Ok, I know you get what you pay for, and there's no such thing as an inexpensive drop camp so pleasesave the tweeks for another day ! I have agroup of 8 flatlanders (7 adults and my 15 year old son) who want to hunt Elk in the 2006 season. I'm paying for 4 of the hunters so price is a MAJOR issue! I have no problem with a good drop camp, Im not even too picky aboutwhat statewe go to as long as there are lots of elk around (preferably big stupid ones ). If you might know of someone/somewhere that's a good value please drop me a line at [email protected] . I'd love it if we could get an elk/mulie tagplus the camp costs for under $1500 per person-is this a pipe dream? Thanks for your help! -chad

Hi PB:

If you are looking for the largest (numerically) elk herds, CO is it. However, they aren't as big as other states, NV, UT & NM, aren't "stupid" and you won't find one behind every tree. You can get bull and cow tags over the counter for many units, so you won't have to wait years to draw. Currently, either-sex or bulls tags are $490 and cow tags are $250, I think, don't know about mulies, but they are less. You can hunt mulies and elk in the same seasons, along with bear (within season participation limits). I don't know what gear you have, but if everyone bought a bull tag, with the money leftover you could easily BUY all the gear you would get with a drop camp. Heck, for the $4,000 you would be spending, you could buy everything.

Good luck,
CE

I add on to what Colorado said, outfittters that usually provided drop camps dont usually put drop camp hunters in the areas with the most game, those areas are reserved for fully guided hunters. If I were you Id look into hunting one of the vast wilderness or nat. forest areas. Heck alot of them have very nice camp sites and you can hunt right out of your camp. Id call theId, Mt, Wyo and Co. game and fish departments, they have alot of info and some of the tags ares pretty easy to get.

I wouldcall a meeting& talk about the costs. First dig up some information on drop camps, fully guided hunts & buying your own gear. Cabelas is a great source for wall tents, frames & wood stoves.
Buying two tents with frames & wood stoves will cost you around $3,000. This one time investment could be used every year. If you decide hunting out west is not for you?You can sell it on ebay.

Good Luck,

Wolf Killer

OK, your ideas seem to make sense, and we have all the camping stuff we need except for the wall tents/woodburners. Is there anybody out there who has done this before who would be willing to be hired as a "guide" for a week? We have 4x4 trucks and a couple of 4x4 atv's, Here's the problems I see that we'd need to overcome:
1. Hauling out game- we'd have to find a local locker to haul game to.
2. Finding a good spot to go- I'd bet we'd need local help

Anything else that might be an issue? I have no problem paying for someone's help, or bringing them here for a duck/goose/pheasant hunt as my guest in exchange!

"Guides" are expensive, and if your inviting them to join your camp as a fellow hunter, don't call them a guide or they'll have to have a license!lol Finding someone to trade a hunt with is a great idea. Once you know your area, you may find people on this site, monstermuleys, and others would be willing to give you some general guidelines as to where to go. Horses and a trailer can generally be rented if you plan in advance. Elk can be packed with decent pack frames, but if you get a couple or three down at once... you'll still want the horses, unless they're down close toa road and that only happens to other people. Most of us have a ridge or two and some nasty steep timper to get our elk out of.

pbrunrunner,

Check youremail.
dog1

Do yourself a favor, do a search on ebay for wall tents and tent stoves, you can find them for a heck of alot less than Wolf Killer was talking about. Are you talking about going next year?

I realize you guys want to elk hunt but my guess is it would take 2 or 3 western "do it yourself " hunts before you start scoring and I doubt you would ever get better than 50% success as a group so most wouldn't take an elk. Have you ever considered a winter caribou hunt in Quebec ? Beautiful animals, great meat and everybody will get to take 2 bulls. I have done that hunt twice for your budgeted $1500.00/person. There is a near 50 page string in the "OTHER" areas forum with all the information you will need. Not sure where you live but if you are from the east then this hunt is a bargain.

pbgunrunner are you looking at a Bow or Rifle hunt ?
This would be a good year for your son to hunt in CO. his tag would be $100.00 for elk or deer tagsif he is under 16.
for thehunt you would not have to havea tag. just run around with him and have a good time watching him fill his tag
the odds of all of you filling your tags are slim. some should put in for cow tags so you have a better chance of coming home with someting. I think the deer tags are not worth the$250.+ for a deer. I have huntedCO. the past 12 year on salfguided hunts from MN.And the cost for the elktag,fuel and food is around$800.a personwith a group of 4 or 5. good luck hunting

Ron