Dark Timber Outfitters Is Expanding
Hi there folks. With January almost in the rearview, which is hard to believe, we wanted to send out an update on a few things before too much time slipped by…
Big Expansion
The first bit of news is our outfitting operation grew in a significant way by acquiring the permit area of a retiring outfitter on the Uncompahgre Plateau.
Western Colorado Outfitters has been a well-run operation for over a decade in unit 62 and when the owner decided to retire, he reached out to see if we would be interested in taking over, which we were. With an additional 125,000 acres of national forest public land in unit 62 and all of the BLM land in unit 61, we can now offer several other types of hunts that we couldn’t previously provide with Dark Timber Outfitters.
From the new Sawmill Mesa base camp in unit 62, we’ll provide fully guided and semi-guided elk hunts. We’re also excited to be able to run two spike camps which provide hunters with the opportunity to hunt elk or mule deer unguided but still have accommodations and hunt info provided through our outfit. Our spike camps include a preset cook tent, equipped with a kitchen, a sleep tent, woodstove and firewood, and a pit toilet/outhouse. We also provide details on the area and suggestions of where to find elk.
Each camp can accommodate 2-4 hunters and we don’t mix groups. We pack you and your gear in by ATV, provide a radio for evening check-ins and if you’re successful we’ll get your meat out once you have it back to camp. Once at camp, food and transportation are the responsibilities of the hunters.
For those of you looking for a more DIY, budget-friendly but still high-quality elk hunt, these spike camps are a great option! Our rifle hunts are about full, but we still have openings for archery spike camps, so let us know if you have questions.
As a reminder, archery elk licenses are still either-sex, over-the-counter for Colorado residents and nonresidents can draw either-sex archery licenses with zero preference points through the draw or possibly pick one up after the primary draw if they’re still available.
With over 100,000 acres to wander, and more if you so choose, these spike camps are a great way to experience Colorado elk hunting with a few friends and/or family members.
Timber to Table Hunts
We had a couple cancellations for our highly sought-after late season cow hunts. These incredible opportunities are geared for new youth or new adult hunters. Highly educational and led by very skilled professionals, these 1:1 hunts provide a new hunter with a great opportunity to have a positive first experience on their way to becoming a lifelong hunter. Only a few openings available so please let me know if you'd like to learn more. Non-hunting guests are welcome and encouraged to join on the hunt.
Upcoming Big Game Application Period
Starting March 1st and running through April 7, 2026, Colorado’s annual big game application period is just around the corner. For unit 62, nonresidents who are interested in archery elk, muzzleloader, any cow elk hunt or 1st rifle bull elk hunts will need to go through the application process to draw their licenses. Residents will need to apply for all cow elk hunts, muzzleloader and 1st rifle bull elk hunts. The 2nd and 3rd rifle offers OTC bull elk licenses to residents and nonresidents.
For hunters with enough preference points, unit 61 offers one of the best hunts in the state of Colorado with high numbers of bulls on the landscape, low hunter pressure and an increasing calf recruitment rate.
If you’ve already booked a hunt with us, I’ll be in touch with your specific hunt codes you’ll need to enter as your first choice on your application.
If you’re looking to just pick up a preference point, this application period is also when you would purchase those. Let us know if you have questions on anything application-related.
Wolves, Public Lands
Colorado Parks and Wildlife recently announced they’ll be pausing their wolf reintroduction efforts for this winter. They’ve had some trouble locating wolves to relocate into Colorado and there has been a lot of pushback to slow down these efforts, with rising dissatisfaction from livestock operators regarding support and follow-through with wolf-related incidents.
Without getting into the weeds, the wolf issue in Colorado has become a hot mess. Not surprisingly, politics muddied the waters and the governor’s heavy-handed, pro-wolf mindset hasn’t been helpful. Forced resignation by the CPW director, an increasingly anti-hunting commission, swollen wolf-related budgets, nearly half of the reintroduced wolves have died over the last couple years. While mortality isn’t unusual with reintroduced/relocated animals, it’s still a blow to the overall wolf recovery effort. But wolves are phenomenally resilient. With plenty of food resources available they’ll do what they’ve done for eons and survive.
At this time, no packs have established in our permitted area but this is simply a matter of time and we know for a fact that single wolves have passed through the part of the plateau where we hunt and then moved on.
Threats of public land transfers or sales continue to be an issue with our current administration constantly trying to sell off our public land and/or pass legislation that would turn federally owned land (like our National Forest system) over to the states (where it’ll undoubtedly be sold and privatized).
Despite nearly unanimous public opposition to these efforts and massive public support for keeping public lands in public hands, many in elected offices ignore their own constituencies and continue floating bills to sell off or privatize what belongs to us.
If you have time, please contact your local senators and representatives and let them know they need to oppose all efforts aimed at selling off our public lands legacy. Contacting your congress members is easy and takes very little time. We’ve been able to beat back repeated efforts from corrupted, morally bankrupt, career politicians like Senator Mike Lee in Utah so it’s encouraging to see that we can still swing the pendulum when we join together and push back. President Trump’s latest nominee to head the entire BLM agency is a rabid proponent of selling off public lands so this fight will be ongoing for some time.
In the meantime, we hope your 2026 is off to as good a start as possible and you’re dreaming about fall hunting adventures. If you have questions about an elk hunt or would like to book with Dark Timber Outfitters, don’t hesitate to reach out. In the words of someone I respect greatly, Randy Newberg, go hunting now, while you can. Don’t wait. We’re here to help! Thank you for taking the time to read this and talk to you soon.