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Hunting & Fishing Looking for Ideas on a Western Hunt

NT93

Private
Full Member
Minuteman
Mar 14, 2017
17
0
IL - Illinois
I'm looking for a DIY spot and stalk hunt with over-the-counter tags somewhere out west (I'm in Illinois). Last year I went to Wyoming for Antelope and had good time, although the public land was mostly landlocked and inaccessible. Aoudad peaked our interest lately, however, we cannot afford a 3.5k hunt per hunter. If anyone has recommendations on a species that would fall in to the midrange difficulty and has a decent success rate, please let me know. I have a group of 4 (including me) that is in good shape and willing to hike and camp as far as necessary. I'm currently planning for fall 2018.

Thanks,
 
Do you have any recommendations on where in Colorado? I hear the army of orange is overwhelming there and the success rates are relatively low without some sort of mule to get in or a guide service.

thanks!
 
The liberal influence in this state has unnecessarily closed many roads and made more areas tough to access. I think low success rates are just because field craft is dead. I watched guys hunting deer this year, that didn't even seem to realize deer have eyes, let alone a nose and ears. They would spend all day skylined in their blaze orange on the tallest hill. This kept the Deer spooked all season. The public land in my deer hunting area is very small, so they ruined the entire season. We always hunted Elk around Grand Junction and Montrose on the Grand Mesa, Love Mesa or Dry Mesa.
 
Your not going to come out west and have real high success rates as look at the country it is huge. Antelope are your best bet if you are looking for success. I did over the counter elk in Idaho last year and i have shot a 160" white tail here in Sodak and i will tell you any elk on an otc tag is more of a trophy to me than the big deer. We saw some elk last year and that felt like a success. This was all during rifle season. I now understand why success rates for otc tags are around 15% i thought just getting off trails and hiking 5 plus miles back in would get us in the elk it wont it takes alot more than that. You have to pick a spot and just go for it. Listen to Randy Newburgs and the gritty bowmen, rich outdoors are all good pod cast. Rokslide is also the best back country hunting web site.
 
It sounds like I need to work up a location deep in the public grounds if I want a good shot at an elk. My knowledge of elk and their habits I'd very minimal, but I have time on my side. I do feel that my friends and I lack, as a group, the equipment and resources to handle such a hunt in deep country. I think we're looking for more intro type hunts that will help build our confidence and diversify/sharpen our skills sets. We're in the Midwest, whitetail is our game.. with shotgun and archery. Our comfort levels with a rifle at mid to long range is high, but that is only a small piece of what it is going to take I'm sure.

Thanks again for the advice and recommendations, I will listen to some of these podcasts for sure on my long commutes.
 
The thing with Elk is not getting hung up in a small area. 5 miles is nothing some of these guys are traveling over 40 miles per day. You don't need to get deep, you just need to find out where the Elk are at. I know guys that fill their OTC bull tags on public land every year. An antelope or Deer hunt is easier. I know in section 144 there is a late doe season that usually has leftover tags. You might go to the parks and wildlife sight I think leftovers aren't out yet. Drawing deadline is around april 15th.
 
Personally put in for some draws. Can you bow hunt? If so, New Mexico! Drawing a tag is tough , but you will see a ton of elk.

Or you can save your money and go in 2 years and afford a guided hunt to some awesome locations where you will have a high percentage to see and shoot a bull. OTC is good if you know where to go and have time to burn

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 
Bow hunting is my favorite. I guess I didn't consider myself ready to tackle that challenge out West yet. New Mexico does not have a points system correct? If I pay for a guided elk hunt, it would almost have to be with a bow to satisfy me. I wish I had more time to burn, usually I have about 1 week vacation I'm willing to spend. If I'm going to go big, I will most definitely take 2 weeks though.
 
Elk hunting in Wyoming, Colorado and Northern NM is pretty good right now. I hunted elk from age 13 to 20 and only saw a few, then spent some time with some older hunters from Tennessee that had hunted the same place for years. They really taught me how to elk hunt. Killed my first bull at 21 with a 12g slug at 80 yards and sold the mount to pay for a semester of college.

In the last 30 years, I have killed 35 elk (41 if you count the three with the truck and the three I have put down that slob hunters wounded) in CO in several units. I scout the units in the summer and sometimes will go in archery season with a friend just for practice. But when I go to a new area, it takes a while to get used to it, see how they move in that area and get a good plan together. I have a few OTC bull tags unfilled learning new areas. While Deer and Pronghorn have a daily routine, Elk have routines measured in days, or even weeks. When I see an elk in a spot one day, good chance I won't see him there the next day. Most of my elk have been shot 1-2 miles away from a road, or more, and at ranges from 20 to 590 yards, from black timber to open parks where you can see 5 miles. Elk hunting is my absolute favorite thing to do with a gun, and for 30 years, elk meat has been the majority of the red meat we eat. But elk hunting takes time, and patience. Time in the unit to learn it, and patience to stick to your plan.

If you are set on elk, a guide or ranching for wildlife tag is the best bet unless you are going to commit to 3 or 4 years to put in the time and effort in one OTC unit. There are of course high success draw units, but those take 12-20 points to get drawn as an out of stater.

If I wanted to do a one time Western Hunt and was from the east, I'd look at South Dakota Mule Deer real hard.
 
Winter was real tough on our deer this last year....i am not liking what i have found shed hunting the last few weeks. The mule deer took a major hit
 
Going deep into public lands will increase your odds of seeing animals, but hiking out 200+ pounds of elk meat for 20 miles over rough terrain is a bitch. The guide with horses will suddenly become worth every penny. Just make sure you have a plan if you go far into the backcountry. As mentioned before, an antelope hunt is probably your best bet to start. Plenty out there, and they can be packed out in one trip.
 
I'd shop around for land owner tags in New Mexico and find what you can afford for Elk . The draw is tough for non residents ( Hell it's tough for us residents ) but worth a try . Their are OTC Aoudad tags in some units .
 
Like mentioned above. If you can afford it, land owner tags. It can be really expensive . I have done it in the past. It was a blast but hiking out an elk when you are just 5 miles back in sucked! We had to make 3 trips with just two of us. That's 30 miles!

We let the old guys go the next morning and we slept in.... yeah well I called another bull in! We had to hike out, two of us again, about 18 miles. I was so wasted! Sometimes the money is worth it for a guide. If he knows the area and has been scouting

My thinks I only have 3 guns