Ranger77

hell yes and you should RELISH the challenge and opportunity !

are you afraid you can't set up your own tent? build your own fire, cook your own meal? get up on your own in the morning, find your own animal to shoot?



I've been there and done that - and while I see one side of this outfitting thing but I see no reason to use an outfitter unless you're physically unable to hunt

Hunting is about challenge, challenging yourself. If you pay someone to do all the work for you well duh - ANYONE can pay a great outfitter $15,000 and hunt a private NM ranch for a 370" bull

what kind of story would you tell ? hell you didn't do anything but follow someone and do what you're told and pull the trigger

Muley Hunter

Hope we're not driving the OP away. If you do nothing else Nick, check out the link I posted.

super_hunt54

And Ranger, that is the difference between a lot of guides. As I posted previously (something I guess you failed to read) there are those guide services/outfitters that do everything but pull the trigger and I 100% can't stand those. THOSE are the ones that are $10,000 per person. The ones in his price range are guides that pretty much "help out" with experience, calling, locations, basically teachers. A GUIDE. Yes true hunting is about challenge. You against the senses of an animal and mother nature. Very few people in this world can say they are 100% self taught. Most all had someone to teach them our much loved tradition. I for one had 3 generations of highly seasoned, well traveled hunters to teach me from the time I had walking down pat. But there are many new hunters coming into our hunting grounds with no one to teach them. While yes, figuring things out for yourself is a wonderful teacher, to a lot of our young people today it is more of a deterrent. If they don't "catch on" fast they get bored or dejected. I'm in no way implying that the OP Nick is in fact like this, I have no way of knowing. I just know how most kids today are. Raised 5 of them. All in the woods as soon as I could get them out there.

Muley (Pete) That link looks promising. The guy seems to know his stuff. May just take a bit of a closer gander at it later.

Muley Hunter

Yes, he does. I plan to buy one of his maps for my unit to see how his info stacks up against mine. I talked to him about it, and he likes the idea.

I'm also going to get a map of an OTC unit near me that i've never hunted. Sort of simulating what a new elk hunter would go through, and see how much his map helps me get into elk. I'm going to dread hunting an OTC unit, but it will be an interesting experiment.

super_hunt54

Eh, OTC units aren't that bad. Hunted several of them for years. Granted you have to deal with some morons in the field. But you have to do that pretty much everywhere nowadays. I tend to hunt as far away from anyone else as I can possibly get. But I'm getting up there in years and 5-10 mile hike in's over rough terrain just aint in the cards for me much anymore. Plus Elk aren't like whitetail in that they tend to migrate and such whereas whitetail will go as thick and deep as they can get when hunting season starts.

flags

Are you admitting that reading isn't your strong suit? Here's a little challenge: Go back and show me exactly where I said what you're claiming. I'll bet you $10K you can't do it. Maybe you missed the following:

So, just where did I say head west and just start casting around looking for an elk to stick with an arrow? I explicitly told him where to begin looking and even suggested who he could ask and then I volunteered to provide him with specifics as to how I would be willing to help him. By the way, I've made the exact same offer to many other members but I do ask that they begin looking for info on their own first since so much is readily available. By the way, please be so good as to explain just how all those non-resident camps I see in CO with elk hanging manage to do that if they all need to be led by the hand by an outfitter? I know a lot, and I mean a lot of non-residents that come to CO every year and take elk, deer and even bear without a guide. Explain that to me!

I seriously doubt that. I'm 52 right now and since you claim to be "semi-retired" I doubt you're in your late 60s or early 70s. But even if you are, what does that matter? I've personally taken about 25 elk and have been in on the taking of over 100 others. Can you match that total? Somehow, I don't think you can.

Now, just what ax are you trying to grind? Or are you just being foolish for the sake of looking foolish?

txhunter58

I don't have not problem with anyone using an outfitter. They have just as much right to make money as any profession. Just like any profession out there, there are great ones and terrible ones.

That said you might consider a compromise of sorts. A good unguided, DIY private land trespass hunt can be had for about 1/2 of your max. Helps in a lot of ways (especially not risking hunting in a crowd) and you still get the satisfaction of doing it yourself.

olsaltydog

Other then the pissing contest going on, keep all options open. I have been looking into the same thing for me and my father and DIY, or an Outfitter is still in the cards. Its up to you, you know what you like and you know what you will enjoy, so get to reading and researching and make the best decision for yourself and your father. Ask any question you want as well. Someone here will be kind enough to answer.

Muley Hunter

Yes, some OTC units aren't too bad. Unfortunately, the one I have to hunt is unit 55 which is just over Cottonwood Pass from me. I've gotten too old to camp anymore, so I have to be able to get up early, and drive to hunting areas every morning.

Unit 55 is pretty crowded in rifle seasons, and it has a a ton of ATV trails which are pretty full during rifle seasons. Actually, every season. I'll be using my muzzleloader for the rifle season.

It will be a challenge, but no more than for some new elk hunter going to that unit. So, maybe I can pass on some info after the hunt for new hunters. Not so much where to hunt that unit, but how I went about finding elk that will hopefully be useful for any unit.

This is definitely stepping out of my comfort zone. I've hunted the same unit for 6 decades, and know it pretty well. I have 25-30 hot spots in it to hunt. The majority of them i'll have complete solitude, and won't see any other hunters. Compare this to going to a unit i've never hunted, and don't even plan to scout it until the hunt starts will be quite different.

super_hunt54

Yes Flags the internet has great and wonderful information on it and there are some great people here that would be more than willing to share knowledge. But the fact is, that is in NO way a REPLACEMENT for having someone IN THE FIELD with a rookie that actually KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE DOING. You highlighted the point I was making yourself. I wasn't saying uninformed, I was saying INEXPERIENCED. Maybe you should focus a little bit harder on reading yourself Flags and stop trying to push your personal prejudices against Outfitters so hard. It clouds your judgment. And by the way, I am probably one of those non residents you have seen with Elk hanging in camp without an outfitter. But I HAVE EXPERIENCE which has been my point the whole friggin time. Not sending them out uninformed but send them out for the first time or 2 with a guide that knows what to do and can help them get on bulls and can TEACH them. Why would you fight so hard against a rookie having someone in the field with them to help them learn Flags? Just because that teacher is getting paid a fee? You work for free Flags? I sure don't! Now granted I take rookie hunters under the wing all the time. Take them on hog hunts, deer hunts, even a few Elk trips. But that's not what Nick was asking for. He was asking for information to aid in his putting together a trip and for some information on guides and outfitters. Simple and too the point. I'll let you slide on that 10k you owe me because your own highlighted point suggests exactly what I said.