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I've had thoughts f an elk hunt all my adult life, but something always got in the way. Now I'm 67 and retired, in pretty good shape. What's the best state to start? How physical is it really- and do you need to be a decent horseman? I'm more concerned with going than scoring. But a shot would be nice. Any particular guide recommendations would be welcome.

You'll have to do better than pretty good shape at 67. I'd start training right now for it.

oldshot:

Colorado has more elk than all other states combined, and that's where you will have your best chance of bagging a cow or representative bull, because most of Colorado is managed for quantity not quality. Some nonresident elk hunters have boycotted Colorado in response to the recent passage of anti-gun legislation. Colorado is the best state for a DIY elk hunt on public land.

Wyoming is probably your best place to bag a trophy bull and might be your best state to hunt if you can afford to hire a guide because nonresidents must hire a guide to hunt in a Wyoming wilderness area. Elk populations are healthy and plentiful, and hunting licenses are plentiful and competetively priced.

The elk herds in western Montana and in the Idaho panhandle have been decimated by wolves. Too bad because they used to be great states for DIY hunters to bag a trophy bull. Montana charges more for hunting licenses than elsewhere. Idaho hunting licenses are competetively priced.

Utah and New Mexico have some elk populations with good trophy bull potential. It's hard for nonresidents to draw a bull elk tag in both states. In New Mexico, landowners are given preference when issuing tags and it's best to hunt with a guide because they have arranged to buy the tags from the landowners and sell them to hunters.

If you have lots of $$$ you can hunt on the Arizona Indian Reservations where there's a real good chance of bagging a trophy bull. I think that guided hunts start at $15,000 and go up from there.

KC

Can you elaborate? I'm a florida guy so , for example, I can swim a half mile in a half hour- I can play 18 and carry my clubs-- where does that get me? It's pretty flat here as it was in Illinois--

If you want at least a shot at one, go with a cow tag. The odds are much higher in most areas.

The altitude will be your biggest problem. I suggest you come out early, and give yourself some time to adjust. It's better to go up in steps. A few thousand feet at a time. I live at 8000 ft here, and the first time I go up to timberline in the spring it takes me time to get used to it. You're coming from sea level. It will be much harder. Do a lot of aerobic training.

How much strength you need will depend on how you do the hunt. If you use an outfitter they will haul out the elk for you, so that takes the hardest part of elk hunting out of it for you. I'm 70, and hunt alone. Trust me when I say getting the meat out is the hardest part.

Plan on hiking a lot of mountains. So, building up your leg muscles is essential. You'll be carrying a backpack of some sort, plus your gun. Work out on some hills in your area. Then wear a pack, and gradually add some weight to it. Try to simulate what the hunt will be.

The most important thing is to have fun, and enjoy the whole thing. There's nothing like elk hunting. I've been at it for 60 years, and I still get excited.

Good luck.

I am also 67, sustained a VERY severe orthopaedic injury, major physical trauma to right leg, spine and minor to skull, May 05/1960. The doctors warned my parents that I might never walk again without support and mechanical assistance and then screwed up the corrective surgery.

I had wanted to become either a "game warden" or a "forest ranger" and was told I SHOULD, given my "top of the school" academic standing in "the humanities" become a LAWYER....I HATE lawyers!!!

Five years later, I was accepted into and taken on permanent staff of the BC Forest Service........I often fall down, but, I NEVER totally quit.

Now, I was born and raised in the BC mountains, superb Elk country and spent much of my working live actively in wilderness employment. Elk hunting is my favourite, only serious Grouse hunting excites me as much and I STILL backpack hunt any time I can get out.

So, YES, you CAN do it and if you can afford it, a guided hunt in northeast BC, an "Elk-Moose combo" will be an experience of a lifetime. You can drive there in a van, bring all the meat home with some sound planning and the elevations are often only 3500-4500 ft., which is MUCH easier to cope with than 8000-11000 feet.

The "secret" is consistent training on a rubber running track near home and climbing the bleachers. Get a GOOD pack and start with a 20 lb. load and work up to five miles per day, four days per week, with 50 lbs tops and DO the bleachers, as much as you can force yourself. Do NOT "run" the bleachers, too much chance of an injury and you are not doing this to impress or compete with some "internet superman",( most are full of [bleep]), but, to
ENJOY a life-enhancing activity.

If, I can, as I often have and do, assist with anything should you want to come to BC, just PM me and I might have a few useful tips.

GO FOR IT, a B&C 375" 6x6 is waiting!!!!

Oldshot
I'm 67 and I connect with an elk almost every year. Those who say the elk have been decimated in north west MT and north Id spend more time reading posts on this forum than in the field. If you are in good condition and are willing to work for an elk you can find them. Forum wisdom is a start but you have to work for elk unless you are extremely lucky.
PM me with an e-mail address
Littlejohn

Oldshot,
I think that you can hunt as hard or as easy as you want.
I am 20 years younger, and some days I just haul @$$ up a hill. Other days, I don't feel like it and I can take an hour to walk half a mile. I see more elk on those latter days.
Since you are retired I would highly recommend getting out to CO early and getting used to thin air. Just walk out in the woods, take it easy. Fish, camp. It is beautiful in the fall. Then, when the season opens, hunt easily. I have seen elk from the camp, too, while others were beating the hills and saw nothing. It is a total gamble.
My friend's dad, at 91, was hunting with us. We were all in the hills, looking for elk. He sat 50 yards from the truck in his chair, and got up to the truck to get his sandwich. This is when two elk trotted across the hill side 100 yards from him, and he just was shaking his head - his rifle lay across his chair
And, he was the only one to see elk all day.
Just do it. It is your hunt, you hunt it the way you want.

As has been said already, the elevation will be you're biggest problem. Good advice here about coming out early and training before that. If you want to go, just plan it and make it happen, do the best you can at getting ready and when you get here, go at your own pace and enjoy.

Most hunters that I see in outfitter camps are old, fat, and from sea level. They mostly kill elk.

Now being in shape will sure help, don't get me wrong.

So for sure do what you can to train, but make sure you go!

The two things that you can do to make a difference are (1) work at maximizing your cardiovascular fitness (hike, bike, and use a treadmill or elliptical trainer on bad weather days) and (2) develop your leg strength (nothing better than stairs or bleachers with a day pack, but a stair climber in the gym is good, too).

As has been said several times, if you can arrive a few days early, spend some time just getting used to the altitude before undertaking any strenuous activities. I'm 70 now and live at 4,400 ft. I spend serious time getting ready for my Colorado elk hunt each year. Our camp is at a little over 7,500 ft and our hunts span about 7,800-9,000 ft in elevation. I still need a few days to acclimate to the altitude at our elk camp. Just don't rush things, and let the younger guys do as much of the hard lifting as you can.

Age is a problem when combined with altitude. About 5 years ago, a 70 year old had MAJOR altitude sickness. We got him down and he was fine hunting lower elevations. He only spent one night at 9000 feet, but had spent about 5 at 5,000 feet prior to that. Wouldn't have thought that would be a problem.

About two weeks ago I rescued a 68 year old that had been hunting here for 20 years. He had 95% blockage in an artery next to his heart, a blood clot behind it and was sporting a BP of 224 over 180ish. He lived, but that was a close one. And that was just under 9,000 feet.

That being said, I'd still recommend Colorado for a DIY, other states for a guided hunt. But Colorado will be higher elevation.

mudhen, I se you live in New Mexico but hunt in Colorado. The ads on the net would make you believe New Mexico is a great place to elk hunt-- no?

New Mexico is a great place to hunt, but I have only drawn three bull tags in the 22 years that I have lived here. In Colorado, I have a standing invitation to hunt a private land ranch with amiable companions and can draw an either sex tag every year for the first rifle season. I still put in for various New Mexico hunts, but focus on the good units with good bulls. I am also notoriously unlucky in any kind of lottery or game of chance. Probably not as snakebit as Mule Deer, but at least he makes me feel not so alone...

Colorado's info will be out around February; application deadline is usually the first Tuesday in April. So far (unless they change rules) there are over the coun ter bull licenses with no application. There are also either sex licenses for a lot of areas.

Would you drive your own truck, or fly out? DIY can be done, except you would be a long way from home in unfamiliar terrain, and elk are heavy. What we can count on every year is that it will be 80 degrees one day and a storm will come in and dump snow the next, even to rescues needing to be done. Others on here are better hunters, more experienced, and some know the outfitter scenario. A horse would be nice, but a lot of us always just camp along a jeep track and use shanks mare. Few areas will let an OHV away from trails, but there are few areas where a wheeled cart or sled isn't allowed.