hunting ELK at LESS total EXPENCE

[340wby]

now I can give some good advice here as Ive been on 45 differant ELK hunts, in the last 35 years in several states, (several years I had aranged two hunts each year)
now youll have basic expences that you CAN,T get around like the licencing fees,
but some potential expences can be drastically reduced if your willing to ROUGHT IT
and drive to the hunt, do without a guide, and live out of a tent, and hunt BLM or PUBLIC LAND
will that reduce your chances, of success? SURE it will,compared to a hunt on some of the better areas, but REDUCING your chances is FAR from saying your out of luck, and if you do your homework for months in advanvce you can get surprizingly good info, upping your odds over the average hunters significantly.

lets look at our groups expences

we drive from florida to western colorado, a distance of almost exactly 2300 miles each way and usually have 4 guys sharing the gas expences., figure on 16 mpg with a fully loaded truck, fifure 4830 miles round trip at $3 a gallon, thats about $230-$250 per man in gas.
your bull elk tag costs $500, so youll have $750 -$1000 or so spent before you start, but after that most expences can be reduced or avoided simply by careful planing, doing your own cooking and hunting from the truck or a tent camp.
most years IVE spent between $1100-$1200 on single hunts or about $2000 on dual state hunts
BUT it REQUIRES CAREFUL PLANING and GUYS who can and are willing and able to take several weeks off of work to seriously hunt ELK!!!! this turns into a finacial NIGHTMARE if you get hooked up with guys on tight scheduals,or guys who don,t TRUELY LOVE ELK HUNTING, under ROUGHT CONDITIONS for several weeks and long hours driving in close conditions in a truck
the key here if both finding a GROUP of 3-4 guys willing to hunt and SHARE expences and WORK and guys willing to hunt on the CHEAP who won,t bitch if they don,t personally get an ELK each year, and are willing to help each other drag out the OTHER GUYS ELK! and are willing to keep HUNTING or HELPING for the FULL durration of the HUNT even if they PERSONALLY get THIER ELK on opening morning!!

[dakota]

I have only out-of-state hunted elk a few times. When I go hunting elk, I usually hike the area quite a bit for many months before season. I know that elk like to move when they are heavily hunted, but scouting can also show those areas. I move around a lot but I have got in some good in-state hunting in CO and SD.
I am moving out of Dubuque,IA. -- I am packing today. I will be calling ND my home for quite a while, I think. Elk and moose hunting in ND, would you believe it? To say nothing about pronghorns and deer and coyotes and praire dogs and..... I guess I will be lured to CO now and then for Elk.

[calsibley]

$1,000. Yeah, that sounds like what I would pay for a 6 day fly-in moose trip in Northern Ontario. That includes the cabin to stay in. I'm no longer sure, but I think non residents are required to have a guide which is kind of silly if you have maps of the area. It's also expensive. Most of the guides are Indians. Of course your success rate is much higher on fly-in trips because of the reduced hunting pressure. I've always thought that hunting elk required the most physical fitness of the N. American large game animals except for maybe goats and bighorn sheep, and I don't think there's too many of either left now. In addition to the guide fee non-residents licenses cost a bundle. I think an elk hunt would be the thrill of a lifetime though, second to none. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

[Purebred Redneck]

calsibley said:

I'm no longer sure, but I think non residents are required to have a guide which is kind of silly if you have maps of the area.

I know in alaska a non-resident needs to have a guide.
I am personally for the guide rule b/c it's going to #1 save lives and #2 save the state money by not having to do as many emergency evacuations. That land is WAY too big. But on the other hand, if it is federal ground I think the general non-resident US citizen should have access to hunt it unguided. But on the other hand, any game animals are property of the state and they decided how people can hunt them.