For me, it's the overall experience of planning, scouring maps, hiking hills in preparation, getting the gear ready, the trip out there, the anticipation of that first day in the woods, hearing that first bugle or seeing that first elk, and everything else that goes with it. That elk hunt you see on the outdoor channel probably won't be the same as what you experience unless you pay money for an outfitter. There is alot that goes intoit and it can be alot of work. Anyone on here who has hunted elk with tell you that it can be physically demanding as the farther back in you go (On foot) the further you have to haul one out. I've heard storie of people taking several days to get an elk out of some areas but have yet to experience that pain!! I've hunted with people on their first and last hunts as they have never gone back again as it was just too much work and they didn't see many elk. Everyone has their own definitions of a successful hunt and killing an elk is the only one then most will probably be disappointed. There are some that kill elk every time they hit the woods but I'm not one of them.

Figure out how you want to hunt first...bow, muzzleloader, or rifle.Wheredo you want to hunt? Do you want to hunt next year? If you have a few years before you want to go then you might want to start putting in for points now. For example, if you want to hunt a draw area in Colorado you could check www.huntodds.com toget somewhat of an idea of how many years it will take to drawthe tag you are looking for. Thatway, you can start putting in for it and then draw in 2, 3, 4, or however many years. This all depends upon which state you want to hunt in as they all have somewhat different systems for the tags they offer. Just figure out where you want to go and start there. I'm done rambling....