First western hunt

[Creekrat]

Say 2 guys wanted to do a diy hunt with OTC tags, what would you hunt? Where? And why for the 2 previous questions?

We have 4 criteria
1. No whitetail
2. No axis
3. Have a great experience
4. Give ourselves the best opportunity of filling a tag or tags

 

[Joefrazell]

I would recommend a hunt with more then one tag. I'd try hunting mule deer, elk and bear. O and if in an area of wolves please get a tag.

 

[Mram10us]

Not Idaho because everyone and their dog already invades. Us locals have to go out into the really steep nasty stuff to avoid them .... and then they are there too. Let me know if you find a good place

Feel free to come take all the wolves(hippies and liberals) you want

 

[WildRose]

I'd probably say Elk or Antelope as far as best opportunity to "have it all".

If you're doing it all yourself those are hunts that have a high success rate.

To have good odds of success with Bear and Mulies, requires quite a bit of scouting time or local help.

You're not going to be very likely to just show up on a ranch or in the woods and just stumble onto mulies or bears with only 3-5 days in the area without quite a bit of experience to rely on whether it's yours, a rancher you know, or a professional guide/outfitter. The country is just too big and numbers not that large.

 

[BeaverHunter]

Antelope. If you draw(which is entirely possible, even the first year you put in) you will have very high odds of being successful if you can shoot reasonably well and are a decent hunter. And probably see some great country. And it's not very physically demanding.

 

[reelhardmt]

Antelope.

 

[Mram10us]

Locals are much more apt to help if you draw a trophy tag. Out of state over the counter hunters, not so much. That said, if you draw, let us know and I'm sure we will guide you in the right direction

 

[PredatorSlayer]

Antelope has, by far, the best odds of harvesting an animal. Also a pretty fun hunt.

 

[motrapper]

Add and Promote Wolves (hippies and liberals) you want!

Awesome suggestion

 

[MachV]

Antalope aint going to be over the counter but easy enough to fill with a point or two

 

[hunter67wa]

antelope/muledeer

 

[brotherbear67]

If you are willing to draw a tag, which isn't too terribly hard, I'd say South Eastern MT or Central Wyoming for antelope. Beautiful country, fun hunt, abundant trophy opportunity and good excuse to scout mule deer while you are there. If you want straight OTC, then in MT you will have to wait til all drawings are held the buy online whatever surplus is left. Kind of a crap shoot, but you could end up with an elk tag. Not sure about WY for OTC for Non Residents. Good luck!

 

[Korhil78]

I am here to tell you.....they arnt over the counter because they are awesome. If you get OTC elk tags, be prepared to hunt super hard and see A LOT of hunters. I would get points for a year or two and then do an antelope hunt and buy extra doe tags if you are going to Wyoming. That gives you the opportunity to shoot multiple animals and have an all around good time.

BUT since you asked, if I were to do OTC, I would most likely do elk in Colorado because it would be more of a sight seeing thing for me because of the statement I stated above but you will see a lot of awesome country.

 

[MtPockets]

Hands down, my favorite hunt is a wilderness elk hunt. The hunting is very physically demanding and you'll see some incredible scenery that not a lot of people back home have ever seen.

As for where, that depends on whether you would be looking for a wall trophy or one for the freezer. For Nonresident OTC, I believe Montana only offers cow tags.