doit yourself elk hunt

[B-DOG]

me and a couple of old friends of mine. all archery hunters have decide to do a doit yoursef elk hunt. we can surely afford a inexensice guided trip but we are goig at alone. with losts of advise ovcourse. we were think newmexico and i thing the draw has to be in by april. can we put all 4 for the same group. all or none?

 like to know what to take , we'll be in tents. posiblpy a small popup camper. we canp a lot so some help one the stuff we may need out there, we are fron south carolina. what will the weather be like in sep.  what about the timber open, dence or medows.? also do you guys carry side arms and is it legal how long of shots shoud i be repared for

                         thanks benji

[Gene Roberts]

No idea

[Gehrke145]

do colorado lots of OTC areas and tons of elk.

[rappstar]

go to colorado...

[rtherber]

I travel thru Unit#52 New Mexico when heading to Colorado. It would be my choice unless I could hunt the Gila wilderness area. Talking to a couple of Texas hunters in Colorado last year that hunted #52 they said its status had dropped from "Quality" area so a first year draw would be feasible. They ended up in Colorado last year because they failed to apply for the area,thinking it would take 2 years to get drawn. AFTER the drawing deadline, they noticed Area #52 had been changed and they could have gotten drawn. They went home without even seeing elk while in Colorado. I BET THEY APPLIED BACK IN NEW MEXICO THE NEXT YEAR.

[rtherber]

A friend guides on 75,000 acres in Unit #52 so I stopped coming home last year and took a few pics of the area. Here is an idea of what the terrain looks like. This is between Chama and Tres Piedres.  

[rtherber]

Another pic of the area.-
 

[LV2HUNT]

New Mexico is draw and a tough one at that. As others said you can do over the counter in Colorado. If you can get in New Mexico all the below still applies.

I would highly recommend you guys getting a drop camp somewhere from a reputable and recommended outfitter. Preferably and hopefully they will provide wall tents. It will also allow you to put miles in between you and a lot of other hunters. Even more importantly it will give you access to horses for meat recovery. You better book now if you want a good outfitter for next year.

In terms of weather be prepared for any conditions, literally. It can go from 85 and sunny to 32 and snowing in no time flat. I was fishing on the fourth of July in a snow storm years ago in Colorado. I do not mean flurries either, I mean 6-8 inches after I started the day in a t-shirt!

Make sure your clothing will cover that spread as well. Lightweight stuff for warm weather and the full complement of wool or poly fleece for cold weather.

In terms of terrain, it will be all of the above, open and dense timber, meadows, steeps, and everything else in between.

You do not need sidearms and the shot distances should be inside of your maximum effective range. You can get closer to Elk than you can a wired SC whitetail.

Buy and bring a good 20 degree or less sleeping bag preferably polarguard or other synthetic that will insulate when wet. Bring a well broken in pair of boots and be in the best shape of your life.

Enjoy!

[R.W.]

Make sure you have GOOD BOOTS. Ankle support is a good thing, when you are up and down mountain sides, or "side hill gouging."

If you have wool clothes, bring them. It is quiet as you move through brush, and will keep you warm when wet.

If you do go for a drop camp, you will be way ahead of the game.

And if you can swing it, one of those Peets boot dryers (propane) is just the cats meow. Nothing nicer than warm, DRY BOOTS every morning!

[Whip]

I think it actually swithces back and forth in some units in NM, and the chances of drawing go up and down with it.  The price of tags, and the number of people applying for them, are determined based on what happened with applications in the prior years draw applications.

When the price is lower demand goes up, so the following year it becomes a high demand unit with a high priced tag.  The next year people looking for which unit to apply for go with a lower price unit, and demand goes back down again, so the year after that the price is back down.  Confused yet?  Welcome to applying in New Mexico!
Of course, in the really good units the demand is always high, so the price of tags stays up in those areas.

[John McCreary]

We hunt Colorado Unit 33. Draw only area and getting a bit too people populated as of late but there are elk there and a few big'uns. I've learned to down size. The first year I brought every peice of camo I owned and three pair of boots. This year, I may not even bring camo just wool, plaids being best. Bring three complete sets of clothes, rain gear and a heavy coat. You can leave camp at 4 am with clear skys and a touch of frost. By 10 it could be 70 and sunny. By 2 pm you could see snow and be caught in an ice storm. The weather changes that fast. Forget the bugle , especially if you hunt public ground. The elk get call shy fast and the bugle is the most over used call of all. Learn to use your diapham calls making mews, calf and content cow calls. A hot cow call, though over done by most, can still be effective. Bring a couple of knives, a steel, a good pack saw { I use a wyoming saw}, elk sized game bags, and a sturdy pack frame.Its amazing how hard some folks prepare to kill an elk but give little if any thought as to how to get him out once down. Most of all get, in shape!! Its something you have to experience to understand how tough packing a hundred pounds of elk down a mountain to camp,several times, at 8000 ft ccan be...

John

[rtherber]

Whip has it figured out. "High Demand" was the words I was trying to remember the Texans used, not "Quality". I've never hunted New Mexico because I like life simple and I can get an elk archery tag for certain areas of Colorado without all the hassle.(local Walmart) I go for the adventure and try to stay as long as I can,enjoying the cool mountains. IF I understood N.Mexico's regs right I would have to decide on "First two weeks of archery" OR "Second two weeks of archery" for my bow season. Well, I like going out to Colorado 2 weeks before archery season opens to escape our humid heat and staying until the archery season closes there  and then head back for TN's archery season opener. So N. Mexico is out for me.

[John C Keith]

I am thinking about an elk hunt in a few years.  Would like the do it yourself but the drop camp sounds like a good compromise.  

What would you estimate the cost of a drop camp? (we'll say the outfitter provides camp stuff, say for a week for 4 guys, Plus horse/mule help with meat.)

Thanks and Stay safe.

[ChuckC]

John,  if you have the gear, doing it yourself is not a problem at all.  Just do some homework.  Everything you need to make a good choice is available via the web.

You don't HAVE to go back in there 5 miles and frankly,  I watch all of the people going up the mountain drainage to get away from me, and all they are doing is .....getting away from me.  They can have it up there.  I see plenty down where I am.  The hard part is closing the deal.

Having a horse or mule to carry the elk out on might be pretty neat, but even that is not required.  Plenty of elk have been carried out on backpacks.
ChuckC

[Richie Nell]

John Keith....Without hesitation I would recommend talking with TBarM Outfitters in Durango, CO.  They do drop camps, and fully guided hunts.  I went this past September.  From the first morning on we were in the middle of bugling bulls (I killed a bull the third morning). There were no other hunters anywhere.  Over the counter license and real bonifide traditional bowhunting guides. Not rifle guides trying to guide a bowhunter.  

TBarM was recommended to me on this site.  I tried them and was very satisfied.  Not because I actually harvested an elk but because of their elk hunting work ethic from day 1 to day 7.  Unbelievable service for what you pay for.  Mostly repeat business as I have paid my deposit to go next year. TBarM, Mike Murphy's number is 970 259-5469 if interested.  I have no vested interest in recommending these guys other than I am a proponent of good word of mouth recommendatiions.  And this is one of them.

Richie

[amicus]

Ive hunted the Gila Wilderness 2 years in a row. If you get drawn all I can say is get in shape. I think without horses it would be pretty tuff. It is very beatiful and I love it there. Like John said the weather can change drastically. Be prepared for wet, cold and hot weather. Gilbert

[Interseptor]

Benji,
I have never been elk hunting but I hope to go someday.  Why don't you contact Mike Treadway , Treadway Longbows, in Marshall, North Carolina.  Mike went to Co. a couple of years ago on a do-it-yourself elk hunt and killed a bull.  He had some interesting insite on elk.  I just thought I would recomend you contacting him because he is kind of local and his elk story is a great one.

[elkbow]

b-dog,i would first try for a new mexico tag,i went in sept,the last week of archery,took a 300in 6by6,my buddy skinned the hair off a monster bull.anyway,you can always go to colorado if you don't draw,i've been to both states and after the end results,i'd definately go back to new mexico.a bunch of guys from where i work have been going to colorado for close to 10 years,they gave us their maps and all the info they had of unit 71 and there were elk there but there was also 2 hunters for every elk and they used every call they had all day long.unless you find a honey hole tucked away that noone else knows about chances are they are pressured.i don't mean to upset anyone but i would take my chances with a draw tag in new mexico first,if your interested i'll look up what unit we were in and give you everything down to the campsite where we were at,you can always go to colorado if you don't draw.

[elkbow]

i'm back,unit 36,south central part of state,white mountain wilderness area,draw tag-800.00,lots of huge bulls everyday/no other hunters spotted.well worth the money but a word to the wise,it cost me more to ship meat and head home than the hunt did,we were self guided also,i just had a little inside help picking the area.i would consider flying out and renting a vehicle to come back in though to eliminate the high cost of shipping,500.00 to ship head alone,had 6 coolers of meat at 70lbs each for 220.00 each shipping at 2 day,i don't remember where your from but with 4 of you guys together the expense of a rental is well worth the money if just one of you harvest an animal.i'd be more than willing to give you the detailed info on this area if your interested,i've been disappointed way to often by talking to wildlife officers via telephone about a certain area and they're assurance that the area was not overpressured and arrive there to find we needed to take a number to park.i'm just trying to save you a lot of dissapointment,elk has been my dream since childhood,iwasn't expecting to get lucky i was just looking for a realistic opportunity.i'm a believer in draw areas now,you get better quality animals and areas with a lot less pressure,and better quality hunt,i actually enjoyed every aspect to this hunt-if i didn't harvest an animal it was my fault,i couldn't blame someone else for bumping my bull or someone else for crowding me out of an area when they had the same money invested in the hunt that i did.sorry,i got emotional just let me know if your interested.

[B-DOG]

thanks for all the advise!

              b-dog