RubberDucky
New member
First off, I’m new to the forum and new to hunting out west. I live in NC and have been hunting all my life. A friend and I decided that we were going to do our first western back packing hunt next year. We have been doing a lot of researching online, in books and articles. We are at the point where we need to decide where and what we will be hunting. Our first choice is elk with mule deer close behind. The goal for our first hunt is to simply harvest a legal animal. Not saying we wouldn’t love a monster bull, but a cow or any legal bull would be perfectly satisfying. We expect to learn a lot the first time and hope to make this an annual trip so the trophy critters can come in later years!
With all that said, what state would you recommend to a first time western DIY hunter, with no preference points, hoping to take home some elk meat? Are there any other sources of information (books, articles, etc..) that you would recommend we look at to help narrow down a location? We want to hunt public land with a rifle and will be all on our own. We are not scared to put in the miles for the hunt but will obviously have limited scouting time since we are on the other end of the country. We know CO has good numbers of elk but with its location we also know there are tons of hunters.
Also, we will be applying to a couple areas with the intent of simply starting to accrue preference points. I know that many of the more desirable areas take years to draw a tag. Thanks for any advice!
With all that said, what state would you recommend to a first time western DIY hunter, with no preference points, hoping to take home some elk meat? Are there any other sources of information (books, articles, etc..) that you would recommend we look at to help narrow down a location? We want to hunt public land with a rifle and will be all on our own. We are not scared to put in the miles for the hunt but will obviously have limited scouting time since we are on the other end of the country. We know CO has good numbers of elk but with its location we also know there are tons of hunters.
Also, we will be applying to a couple areas with the intent of simply starting to accrue preference points. I know that many of the more desirable areas take years to draw a tag. Thanks for any advice!
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