There are plenty of options for different types of hunting but it depends on what you consider a “once in a lifetime hunt”….for me it’d be a horseback hunt in the mountains of Montana, Wyoming or Idaho. Arizona and New Mexico have some serious monsters and I’d be looking at outfitters that have guaranteed tags since drawing a tag can take a lifetime or two before being drawn. I’m not familiar with the tag situation in Arizona or New Mexico but I recall reading that the guides on the Indian reservations there have tags that don’t require drawing, only a thick wallet. Any great guides in all the great locations are going to require a thick wallet but for a true once in a lifetime guided elk hunt the one guarantee is that it ain’t gonna be cheap. 😉
I assume that a once in a lifetime elk hunt, at least for me, would be for FREE RANGE elk that are NOT behind a high fence. I don’t think there are any real elk hunters who are looking for a once in a lifetime elk hunt that would consider Texas for a true once in a lifetime elk hunt but everyone has their own ideas about what their dream hunt looks like.
I did a great (meat trip) cow elk hunt outside of Roosevelt Utah on the Ute Indian reservation years ago and I was truly amazed at the number of elk we saw and even more amazed/impressed at the number and SIZE of the bulls we encountered in that area!
