Hi all,
Myself and a few guys from work are wanting to come out west next fall to rifle hunt for elk. It will be a do-it-yourself hunt so I guess we're basically looking at public land. What state/areas can we be guaranteed a tag(s)? Do any of you westerners have any tips for a few newbies??Any info would be great. This will likely be a once every 5 year trip or something like that, so any information on hotspots would be appreciated. Thanks a bunch.

~Ryan~

Colorado has OTCbull tags that cover lots of units. I think price is $504 for non-res. Good luck.

My first recommendation is to go to each Elk state's G&F web sites (New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, etc.) and read as much as you can about license prices, general regs, season date(s), drawing or over-the-counter, drawing odds, elk sucess rates by area, public access lands or not, etc. I'll tell you this, I know Wyoming for insatance is a drwaing only state for non residents and the drawing application dates are January 1 - 31. So you'd have to decide soon if a state is drawing only.
As far as "Where to hunt on public lands"? . . . there are billions of square miles (NOT ACRES) of public land out in the west. BLM, state trust lands, National Forests, and public assess lands (private land that public hunting is allowed on). A company called DeLorme makes an atlas for each state that shows pretty good details like property ownership and topo info. You may also contact the BLM office in your area or each state and see if they offer a wall map of the state. Mine is about 3' X 5' and shows at a glance property ownership (private is whit, state is blue, BLM is gold, and Nat'l For is in green).
Narrow down your end location/state/region according to the abovesubjects, then get more specific advice later.


If you want to know how to hunt elk. . . forgetabowdit!

Colorado has OTC bull tags for the 2nd and 3rd seasons. There are more elk in Colorado than in any of the other states. There are vast tracts of public land to hunt all over the state. Be prepared for tough conditions with the steep terrain and thin air. We are from the east and are deer hunters and have made the three day drive 2 years in a row. The first year we drew any sex tags for the first season and went 3 for 3. This year we hunted 2nd season bull only and went 2 for 3. If you like to still hunt and track for deer you can hunt elk the same way. If you are a stand sitter it will far more difficult. Get a good pack frame for quartering them out. Once you try it you will be hooked. Good luck.