Elk hunt

[jmaxjohnston]

A buddy and I are going on a Elk hunt next year. We live in Louisiana and we're thinking Colorado. Any advice on there or somewhere else. Any info on a rifle or round size. Any information would be great thanks.

Colorado is an awesome choice because of the availability of tags.

 

[Elkeater]

Colorado is an awesome choice because of the availability of tags.

Colorado can also be a terrible choice because of the availability of tags. I live here and I hunt OTC units except years when I can burn my points on a good tag. Do I kill elk? Yes. Do I see a bunch of guys running around and freaked out elk? Yes. Is it less fun than it used to be due to having most hunts ruined by other guys? Yes. I have seen a huge uptick in hunter numbers over the last 3 years.

If you just want to hunt elk and don't care if you kill one or not OTC in CO is a great choice. Hunt hard and you might get lucky. And by hard I mean pack in a minimum of like 6 or 7 miles into places horses can't go. If you want to actually kill an elk draw units in most states or private land in many states would be the way to go.

 

[KyCarl]

Can I ask you guys a question? I'm trying my best to get a Kentucky Elk Tag
I know it's totally different than out west But doesn't hunting public access land
scare you or at least give you pause for thought? All those people you know nothing about running around with who knows what kind of rifles? Their safety/skill levels?
It's got me thinking a little?

 

[26Reload]

That's what tbey think when they see you out there too.....
These days...thats hunting....

 

[KyCarl]

That's just what I'm thinking! If I get a tag I'm shelling out the bucks to go private!
I trust me..but them? As a resident the tag really doesn't cost much. It's 10 bucks to get in the lottery to buy one.So learning how to hunt them really isn't possible
you might never get drawn again? My best choice seems Guide and Private?

 

[Elkeater]

After some of the stuff I've seen I do question the idea of a lot of these guys. I think it has something to do with easy to get tags. I think the type of hunter you see in OTC units on public land is not the same type of hunter you see in draw units. I see a ton (I mean hundreds) of guys that show up in town the day before the season, buy a tag at the gas station, and drive out to National Forest with no planning. Then they wonder why they don't even see elk. On the other hand most of the guys I see in draw units are serious hunters who planned their hunt years out and are just generally a different class of hunter.

All that said the safety record speaks for itself. You're much more likely to die from exposure, heart attack, or cutting yourself with your knife while field dressing.

 

[26Reload]

After some of the stuff I've seen I do question the idea of a lot of these guys. I think it has something to do with easy to get tags. I think the type of hunter you see in OTC units on public land is not the same type of hunter you see in draw units. I see a ton (I mean hundreds) of guys that show up in town the day before the season, buy a tag at the gas station, and drive out to National Forest with no planning. Then they wonder why they don't even see elk. On the other hand most of the guys I see in draw units are serious hunters who planned their hunt years out and are just generally a different class of hunter.

All that said the safety record speaks for itself. You're much more likely to die from exposure, heart attack, or cutting yourself with your knife while field dressing.

I as one take exception to this.....i would rather hunt an area i don't know than to wait on a draw system to award me for monies spent....
A draw unit isn't always the best of the best to hunt...just less people(supposedly)....but if you have guys using the buddy system(one guy drawing a branch bull or deer tag and others with spike only tags..and someone shoots a branch with a spike tag) is that the cream of the crop....
Happens a lot more than people admit.....i saw results just recently....

 

[Paparock]

I was a member of this forum a long time ago and have been gone for a long time and my membership apparently lapsed so I rejoined not long ago. I don't hunt like I once did out in the high mountains of Wyoming for many of the reasons people have stated. I have nearly been shot by ignorant careless hunters who do not use common sense. I then went back into the wilderness areas where back then few people went. You see I hunt not to kill but to be one with nature. I was raised with an American Indian best friend and we ran the forests together closer than brothers tracking and learning the habits of the animals. I find peace there away from my fellow humans. People do not generally treat nature with respect any more than they treat each other. I started hunting when I stopped seeing people.

When not in grizzly areas I carried a custom .30-06. When in grizzly country I carried a Dale Story Custom .375 H&H.

 

[LoneTraveler]

A suggestion for any of us Eastern or Southern flatlanders going on your first Elk Hunt out West. Forget scouting as we know it in the east and south. You can run deer out of an area and they will return to the favorite bedding and feeding area the next night, Elk are a different animal.

If you get to camp 1 or 2 days before your actual hunt starts. Stay in camp, Don't make any loud noise. If you can get to a good glassing, Spotting Scope view point without messing up the area. Go at day light for 1 hour or so, or 1 hour before dark and glass the parks, and spring areas, You may be able to locate Elk coming from or going to the dark timber they bed in or to water.

You go out scouting in Elk country and bust a herd of elk feeding or out of their bedding area and they travel for miles before settling down, And will not return to the area they was jumped out of. Because they travel and migrate, Due to weather and conditions they are used to moving, They will run, settle down and find Food, Water and Black Timber for bedding. Elk will call it home and stay there, This may be 5 miles from your camp area.

In your clothing list be sure to take a wide brimmed hat and light gloves with you, If you wear glasses, A wide brim helps protect your glasses from rain and snow. And if you get caught in a high country cutting ice storm. Light gloves and a wide brim hat will protect you hands, Top of your ears and nose.

A good Hat and comfortable boots are a necessity, Add or remove clothes in between to fit the conditions and comfort.

 

[Rick Richard]

Can I ask you guys a question? I'm trying my best to get a Kentucky Elk Tag
I know it's totally different than out west But doesn't hunting public access land
scare you or at least give you pause for thought? All those people you know nothing about running around with who knows what kind of rifles? Their safety/skill levels?
It's got me thinking a little?

Don't worry about it since your chances of getting a tag is like hitting the big lotto. Sorry, but could not help it.

 

[FIGJAM]

After some of the stuff I've seen I do question the idea of a lot of these guys. I think it has something to do with easy to get tags. I think the type of hunter you see in OTC units on public land is not the same type of hunter you see in draw units. I see a ton (I mean hundreds) of guys that show up in town the day before the season, buy a tag at the gas station, and drive out to National Forest with no planning. Then they wonder why they don't even see elk. On the other hand most of the guys I see in draw units are serious hunters who planned their hunt years out and are just generally a different class of hunter.

All that said the safety record speaks for itself. You're much more likely to die from exposure, heart attack, or cutting yourself with your knife while field dressing.

I think the same percentage of stupid people exist in controlled hunt areas as well. There are just fewer of them. General hunt areas have become insane in Idaho...sure there are the locals who go out and give a halfassed attempt at the hunt, but recently there has been a crazy number of non residents. 2 years ago I went to a general elk spot where there was hardly anybody in past years. There were 25 outfits parked where there used to be none, all with different out of state plates. It was a zoo to say the least - I picked up the radio frequecy for 4 guys from pennsylvania - it was fun to listen in on them over the course of a few days. They started out super excited, and by day three were beat up from the terrain and completely discouraged. I heard a lot of shots the week i was up there but never saw anybody drag one back to camp. I was on horseback and was able to get away from the crazy for the most part, but I haven't been back up there. Also funny to me was several groups were hiking a few hundred yards from the main road in and sitting up and glassing once they got to the first ridge. I get it, I have shot them road hunting before, but even after not seeing something the first day they didn't hike back in deeper. I kept thinking that is a lot of money to spend to do something you have no idea about.

 

[Blue Ridge Rifleman]

I have killed elk on DIY hunts while a resident of Utah, Wyoming, and Montana. The only guided hunt ever booked was in Colorado and it was the best money I could have spent. I know how to hunt elk but with a 5-day hunt window, I can't afford to mess around trying to find elk, let alone pack into, set up in, and hunt an area I don't know and in all likelihood is still miles from the herds. My next Colorado trip will likely be a drop camp; it seems like the best compromise between complete DIY and a fully guided hunt. In the meantime, I keep accumulating bonus points for my desired wilderness hunt here in Nevada. When I draw, you can bet I will hire a guide or at least an outfitter for a drop camp so I can spend my time hunting, not packing.

 

[Country Bumpkin]

I think the same percentage of stupid people exist in controlled hunt areas as well. There are just fewer of them. General hunt areas have become insane in Idaho...sure there are the locals who go out and give a halfassed attempt at the hunt, but recently there has been a crazy number of non residents. 2 years ago I went to a general elk spot where there was hardly anybody in past years. There were 25 outfits parked where there used to be none, all with different out of state plates. It was a zoo to say the least - I picked up the radio frequecy for 4 guys from pennsylvania - it was fun to listen in on them over the course of a few days. They started out super excited, and by day three were beat up from the terrain and completely discouraged. I heard a lot of shots the week i was up there but never saw anybody drag one back to camp. I was on horseback and was able to get away from the crazy for the most part, but I haven't been back up there. Also funny to me was several groups were hiking a few hundred yards from the main road in and sitting up and glassing once they got to the first ridge. I get it, I have shot them road hunting before, but even after not seeing something the first day they didn't hike back in deeper. I kept thinking that is a lot of money to spend to do something you have no idea about.

I think it's hard for anyone from Elk Country to understand that it's completely different for folks from the east coast. Where I grew up, I was just as likely to find a good whitetail buck 100 yards from my truck as I was 3 miles in. As I said in an earlier post it took me several years to change the way I hunted. I was stubborn and refused to believe that elk wouldn't tolerate human presence like deer will.

You are right though, Idaho has gotten nuts with non-resident plates. I guess I'm a hypocrite because I'm not a native, but I've been here for 10 years and things have gone South.

Anyways, best of luck.

 

[hunter67wa]

Wyoming has gone nuts too