Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Drop camp Montana

Anyone recommend a drop camp for rifle elk? Preferably not in grizzly country.

That's pretty much going to be impossible to do in western montana ecept maybe down in the bitteroot valley south of missoula. Are you looking for an Outfitter to take you in.

Outfitter, pack us in, have a camp already setup, hunt for a week and then picked backup.

Never hunted with him but talked to some that have and they liked it. http://www.elkoutfitters.com/

Thanks 1

welcome,good luck

Why no griz? That makes life interesting.

That kind of interesting I can live without lol.

Scott Boulanger, from two bear outfitters is whom I had in mind. He has area's in the bitteroot's that have no grizz.

I'd pick a different state is you're worried about grizz.

I'd pick a different outfitter. Besides, the Root is FULL of wolves. mtmuley

The Bitteroot would not be my first choice..

where are you gonna do a drop camp in montana that doesn't have grizz or wolves!!!!!

Im looking at Indian Summer Outfitters, the reviews on bowsite are outstanding, its in the Bitteroots so wolves maybe an issue, but I dont think there near as bad as there are in unit 17 in Idaho.

How much are drop camp hunts? Most really good outfitters won't do them. Why would a good outfitter drop inexperienced hunters into an area that he is trying to take guided hunters? I just don't understand the logic of the concept. Am I mising something here? Unless he is dropping them into his nieghboring Outfitters country.

Generally about $2,000

Who says they are inexperienced? Who says they are in the same area, one can be in the next square over and be plenty far away. Especially, when packing in.

Man hours are expensive, if you have a paying customer willing to do much of the work you can leverage your staff where best needed and scale the business.

Yes. Drop camps are a great option for guys who want a wilderness/pack-in hunt on their own but don't have the stock/gear to do so.

JrYoung, So, you have been in the outfitting and guiding busness and live in the West? I have been for many years. All I am getting at is In MT and WY with the hunting seasons being long, a good reputable Outfitter is not going to dick with drop camps for $2000 a pop. When he can get $4000 or 5000 for a guided trip. Again, Be carefull when booking drop camps and understand that they will not be in the best areas. Colorado may be different with their shot seasons.

You should have noted that before then (MT/WY specific compared to CO...WY outfitters obviously control the wilderness for NRs). I'm not interested in guided/drop camps, I can understand why drop camps are attractive for someone that knows how to hunt. I can also understand why guided trips are better for others that have a little more cash and never hunted the west before.

I crunch numbers, and to me if you don't have the resources (good quality guides/stock) several drop camps seem like a reasonable way to make about the same margin. To boot, you mitigate some of the risk of having a jackass guide giving you a bad rep.

This makes sense to me^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I'd do a drop camp hunt before I'd do a guided hunt.

This will be my 6th DIY elk hunt, 2 of which were solo. While Im not an elk expert, I do alright and know how to hunt them. The main reason I want to do a drop camp is because Im taking my girlfriend and would like her to have a litte more comfort than what we can carry on our backs. While I realize that some outfitters wont put you in good hunting areas, some will, Ill do my due diligence, like most things, you get out what you put in.