Colorado vs Wyoming Elk Hunt
04-10-2014, 08:19 AM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 2
Colorado vs Wyoming Elk Hunt
I have Elk Hunted Colorado quite a bit over the years and now I am going to try Wyoming. For those of you that have hunted both, I am curious if you have a preference and why.
Last edited by JES_Wisc; 04-10-2014 at 09:24 AM.
04-12-2014, 04:23 AM
#5
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: WY
Posts: 2,056
Of course, it's been three decades since I hunted elk in Colorado, but I'm a little surprised by the preference for Wyoming.
I still think the general hunt areas here see excessive pressure, so I much prefer limited-quota tags. Once the elk move, the game changes very quickly. We're very much affected by private landowners who either lease their land to an "outfitter" (I think "pimp" is a better word for many of them - they don't rise to the level of the guides with strings of horses and a camp way back in the wilderness somewhere) or charge you a trespass fee to shoot a cow (then they'll complain to G&F later about how too many elk are raiding their hay lot). Much of the good public elk land is bordered by private land and landowners who don't want you back there in it. So access can be difficult and very physical (own good boots, good maps, and a sturdy pack frame - and know how to use all three).
But, when you find yourself alone at daybreak in a valley full of bugling bulls ... yeah, I know why I like elk hunting in Wyoming.
I still think the general hunt areas here see excessive pressure, so I much prefer limited-quota tags. Once the elk move, the game changes very quickly. We're very much affected by private landowners who either lease their land to an "outfitter" (I think "pimp" is a better word for many of them - they don't rise to the level of the guides with strings of horses and a camp way back in the wilderness somewhere) or charge you a trespass fee to shoot a cow (then they'll complain to G&F later about how too many elk are raiding their hay lot). Much of the good public elk land is bordered by private land and landowners who don't want you back there in it. So access can be difficult and very physical (own good boots, good maps, and a sturdy pack frame - and know how to use all three).
But, when you find yourself alone at daybreak in a valley full of bugling bulls ... yeah, I know why I like elk hunting in Wyoming.
04-13-2014, 04:55 AM
#8
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 9,230
For me, it would be CO.
But, and this is a big but, I'm from there and have hunted elk there my entire life. I know where to go and I have access to some really good property. Mostly I'm interested in a nice tasty cow but I've taken more than my share of good bulls. I can fill a cow tag just about any weekend I want to hunt. Besides, my entire family is still there and the annual elk hunt is as much a family gathering as it is a hunting trip. The meat is shared equally after it is cut and wrapped so even if I fail to fill my tag, I'm going to have elk in the freezer.
That being said, if I wasn't a CO resident and wanted to hunt elk, I'd look to WY, MT or ID with WY getting the nod.
But, and this is a big but, I'm from there and have hunted elk there my entire life. I know where to go and I have access to some really good property. Mostly I'm interested in a nice tasty cow but I've taken more than my share of good bulls. I can fill a cow tag just about any weekend I want to hunt. Besides, my entire family is still there and the annual elk hunt is as much a family gathering as it is a hunting trip. The meat is shared equally after it is cut and wrapped so even if I fail to fill my tag, I'm going to have elk in the freezer.
That being said, if I wasn't a CO resident and wanted to hunt elk, I'd look to WY, MT or ID with WY getting the nod.
04-13-2014, 05:29 AM
#9
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: WY
Posts: 2,056
I think it's already too late for that. I don't know about you, but I don't think I know a single resident who'll pay the big trespass fees to private landowners - thus motivating them even more to charge to hunt. That practice is almost pervasive today, and it's a logical market-driven response to the "need" for easier hunting for those who have more money than they do skill, knowledge, or time.
That said, I don't believe that all nonresidents fall into that category, as I encounter some of the same people out in the woods year after year who come from other states. They know the ground, they're DIY too, and they put up with the same conditions and exertions that I do. And, not all of the "slob" hunters, "game hogs," and "road hunters" I run across wear out-of-state tags. More likely, they're residents - at least in my experience.
Although annoying, I can tolerate some hunting behaviors. The one I can't tolerate is when I've hiked in the difficult back door to a good piece of public ground, take my animal, and then have some "outfitter" stalk up and inform me that I had to have trespassed across his "easy-access" lease to get there. That's happened to me three times in the past ten years. On one occasion, he and his "clients" had ATVs parked at the forest boundary. When G&F describes a hunt area as "difficult access", it more often than not means the surrounding landowners participate in this kind of leasing operation.
I don't blame landowners for trying to make a buck, and I don't blame the city-dweller who's been saving for a once-in-a-lifetime hunt for having the money to pay for it. I blame the kind of "outfitters" who are taking advantage of both of them. And it's not just a Wyoming problem. They're not so much paying to hunt the landowner's property (which I have no problem with) as they can be simply closing down the access to the public land beyond (which I do have a problem with).
If a nonresident foots the bill for an out-of-state tag, they're a licensed hunter just like the rest of us residents.
That said, I don't believe that all nonresidents fall into that category, as I encounter some of the same people out in the woods year after year who come from other states. They know the ground, they're DIY too, and they put up with the same conditions and exertions that I do. And, not all of the "slob" hunters, "game hogs," and "road hunters" I run across wear out-of-state tags. More likely, they're residents - at least in my experience.
Although annoying, I can tolerate some hunting behaviors. The one I can't tolerate is when I've hiked in the difficult back door to a good piece of public ground, take my animal, and then have some "outfitter" stalk up and inform me that I had to have trespassed across his "easy-access" lease to get there. That's happened to me three times in the past ten years. On one occasion, he and his "clients" had ATVs parked at the forest boundary. When G&F describes a hunt area as "difficult access", it more often than not means the surrounding landowners participate in this kind of leasing operation.
I don't blame landowners for trying to make a buck, and I don't blame the city-dweller who's been saving for a once-in-a-lifetime hunt for having the money to pay for it. I blame the kind of "outfitters" who are taking advantage of both of them. And it's not just a Wyoming problem. They're not so much paying to hunt the landowner's property (which I have no problem with) as they can be simply closing down the access to the public land beyond (which I do have a problem with).
If a nonresident foots the bill for an out-of-state tag, they're a licensed hunter just like the rest of us residents.
Last edited by homers brother; 04-13-2014 at 05:36 AM.