Horse Thief Ranch - 5-Day Elk Hunt + Lodging

Horse Thief Ranch is in the prestigious unit 49 and includes a voucher that is valid unit-wide. Without a voucher, this hunt would take 8+ years to draw. The ranch access is included in this hunt however the timberline regions of this unit are often most desired. That said, an elk has been taken within a mile of the ranch nearly every year for two decades. Horse Thief Ranch is under conservation easement with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation due to the high density of elk and unique location. Horse Thief ranch is surrounded by wilderness, as well as, national forest with no easy access point for any other hunters. This ranch is one of the most remote ranches in the state. Archery and 1st rifle season hunts on this property will be sold in 5-day sections. The outdoorsman fee includes lodging for your entire hunt. IO payment process is as follows: A reservation fee that is non-refundable. 50% of the outdoorsman fee will process 2 weeks after the Colorado limited license draw results are processed. The additional 50% will process 1 month prior to your arrival on the property to hunt.

Right in the heart of the most populated mountain range in the world world for Rocky Mountain Elk, lies the Horse Thief Ranch. The Elk are here for a reason; this region in Colorado is renown for the abundance and diversity of productive habitat. Elk in particular utilize the understory in both forested and mountain shrub habitats. Elk will target these areas due to the abundance of broad leaf plants "forbs" for short. Ponderosa Pine forests and large Aspen groves on the ranch are excellent places to target Elk due to the abundance of understory vegetation and screening cover that they offer. Another tactic is to look for recently disturbed areas such as burns, beetle kill, flooding, etc. After disturbance, the plant species that grow after an event like this is exactly what elk target, Broad leaf plants "forbs". Elk in this scenario will utilize mature forested areas for cover and move into these disturbed areas for food in early morning and evenings for a feast. Pressure from the public land will also push more elk to utilize this property. Hunters must be strategic in their approach, use the land to your advantage, lots of glassing, watch the wind, and position yourself with patience to capitalize on the right opportunity. This property provides excellent early rifle and archery season hunting. That being said, Horse Thief Ranch is a must for your next Elk hunting adventure.

cpw.state.co.us/Documents/Hunting/HunterEd/HuntPlanner.pdf

Hunting and Fishing Licenses - Colorado Parks and Wildlife IPAWS (cpwshop.com)

cpw.state.co.us/thingstodo/Pages/Statistics.aspx

cpw.state.co.us/Documents/Hunting/HunterEd/HuntPlanner.pdf

You are not legally allowed to access the property, for any adventure, prior to your selected access day. If you try to access the property at all before your selected date(s), without prior approval from IO, you will be subject to trespassing and punishments therein.