Bmedlin,
Welcome to the campfire, Marine! You have found a great place for info or just to kill time if you’re ever bored.
I’m an elk newbie and can’t offer the experience that most of these guys can. But I can add a couple things! I’ve hunted a week for two seasons, and this past fall me and my 2 hunting partners hunted 8 days for a total of 3 elk hunts in my life. We were unsuccessful the first year, but I killed a bull the last two years on public land.
The first thing I would say is don’t expect this to be your first and last elk hunt. You will become addicted. Keep that in mind if you’re acquiring any gear or supplies.
Second, I would suggest getting a guide the first go around. This has been mentioned a lot, but I will add that any guide is better than no guide. We went cheap (really cheap) our first go around. 1 guide for 3 hunters for 5 days. The guide was not a good hunter or guide, but, it was enough to get our feet wet. While we were unsuccessful, it gave us something to build on. We spent the next year dreaming, planning and executing. Even though the guide wasn’t great, the experience was priceless.
Third, go for as long as you can. This year it snowed hard the first three days of our hunt. The animals were holed up during that period and we didn’t see a thing those three days.
Lastly, get a good group organized. The first two years we hunted licenses were 100% for us. This year, one of us didn’t get a tag, but we all still got to go together for the hunt. Having a good hunting party you can hunt with each year will improve the general experience and help ensure tags for the group.
Hope this info helps and you get as much enjoyment hunting elk as I have. If so, you will be in for a real treat.
Good luck and Semper fi!
-Jeff
