Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Advice

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Most good outfitters are booked for 2023 ,although a few may have cancellations. Although success is higher, outfitters onl eased or owners of private land as usually a lot more expensive than outfitters using public land.

Ya I noticed that. Have emailed a couple private land outfitters and a couple public land and the cost is significantly different. Is it pretty safe to say that if I go the guided hunt route (either public or private) that they will provide their own mode of transportation and won’t using my horses (all have said so far they use UTVs).

The headin west company that was mentioned sounds interesting. It says you send them information on the type of hunt you want and he sends you suggestions of places, maps, ect. Does anyone have any experience with this?

They will provide their own transportation

No experience, but I have followed him for years on WapitiTalk.com and have only heard good reviews from people that have used him. He goes by Indian Summer. That is a good forum also. Check it out

Pick a state. Find ANY elk tag you can. Go where everyone else is unwilling to. You will VERY likely find elk there.

If you’re not suffering a bit, you’re doing it wrong.

Dave

I would suggest to check out a private lands in Unit 4 of New Mexico. The unit is overrun with elk, folks put up 8 foot fences around their house to keep the elk away. A lot of residents there consider them pests. Cows are cheap depending on the outfitter. The bulls will not be big, unless you hunt one of the large ranches, like Chama Land & Cattle and a couple of others, those hunts will be expensive. Shot opportunities are easy and close, a .308 is more than adequate.

I would suggest the book.

Horses Hitches and Rocky Trails

By Joe Back.


Tune your ponies up this summer.

I like saddle panniers and 50 pond mineral bags.

Good Luck

Book has been ordered. Thanks for the recommendation.

Instead of saddle panniers which are trouble to load, unload, and balance, look at the MountainRidgeGear.com XL Hunter panniers that can be used on a saw buck or riding saddle. Most riding saddles except for mules do not have britching and that can get you in trouble going downhills with saddle panniers.

Here is a great web site for all kinds of packing .

https://packsaddleshop.com/pages/horse-packing.

Good Facebook page. Packing In on Horses and Mules- BackCountry Stock Users

This is good advice. I found a place the hard way by doing my own research, in Montana, private land with a house, trespass fee and with food gas and licenses, its hard to come in less than $3k each for a six man outing. I think that's about the floor for such a trip any more.

BKinSD - If you don't mind me asking where did you do your research? This seems to be a pretty knowledgeable forum with high participation. A lot of the facebook, websites, or forums are not as much.

Same way one finds elk really. By looking where other people don't. Research is easy on the inter web, isn't it? But using maps and making calls to small towns, off the beaten path, talking to real people, stuff like that, is hard. We found a place in Colorado originally, which was amazing. Elk all over the place, easy to get to, other people drove by it on their way to do some real elk hunting etc. Unfortunately the family that operated it kinda fell apart, so we had to start over.

Found a place in Montana, that was full up because its that kind of place, but we kept expressing interest and when he had a cancellation, he called us because we seemed like the kind of people he likes. We are as it turned out. His place suits us perfectly and I think this next fall will be the fourth year going back there.

Looking for an amazing cheap elk hunting place on face crap or on a forum like this is like going to classifieds and expecting to see a .270 Kimber Montana NIB for $99 or a Colt Python B engraved for $199. Aint going to happen, is it? And if it does, someone else saw it before you did.

A Wyoming zone 7 (excuse me......hunt area 7), type 6 cow tag is valid from August 15th through December 31st. Valid for archery and rifle, some stipulations.

Even if you are relatively brainless (like Brad).........it's a no-brainer.

For a gutshooting archer (like BuzzH)........crossbows are legal for everyone.

Always wanted to hunt all season(s).......and then just tag a cow on December 31st.

2020.....December 26th.
2021.....December 29th.
2022.....November 20th (going backwards)

Maybe next year.

If you have the time (like me)...Wyoming.

Thanks Mike!

Yeah great advice if you want to search for elk without access.
Funny Mike, as Buzz posted more elk pics than anyone else on here. He helped get a handful of elk for himself and other folks but yet he's a gut shooter ?

I would look at Colorado OTC elk and then maybe also out in for a Wyoming reduced price cow tag that has the same season. Co seasons are short and Wyoming cow elk seasons usually run pretty long. Might have success in one or the other on the same trip.

Wyoming also has some Type 4 cow elk licenses that are full price and take PPs but many can be drawn with 0 PPs or in the leftover draw.

Awesome. Thanks. Have been looking into both of them. Keeping all of the hunt areas and types straight and going after the right one is kind of like solving the Da Vinci Code.

Good to know...

If you decide to go the CO route don't spend too much time poring over the Gov't stats like hunter success or population #'s. Their methodology is poor at best and deceptive at worst. Maps and trails should be your focus once you decide on a unit or block of units. Find where the people aren't and you will likely find some elk. Pack stock makes everything easier but everything harder, depending on you and the stock's skill set. It can be very rewarding... or fatal.

Try to avoid riding out of camp at dawn and looking for elk from atop your mighty steed as you ride trails all day. It has about the same chance of success as doing the same from your truck/roads. (better but not dramatically so).

When you get to where the "trail" looks like two pikas may have followed each other 10 years ago, that's where your hunt starts in earnest, and it starts with tying off your horse.

And the Indians lost for a reason, if you want to hunt elk: hunt with a bow for the whole season. If you want to eat elk, hunt with a rifle.

Elk hunters dont generally fail from the bodies frailties, they fail from the shoulders up.

Without access? Huh?

And......if you wait for 'leftovers', you can purchase a type 4 tag that does NOT chew your preference points. Surprised 'tex didn't know that, but half the folks are below average.

Still full price (and they still go fast), but a fall back if the 4 combined opportunities at a type 6 do not pan out.

BuzzH posted a gut-shot bull pic a while back. You must have scheduled a colonoscopy, and missed it.

If you hunt elk on public land in CO your success will be predicated on getting back in a ways, away from motorized access. And then getting your elk out

If your body is not up to it for whatever reason--age, injuries, or physical fitness, it won't matter what you have above the shoulders.

Stupidest post I've read in a while.

6 easy trips can be decided on.......versus 3 or 4 dangerous trips. Even if multiple days.....time off is likely there already, anyway. Leave some scent.

The brainless normally don't see the brain as an asset.

Frequently humbled, but total avoidance of any sliver of wisdom.