Elk Archery Opportunity Hunt Options...?
 

Would love a 6x6 300"+ bull, but really at the point I want to take my first elk with a bow, also want to enjoy the quality meat, which makes me ponder should I take a cow? do you really think a bull in rut vs cow etc... tastes better?

I have quite a few points in most states out west, but thinking about a DIY archery hunt to be successful on.... success more important than trophy bull at this point...
I'll have to read up but if anyone out there has some ideas or suggestions, please toss them my way.

Don't want to burn my points at this stage for this type of hunt so possibly a 2nd choice tag....or I'm thinking maybe MT or NM if I get lucky...
Maybe even ID but I don't know?

may consider a rifle tag... but have the feeling those may be harder to draw and less successful? more pressure/competition...

would most likely be a father/son hunt, would be nice for both of us to take our 1st elk, but any success would be a team success for sure!

Thanks everyone and good luck this season!

PS- always thought I'd only mount a 6x6 or bigger bull, but thinking if I got a 270 5x5 or whatever, should I do a full shoulder mount? a european mount? nothing? any thoughts/insight?

The cow elk I shot was by far the best venison I've had.

I haven't shot a bull to compare it to

-Jake

I have shot my share of big stinky bulls and now I much prefer a nice tender younger bull or a cow. A rutting bull is absolutely not my favorite meat, but cow elk is. If you have any points to use it is easy to draw a rifle cow tag in some of the best units in the state through the regular draw in Colorado. The draw for reduced price cow tags in Wyoming can be pretty easy without using your points, and some units will even have left-over tags. The rub with the Wyoming tags is that many of the easy draw or left-over licenses options are for units that are mostly private land. If you really want a nice quality public land hunt you might want to look at Colorado cow elk with a rifle. Most cow hunts are rifle hunts. Bow hunting for a cow would be tough, but possible. Pulling a bow tag for a public land bull in a good area is getting to be a tough proposition.

That hide came out nice ot! Looks good on there.

-Jake

I will try again, I have no idea how the duplicates got there. I Killed a 4 year old cow in PA in November of 2018. The meat was absolutely delicious, my wife likes the hamburgers better than beef, and the steaks cannot be beaten. I had the hide tanned hair on and backed with cloth and have it over the back of my sofa in my man cave, it is 12 feet long. I still have a freezer full. I have eaten bull meat from two western states and it was good but not as good as my cow. Jake, please delete the duplicates, I don't know how it is happening and I cannot seem to delete them.

I think I got it fixed for you.

-Jake

Thanks Boca, I think I figured out what was causing the problem. With the new photobucket they changed the way you attach photos. Now all you have to do is click on a photo then click share and ok to attach to clip board then go to the message board or e-mail and click on the page you want to post on. Problem is the photo stays selected until you click on it to deselect . I should have just selected all the photos I wanted to post and click share and attach to clipboard, then move to my post on Hunting .net and post all the photos at once. What I can't figure out is why I could not delete the duplicates myself.

I have measured a lot of "300+" 6 x 6 bulls that stretch the tape to approximately 270 (or less). Many guys are lucky that bragging bulls on walls (or on TV) do not get measured very closely. My view is that it really does not matter what the score is if reminds you of a great day on the mountain. Any fair chase elk is a trophy.

A full shoulder mount of any branch antlered bull takes up a big patch of wall space and are hard to live with unless you have a very high ceiling. A European mount is a good compromise. I have a few Euro elk mounts but normally I just cut off the antlers and give them to a local knifemaker.

I sent you a private message.