Just trying to figure out what state(s) I should start building Elk points in. Elk is my dream hunt and likely once in a long while. As a 26 yo, what would you recommend I apply for point wise?
Where to start building points?
- Thread starter siwulat
- Start date
MT, WY and CO are "close" to you. WY is an easy state to buy points in. Elk points are $50 I think, buy them July - Sept. CO you front the tag fee, get a refund and are out $40 I think. MT has a bunch of options, it can get spendy, much of MT has good general season opportunities. I'd vote for WY first since you can just buy points and the Elk hunting is great. Then probably CO. or MT. NM, if you want to go that far south, has many attractive hunts, no points however. ID, again no points, has plenty of Elk options as
well. Waaay too many options. It is easy to get an elk hunt, but hunting them can be quite challenging and very fun. Observing an Elk rut frenzy has ruined many a deer hunter, in a good way.
Calbuck
Active Member
Points won't necessarily get you your dream hunt. Sometimes the pressure of waiting so long to draw a tag can actually make your experience less desirable. With that said, you should pick an area that you would be willing to wait a few years for and start applying there. Then based on your budget and location, try to find some areas you can hunt every year or two. If you can swing several states' application fees, apply for as many as you can afford.
My personal strategy is to hunt as often as I can, while still applying for a few so called "premium" areas. Last year I drew a cow tag and a bull tag in two different states, in areas I'd never hunted before..my results were both tags filled, and excellent new experiences that I learned from, not to mention the joy of spending precious time with my dad in the field! Neither area was (from what I've read or heard) a top zone to hunt. It is what you make of it!
For dream hunts, you should consider Utah, Nevada, Arizona...for more frequent hunts or OTC, I'd look at Colorado, Idaho and Montana. Wyoming could go either way. Don't forget about New Mexico and Oregon. This is strictly my opinion, so take it for what it's worth. You are the one to decide what your dream hunt actually is!
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My personal strategy is to hunt as often as I can, while still applying for a few so called "premium" areas. Last year I drew a cow tag and a bull tag in two different states, in areas I'd never hunted before..my results were both tags filled, and excellent new experiences that I learned from, not to mention the joy of spending precious time with my dad in the field! Neither area was (from what I've read or heard) a top zone to hunt. It is what you make of it!
For dream hunts, you should consider Utah, Nevada, Arizona...for more frequent hunts or OTC, I'd look at Colorado, Idaho and Montana. Wyoming could go either way. Don't forget about New Mexico and Oregon. This is strictly my opinion, so take it for what it's worth. You are the one to decide what your dream hunt actually is!
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Alabama
Veteran member
I would say avoid Washington, Oregon, and California. Idaho and New Mexico are completely random so you could apply for a very hard to draw unit and just go when you finally draw or apply for the easier to draw areas and hunt it a few times for a better chance at success. You could hunt Montana general hunts anytime you get ready. Nevada, Utah, and Arizona will take many years to draw but all have monster bulls. Wyoming has great elk opportunity and quality. Colorado is more of an opportunity state unless you are willing to wait 20+ years for a great limited entry hunt.
Tell us more about your plans. Will this be a 1-2 time thing or every few years? Guided or un-guided? Do you want a giant bull or will you be happy with a good representative bull for the area? We will be able to help you a little more then.
Tell us more about your plans. Will this be a 1-2 time thing or every few years? Guided or un-guided? Do you want a giant bull or will you be happy with a good representative bull for the area? We will be able to help you a little more then.
Don K
Very Active Member
I ask why? A DIY Elk hunt can be done very inexpensive and the only thing holding you back should be vacation time. Plenty of places to hunt without building points.
My thoughts
Get out there now while you can as you may never get out there otherwise.
Hunting places that require no points gets you experience. Building years and years of points and just using them for hunts your going to miss out on a lot. Getting out there and learning will help you when you do draw that big tag.
Once you Elk hunt it gets in your blood and you will want to go back as much as possible,
CoHiCntry
Veteran member
I agree with Don K... you might want to change your question to "where should I go elk hunting?" This seems to be a common thing that guy's are more interested in saving points than actually going hunting. I'm guessing because everyone wants to shoot a huge trophy bull and they think saving points is a sure fire way to achieve it? If you wait 10, 15 or even 20 years to draw that coveted tag you will have no experience elk hunting and be clueless. Therefore you might as well hire a guide if it's gonna be one of your only opportunities. Not trying to bust your chops just trying to make you think about it a little. You can go to Colorado every year and chase elk with over the counter tags, then start saving points for those "quality" tags. That way when you get there, you've actually got some knowledge to fall back on and might actually tag out on that bull of your dreams. Good luck!
kentuckyhunter
Member
Following up on don k and cohi do you think there is much difference in an otc Colorado tag compared to a 2-3 point Colorado tag? Especially for those who can't scout and are unfamiliar with the areas? Is it that the hunting pressure is a little less?
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coloradoshedhead
Active Member
Following up on don k and cohi do you think there is much difference in an otc Colorado tag compared to a 2-3 point Colorado tag? Especially for those who can't scout and are unfamiliar with the areas? Is it that the hunting pressure is a little less?
/QUOTE]
The hunting pressure is probably the biggest difference. Also the scouting is a big deal too. A guy needs to put some boot leather on the ground and spend some time behind a scope in the unit he's hunting to really learn an area and pattern an animals movements.
My vote would be elk hunt Colorado. With plenty of otc chances and the quantity of elk in the state you can do even just a little bit of research and be in elk(i.e. The Flat Tops) Although just like mentioned before some of the seasons can get pretty crowded so time spent in the unit helps to find the best strategy.
I'm probably a little biased with my choice but numbers don't lie.
Good Luck!
NDHunter
Veteran member
How often do you plan on hunting? Every year? Every other year? So far you've gotten some very good advice here.
Thanks everyone for their response, it sounds like the only thing that is holding me back is my budget! To provide more info: I really don't care about size and would be fine gaining experience using cow tags. Because of my budget, vacation time and family commitments, elk is not something I could do on the regular. I would be looking to go unguided, so that would rule out wilderness areas in WY.
I'm just starting to think about elk, so I wanted to get some opinions on states to check out.
Thanks again!
I'm just starting to think about elk, so I wanted to get some opinions on states to check out.
Thanks again!
Well I think you have all the state suggestions you need. There are some gems in the info you have been given. Consider this, Elk use the land differently than deer for the most part. There may be equal numbers in a given area, but all the Elk may be concentrated in a few spots, and then suddenly gone from those and many miles away in new spots. The further from roads you are, the less their mobility is an issue. They often travel in much larger herds and can flat cover country.
So my point, finding and area is relatively easy, learning an area is probably more important. If you can only get out to your area
once every three years, with Google earth and the like, you can become very skilled in that area in very few trips. If scouting is not an option, you scout when you hunt. Say you picked CO, done your research and have three drainages you have targeted. You will know if Elk are there quickly by reading their spoor, you can relo within reason to option 2 or 3 If needed. While I was learning the areas I go back to, I usually forced myself to look at a new spot, which was not on my radar as among the top 3, scout/hunting it the first or last day, regardless of my hunt outcome. I used the last day for this most times. Just some thoughts around tactics that
have worked for me. Have fun with it.
So my point, finding and area is relatively easy, learning an area is probably more important. If you can only get out to your area
once every three years, with Google earth and the like, you can become very skilled in that area in very few trips. If scouting is not an option, you scout when you hunt. Say you picked CO, done your research and have three drainages you have targeted. You will know if Elk are there quickly by reading their spoor, you can relo within reason to option 2 or 3 If needed. While I was learning the areas I go back to, I usually forced myself to look at a new spot, which was not on my radar as among the top 3, scout/hunting it the first or last day, regardless of my hunt outcome. I used the last day for this most times. Just some thoughts around tactics that
have worked for me. Have fun with it.
woodtick
Veteran member
Looking back on where I stand in the points game, I'd highly suggest to develope when you want to go hunting look through CO and WY to see what tags have taken X amount of points to draw and start working from there. If you don't draw the year you were planning on look at ID and MT to pick up OTC general tags and just go hunting. As much work as we put into this points game good be better utilized in scouting and talkin on the phone with biologist and land managers from the USFS and BLM. Just my thought, the points game is crap to start now unless you find units you could hunt in 3-6 years.
Iron Mike
Active Member
I agree, nothing out here but tree huggers, bunny lovers, hipsters and wolves.Please keep spreading the word to avoid Oregon
Iron Mike
Active Member
missjordan
Veteran member
I'm a mt resident close to your age, so naturally I put in for my home state. I'm buying points for wyoming and Utah. My next addition may be Colorado or Nevada. Utah is fairly cheaper to put in/ buy points for which is what grabbed my attention. But with me I'll be graduating college this spring and by next year should be able to add another state to my list.
Nice. I'm hoping to hunt in a few years, so I will likely be looking for areas that have a pretty good chance of drawing with 1-3. Great advice from everyone responding here. Thanks!
woodtick
Veteran member
I think you've got a great game plan!!! I think a lot of people don't understand this points game crap and they are starting into it now, will end up getting sucked into it for life and never get anything out of it!!!!!
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