Western states Late Elk Hunt help

[jimikinz]

Hey,

Just got the firm OK on a six month sabbatical from 10/15 to 11/31 (yeah...thats six weeks paid!!! :thumbsup: ) and I'm gonna do a western states hunt adventure / alone time / get me the hell out of civilization / reconnect with myself - trip of a lifetime.

As of now, I put in for WY General Buck Deer, a Doe deer hunt, 3 Choices for Buck Antelope units, and a doe/fawn Antelope tag. I figure I'll get a couple hunts out of that. Plus I have my local CA hunt to do.

I want to round it out with an Elk hunt somewhere, and I missed a few of the draws. I'm not a trophy hunter, and I would be 100% fine with a Cow Elk. I see that Utah and Colorado (maybe IDaho?) have Cow/Antlerless tags for the November timeframe - either OTC, or typically leftovers from the past few years. Anybody have any advice on units / areas / tags to look at?

My main intent is to be mobile, and I am going to dedicate a week to an Elk hunt and spend it kicking around, packing in to places and hunting, exploring, shooting an elk, etc. I have enough knowledge of some of those areas to maybe make that happen, but any help would be great. What I would like would be a hunt that was reasonably tough to get to with 4x4 and the old legs, and that is a good area to hunt for a lone hunter.

Also if anybody is interested in joining up, I'm open for that too, I'll be somewhere between CA and WY in october/november starting with the WY Antelope season, and ending somewhere in CA.

As long as you can keep your hands to yourself and don't fart excessively in a tent situation...let me know... :rotf:

P.S> Given that this is most likely only gonna happen this once in my life, I could easily be talked into spending the extra $$ on a Bull elk hunt, but I'm kind of intimidated by that, given that it seems those are so popular and hunted so hard...but who knows....?

 

[hoochiepapa]

As far a Colorado is concerned, I would call the Division of Wildlife 303-297-1192 or go to their website (www.wildlife.state.co.us) and they can answer your questions about left-over licenses and good places to go. I think they also have a pdf file on areas and their success rates that you can download to get info. This is a big state as far as public land, and in my opinion, go where the going is tough, and you won't see many hunters.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

Here's a private number for Ray. He works in the Denver office and loves to help guys in your situation. He'll give you info on your best bet. He'll even fill out your application for you. Save yourself some grief in trying to figure it out yourself. It's his job to get you the best deal.

303 291-7686

You may get his machine, but he'll call you right back.

 

[jimikinz]

Well I called Ray at CO DOW and he set me up with a guy named Bob who is a "Hunt Planner" The guy's job is to help people like myself have the best possible CO hunt experience. He spent an hour on the phone with me and we talked about what I wanted, my expectations, etc., and he talked me through several draw options, with tons of detail on the units and the elk behavior.

I just can't say enough about how helpful this was for me!!! :thumbsup:

So now all I have to do is think and plan until October.....oh boy, its gonna be a long summer for my poor wife :yakyak: