Help from Veteran Elk hunters please
 

A buddy and I are looking at going on a DYI archery elk hunt next year. What state would you recommend? We are looking to go on public ground.

Thanks for the help!

Colorado probably has the highest elk numbers, over the counter tags, and lots of public land. Plus, they don't have the problem with wolves that we do in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.

We live in Nebraska so Colorado was our first choice. Have the wolves affected the hunting that profoundly.

Colorado is a good place, just check to make sure that the area you choose has not been hit too hard by the beetles. Last year we hunted the Weminuche and vast amounts of forest had been destroyed by those dumb beetles.

There are wolves moving in but I don't think they've had a heavy impact...YET....like they have in Idaho and parts of Montana and Wyoming.

I live in NE as well. I have friends that have been getting cow tags in WY without trouble it seems. And they've always filled their tags. Might check it out.

Colorado
Montana
Idaho
New Mexico

All have archery tags that can be drawn the 1st year, all are good, can be great.

If you're just looking to shoot any elk, small bull, cow, whatever, I'd definitely look towards colorado, or maybe even northern NM.

WY has some great elk, but as a non-res to hunt wilderness you would need a guide or resident to hunt with...

Utah is good too
not really hard two hunt with bow
just do your homework and you will kill a good bull

Been bowhunting Colorado for 10 years now....my hunting buddy and I have killed 14 elk, all on public land. There are a lot of elk per acre in Colorado in some of the draw units, and there are over-the-counter tags available. No grizzlies to deal with. But be ready to do some serious walking if you want to kill elk! Start getting in shape now.

Best of Luck,
Jeff

Colorado has more elk than any other state.

Been on 2 archery hunts in Colorado, going back this coming year. My choice was Colorado, and have no regrets. Colorado is full of public land. You'll be looking at mid to western Colorado for Elk. The Mountains! Most of it is federal land, that you can access by the miles & miles of truck trails. Deeper in you'll find areas of Forever Wild land where you can only access it by horse or foot. Look at some of the National Forests there. The views alone make it worth the trip!

PS- apply everywhere, build pts in other states too, would be nice to have a hunting buddy with the same # of pts etc...so down the road you both could cash them in and hunt together in another state.

I'd put in as a party in NM for one of the great units and who knows you both might be hunting world class elk this year together if you get lucky!?

I live in Idaho, and wolves are a big problem. We used to have great bow seasons and great calling.....NOW its getting rare that they call at all... Only at night, its a dinner bell to wolves. If you are still serious then there is lots to be had around Stanley, Idaho. Its big beautiful country, and here is a bonus...Shoot a wolf and makea local happy. Tags for wolves are $11.00 . Don't let them put wolves in your state !! U.S. Goverment ( aka U.S. Fish and Wildlife. P.S. Please take home a tree hugger too, they make great house pets.

Thanks for all the advice guys. Much appreciated!

I would hardly say that Montana has wolf "Problems"

I heard parts of Colorado were hit by beetles, but exactly how
did this impact the elk hunting?

Quite literally vast areas of forest have been reduced to standing dead trees.
Here is a small sample picture....there were literally entire mountain sides completely wiped out by these beetles.

Besides the beetles, we saw huge stands of dead aspen trees in Colorado this year. It looked like some kind of virus wiped them out, going on for miles and miles. They were either dead, or they all lost their leaves prematurely, because usually the gold leaves are just starting to show up when we get there

We saw a lot of bulls, but it was definitely the wierdest year I have seen yet. Bulls acted like they were almost post-rut in the last days of bow season. They all had their cows, and they were not really acting overly agressive. It was like someone had pushed us forward in time. I wouldn't think it was all so wierd, but we have been hunting the same area for 12 years, so the differences were pretty striking!

Best of Luck,
Jeff

thats how they were in Wyoming also--wierd