I don't have nearly as much experience with elk hunting as most of the other members here, but having been in your shoes recently myself I can give you my perspective on what helped me the most as a newbie. When selecting a state, my primary factors were cost and availability (how easy was it to get where I needed to go). For me, that ended up being Colorado due to the cheap flights from Baltimore to Denver, the immense amount of public land in a few hours distance, and the low price of OTC tags. Regarding your question for tag availability, there are 5 states that offer OTC, and several of those also offer very good draw odds with no preference points. Once I selected a state, then came the headache of learning the ins and outs of the licensing system for that state. I knew I would only be able to buy from the leftover list or OTC, due to my late start on planning. If you can enter the lottery, there are several states (including CO) with very high draw rates with no points for 1st rifle at the beginning of October. There are tons of resources available to learning the draw systems, but I took the easy way out and called a hunt planner. For Colorado, CPW has a free hotline for hunt planning. There are other resources for hunt planning as well, usually for a fee such as Eastman's MRS, Cabela's TAGS and others. Once you have selected your state, and your tag (which also means choosing a weapon), the next step I would take is combing through the harvest data for your season and weapon. This can be daunting, and again, this is just what worked for me. Don't take any of this to the bank lol. I figured being a newbie, I would go by the principal of "elk aren't where you find them, but where they have been found already" I am probably going to get crucified for saying that, since truly you can find elk many many places with the right skillset. But for me, an absolute beginner, I figured I would narrow the list down to units that had high harvest numbers. This also means high numbers of other hunters, so I chose units that had about 80% of the max number of hunters on the list AND high harvest totals. There is a lot more that goes into picking a unit, so if you have questions on my very beginner style of picking one feel free to pm me. Once a unit is selected, comes the real work of deciding what areas to hunt, how to access them ect ect for which there are IMMENSE resources available. There are some really great youtube videos on e-scouting (an out of stater's best friend), as well as powerful mapping tools and tons of forums to read. If you want some recommendations that I found helpful, pm me anytime (especially about CO). Elk hunting from out of state is super daunting, but with the help of the online resources, hunt planners, and knowledgable members on forums like this one you should be pointed in the right direction. I put some links below as well. Hit me up if you want more information on how an eastern deer hunter approached hunting elk for the first time in 2017. Good luck, looking forward to hearing about your trip!
Start hunting elk in 2023 without winning the lottery. Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Utah & Washington have general elk licenses you can buy over the counter.
www.backcountrychronicles.com
Do-it-yourself big game hunting and backcountry adventures Dedicated faith, family and pursuing the western dream.
treelinepursuits.com
Colorado Parks and Wildlife is a nationally recognized leader in conservation, outdoor recreation and wildlife management. The agency manages 42 state parks, all of Colorado's wildlife, more than 300 state wildlife areas and a host of recreational programs. CPW issues hunting and fishing...
cpw.state.co.us
State Deadlines: UTAH – Elk, Deer, Antelope, Moose, Sheep, Goat, Bison – 3/3/22 NEW MEXICO – All Species – 3/16/22 WYOMING – Bison – 3/31/22 MONTANA – Elk, Deer, Big Game Combo – 4/1/22 COLORADO – All Species – 4/5/22 Helping you Draw the Tag of a Lifetime How WTA TAGS Works 1. Pick your […]
worldwidetrophyadventures.com
The Member’s Research Section, in the back of every subscriber issue of Eastmans’ Hunting Journals o
blog.eastmans.com