Flyfish, I would suggest using the tips from the thread below "Elk Hunting tips". If you can think of specific questions post em up and we'll do our best to answer them.

Cheers

flyfish, Welcome to BGH!

My advice for Colorado is be prepared for any kind of weather because it can be sunny and 65 degrees and snow in the afternoon

The one thing that help me the most is Patience. I second the be ready for any and all kinds of weather......it is Colorado.

I would practice calling. Your probably not going to hunt out of a stand and stalking can be tough, so your probably going to bring the elk to you and the best way to do that is by calling...

I've read a little about calling but know very little about it. It would be my guess that I should primarily focus on Cow calling. What are your thoughts.

My thinking is that calling in a bull is similar to calling in a Tom Turkey and most of the time you use hen calls.

Thanks for the input guys.

Primos has a pretty good instructional video which covers a few different cow calls and their bugles. The thing with bugling in many high pressure areas are the bulls have become educated to them and more often then not they will be an alarm to the elk instead of a lure. Cow calling can be very effective especially on satellite bulls when they get hot in the rut. Until they get really hot and active we employ spot and stalk or slowly and quietly hunting the dark timber. Lot's of glassing and or walking/hikiing until good sign or elk are found.

Hey flyfish....I like to mainly use a bugle soley for locating a bull. Once located I'll quitely move in on him. Depending on the situation, I'll set up around 50 to 100 yards away from the bull. Once set up in the shade or cover, I'll have someone about 60-70 yards behind me cow calling. At this point a good caller can bring them right past you for a shot. I read you have a guide so he should be able to set up some where behind you to call. Depending again on the situation, your guide should be able to read if your Elk is coming in fast or is hung up and waiting for the cow to come to him. If he's hung up, I like my caller to get aggressive with the calls and if the caller is not within sight of the bull to get up and move further back like the cow is moving away from the bull. Well this is whats worked for me so I hope it helps.

Good luck!

I say just listen to your outfitter and don't try to know more than he does. Also, make sure you get used to judging distance without a range finder. I would say that is probably the biggest difference between Bowhunting for Elk and sitting in a tree stand for deer. It is likely you will not have time to range after a quick set-up. My experience also tells me that you will not always have a standing shot. I suggest that you practice shooting from all kinds of positions and under or over branches. You should be able to hold your draw for longer than you might think. Also, the best archery hunter (elk) I know tought me an exercise that has proven helpfull for this. Sit flat on your butt with your legs straight out in front of you and practice drawing your bow and holding. I even practice from that position.

Have fun, and I bet you will not be able to only do this one time. It's the most fun I can think of with your clothes on! Good Luck!

This is great info and more helpful then you might know.
I plan on borrowing an elk 3D target from the local fish and game club next summer. I have a couple of acres of land that I can place the elk in differnent places so I can do the distance judging along with shooting a diffferent distances and up and down hill.

Full Draw, I appreciate your comments, knowing more than the guide no worry there! (humor) I understand your point and it's a good one. That's percisely why I'm using a guide, for his/her knowledge of the country and the critter I'm hunting.

Thanks again to everyone for there input.

Dave