Go before the muzzleloader season. I hunted CO in 2011 for 12 days in the latter part of the archery season hoping to catch the rut. My hunt started on he last weekend of the muzzleloader season and the elk were buggered up. They will get pushed onto the private lands where accessible and be very difficult to reach. Hunt FRESH sign only. I mean steamy green poo and cloudy wallows. If you aren't finding that, you aren't in the elk. Keep moving because they have. I hunted 9 days before we saw our first elk. Five days is a heartbeat on an elk hunt so if you have the opportunity to extend it, do so. Especially if this is going to be a once in a great while or lifetime trip. Heed the advice on calling sparsely. I had the good fortune to meet a fellow recurve hunter in the woods one day who called an elk in for me. Another hunter below us was trying to home in on the action and totally overcalled. I got to witness the elks response to good calling and bad calling simultaneously. Very educational.

It's an amazing time Ken. You will love it and begin planning your next trip back on day 2!!

1) At least some of the San Juan is brutally rugged.  Maybe some CO residents can steer you to a more gentler place.

2) Shoot the first legal elk you see!!!!!!

3) Soak it in and enjoy.  The Rockies is a special place.

4) Be prepared for any weather and go before ML season if possible.

5) Let your binocs do as much walking for you as possible.

6) Even though they are large animals,  AIM SMALL

Now I probably have no place here, but I've always wanted to go, just cant come up with the funding. But from what i have been told by my father who has gone, and several friends who have gone...And this is what i have been told.

Hunt high, be prepared to move if there are no elk around.

Shoot the first legal animal you get a chance at, don't be picky, my father and his hunting partner had two chances, once they got right into the whole herd and had three cows at 5 yards, they held off because the tags they were holding were good for a cow/bull, they had gotten greedy and had dreams of 300+ inch bulls in their heads. After that hunt, dad stopped going but but his partner returned for the next 10 consecutive years!! And guess what on the tenth year... he finally got another shot and downed a beautiful 6x6.

Every one also said to purchase a mule deer tag if you can as well, they said every time they went, they all had chances at a mule deer. But no one had a tag.

I know a lot of people have been encouraging you with calling but be careful with this since if you bugle for the first time in a morning most herds will know you are fake and move so bugle only the night before to locate the herd and be prepared that they will be about 200-400 yards near where you heard them from. Also on calls stay away from the popular brands, I have been hunting enough now I can tell a real cow elk from a primos hoochie mama and last year the guy using it did it at the wrong time and drove off the herd I had below me.
As far as them being quiet that is pretty rare if you get a group of cows moving you can even hear their footsteps on pine needles or at least I can.

Depending on where you are in the San Juans they may have  a lot of water so be waterhole hunting may not be super productive. The elk will be on north slopes in the day for bedding down. but they will move around to the other side towards evening for food and water. Sometime there are valleys hat you would think would not hold elk but those are the ones to give a quick check on since they can surprise you.

Have fun and good luck

Elk hunting advice is plentiful. You have got some good advice here.

My input would be If your going to call learn it well. Lear when it is appropriate. If you call move forward and down-wind.

Be in the best shape you can be in. Elk hunting will test you. Especially after you get one on the ground.

I saw you mentioned testing your gear. dont forget to weight it down. Make sure it will hold up. The mountian is not the time to break in new boots. I have seen this way to many times.

Check out Elknut's play book there is some great information in there.

Some of the lessons I've learned the hard (but fun) way. None of these tips are original or unique, but I still had to mess it up firsthand to get it figured out:

If you call and get a response bugle from a bull that is somewhat close (a couple hundred yards), immediately start "running" towards that bull. Don't just sit there calling and hoping he will come to you like they do on those silly TV shows- if the elk does head your way, odds are he will hang up at 100 yds or circle downwind anyway. Cut the distance as much as you think you can get away with and then start stalking really slowly from there as there will be lots of eyes and ears in the area. Two of my best shot opportunities on big bulls came by intercepting them in this way.  

That hyper estrus style call does seem to generate an almost automatic bugle response from rutting bulls in my experience. Don't over use it, but it is a good tool to have in your pocket.

Elk are big, stinky herd animals that usually leave lots of sign when they are frequenting an area. Cover lots of ground until you find such an area, then slow way down.

Hunt early and late and take a mid day siesta high up on the mountain- the elk are bedded at that time too.

again THANK YOU for all the info! as far as calling i will practice but i have it in my head to call like i would with turkeys or coyotes. less is more and it all about position. i will rely on woodsmanship over my calling for sure. many things suggested on here that i did not know and i'm taking it all in please keep it coming!

I got 300grs VPAs 2 blades for elk.
Those heads look somewhat small to me (I am used to the Big Jim 3 blades 300grs), but they are built super tough.

What broadheads are the experts using?

My wife and I just got back from Thornton, CO. yesterday.. She has a 1st cousin out there and we were just visiting for a few days. It was my first time seeing the Rocky Mountains. They are simply breathtaking- We rode along the road to Estes Park and saw Mule deer and several elk feeding just off the side of the road! I was just amazed at it all. Best of luck, Ken!

the 300 grain VPA's shoot so good i believe i will stick to them.

That's EXCELLENT elk medicine adk

That's awesome Ken, good luck!!!

i will be using a gift bow from my bro Manny. a Mississippi Lake long bow #62 and my draw and 300 grain GT carbons with a 100 grains up front for total arrow weight of 690 grains, sound ok?

Ken listen to Randy    oh and have fun  

Keep in mind that when Tracks says a bull wants to get "downwind" of you, that often means "uphill" of you as the wind is moving uphill during the day.  The urge to "run in" to a bugling elk can quickly put you dowhill and downwind of that bull.

To misquote an old hunting addage, "white man call too much, look too little."
homebru

A few things I have learned over the last few years:

Always "set up" before calling, walking and calling seems like a good idea but often results in a thrilling encounter without any chance at a shot.

Sitting down, taking a knee etc. feels like the right thing to do when setting up and calling but leaves you with a lack of flexibility to get a good shot, my best setup is usually standing with my back against a big evergreen.

Bugling at a bull with cows often results in him herding his harem away from you.

Keep hunting till at least 11am  before you stop for your siesta

If you are day hunting, go as light as you can, took me about five years to figure outh that a 25 lb daypack is unneccesary

Do a lot of map scouting before the season, an excellent resource for places tostart looking is the CO hunting atlas there are pretty good maps and game data overlay on it, look for the summer concentration areas and you will usually be in the ballpark.

http://ndis.nrel.colostate.edu/huntingatlas/

Good luck!

Dewane

QuoteOriginally posted by adkmountainken:
i will be using a gift bow from my bro Manny. a Mississippi Lake long bow #62 and my draw and 300 grain GT carbons with a 100 grains up front for total arrow weight of 690 grains, sound ok?

Can't think of better wapiti medicine.  Practice out to 40 yards or so.  It will make a 25 yard shot feel like a chip shot

QuoteOriginally posted by Cedar&Flint:
Treasure every moment that you're in those mountains. You'll be making some of the fondest memories that life has to offer. Remember that you have chosen to do something that is very difficult to accomplish so don't be too disappointed if you don't get a bull.  

There is a lot of excellent advice in this entire thread, but none truer than the words above.  You will be living the dream of many, and walking trails in places that very few ever see.  Savor it all, and burn it deep into your memory banks!

Aim small. I shot a 4 by 5 bull in the rear 18yrs. ago and I haven't took a shoot since then at a elk. It made me soooooo sick after 1.5 days looking for him I packed up camp and went home. Enjoy the process.

there is nothing like hearing a bull elk bugle!  You are going to love.  They are big be sure you have a plan on how to get one out.  I do like the non-gutting boneless way best.
enjoy.... Joe