Looking into an archery elk hunt next year and I am trying to decide on which state to try for. Looking into a wy general unit draw tag, otc idaho copper basin area and possibly somewhere otc in Colorado. Which would be the best hunt for seeing elk and getting a bull on the ground. I know Colorado has the highest population of elk but also the highest population of hunters. I hunted unit 521 rifle and shot a 5x6 but there were alot of hunters for rifle. What would a person expect during archery for hunters? Maybe northern part of the state also. Idaho copper basin looks picture perfect but heard numbers are way down. Wy looks good anywhere if a draw a tag but have no clue on what areas are good. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks chad

Even though odds are not the best do not rule out NM. Put in for the quality units and cross your fingers. CO does have a lot of hunters but still can be a quality hunt.

I will have to check out new Mexico as well, never even looked there yet. Is there a good population of public land? Main thing with colorado is I know it has the highest elk herd but also has the highest hunter population and I'm only really familiar with unit 521 and that was during rifle and it was like a pumpkin patch out there, Kind of want to stay away from the crowds as much as possible. Any units you suggest for NM? Any idaho hunters here want to chime in about the pioneer zone.

Unit 49 in the Pioneers has a lot of elk but there's a lot of private land. Most of the private land is owned by the Flat Top Sheep Co. and is open for hunting without requiring permission but closed to camping and vehicles. It's walk-in only...and it can be a long walk if you don't have pack stock.

How about unit 50? More public land? I really like the look of the terrain in the pioneer zone especially the copper basin area. How many people would you expect to be there mid sept? I've read alot of reports saying the elk numbers were horrible in the area and that you might be lucky to see 3 bulls all bow season, not sure if that's true or not. Main thing we want is an enjoyable hunt and not dealing with the crowds of people like colorado but If that's where the elk are that's where we will be.

Some great hunts in NM. Units 15, 16, and 34 have very good bulls. Have hunted there for almost 30 yrs, till now. They only allow 6% of tags to diy nonresidents. Makes it VERY difficult to draw. Still put in though. Managed to get a super deal on a unit wide landowner tag for 13 this yr. good luck
John

I don't know much about Copper Basin. Most of my elk hunting has been on the other side of the Pioneers, units 48 and 49. I can tell you that the eastern part of unit 50 is as steep as any country you'll encounter anywhere. According to the harvest stats, as a unit overall last year there were 611 bowhunters who took 102 elk, 81% bulls. They averaged 7 days of hunting for the bow season. 17% success isn't too bad for an archery season.

Except for a strip of flat land along Hwy 93, almost all of 50 is public land. The easiest access to Copper Basin is through Sun Valley and over the Trail Creek Rd. It's dang steep for about 5 miles and rough as a cob. Once you're over the top, into unit 50, it smooths out. I haven't been up there in a few years. Someone told me that they'd bladed the road and it was better. It would have to be a LOT better before I'd haul a camp trailer over it.

The units scopey mentioned are the units everyone goes for but myself I like wilderness so I hunt 52, 16B, 36 for I can get away. 15, 16A, 16D are what I would try for if i was coming all this way.

Good luck!

You chasing elk with a pointy stick?

Not recently but I've done my share. I'm an old faht who hunts with 2 older fahts. Neither bowhunt. Idaho is more or less 'choose your weapon' on elk so I rifle hunt to be able to hunt with them.

Anyone familiar with elk unit 521 in colorado? I have rifle hunted there but was curious how many bow hunters will be in there.

With a 30 day season and a ton of open land you can have a quality bow hunt in CO.

SE zones of ID or region 1 of ID.

E OR OTC tags should be considered too

Unit 49/50 are draw tags both archery and rifle for elk. Unit 521 is OTC archery elk tag.

Archery elk starts Aug 30 thru Sept 28 and Muzzleloader starts Sept 13-21 also early rifle bear starts Sept 2-30.

I've never hunted 521 but your going to have lot of hunters maybe more than rifle. Unit we hunt, got snow last week of archery. You have lot of the younger guys packing into the Wilderness might want to try www.Rokslide.com.

Are you talking about units 49 & 50 in IDAHO? An OTC A tag gets you a month of either sex archery hunting in both units. It's not a draw hunt.

The unit 49 50 I was talking about idaho. Unit 521 was colorado. Thinking idaho is out of the question now since it's a 23 hr dr and colorado and wy will be the states I look into more.

I figured you where asking about Co unit 49/50 as their close to 521 any good luck.

Anyone have any experience in the Palisades zone in idaho?

Colorado is very different during archery season compared to rifle season. I have hunted unit 23 and 24 (Meeker), which is packed with hunters during rifle season. I have hunted the same areas during archery season and saw very few camps and only ran into one hunter in the field.

WE've hunted MZ season a few times in CO and only ran into other hunters once. THey were bow and we left the area to them.

We see em on the roads and trails, but never in the woods.

Park ranger once too. But we were heading out on a "trail"

You may need to factor draw odds into the exercise. If you are willing to accept very low odds, AZ of course has some fantastic hunting. As does NM. If not look elsewhere.