super_hunt54

I personally would suggest using a guide/outfitter as well. For the simple reason that you don't know the area, you can't scout, and your lack of familiarity with the area would seriously hinder the hunt itself. I hunt out of state all the time. I am very familiar with many public lands in the Colorado region and I do SOMETIMES still use an outfitter/guide for the simple reason that I can't get in there soon enough to do what homework needs to be done to get archery close on an Elk.

That "millions upon millions" acres of public land is the primary reason you should use a guide/outfitter for your FIRST hunt in Colorado. Phone calls to biologists or web visits to DOW can't replace boots on the ground that the reputable guides in Colorado can provide. And there are MANY reputable guides there that are well within your price range. I do agree that a DIY hunt can be more satisfying at times, but the OP seems to have very little experience with the type of hunt he is going for. Get a few guided hunts under his belt then strike out on his own would be my suggestion.

flags

Face it, you're an outfitter and you want to be one of the guys that get that $5K he has rather than allowing him to keep it. You have a financial stake in keeping people from hunting on their own. For what it is worth, I have hunted something like 13 states and have never hired an outfitter outside of the places I mentioned where it was required to do so and I never will. I don't care if every outfitter in the land goes bankrupt since I consider them little better than game pimps.

super_hunt54

That's carrying things a bit far don't you think Flags? Many guides/outfitters provide a very valuable service to people that have little to no experience or just simply because of having to make a living they just don't have the time to get out in the country to do the work needed to be done to have a successful hunt. Not everyone is able to DIY for MANY reasons. Most guides/outfitters work VERY hard throughout the year to make it possible for people that just don't have the time needed. Not everyone get's 3 months off in the summer like you do (you are a teacher right) to be able to scout locations and such. Hell I am semi retired and I don't have the time to go everywhere I hunt as I SHOULD do. But I hunt all over the country so I can't scout everywhere. If I have a hunt scheduled that I won't be able to do the proper scouting and such, I make a few phone calls and find a good reputable guide that knows the area I have set up to help me out some. As I said previously, boots on the ground beats "Ma Bell" every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Ranger77

flags got it absolutely right

Muley Hunter

The answer is simple. First do all the scouting you can do from maps. It's not hard to find areas that elk will be if you know what to look for. That part can be learned from home too. Lots of info is available now.

Then when you get here you have some idea where you want to go. It's a 9 day hunt. Spend the first 3-4 days scouting, and then go hunt.

I did this with my dad in the 50's, and the maps in those days weren't close to what's available now. Even so, we got an elk the first year.

It can be done, but it takes some effort. The last thing i'd ever do is let someone else do my hunt. How can there be any satisfaction in that?

flags

Nope, I don't think it is carrying things a bit far. I grew up in CO and can remember when you could just knock on doors and get onto some really good property. We had long seasons and could buy tags over the counter. Then, about 25 years ago the outfitters began to cry and moan. They leased up any property they could so the average hunter couldn't get on it. They petitioned the DOW to make more but shorter seasons.

We used to have a separate archery season, a separate black powder season, a deer only season, an elk only season and a combined deer/elk season. Every one of those seasons were at least 3 week long and hunters could hunt different seasons. I used to hunt the separate deer season and then hunt the separate elk season and that gave me about 6 weeks of hunting time. The outfitters didn't like that because they couldn't book hunts for the later parts of the season so they drove a petition to increase the seasons and shorten them. Some of the seasons are only 5 days long now! That means that many resident hunters that can't take time off work only get to hunt a single weekend.

Remember, it isn't the resident hunters the outfitters care about. It is the non-residents that book with them so the outfitters don't give a rip if the residents can hunt at all. All the outfitters care about is the $$$. That is why they have tried to make the states issue more non-resident tags since they know their $$$ comes from out of state. And like all pimps, the bottom line is all they care about! Have you ever tried to get an outfitter to let you on a piece of property they control just to take a doe deer or a cow elk? They'll tell you to get lost despite the fact none of their hunters will even have a doe or cow tag! Outfitters want to control hunting so they can profit off of it and it is the commercialization of wildlife that will spell the death of hunting in America.

Yeah, I'm a teacher but I sure don't get 3 months off. I teach NJROTC on an 11 month contract. That means if I'm lucky I get 4 weeks off between school years and at least 2 of those weeks are taken up with summer drill meets or leadership academies for the students. So I'm not exactly swimming in time off and I still have never used an outfitter and I never will. If I have to depend on an outfitter to get game I'll hang up my guns for good.

Besides did you bother reading the OP's reply to me? He is active duty Army which means he gets 30 days paid vacation a year. Since we're talking about 2016 that means he can save up a lot of days on the books which means he can do a long hunt and probably even spend 4 or 5 days before the hunt starts just scouting. He can also check into hunting the Air Force Acadamy or Fort Carson as well since he is military.

Muley Hunter

My biggest gripe with outfitters are the ones who hunt on public land, but seem to think they own whatever area they're hunting because they have a paying customer. They'll actually try to get you to leave, and give the impression they own the land.

They'll also move right in on your area if they think it's any good.

Fly fishing guides do the same thing on our rivers. Common courtesy seems to be a thing of the past.

flags

Like I said Pete, all they care about is the $$$ and they don't give a rip if you or I can hunt or fish since we aren't paying them. I once had an outfitter go as far as digging up a road into public land over by Silt after I set up an elk camp. We followed backhoe tracks right to the lodge he hunted out of and had to get the Garfield County Sheriff and the Forest Service involved just so we could get our gear, including 2 vehicles out through the ranch the outfitter was hunting. Seems he didn't want us hunting public land next to the ranch because he didn't want us shooting "his" elk!

super_hunt54

So what you are saying Flags, is send a rookie hunter into a place he has never been, to get archery close on an animal he has hunted only once and that was with rifle and a guide? Does that sound even remotely intelligent to you? I mean really? I was hunting Elk while you where still in diapers Flags and I don't consider using a guide/outfitter "pimping" in the least. Nor do I consider it laziness. I consider it intelligent use of a service. Now granted I don't use them very often anymore simply because I know most the areas I hunt and I have a pretty good idea of what the Elk tend to do in those areas. But sending someone who has no experience into the wilds is illogical at best. Using your deformed logic, I guess it would be "cheating" if he had a friend that lived in Colorado and had Elk on his property and allowed him to come hunt there. And what about if he lands in on the rut? You think he has experience calling? Like knowing when to shut down or when to issue a challenge bugle? What I am suggesting is to use a service to help him learn, gain some experience, and have a greater possibility of success so he will WANT to stay with it and take that knowledge to strike out on his own. You grew up In Colorado Flags so you know the areas well. He grew up, I'm assuming, in Ohio with absolutely no clue about Elk hunting. We all had to learn somehow Flags. We weren't born with the knowledge. Using a guide/outfitter service will help him learn.

Muley, it's not particularly "letting someone else do your hunt" but it's getting help learning which I feel the OP needs. It's just my opinion buddy. Now do I feel that some guides/outfitters do TOO much and the "hunter" is nothing more than a trigger man? Of course there are many out there like that. They are usually the more expensive ones too. You will find that the more reasonably priced outfitters that hunt primarily on public lands are in fact some of the most ethical and hard working guides out there. They GUIDE not DO everything under the sun for you. They help you get into areas that they have tracked and scouted that a map won't show you or anyone else. I have yet to run across an Elk reading a map and while they can be somewhat anticipated, they are by no means predictable. Again, boots on the ground is unbeatable.

You 2 hit that up while I was writing this, Muley, I haven't had the bad experience with the few guides I have used in Colorado like you are talking about. The 3 guys I have used have been 100% agreeable with anyone we encountered in the field. But that's just my limited experience with them.

Muley Hunter

Read my post again. I didn't say all outfitters. I know there's some good ones, but the bad ones tend to stick in your memory.

I agree it's difficult for a new elk hunter to come to Colorado to do a DIY hunt. That's ok though. Nobody says you have to shoot an elk the first time. It's part of the learning curve. Elk hunting is hard as it should be. It makes it all the more rewarding when you do get an elk.

One thing I can guarantee you. If he does it himself he'll save at least $5000 to put towards the next hunt.


Here's a new service that will help any new elk hunter. Not your average map, but a much more specific map for just the elk hunter.

http://startmyhunt.com/