Looking for Elk Outfitter - Recommendations

[radical1911]

Buddy and I are taking the plunge to go Elk Hunting....

Pre cursor, haven't done a big search on this.... If anyone has 1st hand experience with an Outfitter they recommend, would definitely take some advice or searching the internet and looking at Facebook all the time...

Appreciate any Help!!!

 

[mahlv]

If you're looking in Nevada, Timberline Outfitters

 

[Jgunner]

Do you have a state and unit or are you looking for a pay to kill ranch?

 

[radical1911]

Do you have a state and unit or are you looking for a pay to kill ranch?

Completely green here looking for advice and trying not to spend $10-15K...

 

[Shootinsurveyor]

Any good operation in the area(Montana) I've been was 10K and up for a great experience(from what I've been told). From what I've been told anything lower and its hit or miss. I've gone DIY in Montana for a couple of years and its a great time. My friends who go to Wyoming all had great hunts at around 8-10K. And that's why I go DIY. Just what I've heard from people who have done it.

 

[eca7891]

I went down this path a couple of years back. The overwhelming response I got was to NOT to go with an outfitter but a dyi hunt on public land.

In the end I went off on my own and did a public land hunt int the big horn mountains in Wyoming.

With the money I saved I went out a month before season with my family and camped for a week. Went hiking with one of my daughters quite a bit. Went solo one morning and got so close to a group of elk that I could hear them breathing and smell them. I got a video of that.

A friend went with me on my hunt a month later to help me out if I got one. We saw….. a few hundred elk? Filled my tag on the third day of the season. We were so close to the group of elk I shot mine out of that my buddy was worried we would get stepped on. We watched them for about 45 min after the shot. Saw a big bull totally trash a pine tree and saw a couple bugle. Awesome time.

Best of luck you whatever direction you go in.

We always wondered why we didn’t see anyone hunt the evening while we were there. If you are lucky enough to get one you will know why.

 

[Hobo Hilton]

eca7891 gave you sound advice....​

I am in Montana.... I'll try to sum it up in a line or two............ Use your money to extend your stay as long as possible.
# 1 - Weather is a crap shoot. A short, expensive trip and you may hit the worst weather imaginable and see perfect days on your way home.
# 2 - A 20 minute conversation with a seasoned hunter, face to face, will tell you more than weeks of scouring the Internet.
# 3 - The local's "Hunt Big Game" year round... Mostly without a weapon. They bed down herds, know when the weather will move the herd, etc....
# 4 - Sleep in a tent, eat hot dogs, meet the real people....

JMHO

Edit:
Photos are of the Bitterroot Rvier at 9am this morning..... Always bring fishing gear. Again, a weather thing.

 

[powdahound76]

Spend the money on learning, planning, and some gear. YOu dont need all the lame shit some folks say. you do need some stuff that isnt normal for whitetail hunting out of a blind or stand.

I will say some stuff I believe is non-negotiable in the mountains. happy to shoot a list if you want. I spend A LOT of time in the high mountains of CO, not all hunting, and being active, so have a good idea what works for clothes, boots, packs.

I have a buddy who pays for a guided hunt every year in WY. Great guy, one of my best friends.
He just isnt the guy to plan and go on his own and he is more attached to shooting one and having the meat than the experience of hunting in the mountains for a week.
Not my cup of tea.
2 other guys I consider friends both went on guided hunts in CO this year. AA reports did not sound like they were happy and will do a DIY in the future.

Thorough gear research and great fitness are the key.

My $0.02 and worth what you paid...

ETA: I dont love hotdogs so I eat freeze dry dinners and cruise on snacks all day. I do camp in a tent and stay in and hunt areas where I dont have to drive if at all possible. Im the king of coffee in the vestibule at 15F and 0500!

 

[radical1911]

Spend the money on learning, planning, and some gear. YOu dont need all the lame shit some folks say. you do need some stuff that isnt normal for whitetail hunting out of a blind or stand.

I will say some stuff I believe is non-negotiable in the mountains. happy to shoot a list if you want. I spend A LOT of time in the high mountains of CO, not all hunting, and being active, so have a good idea what works for clothes, boots, packs.

I have a buddy who pays for a guided hunt every year in WY. Great guy, one of my best friends.
He just isnt the guy to plan and go on his own and he is more attached to shooting one and having the meat than the experience of hunting in the mountains for a week.
Not my cup of tea.
2 other guys I consider friends both went on guided hunts in CO this year. AA reports did not sound like they were happy and will do a DIY in the future.

Thorough gear research and great fitness are the key.

My $0.02 and worth what you paid...

ETA: I dont love hotdogs so I eat freeze dry dinners and cruise on snacks all day. I do camp in a tent and stay in and hunt areas where I dont have to drive if at all possible. Im the king of coffee in the vestibule at 15F and 0500!

PM Coming to you

 

[radical1911]

Thanks All...

Hunting in the western part of the US is not my thing since I predominately hunt whitetails from treestands. The DIY sounds like a blast but my work obligations owning my own business will not allow me or my hunting partner in the same boat to be gone that long...

thanks a ton

 

[mmcmah]

PM coming your way as well.

 

[shields shtr]

In MT, the public land success ratio is dismal. I think it is like 2% or something. If you want to see a shit ton of elk, have a chance at a good bull, walk away with a critter, you gotta pony up some dough. Montana Hunting Company hunts some of the most premier elk country in North America. I would never pay (I am a resident, have a solid 25-30 years of hunting elk under my belt, and have a shit ton of spots garnered over years of hunting elk, public and private). But if I was gonna do it one time, that is who I would go with.

"Bargain Shopping" for Outfitters is a real slippery slope. One of the ranches I hunt is bordered on all sides by 2 different outfitters. I have been hunting this place for 20 years. One outfitters "hunt" is they drive to the exact same spot every morning and evening and hope and pray and elk walks out within shooting range. If a miracle occurs and an elk does present itself, it is most often a clusterfuck of magnificent proportions when they try and chase them down in jeeps. Fucking embarrassing. The other guy does a little better job, but they use side by sides all the time and they scare a shit ton of elk away that they never see because they are too lazy to walk.

I would squirrel away 10-20k and just go big time.

 

[shields shtr]

We always wondered why we didn’t see anyone hunt the evening while we were there. If you are lucky enough to get one you will know why.

I have packed more elk out in the dark than I can count. Many times with the hair on the back of my neck standing straight up because I saw those tracks with the really long claws on the same trajectory as me...

If you aren't hunting the evenings for elk you are not an elk hunter.

 

[powdahound76]

You stay hunting till you cant see ANYTHING.

mighta told a guy this exact thing this year. Have shot more deer in the last 10 min of shooting light than the rest combined.

Saw a ton of bear tracks this year during rifle in CO. 4 seperate ones in 1 day for sure.
Loved that area during archery as it was freaking empty of hunters (and saw a 300 lb black bear), might see about going back just for a bear!!

 

[Jgunner]

Completely green here looking for advice and trying not to spend $10-15K...

So if you only have a rifle and no other equipment i would try new mexico OR utah. I know 2 guys that hunt non resident in utah. I hear new mexico is pretty decent however I don’t know anyone(i have a small circle) who hunts it.

Colorado you can buy a tag for $680 and hope for the best. Lets you hunt most units. Just not the trophy units. This is a bull tag.

 

[OREGUN]

Www.Lakecityoutfitters.com

Get yourself connected with Caleb Conner.

 

[Just Chuck]

I've been on outfitted hunts (archery) with Action Adventures in Colorado. Good camp, food, horses, people. You can trust them. I got a 5x6 bull in '08.

 

[ZiaHunter]

So if you only have a rifle and no other equipment i would try new mexico OR utah. I know 2 guys that hunt non resident in utah. I hear new mexico is pretty decent however I don’t know anyone(i have a small circle) who hunts it.

Colorado you can buy a tag for $680 and hope for the best. Lets you hunt most units. Just not the trophy units. This is a bull tag.

The elk hunting in New Mexico sucks and best to try another state. Disclaimer NM resident who hasn't drawn an elk tag in seven years

 

[Jgunner]

The elk hunting in New Mexico sucks and best to try another state. Disclaimer NM resident who hasn't drawn an elk tag in seven years

The ranches get tags. You can buy your way in. Of course this is second hand info from a guy I don’t know that we were talking to. But he said he does it every year.

 

[ZiaHunter]

The ranches get tags. You can buy your way in. Of course this is second hand info from a guy I don’t know that we were talking to. But he said he does it every year.

We used to buy ranch tags for a unit in the GIla but the cost has gotten ridiculous with outfitters buying most of them. 50% of elk tags go to ranchers of which approx 85% are sold to non-residents. We used to draw tags every year but with all the outdoor shows raving about NM elk hunting tags are becoming like unicorns. I am not about to pay 12k to 15k for a tag.

 

[davsco]

Elk Catalog 2022

Joomag digital interactive publication

viewer.joomag.com

i get lotsa emails from these guys. looks like they have decent hunts but i have zero experience with them.