Diy elk hunt

[brandon327]

I am planning a diy elk hunt for next year. I am looking for some pointers. I am not set on a certain state. What state should we put in for a draw? What about over the counter licenses?

 

[unclefish]

Here are some things to think about. If you are going to hunt national forest. Get a GPS with hunt maps. There is a lot of private property mixed in there. I was also told that when you are close to a bundry if there is fence you go by that. If you do get an elk think about how you are going to get it out. Then either sent to butcher so they can process and flash freeze it so you can pack in cooler with dry ice. For ride home. Clothing hard to say this past hunt I brought all cold weather gear. And yes I was walking around with a 300 winmag with a tee shirt on..some places you pick the closest towns could be hours away. Food water supplies, medical. You need to bring it in. If you have a chance go scout it out before your hunt. I was lucky got to go with some guys that where doing for 26 years. I was use to hunting 15 to 100 acre lots here. Out there u can drive for miles I said to my self where the hell would I even stop to even think about starting my hunt. I live at sea level. When u go the air is light everything you do takes longer. Learn as much as you can about elk habitat and calling them to.

 

[CogburnR]

Plan to be there a couple days to get used to the altitude. Make base camp below 8-9000ft. If you shoot an elk be prepared to skin and bone it on the spot or get a horse or hire someone to haul out the elk on pack animals. Take at least two good knives and a saw or plan on sharpening or replacing blades. Just hauling yourself around on a mountain is quite a lot of work let alone 4-5 trips with a hundred pounds of elk.

Do not use a non-vented heater( no propane sunflower heaters) propane does not work well at altitude and creates 21oz of water(kills insulation) and a bunch of co2 and possibly co(wake up dead)per gallon. As also, pellet stoves get pretty cranky at altitude. A canvas tent holds heat better and an arctic tent even better.

Always be prepared to spend a nite on t h e mountain. Take a tarp,small alcohol stove,trail mix, instant coffee or cocoa/soup, jerky candy along were ever you go,if you get on elk you may want to stay. Learn how to use a compass and bring it along with a topo map. Look into rescue insurance , it is actually pretty reasonable and if you break a leg or something it is likely they might have to call a helicopter to get you out(seen it happen).

 

[cohunter14]

You have lots of options as far as states go. Colorado is all I am familiar with and you can either apply for a tag or get an over-the-counter tag that are guaranteed. Picking a state is one thing, then finding a place to hunt is another. You have a lot of time to think about it, but definitely do some research. Colorado's Parks & Wildlife website has a lot of useful information there Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The hunting atlas on the big game page is very helpful.

A lot of other good information has been posted above. However, I have to disagree about the use of propane heaters. We have used sunflower heaters to heat our wall tents for years now and they work great. Obviously you have to make sure there is some ventilation in there, but other than that you are good to go. Much easier than trying to keep a wood stove going all night.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

I am planning a diy elk hunt for next year. I am looking for some pointers. I am not set on a certain state. What state should we put in for a draw? What about over the counter licenses?

You got some good information on the hunt itself, but it sounds like the information/pointers you want is where to go. Do you have any preference points for any western state for elk? If you don't, that means your best bet is to look at CO and ID that have OTC licenses available. Montana has had a lot of leftover licenses the last several year after they changed their licensing structure and did away with outfitter sponsored licenses and there is a lot of public land up there. That may be your best choice since CO is a sea of orange because of it's OTC licenses. The other states like AZ, WY, UT, etc. all have draws and unless you have a decent number of points it's unlikely you'll have a chance to hunt them in the near future. Good luck and I hope things work out for you, as elk hunting really gets in your blood after you experience that first hunt.

 

[brandon327]

Who makes a gps with hunt maps?

 

[Deleted member 46119]

On X Hunt is what I have. I don't quite have it all worked out yet but it has the data.

 

[FearNoWind]

Who makes a gps with hunt maps?

HUNT by onXmaps - Public/Private Land Ownership maps for your GPS, Mobile Device, and Computer

If you have a good quality gps and certified gps mapping apps you should be confident of where you are in relation to various boundary markers.
In my personal hunting experiences I haven't had this problem. The places I hunt and my gps help me stay out of trouble.
But I know a lot of hunters who have had some bad experiences. Several hunters in our tactical rifle group were sharing their stories about this subject at the range this past weekend.
Stay OFF of private land; don't even climb a fence unless you know that the property on the other side is public land. Don't be surprised if you get a visit from a "local" who demands you leave the area because you're on private land; he might even point to a nearby fence to justify his claim. Many ranchers fence outside of their property onto BLM land. Their motivation for doing that varies but, nevertheless, you may run into that scenario. I'm told that the argument usually ends when 1. the hunter is absolutely certain of his location on public land 2. the hunter offers to settle the dispute by inviting
the complaining party to call the local sheriff if he truly feels the hunter is trespassing.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

Who makes a gps with hunt maps?

Buy a Garmin GPS (lots of sales right now) and the landownership chips or downloads (if you prefer the latter)for your GPS can be purchased directly from www.huntinggpsmaps.com/, as mentioned in the previous post. They are a great company to deal with.

 

[unclefish]

I would buy a smaller garmin also remember another thing to carry.

 

[Short Track Hunter]

HUNT by onXmaps - Public/Private Land Ownership maps for your GPS, Mobile Device, and Computer

If you have a good quality gps and certified gps mapping apps you should be confident of where you are in relation to various boundary markers.
In my personal hunting experiences I haven't had this problem. The places I hunt and my gps help me stay out of trouble.
But I know a lot of hunters who have had some bad experiences. Several hunters in our tactical rifle group were sharing their stories about this subject at the range this past weekend.
Stay OFF of private land; don't even climb a fence unless you know that the property on the other side is public land. Don't be surprised if you get a visit from a "local" who demands you leave the area because you're on private land; he might even point to a nearby fence to justify his claim. Many ranchers fence outside of their property onto BLM land. Their motivation for doing that varies but, nevertheless, you may run into that scenario. I'm told that the argument usually ends when 1. the hunter is absolutely certain of his location on public land 2. the hunter offers to settle the dispute by inviting
the complaining party to call the local sheriff if he truly feels the hunter is trespassing.

All while 2 arguing people are carrying guns. gun)

 

[seattleman1969]

Washington State Licenses are all "Over the counter". SW Washington State (Long Beach 600 series areas) have great populations of Roosevelt Elk to hunt. Much larger elk than their rocky mountain cousins but not as large racked. awesome hunting though... plan for spot and stalk in clear cuts or stalking quietly along the edges of cuts with access to dark timber.

Bonus: Blacktails! also OTC tags.

In Washington you choose your method Muzzleloader, Rifle, Bow and the side of state you are going to hunt East/West and that is what you are stuck with. But again, it's over the counter guaranteed tags and very interesting hunting on the West side of the Cascades.

 

[T3-OleMan]

Brandon, I ordered my CO pvt land ID Chip from Len right here on this blog. Promote the company store and help keep this thing going. I have a 6 year old Garmin 530HCx. Call Garmin and find out cheapest one that has replaceable chip with the CO or your state of choice. Not available for all states with pvt land IDed. Good Luck.

 

[brandon327]

We are looking at possibly going to Colorado and hunting unit 79. What are the elk like in that unit. Some of people I am going with have hunted mule deer in that unit.

I am looking at getting a garmin Rino because some of the people I am going with have them.