Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting How Would You Feel If....Question #1

Do they remove the required ear tag before you shoot it? The hole in the ear should be a giveaway.

Dunno if someone mighta already said it.
Maybe ask on here about good ones people have been with....

Just saying.....

Giveaway for what? YOU PICK OUT THE BULL IN THE HERD IN A HIGH FENCE AREA FIRST.

It sounds like an honest operation (in Idaho, not New Mexico).....just cheesy as hell. No need to "hide" the ear tag or even the hole in the ear, as the client knows it is not a wild bull, because he picked it out of a corral earlier.
The tags I have seen are nothing more than livestock ear tags, which have a pin hole punched through the ear. You'd generally not notice it unless you parted the hair actually looking for it.

I worked on a high fence elk ranch in central Idaho for a season. It was fun, but the clients were pathetic. There was zero difference between killing those elk and killing a black angus out in the timber. It was their money though, so I had no issues with it. I actually enjoyed working there.

I’d feel like I better walk my ass off on day three to locate some elk, and hope the guy that’s following me around can carry a heavy pack.

May as well buy a few cryo packs of beef and a set of antlers off of eBay at that point. IMHO.

But then you didn't take your 338-378 out and knock an elk down with it.

This is what I did. My normal guide had to leave mid hunt (wife having their first child). Outfitter gave me a beginner guide, not much experience in either elk hunting or the area. After one day, I had a conversation with the outfitter (it wasn't my first hunt with his outfit). Had a great guide for the rest of the trip.

I'd hate to hire a guide. I sure don't mind guiding my buddies to good blacktails but no way could I hire a guy to take me to game. It would just seem weird to me.

Think of the poor guide.

This would be my first reaction, but like was mentioned, if the guide could get me a shot, then that would change my mind. I would want someone familiar with the area at the very least. I generally don't use a guide and scout the area on my own, but the question was in regard to a guided hunt. .

If it was on a property that actually had elk on it, and the guide knew how to hunt elk it wouldn’t be a problem. They aren’t hard to kill for those who understand them.

Some friends of mine and me paid for a drop camp in the Flattops Wilderness in Colorado. I noticed on the way to camp we were passing up allot of fresh elk sign. The camp was high enough the elk had already started down and if we would have been hunting on our own we'd have taken that elk sign into consideration and camped where we could have hunted that area. As is was we had a camping trip in an awful camp, tent was rotted and had a hole in the roof big enough to throw a cot through. The outfitter left as soon as we paid him, in advance. My point is that if you hire someone you give up quite a bit of control over the hunt. I'd rather be on my own.

There are good and bad outfitters.
Demand references and call them all.

I wouldn’t care if a guide took me to an area he or she had never hunted but they better damn sure show me why we are there. Can’t forget that most guides love to get a nice bull too & share those photos of success. Have faith until other factors come into play. If you’re on the move, in search of viable country, that’s a good thing. I’ve killed several bulls in areas that others weren’t killing or seeing anything (Bitterroots). To me, it’s all about knowing the animal and observing the tiny, tiny details.

My .02