davidf

I want to go elk hunting. I have never been. I would like to bow hunt. I am 43 and am in good phy. cond. I have always deer, duck, turkey hunted. Where is the best place to go? What outfitter? I cannot take 8 days and go I would need to be gone a max of 5 days.

txhunter58

There is no best place to go, the easiest would be Colorado due to OTC elk tags. Depending on where you live, I figure at least 2 days of travel leaving you 3 days to hunt. That is a VERY tall order for an elk hunt. Not trying to rain on your parade, but in my experience, 3 days is about enough time to find where you should be hunting on public land. Most outfitted hunts would be for 5 days of hunting. You might want to look into some kind of a private land outfitted hunt, where they know where the elk are and can get you into them in a hurry. Gonna cost some bucks though.

907Alaska

I agree also...but I really need to re-think your hunting time....5-6 days minimum for me...JMO

ADV. Hunter

Idaho has great OTC opportunities for archery elk, but you must have an bow hunting certification to hunt with a bow in an archery only season if you are going DIY, as far as an outfitter goes go to http://www.fishandgame.idaho.gov/ and you will be able to find most of the info on costs of tags and licenses. I would personally not try and go after a big bull with only a window of 5 days. If you just want to get out on some elk and you make the trip out and get your tags I can point you in some directions of areas that hold elk pretty much year round. Shoot me a PM and we can chat!!!

BuildFlyCrash

What is a "bow hunting certification" exactly? I'm going to hunt there in Idaho maybe next year. I don't think Fla offers that kind of course, Hunter saftey yes but ..........?

salukipv1

Some states have bow certifications online, tests that you can take/pass and qualify. I think Utah and/or Arizona have one on the fish and game site. I've taken one or two online, mostly just for fun, they were free so just somethign extra to have, try that.

Also many times simply holding a previous hunting licenses/ archery tag in a another state qualifies you as bow certified.

907Alaska

Montana has one online also

seattlesetters

ADV. Hunter - You have a PM.

ADV. Hunter

If you go to the above Idaho F&G web site you go to the bottom of the page and click on the hunters education block. I am not sure about the archery tag from another state you can call IDF&G and find out. As of tomorrow I will be leaving Idaho for Kentucky for work.

BuckAlley

David, to be fully honest with you 5 days max for a archery Elk hunt won't cut it. I've been to Colorado 2x's on archery hunts. Your travel time, getting prepared once there, climate adjusted, your looking at maybe if your lucky 3 days of hunting. That'd be pushing it. You'll go through it all, and regret only having that amount of time there. Both my hunts totaled from day of leaving my home to return 13 days. 5 days of that was driving from NY to Colorado. But of that you'd need 2 days flight time. My hunt was 6 days. 8 days at the outfitter. 1st day was adjusting, unpacking, preparing. Trust me you need a day before to get ready. Plus its a good climate adjusting time. If your looking at hunting Elk in the mountains out west. Your looking at elevations up to 11,000 ft. Just walking around gets you winded the 1st day. It'll take you 2-3 days just to adjust. I was 41 & 43yrs old for those hunts. I was running 3x's a wk, and biking 2 days wk to prepare. I felt like I was so out of shape my 1st few days. The thinner air is wicked. By my last couple days I was able to get around alot better.
So my best advice to you is if you really want to do this, and do it right you will need at least 10days. Otherwise I think your just cheating yourself from a incredible experience!!