Hi all, I am new here and just wondering if anyone has ever hunted for elk on public land? I have always wanted to go elk hunting but just can justify the cost of a guided hunt. I here that Colorodo is a good place to hunt public land, anyone got any experence on this subject?

None in Colorado. I have hunted on public and timber company land almost exclusively my entire life.

Colorado is always a good place to hunt on public land/national forest. I have done it for the past 11-12 years, some successful some not. Are you talking about rifle, bow, deer, elk, bear, antelope? It's all good, just that some is better then others.

I think half or more of the Western US is Public land.
This will give you some idea, better maps are available, I found this in about 1 minute. Click boundaries then federal lands.


http://www.nationalatlas.gov/natlas/Natlasstart.asp

I have only shot one elk on private land and didn't pay to hunt there. I should add no one pays to hunt on that land.
Do plenty of home work. Write and contact State Fish & game Dept's, BLM etc. and learn all you can. Good chance if you work hard enough you can find a elk without having to pay except license and tags.

I think Colorado wins, when you look at the elk herd numbers and the public land access.

Plenty of public land in Oregon, where I am, but in terms of elk hunting it ain't Colorado... or Montana... or Idaho... or Wyoming...

Not to steal this thread but a couple rather innocent questions for all you guys that hunt public land for elk:

1. How did you arrive at "your" spot/unit/area?
2. How do you scout the area ahead of season if you live 1000+ miles away - like I do.
3. Do you stick with you area forever?

I'm finding it hard to get 2-3 other guys to hunt the same area every year. I figure it would take a year or two to learn the elk habits but most guys I take ain't up to the task of hunting hard for a couple years with a low chance for success.

I've located a few areas over the years (in Colorado) but find it hard to make much progress with scouting when I only spend 3-4 days scouting it on vacation.

How do you guys approach find good elk hunting areas out of State?

Start with the premise that the areas worth hunting on public land in Colorado will be at least a mile from the road. Preferably more, and this assumes that you have a good plan for hauling out elk meat. Then decide which season you want to hunt, the places for early season hunts might be different than the good late season spots since during late seasons, you need to account for the likelihood that snow in the high country will push them down. Pick a general area, get the topo maps, and study them to find a few different spots you can hike into to get away from the road. When you get here, make up your mind that you're going to spend one hunting season checking out several different areas rather than hunt one spot the whole time, and stick to your plan. Find the areas with the most sign and animals, and also see where other people hunt. It'll be time well-spent. Plan on coming back to the place with the most animals and the fewest hunters next year.

The thing about pre-season scouting on public land is, you can't tell what other hunters will be doing and where they'll be camping when the season rolls around. You can find a great spot for elk in August, come back during the season, and find tent cities and gut piles.

I've got a few good spots and I zeroed in on all of 'em (and crossed a few very good-looking spots off the list) only after hunting them during the season.

hunting on public land for elk is a true challenge. NW colorado offers some good oppertunity in the white river national forest, this area has decent succes rates and decent draw rates. In the state of wyoming you have to hire a guide for hunting in wilderness areas.

Thanks for all the infor guys, I think that my biggest challenge will be scouting. I say that because I live in Ohio and wont be able to scout ahead of time, my first trip will have to be a "learning" hunt. I will say that the state of Colorodo was very helpfull when I wrote them, they gave me the number to a wildlife biologist in the area with the most elk kills. I havent called yet but plan to. The place I relly want to see (hunt) is Idaho, has anyone hunted there?

TomA, I am general speaking of rifle hunting for Elk and possiably Mule Deer and if I cant find any of thoes I will spend some time calling for coyotes (at least I have some experence with that). Maybe you know a couple of good areas?