bald9eagle

What would be your number one choice? We are looking at trying to get either a muzzleloader or 1st rifle. This is part of my research so prepare yourselves for more posts!

flags

If I was picking one season for elk and I really wanted an elk I'd be looking at the 4th season and hunting on winter range in the northwest corner of the state. But then, to me, elk hunting is about taking a nice fat cow for the freezer and not another set of elk horns.

kidoggy

same here. I like the late season(novemberish) cow, rifle hunts, here in idaho. when they are on thier winter range. fairly easy to draw and not so steep( actually mostly flat land hunting) so you can often drive right to your kill.

IF I WAS WANTING A BIG BULL,I would probably put in for a sept archery hunt

westernspeed

I've always hunted second season and usually have good luck bagging both bulls or cows. The season is longer than first rifle and the weather is still decent most of the time. I guess its just a matter of personal preference.

Topgun 3006

There is nothing IMHO that matches an archery elk hunt during the rut unless you don't hunt with archery equipment at all.

Bocajnala

Bald Eagle. What is your goal? A trophy bull? An enjoyable hunt? Meat? Any old elk? This would help narrow down your options.
-Jake

bald9eagle

For me it would be just getting to hunt. I am leaning towrds muzzleloader because of the ambiance (don't laugh) and the chance to catch a portion of the rut.

If I got to shoot a huge bull that would be great but it is far from #1. I plan on getting an either sex tag as well as a deer tag. I do want to come back home with some meat. It's a long way from north Alabama to come home with tag soup! lol

Mostly I want the experience but I want to have the chance to be successful too. If I had more archery buddies that would be my choice.

flags

In CO the muzzleloading season for elk will have either a bull or a cow tag. I'm pretty sure they don't have either sex any longer. It used to be that way but changed many years ago. If you want an either sex elk tag in CO you will have to hunt the first rifle season and, in most of the good elk units those tags take some preference points to draw.

archeryelk1

My choice would be any kind of hunt during the rut. If you can catch the rut with a ML in your hands, that sounds ideal in your situation (avoiding tag soup hopefully). Archery is a blast, but I can't count how many situations I'd have had an ethical shot if I had a ML in my hands instead of a bow.

bald9eagle

Yeah...I didn't mean for it to sound that way. I was meaning I would be looking at rifle EE tags too. I'm still trying to figure it all out.

After going back and looking I found that I was on the recap page for the 295 page printout that I tried to go through. I found another site... diyhuntingmaps.com that breaks things down really well.

Thanks for the help.