Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Bucket List..time for Elk hunt need help please

Looks like 2013 will be the year to scratch an elk hunt off my list. I'm 60, probably be my only chance ($$) to kill a bull. I'd like to get a representable bull, no record maybe 350pt?

I'm thinking I should go with a private ranch with good herds. I know it will cost more but this might be my only shot.
I'm not in the kind of shape to be climbing, hiking up and down mountains. but I don't want to shoot one from the truck either.
Any suggestions oe experiences, outfitters, ranches, etc.
Thanks

350 is pretty bold... I'd be pretty excited to simply see one in my lifetime.

Depends on how deep your pockets are. A 350 bull on an Indian reservation is a given. I see more than 50 350 bulls a year on average but that is Arizona. If you want a 375 bull, that is a much taller order!

I would say that a landowner tag in NM is likely your best bet for a hunt under 10K. You should have been applying for tags in AZ, UT, NV, NM and such as eventually you can draw a public tag and a very good guided hunt will cost you $5K-$6K.

2013...

Buy a Governors tag in Az or Utah and hire one of the bigtime guides for a couple hundred thou...

doubt if you can break onto the list of the Reservations in Az, there is a waiting list for the 30,000 to 75,000 dollar tags but maybe...

Win one of the raffle tags in Az or Utah...

Slim chance on a NM landowner tag...

Kent

As mentioned, 350 is a tall order. This is one place that might be able to help.

http://www.montanahuntingcompany.com

You can always move to the top of the list on the reservation by getting one of there $50,000 bonus tags. This puts you on the top for the next year's $18,000 tag too.

I have seen a lot of 350+ bulls killed in NM with landowner tags. Especially during the archery hunts. Just depends on the ranch.

You should apply for tags in all those states anyway. You never know about getting drawn. At least in AZ you can draw with NO points in some units (non-residents can't draw in 9 or 1 without max points) I have drawn tags 3 or 4 times with NO points including an early hunt in 10.

What kind of budget are we working with here?

Lots of fun ways to go about this but a 350 bull is gonna cost some cheddar.

Dober

The other question is, do you want a real wilderness elk hunt or is size all that matters?

This looks like it may be more difficult than I thought. I want a good "hunt", stay in a lodge, with electricity, probably a private ranch hunt like the Montana Hunting Company above. I must admit $14,000 is making a big whitetail hunt look pretty good. 350 points might be a bit of a strech. I'm not experienced in elk hunting (as you can tell). I see it on all the TV hunting shows and it looks very exciting and beautiful country. Something I would love to do. I guess you could call me a typical Texas tenderfoot. We have the Texas Trophy Hunters show coming here in a few weeks. There is always outfitters from elk hunts there. I can learn a little bit more about the "tag" system and what I'm really looking at.

One thing I don't want is to pay 10g's and go on a camp out. You know what I mean?? "well Buzz, we saw an elk here a few weeks ago"....."should have been here then".....

No offense, but that's why it's called hunting, not killing. Nothing is guaranteed. I've always told people to steer away from anyone who guarantees a successful hunt. If they do that, it's either farmed/drugged animals or they're full of it.

Besides, elk hunting is hard work. They are herd animals that constantly move to new country when they aren't getting their nutritional needs. It's not like hunting whitetails at all. For example, I went scouting this past weekend and didn't see any elk at all. However, this trip was as much about getting the "lay of the land". I saw enough sign to know they are there in the fall, but the area is so rugged, you'd be hard-pressed to get one out with a helicopter.

Buzz-if you wish, pm me your contact info and I can give you a shout and we can cuss and discuss this off line.

Dober

I would give him a call and let him know what you are wanting.

http://www.frontieroutfitting.com/indexII.html

I would guess at least 10 g for good opportunity at a 350 bull. For first hunt a300 bull is very respectable.


I see maybe 1 to 2 a year but spend a lot of time hiking and looking for them. And that is in the off season where quality bull tags are very limited

I have been after elk for many years. Have seen some large bulls but seeing is not killing. The mountains of the west are a special place of their own. The sunrise from a ridgetop at 8,000 feet is beyond belief. Go there don't count points, enjoy the county, the vistas the scenery, the air. You will not be sorry.

This is the best part even as a young man. It is a feeling that is indescribable.

Joseph

Sounds like you are wanting a "Kill and hang on Wall" not a hunt.

Any Elk is a score and Spikes eat better than some of the older bulls.Score means nothing but bragging rights not food for the table.The Internet has spoiled alot of people, expectation wise.

Have a great hunt and enjoy it whether you score big/small or not.Memories you will never forget!

Jayco

TV shows is the worst thing that has happened to real hunting.

Come see the beautiful country, and enjoy it. Nothing to say about the rest of what you want.

There are a few good hunts, with meals & lodging, and at a reasonable price, left in Northern NM. If you are interested for 2012 PM me and I'll send you some contact info.

If I lived up there and could hunt a few times a year, it would be great. Belive me I appreciate the hunt. I killed a 29" 11pt Mule deer near Bags Wyoming just North of Craig, CO. It was beutiful country. We had a dusting of snow. We saw a ton of antelope and deer in the sagebrush. I saw a heard of elk and heard my first bugle. It was magical. I still bring the pictures out and re-live the hunt. This was in 1987, I paid $1500.00.
I remember my guide taking me and a fellow hunter to Medicine Bow National Forest on opening day, elk season. Before daylight it looked like a traffic jam with all the hunters coming in to hunt. We parked, as it began to get light, we could see blaze orange "dots" hunters all over the place. We saw one cow running for her life. Crazy!!!
like I say, I'm 60 and may get one shot, after reading what the experienced elk hunters are saying here a 350 bull might be WAY out of my league. A nice respectible 5X5, I am really not interested in just killing an animal. I have seen some of the young rag horn elk killed and I would rather shoot a cow for the pot. I can shoot a great Axis deer here in texas and have the best eating venison there is (in my opinion of course)

So we will see what happens, I will keep this post going with updates from what I find. Someone here mentioned British Columbia, talk about a beautiful place...never know....