Ex,

That's a very good consideration alot of hunters forget. It's also fairly amazing how easy it can be to get turned around in the woods. Lost in the Rockies can sure shake a guy up and ruin any possible future hunts for a first timer. Unit 33 might be a considerable option North of Newcastle not to far away from civilization. Just a thought

One thing I can suggest when you get to hunting is look for herd sign. that means lots of tracks and droppings. If you find really fresh sign you might try following the herd just remember an elk can travel farther in an hour than you can in a half a day. tracks of a single animal are probably a sattelite bull and they can make a lot of tracks, stick to the tracks of a half dozen animals or more and your odds improve. On a different note I have hunted colorado and the amount of hunters has to be seen to be beleived when people on this forum say to hunt as far from the road as you can they are not joking. There is a lot of public land but only a limited number of places to access it from you want to stay away from large camp grounds and avoid a 3 way contest between you, the other hunters ,and the elk. when you get there try to spend a whole day scouting with the aid of a good topo map. The DOW has a great mapping feature on their web site called mapit. If you can find a little used trail head to camp at you will enjoy your hunt more. good luck and welcome to the forum!!