# Three corners LE Elk tag, oh crap.



## runningelk (May 25, 2011)

Sweeet, except for the $$$ out of the account. Me and Dad landed a LE elk on the Three Corners up by Flaming Gorge. First year in with 4 points, now we have to figure out where the elk are, I've never been there. I welcome any pointers.


----------



## Nambaster (Nov 15, 2007)

If you want a small one I am sure that you will be able to spot one from the browns park gas station.


----------



## runningelk (May 25, 2011)

I'm hoping for 300+ it sounds like it's a high success area


----------



## Nambaster (Nov 15, 2007)

Goslin Mountain is where I would probably start.... There are also some parts of Diamond Mountain that are also in the south end of that boundary as well.. There are for sure some good bulls that get pulled out of there. Send me a PM if you want more details.... Otherwise I would just say that you have a great opportunity to get to know of the the best Units in Utah.


----------



## GSPonPoint (Sep 24, 2008)

PM sent


----------



## BradN (Sep 25, 2007)

Bare Top Mountain.


----------



## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

runningelk said:


> Sweeet, except for the $$$ out of the account. Me and Dad landed a LE elk on the Three Corners up by Flaming Gorge. First year in with 4 points, now we have to figure out where the elk are, I've never been there. I welcome any pointers.


I've hunted cow elk there three times and never got one. But, I suck at killing cows with a gun...

That being said, every time I go there I always see plenty of bulls. Part of the reason I never kill a cow, I never see em! :evil: That is BIG country with very little access by motorized vehicle. If I were you, I'd find someone with horses to go with you. Good luck!


----------



## Longgun (Sep 7, 2007)

Goslin mtn... 

i and a buddy used to do ALOT of yote killing out that way and we ALWAYS ran into bulls... always. If its a late hunt, you may find bulls recouping health and friendships after the rut right down next to the Gorge out in the sage flats.


Bare top...

produced a 314 & a 328 for two buddies of mine two seasons ago. the 328 was a satellite of the 314. both were shot side by side on opening day...


----------



## treedagain (Nov 21, 2009)

try the new burns around mustang ridge, glass the hill to the south of the road as you come thru the mtn from Wyo, park at the shooting range and walk to north or east


----------



## Longgun (Sep 7, 2007)

exactly! ^^

that burn will be a MAGNET. 

bring a flyrod and hit the green after you get big stinkey on the ground...


----------



## runningelk (May 25, 2011)

Thanks for the pointers guys and the PM they are really detailed. I'll be ready for scout trips, range practice, a browning safari 300, and breaking the news to the wife and convincing her this is a "long term investment" I welcome any more pointers. Sweet dreams until october.


----------



## Younghunter21 (Sep 7, 2010)

PM me if it is the rifle hunt


----------



## utbowhunt (Jun 5, 2011)

I drew it too, keep the suggestions coming... I'm gonna need them!


----------



## KEVIN (Jun 27, 2011)

I drew it to, on a dedicated hunter bonus tag. Never hunted there, but was'nt about to turn down a lucky draw like that. I am headed up in early fall to scout


----------



## bwhntr (Sep 12, 2007)

I have spent quite a bit of time on this unit. All the suggestions have been great. If I had your tag I would be on top of Bare Top. Killing a 300+ bull anywhere on this unit won't be a problem. The most important thing I look for in an area to hunt is limited access. I prefer to get away from other hunters. Bare Top is limited but still not a terrible hike. Admittedly everytime (but once) I have been up there I have rode my horses. Its not that bad though. If you are interested in some pointers and tips on the Bare Top area pm me and I will be happy to provide you any information you may need.

Good luck, and most important have fun.


----------



## treedagain (Nov 21, 2009)

the best way to hunt BARE TOP is to park at the locked gate and walk up the road and when you see a trail go off the to the right, take it and follow the powerlines, keep watching off to the right and take one of the cedar fingers to the top....follow the edge of the rim towards thelake and just before it swings back to the flat top there is a spring in the bottom......their should be elk everywhere.......if you cut across the flat top their is scattered pines that will hold elk all day everyday during the season......


----------



## Purogringo (Mar 20, 2008)

We've drawn out cow tags on that unit over the last few years, and I've hunted that area my whole life. It's a great unit for some big bulls. Never been to Bare Top cuz access is really limited. You need horses and the idea of hiking 5 miles in to pack out a 300 bull by myself doesn't sound fun  You can definitely find them up on top of Goslin. 4 yrs ago when we drew out a cow tag, opening morning we got to a flat and counted 13 bulls all 5pt or bigger or a dead run to the steep and deep. 

On the top of Goslin if you go to the very South East corner you'll find them there. There's a big flat open sage meadow with a big hill to the very south end. They generally like to come up a draw from the west side, through that meadow, and run down into the steep and deep. We've seen some nice big bulls in that area.

Good luck!! Let us know how it is. I have 5 points and have been putting in for that LE tag and no luck yet.


----------



## KevTomSmi (Aug 10, 2011)

I was successful in drawing the muzzle loader elk tag this year and I have hunted the area before but during the rifle hunt "earlier in the season". Has anyone spent much time in this area during the muzzle loader and do you have any suggestions for me?

thanks,


----------



## Smokepole (Oct 21, 2008)

Just curious, what the deer herd is like in there. Do you see very many when you've been in there elk hunting? I've heard that the deer populatioin is low. From recent deer winter mortalities on the South Slope I was thinking I might try somewhere around the gorge.

Smokepole


----------



## TopofUtahArcher (Sep 9, 2009)

BradN said:


> Bare Top Mountain.


I agree here... there are some good bulls in the unit, and having fished around there for 20+ I tend to take binos and look for big bucks/bulls in the early/late hours. I have found some good bulls out to Bare Top, and even further east to the Wyoming and CO borders you'll get some great bulls that push into the unit on the dry side... saw a 370 bull grazing just off the road leading from Dutch John over towards CO.


----------



## utbowhunt (Jun 5, 2011)

I just got back from my archery hunt on this unit... everything seemed GREAT until the velvet came off, then the bulls ran as fast as they could for Colorado and Wyoming, WHERE THEY HAVE COWS. Utah has slaughtered all of the cows on this unit, so the bulls don't hang out in August and September.

Way to go Utah DNR, you should refund everyone's points. I killed a little rag 6 on the second to last day, just because he was the only bull available and I know another archer on this forum did the same with a rag 5. We had pictures of over 200 different bulls in the weeks leading up to the hunt, but as soon as they started getting ready to rut POOF!! GONE!! In the same time frame there were less than 10 cows on the same cameras. I was lucky to get pictures of 2 bulls per week on premium location water holes after the velvet was rubbed. 

Maybe better luck for the rifle hunters, but I have nothing good to say for the archery season on this unit... except that DNR needs to STOP KILLING ALL THE **** COWS HERE! There's far better opportunity on general units than there was on this archery hunt. I can't believe I wasted 11 years on this hunt (6 prior + 5 after). DNR should be ashamed of themselves for taking advantage of the archers on this one.


----------



## Duckholla (Sep 24, 2007)

Bare top. Last year, one week ago I sat atop a ridge nearly a mile a way from Bare Top and gazed through my binos as I enjoyed a sandwhich. To my amazement, I saw about 15 bulls cross the top of that bare top. Yeah, from a mile away...and I could pick the bulls out from the cows. Three bulls, harramed up pretty good were spectacular bulls. 

You should have a really fun hunt. I've never hunted it, but I did check out a couple of maps after I saw those bulls. If you have access to a boat, I'd be happy to show you a relatively easy approach to another hot area.

PM me if interested.


----------



## bugchuker (Dec 3, 2007)

Smokepole said:


> Just curious, what the deer herd is like in there. Do you see very many when you've been in there elk hunting? I've heard that the deer populatioin is low. From recent deer winter mortalities on the South Slope I was thinking I might try somewhere around the gorge.
> 
> Smokepole


The deer herd has gone downhill like the rest of the state for the last couple years.


----------



## utbowhunt (Jun 5, 2011)

The reports I got from Bear Top were that there were bulls chasing around about 20 cows on the whole range, and numerous hunters working the hell out of them. A whopping 20 cows. There was also a report of 15 cows with a bull on Goslin, but we never were able to pin them down... and we found approximately 15 cows on the marker traveling between Utah, Colorado and Wyoming. Ridiculous numbers for a LE unit. I also had reports of 1200 cows being slaughtered on this unit over the past three to four years... which I tend to believe given the numbers we experienced. There will be a huge age gap in bulls here in the next few years as a result, and the unit is virtually wrecked for archery hunts for probably the next 5-10 while the cow herd repopulates, if they're even allowed to.

The deer herd is extremely weak, it's like a nursery if anything. We saw several very good bucks in one small isolated area in the weeks leading up to the hunt, but opening weekend brought a lot of pressure and they vanished immediately. The rest of the unit only brought small forks and a ton of does, no decent bucks. I wouldn't waste my time hunting deer on this unit. Also given the amount of pressure it got from deer hunters on the archery hunt, I would anticipate a ton of pressure on the rifle hunt. I didn't see or hear of a single deer coming out in the 21 days I spent on the unit during the season... and I ran into a ton of hunters.


----------



## runningelk (May 25, 2011)

I've got a rifle tag and heading up on Oct 7-14. We spent last weekend up there, Sept 23-24, scouting. Didn't see any elk. We talked to the locals and they all said they were in colorado. We set up a trail cam by one of the watering holes on goslin mtn. Reading these and talking to the neighbors I beleive I'll spend most of my time on Bare Top around the guzzlers. 

Still up for any suggestions and good luck to everybody on there hunts.


----------



## treedagain (Nov 21, 2009)

my brother just got back yesterday after helping his buddy kill a 310 bull on goslin....he said the fish cops said there was a big herd hanging on the wyo---colo---ut border with some BIG bulls in it.....LOTS of elk by the 3 corners monument.....and hunters....dipping vat had NO elk in it, but you should check it out....


----------



## Purogringo (Mar 20, 2008)

Just got back last week from the muzzy deer hunt. Wow!! That sucked!! This whole unit has gone down over the last 5 years. It was way too hot, there were 3 hunts going on at the same time (muzzy deer, rifle cow, rifle Bull LE). We hunted Thurs to Sun and camped down in Clay Basin on the stream. Thurs night we saw a herd of about 20-25 cows with a 5 or 6 pt keeping watch up on 3 Corners on the mtn just west of the monument. We hunted all of 3 corners, goslin, brown's park and only saw elk on 3 corners. They are all in CO right now. Plus, this unit has gone down hill ever since the DNR gave out all those cow tags. We know, we've drawn about 5-6 cows tags each yr for the past 3 yrs. Four yrs ago there were gobs of elk all over Goslin. Didn't see a single one on this trip.

Talked to a lot of guys that were on the LE hunt and they were all bummed out. Sucks to know that you just burned 9 or 10 points for a terrible hunt.

As far as deer goes..... well.... that's another issue. We saw a beauty of a 4-pt Friday morning up on 3 corners but we were on the WY side. Tried pushing the dang bugger over the state line but he didn't want to cooperate  Saw a few small bucks on Goslin, 1 small spike in Brown's Park and that was it. It was too hot. You used to see a lot of 2 or 3-pts running around but not anymore. Hell, we couldn't even find any bunnies in Clay Basin and there's always bunnies there.

Maybe it's time to look for a new place to hunt.


----------



## bullsnot (Aug 10, 2010)

utbowhunt said:


> The reports I got from Bear Top were that there were bulls chasing around about 20 cows on the whole range, and numerous hunters working the hell out of them. A whopping 20 cows.





utbowhunt said:


> Way to go Utah DNR, you should refund everyone's points. I killed a little rag 6 on the second to last day, just because he was the only bull available and I know another archer on this forum did the same with a rag 5. We had pictures of over 200 different bulls in the weeks leading up to the hunt, but as soon as they started getting ready to rut POOF!! GONE!! In the same time frame there were less than 10 cows on the same cameras. I was lucky to get pictures of 2 bulls per week on premium location water holes after the velvet was rubbed.


Ok I need some boots in here for how deep it's starting to get. Here are the FACTS:

1 - The population objective for this unit is 500 animals. That is NOT set by the DWR but rather by the interests in that region like cattlemen, farmers, as well as hunters.

2 -In 2006 there were 1075 animals estimated on the unit, by 2010 there were an estimated 550. The division has given out a bunch of cow tags to reduce the herd but only because they are required to reduce the herd to the population objective by law.

The bottom line is that political agendas have set the population objective at what its at and that's the reason for the decline in the herd there. This is a perfect example of how human encroachment hurts our herds. If you want to get upset with someone/something at least know what it is to blame. The DWR is only doing what they have been required to do here.


----------



## utbowhunt (Jun 5, 2011)

Here's a FACT for you...

Management doesn't just consist of killing cows and keeping special interests happy, it consists of divying out tags in a way that supports having a sustainable population... which is impossible without cows unless bull elk have miraculously learned to successfully breed with other bulls. This unit has an approximate 50:1 bull to cow ratio immediately before the archery hunt, as evidenced with multiple trail cameras over an 8-week period. That ratio has nothing to do with farmers and ranchers, and everything to do with poor management.

Our experience wasn't an isolated one from the looks of these posts... that's called a clue. Sometimes management goes awry and harvests get out of whack, which is clearly the case on this unit. Learn from the mistake and move on, and walk away with knowledge that helps prevent the same mistake in the future.

50:1 Put on your boots and stand in that idea for a while.


----------



## KevTomSmi (Aug 10, 2011)

heading up in a couple weeks for the muzzle loader hunt, any information on hunts this year or reccomendation is greatly appreciated.


----------

