Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Starting to elk hunt is overwhelming.....

Your thinking out of state elk. Pick a state, find the game departments unit success rates. Compare those to the type of terrain you feel comfortable hunting ,using google earth. Pick a couple areas and call the biologists in those areas. Ask lots of questions, most are more than happy to help. Look at the regulations for the areas suggested by the biologists. Get your gear together and go! My hunting party does this and have had good luck filling tags. We have filled tags in Idaho, Wyoming. Deer, elk, and pronghorn. All dyi hunts, If your plan is this year, buy a tag and go hunt. If your thinking next year you have a year to plan.

There are some pearls of wisdom in the previous posts but the main thing is do some research and GO! I didn’t get going elk hunting until my late 40’s. One thing I’ve learned is that lots of “life” can get in the way of elk hunting. Almost every year, some of our group falls out for one reason or another. This year it was Mark who has an episode of back pain that requires surgery, last year it was me due to cancer treatment side effects, year before Larry’s daughter getting married, another had a knee replacement, and on and on. My local muzzleloader hunt was train wrecked by the death and funeral of my best friend. You get my drift. Don’t put it off. You have 50 other weeks in a year to do other things, so don’t let the clock run out on you. I am blessed to have a 46 year old son who loves to hunt more than I do who tolerates the old man and doesn’t mind helping the somewhat infirm! LOL

My best recommendation is to find a trespass fee hunt in NW Colorado on private land adjacent to public land. Find a landowner that is willing to point you in the right direction, etc. Craig Chamber of Commerce and the internet can help.

My Golden Rule of elk hunting is to go hunt where there are lots of elk. Just in our group, some guys hardly ever take a critter and some almost alway score. My overall success rate is 56% in Colorado, 75% last 4 hunts, so statistics be darned.

If you want to go elk HUNTING pick a spot and go for it. Lots of opportunity around if you are willing to work for it and can handle normal public land issues (other guys, inconsistent game, limited roads, etc.).

If you are set on elk KILLING pay the money and get a private land outfitter.

No wrong choice, just depends on what you want.

Don't get hung up on statistics. I know tons of guys here in Montana that would be counted in the harvest statistic but never actually make it out more then an afternoon or two. A lot of local "hunting" involves driving up somewhere, sitting for a while, getting cold, then heading to the bar to bitch about wolves killing all the elk.

This is good advice. The Craig area has the largest elk herd in the world, and 99.99973% of them (that's a statistical fact) are on private land by the time the start of muzzle-loader season. With the payment of a trespass fee, access to all those elk (and the associated high probability of success) can be yours.

If a guide is definitely out, trespass fees are the surest way to seeing some good elk.

What's the price range of trespass fees?

I posted my experience of first guided elk on hunt on a different page. But I did think of you.
I have seen countless of suggesting to newbs to get a guide to learn from, never seen to make sure the Hunter finds an outfit that has his style of hunting. Such as sitting in stands vs farm lands vs high country or something in between. Ridding side by sides and glass and glass or get deep into timer on foot.
Possibly to find an outfit near where they hunt to learn how to hunt that terrain more. Not the opposite.