I got this in Idaho unit 45 which is a major wintering area. There are more elk than the land can handle and they pay out millions to ranchers for depredation every year. They've issued 2500 cow tags between this unit and the next door unit 52. Last week the elk arrived for the winter and there are lots of them. One rancher counted about 200 in one of his fields on Thursday. Yesterday 5 of us got 4 cows. The other guy should have had one but he borrowed his brother's 300 WM. It turned out that brother has it sighted in for 400 yds. At 100, it's 3" high. The elk was at 300 yds and he held a bit high and shot over it...3 times. I doubt it was bad shooting. He's a retired Army Ranger officer with LOTS of shooting experience in the 1st Gulf war. He knows how a gun works. He just didn't know the gun he was using.
Anyway, I talked to quite a few other hunters yesterday and most had elk in their trucks. While getting permission to hunt is usually just a phone call and a rancher's blessing, there's also a lot of BLM land. All 4 of ours were on public land around the ranches. One ranch we were on has a sign that says what amounts to 'Welcome hunters. Please call before entering. XXX-XXX-XXXX' Aren't cell phones a great invention? Permission on the spot.
