"Anyone here done a Colorado elk hunt?"
May haps we have ...
& we're about 80% success rate to date - although we hunt cows mostly & really don't consider big bulls much - I've 5 decent enough bulls in my front yard right now...... (& a 5X mule deer trying to "make nice") ... we like to put some meat in the freezer, is all.
Different hunts you can do.
You can hunt elk, or you can hunt throphy bulls.
The first is a fairly easy draw - with decent success, the latter is a more strigent thing to determine where you want to hunt (a very much part of the deal = the terrain itself), or if you just want to tag an elk.
Lots goes into what you want the hunt to be = what you want to bag, how big o' antlers, what type terrain you'd like to hunt (the experience itseld, etc.) - yada.
Colorado has the largest elk herds (I just hunted the largest of them all & got skunked ;-( wah!), Colorado must have the most incredible various terrain & you can pick whatever you'd care to do - really incredible what this state has to offer - season dates, altitude & terrain to match most of anything you could want. (subject to change, of course - the west slope's getting hammered 'bout now & it's pushing 70 just east of Rocky Mtn Nat'l Park)
Snook up on what it is you want to do. Talk to those who've done it. A guide wouldn't hurt - 'specially if you haven't been out this way before. Use reputables & rcommendends.
Any decent scoped '06 with premium 165-180s will do you fine enough - tend towards the heavier bullets if any doubt.
Do a search on Colorado Divison of Wildlife & check "stats" for what happened this last season. There's also a "pay for" CD that'll detail it some more.
Cool thing about elk is - any full-grown cow (antlerless critter) weighs in about 3X over anything an eastern hunter has ever taken - it really is a chore to roll 'er over.
Kinda very cool & you will be very impressed with "just a doe."
Wouldn't knock it in the least (although a bull is way cool).
BTW, a decent 6X bull head likely takes a single trip just to take out the head - the meat takes more trips. These things aren't cheap.
Be prepared.