Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting CO Drop camp recommendations (elk)

Entirely possible ,IF the outfitter has other drop camps empty and is willing to move you.Some will.Some won't.

If the outfitter has packed in the hunters equipment such as tents, cots,etc., and the hunter wants to move,two factors can play in to it. 1. Is the hunter willing to pay the outfitter to move him because the outfitter probably won't do it for free, and 2. If the outfitter has a permit to let him drop camps anywhere.

Most outfitters must set their camps in the locations provided to the FS, when that year's permit is issued. Outfitters without pre located camps with the FS should be suspect.

At least where I hunt, outfitters are not to keen on doing the one where the hunter supplies all gear. Not enough money in it.

I've only hunted the DIY route and typically packed them out on my back with an occasional rental horse for help. The idea of a drop camp is appealing to me but if the elk aren't there it is just a camping trip. If I sprang for a pack in trip I'd be more likely to go the fully guided route way back in somewhere with big bulls.

Rather than default to fully guided hunt you can go to CO and get a over the counter bull and draw cow tag DIY for less than the price of a drop camp. If you hunt smart and work hard you might get lucky but you will have a much better idea of how to hunt elk on public land. Randy Newberg's Fresh Tracks is my favorite public land hunting show his methods work but there aren't many easy pack outs that way.

A

You're smarter than I thought.

To summarize:

J Bar H--all booked up
Winterhawk--permits pulled?
Tenderfoot--mixed reviews
Eagle's nest
Kiowa

Anybody else?

Kind'a summed it up as to how good she is. Most of those are repeats.

Me and Ms. Horne spoke for 30 mins and I'm ready to hit the trail now. I've heard nothing but good things about her, her operation and how she treats people in normal everyday life. I have talked to people on here that have hunted with her and with people who know her personally and not one person has had an ill word about her.

She had nothing but good to say about you.....

.....and your mules

My group hunted with Bar H in 2009. Top notch outfit and we went 2 for 4 (bull and a cow). This was our first elk hunt. We were happy with everything except for the amount of gun shots we heard opening morning (first rifle). We hadn't elk hunted since 2009 until last year. Bought our own wall tent and are going the DIY route. Struck out our first go last year but had a great time and are ready to try again this year.

That entire Unit12 has a lot of hunting pressure during the rifle seasons. I hunt it only in ML season.They tell me that the old Morapos Creek Camp ground is so crowded that you have to take your own parking space. It isn't a camp ground anymore,just a trail head. Bar H has most of her camps far enough back in that they are not heavily impacted, plus her guides knows all the honey holes

Yea,she is taking her new mule and one she got from me to the Bishop Mule Days in CA this year to compete in the senior packing contest.
Quite a lady.She is out there working with her crew everyday.Sure no stay in camp gal.

For sure. Plan for success! In fact, KNOW you're going to succeed and know that you won't accept failure. Do whatever it takes before during and after the kill.

Anyone have any experience with D & G Horses and Outfitting? Specially interested in Drop Camps but general information is good as well.

Thanks!

I highly recommend River's Bend Outfitting. They have pretty good success rates in their drop camps. For Meeker being such a hunter populated area we never saw anyone outside our group. We had 7 hunters in camp and we shot 7 elk. Tel and his guys did a great job hauling the elk off the mountain and making us feel at home on the mountain.

mdv--you and your buddies may want to skip a year of drop camp hunting, save your money and go with an outfitter and learn the ropes. I hunted with an outfitter not far from Ms. Horn, we went 4 for 5 on bull elk with the unsuccessful hunter clicking on an empty chamber on a bull elk at 300 yards. 3 for 3 on buck mule deer, I saw over 30 bucks in two days of hunting. The outfitter charges $3400 for elk and deer, $3250 for elk only, all private ground. Good accommodations, food and guides. Just my .02! I won't disclose my outfitter, sorry, so please don't ask.

Thanks for the advice. We have hunted drop camps with outfitters 5 times before (not for a few years though) but are looking to upgrade the outfitter and area. Been hunting elk almost every year since 1995 mostly DYI with some success. Got a 7 x 8 bull in archery season in 2009 on publlic land!. I don't want a guided hunt. Nothing wrong with them just not for me.

Tag for later

I’ve been on two drop camp hunts, basically just paying for a ride in and out and a pack out if we’ get lucky. We have all of our own gear . This year it was our fault that we didn’t bring back meat.

My first elk hunts were drop-camp style. Coming from out of state at the time with zero connections in state, and well before everything, including Google Earth, could be found on the internet, it was the only option we had. No regrets at all and it made for some amazing memories. As stated, the experience with a drop camp is amazing, but I would keep any expectations of filling a tag minimal at best. As others have mentioned, you're stuck in one place, there can be other camps (drop and public) very close, and you still don't know the area - as in you will have to explore it all when you get there - no one is guiding you. With a drop camp you are paying for the experience in my opinion with a chance to get lucky and take a shot at an elk. I had multiple chances to kill a legal bull in the camps we tried, I blew them. It was also 22 years ago and hunting in CO was significantly different then. Way less people. One of the rustic trailheads we parked on 22 years ago is now a paved parking lot with bathrooms, free trail maps, and picnic area.

If you want a no hassle, quintessential rocky mountain elk hunt with canvas wall tent and a horse ride in/out. Go for the drop camp.
If you want the quintessential hunt and a good chance a filling a tag, then you'll need to go guided.
If you want some real adventure, then do it yourself.

Mountain10mm is spot on .