. And yea I have go hunt which helped tremendously. Western hunting is very different process that it is in Virginia lol, it might turn into an expensive camping trip but I’ve gotta know what it’s like so I’ve gotta go lol.

If you don't find elk in the first 3 miles go farther, over the next mountain, keep going till your into them, best advice I can give you after maybe 15 trips DIY to CO. Got too old for that now, hope your starting young.

Save up and pay for a hunt.

I did 3 DYO hunts in CO. No more.

A buddy did CO some years ago. He went three times in 5 years. He conditioned for months before his hunts. It was a good thing because he did a ton of steep walking and went well beyond where the others hunted. He killed a cow the first year and a bulls the 2nd and 3rd times. He loved it, but it was not easy at all in the area that he hunted. Once he got away from the crowds there were plenty of elk.

There's two fires in CO right now. Grizzly Creek near Glenwood Springs started yesterday by a cigarette along the Interstate, and another fire north of Grand Junction.

I was in your shoes last year. Looking for any info info in OTC elk.
Finally Picked a unit for archery. It was very disheartening when we got to the top of the mountain (12 miles from the trail head) and there where more people up there than at walmart two days before.
Elk hunting has become way to mainstream. Everyone and everyones brother is out there chasing elk.
I had fun, even seen a couple elk, but only because someone else spooked them and they came by us at 20 mph.

I used to hunt CO every year for just over 20 years. We hunted late season for cows with real good luck.

CO isn't very friendly to non-residents, IMO. About every other year, they would find a way to get more money out of non-residents. I quit hunting there about 3 years ago. They had some years where you had to buy a non-resident fishing license with your elk license. The license expired in March. Which was crazy since we were hunting the last week in November. Not to mention the increase in license fees for the elk license.

Now, if you want to hunt that late elk season, you need to purchase a small game license in addition to an elk license. I was told you couldn't hunt small game unless you filled your elk tag first. It may be that way for all the elk seasons. I don't know about that for sure.

I have been 14 times. Did a drop camp several years and did very well.
It is getting way more crowded now. Did an archery do it yourself 2 years ago and called in many more people than elk.
Need to find a place that is tough to access and hard to hunt, that is the only way the crowds won't be there.