salukipv1

Wyoming, Colorado, Utah or where else.

Colorado does have OTC rifle tags, but in limited areas, not sure how their bow tag works exactly, but I'm builing pts in CO, actually in all 3 states.

All states work the same just about on principle, you apply, when you don't draw you get a refund, some states cost more than others, and that can vary immensely on up front fees, which may be out of your hand for a number of months...

I'd suggest applying/building pts at least in Utah and WY of those 3.

One suggestion I'd make is New Mexico, its very cheap to apply, but there are no pref. pts, therefore everyone has the same chance whether they've been applying for 1 year or 20yrs. So you can get lucky with an awesome tag your first year. Also if you're going with an outfitter, your odds are even higher, but you'll need his outfitter # before applying I believe.

Idaho has some OTC tags too, not sure exactly how they work.

WY!!! You may still be able to purchase a elk pref. pt this year....get online now and goto wyoming game and fish and try to buy a pref. pt. it'll be well worth it.

So depending on what you're looking for, trophy vs. just any elk may affect which states you want to go for. But none the less you should goto websites and reasearch state info. And at least build pts in states where you want to hunt, whether it be states that produce trophies, or just somewhere you can draw and hunt an elk soon.

for $100/yr you can subscribe to the hunting fool magazine, they'll go in depth over all the various states, etc...

so what I suggest, is look to WY, Utah, and NM. Buy that point in WY if you still can, be quick because the deadline may be close or over.

Utah would be my dream trophy elk state,
Wyoming as my quality elk trophy after a few years for applying etc...
NM as the wild card, could draw any year a great tag
So you'll have short, mid, and longterm covered....and eventually you'll be hunting elk in 3 states! and learning alot along the way!

hope this helps.