mthusker

I am curious to see what elk hunters who either lease land or hire an outfitter expect for their money. Say a you pay $5000 for a guided elk hunt what do you expect, i.e. elk numbers, bull size, accomodations? What about $8000....$10,000 or more? If anyone leases elk hunting land, i would also appreciate hearing your expectations for the leasing of land, thanks.

Champlain Islander

All mine were DIY on semi private land shared by many others.

flags

All my ell hunting has been DIY on public land. However I would think that anyone plunking down $5K+ for an elk hunt would want to have a reasonable shot opportunity on a legal bull. Seems like that isn't too much to ask. Whether a hunter takes the shot or misses the shot isn't relevant but they should have the chance especially if they ape paying for it.

Big Uncle

I know fellows that take the $5,000 type of hunts and they want a decent place to stay, good (but not fancy) food, good guides, and a reasonable crack at a legal branch antlered bull. I know other fellows that spend $7,000 - $10,000 for their hunts and they all want a nice lodge, better than average food, experienced guides (not just the local construction workers), and a crack at a good 6x6 bull.

Of course all of them secretly want a hunt like the ones they see on TV where it is all easy walking and they can pass up the 330" bulls to shoot a 380" monster.

mthusker

I appreciate the responses. I realize guided hunts have quite the price range, from spike camps to private , truly trophy ranches for huge bulls, I am just hoping to see what folks expectations are for the money they spend. If a ranch held a true opportunity to harvest a 380-420 bull, what do you think is a fair price for an outfitted hunt? Trespass pass fee hunt?

mrbb

I also only tend to do DIY hunts, unless legally I HAVE to hire a outfitter!
as for your question what would one expect for a 5 k elk hunt
IMO< they SHOULD be getting a very GOOD hunt, they should have access to lands(most at this price and UP should be on private lands too, or limited draw/access lands! at this price point IMO and lands should have a healthy population of ELK at the TIME of the hunt!
and have HIGH odds of success
they should have again a good guide that knows the land and how to hunt elk on it
things like packing game out, handling game , also should be included and done by an experienced person
if its a horse pack trip,
Horses should be included and they should be GOOD horses at that too! used to inexperienced riders and able to handle the terrain!
next
Lodging should be include as with all meals!, be it a good camp tend set up, or a lodge /cabin set up!
and all transportation each day from lodging to hunting lands should also be included!
as at 5 grand for a 5 day hunt that is a grand a day, and a GOOD outfit should be able to do a LOT with a grand a day on income! and provide a hunter willing to pay the 5 k a good honest legal hunt !

NOW as for he above with what should the difference be when hunts start to cost more $$
one would be BOTH accommodations, meals catered to SPOIL a hunter when in camp/back at lodge!
NEXT, LANDS<
they should all be extremely well managed, limited to number of hunters per yr, size of game harvested and so on ALL private lands, , extremely well managed , so anyone paying larger amounts of $$ has a chance at a true trophy class bull! and not hunting lands that were over hunted, game over called or pressured, and must have healthy populations of elk at TIME of hunt!
they should be getting an extremely experienced guide that does about everything but pull the trigger, letting the client decide how much they wish to do on the hunt!
when your getting into high dollar hints, its not really about hunting, its about someone typically getting something they wanted, but never got in there life time and are now in a position to basically PAY for it to happen!
sorry if this offends anyone, but its about as honest as I can be about it!

there are again tons of FREE DIY type hunts a person can still do, if its NOT about getting a animal and enjoying a hunt and if you get an animal a bonus
this is what hunting is.
when your PAYING big money, its a business transaction more or less and the person paying is expecting odds tipped in there favor due to the paying part of the transaction, the higher the costs, the higher the success rates should be, and again the accommodations and quality of the land and people involved in the hunt!
to the really TRUE Trophy guys, with deep pockets and little desire to have a REAL hunt, , most of these types will pay big $$ and go to a high fence type set up, and PAY for "X" sized elk, and go shoot one!
places like this are all over any more, just like they are for whitetail deer, high fenced set ups, where success is almost a guarantee !

mthusker

Thanks again for the reply. I will also throw this scenario out there.....Say a group of folks, decide to lease a large ranch, say, 45,000 acres here in Montana, with truly outstanding hunting for elk , mule deer and antelope. The group hopes to keep members to a minimum, say 10 or 11 total members. If each member were to be allowed to harvest 1-330+ bull, 1-270-330 bull, 2-spikes, 4 cow elk, 2 buck antelope, knowing that in the past year two bulls of over 400 inches were taken and around 10-350+ plus bulls were taken this past fall, along with a 91 inch antelope, what would you expect to pay to be part of this lease? It would all be strictly do it yourself hunting, no lodging, just access to great hunting, of course, it would need to be fair and equitable for everyone involved as far as days spent hunting. Let's ignore the mule deer hunting for now, thanks.

mrbb

I think your hunting for what YOU want to charge people here
and honestly, what you need to look at is, the average costs for leased lands in YOUR area
trophy's can show up almost any where
so unless you can PROVE your lands have been managed for trophy quality bulls, for several yrs, a and be able to prove hunting pressure on lands for again several yrs!
your not going to pull premium land lease costs!

and without there being lodging on site, this also is less attractive to folks willing to pay higher prices!

also need to break down your acres, as to how many actually HOLD elk on them and not just the mass amount of acres on hand!
how many acres are hunt-able
and then look at what the land that border your are like and pressure on them as well!
and you cannot really ignore the mule deer hunting or other game animals that can be hunted, as there numbers and quality will also determine what a property is worth to the average person looking to LEASE lands

as it all adds up to the lease's value for those planning to lease or not!

again, look at other ranches and lands in YOUR area and find out what there getting per ace or as a whole, and you'll have a idea on what you MIGHT get
you can try higher and HOPE to get lucky, 'or go lower and be more likely to be booked/leased!

all comes down to what YOUR willing to take to be honest!

hunters typical want a DEAL, its the human nature of things, and if there leasing, and live far away, there typically looking for lodging too, as they are already traveling to get there, and don;t want to travel every day to hunt too!

My last lease was for 14 days in ND , I leased 15,000 acres(well was more of a rental IMO) that came with a house and access to hunt all game on it if I had lic/tags to do so, for $35.00 a day, that was a whopping $ 490.00 and was in 2015, so a few yrs back now!( I was also able to add another 10,000 acres for a added cost of $150 bucks LOL)

SO< I know its not the same as what your offering, just saying, I'm cheap I guess when it comes to leasing/renting, and have found countless deals like this over my yrs traveling all over the western part of USA!

but also many other hunters are as well
and those willing to PAY more, tend to again want it all in one spot!(lodging, hunting, and a chance to hunt what ever they can get tags for, )

flags

I wouldn't pay a dime. Truthfully I am not a fan of the whole lease thing. I think any commercialization of wildlife is bad for hunting. If I have to pay to hunt in the USA then I am done hunting. I want no part of that sort of thing. I also think that any rancher/farmer that leases their land out should not be allowed to petition a state wildlife dept for help with things like predator control or wildlife damage to crops or hay fields. If they don't allow the public to hunt and are using wildlife to make $$$ then they need to take care of that sort of thing out of their own pocket. In my native CO many ranchers in the Northwest part of the state (where the highest elk density in the nation is) leased out their lands and won't allow Joe Public Hunter to get anywhere near their land and these same ranchers try to claim huge $$$ for elk damage to hay meadows every year. If they don't want the elk damaging their hay meadows then let the public come on and shoot a bunch of cows and the herds will leave the hay meadows. But they don't do that.

But I understand that the hunters you're looking for will not be natives of the Rocky Mountain States. You want a bunch of hunters from TX, CA or NY so they can lease it. Just a question but why not let a bunch of inner city youth or first time hunters have a crack at these elk? That's a better use of the resource than using it as a cash cow.

Bocajnala

If you want $35/day consider it leased MT, I'm your guy.




-Jake