San Juans north of Durango, Southwest Colorado. Here's the terrain, access, and license picture, plus how to hunt it under pressure.
A long, narrow, heavily forested unit of steep creek drainages, with flats and foothills to the south and densely timbered bluffs above grassy valleys.
Access is the central challenge, as private ranches border the National Forest and hold animals that often stay off huntable ground during daylight; much of the unit favors backpack hunting.
Study land-ownership boundaries closely and hunt the public timber elk use to travel between private feed and cover, using a backpack approach to get past the road-accessible fringe.
ScoutIQ forecasts daily elk movement inside your unit, with a confidence score on every call.
Get early access before Aug 4 → Try the OTC Unit Matcher