Newbie picking units.

[Scott85]

Hello everyone, first post on this forum. I'm Scott, from Virginia and I'm planning my first hunt out west. At first I wanted Idaho then Montana because the chance to hunt both mule deer and elk in the same hunt. The problem is the more research I do the more and more I am certain that if you pick any area and put in the work you can kill an elk. So with that being said how do you pick a state or unit? Due to work I'm not able to go on this hunt until 2020 and I've already been researching this for 2 years. I want everything to be backcountry. I was thinking about applying for harder tag while using OTC tags as backups. Thanks for all the help.

 

[Eric.MN]

Welcome to the forum. I am not much help in this area as I have only been on one elk hunt and it was a cow hunt this fall. There is so many factors to figure in, success rate, herd numbers, amount of roads etc. fine out what your interested in and keep digging till one catches your eye. Research all Randy has put out there on YouTube and something may come together for ya. You can always stick around here and helps others, sometimes the pay it forward comes around back to you.

 

[Bluejeep]

Colorado is your state. There might be a few people out there the same time as you, so if you get an animal down just look around and maybe you could find somebody to help you.

Might see a guy or two on the roads and you could ask them what they have been seeing.

 

[ImBillT]

I’ve never hunted either one, but I’ve hunted NM for two years now. After encounters with locals and poorly marked roads I have two suggestions. 1. For your first time in a new state, it might be worth a slightly harder tag to get a unit with plenty of public land that is definitely accessible from public roads to minimize any bad encounters. 2) Call the state game and fish department early and often with any question you can think of no matter how dumb. NMGF has been extremely helpful every time I’ve called. A local Sherriff and GW were also friendly, helpful, and competent. The majority of interactions with locals were equally friendly and helpful. However, I’ve had five encounters in three hunts with locals who were misleading and even belligerent. OnX maps sometimes disagrees with BLM maps and if you’re in an area like that when a local accuses you of trespassing you want to be really certain. In my case, I had just hung up the phone with game and fish requestion confirmation that I was on a county road, because it’s not always clear. It also took me some time to familiarize myself with road markings, and the legality of putting a gate across a public road with a no-trespassing sign. There were good spots that I passed up because of ambiguous markings. On my first hunt where there was more public land with easier access it was less of a problem. By the end of my third hunt I started to get a bit of a feel for things. I’ve never been to the two states you’re asking about, but I do know what it’s like to be in a new state with laws you may not be as familiar with as at home, with different signs and different looking roads. Personally, for a first trip to a new state, I would want a unit with plenty of public land with clear public access, so that if I got to a spot I thought was a little less hunted and something looked questionable, I at least had plenty of back up spot in case I couldn’t reach someone in the know on the phone for clarification.

 

[AlphaHunter]

Hello Scott I am for VA too (Nova) my buddy and I have a trip planned for Colorado 2019. We wanted to do archery since it offers you the option of getting either sex, but we decided to do rifle since we are both good shot it gives us better chances of bringing meat home. What part of VA are you from? It’s nice to see people from here willing to go west to get an elk.

 

[LopeHunter]

I think general tag bull elk tag harvest success is around 15% across the West. Limited Entry bull elk success is perhaps 30% across the West. There are elk in every GMU though most hunters using a general tag are going home with tag soup next year. Residents that can vary when they head into the woods to hunt based on the conditions and often hunt the same patch of land year after year tend to do better than non-residents so is something to keep in mind. Perhaps 20% of elk hunters kill 75% of the bull elk year after year. As filter that down then a non-resident on a general tag hunting public land is going to really earn that bull in most cases.

http://www.backcountrychronicles.com/elk-harvest-comparison-western-states/

From that study:

Table 4. Elk Hunter Success in 7 Western States 2012 – 2016

State 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 AVG
Wyoming 46.0% 44.9% 44.5% 42.0% 44.5% 44.4%
Utah 27.5% 25.4% 24.7% 27.1% NA 26.2%
Montana 20.0% 18.7% 23.9% 27.1% 21.6% 22.3%
Idaho 19.2% 18.2% 20.9% 23.1% 22.5% 20.9%
Colorado 20.0% 19.9% 19.2% 20.3% 17.6% 19.4%
Oregon 16.4% 15.6% 17.5% 17.5% 16.7% 16.9%
Washington 13.5% 10.6% 10.5% 11.5% 10.7% 11.4%


Hunting out West is a fantastic adventure. Harvesting a bull elk is not always going to be part of that adventure and, for me, the harvest is rarely the most memorable part of a hunt.

 

[AlphaHunter]

Thank you sir this is the kind of mentality I want to take when heading to Colorado.����