EXPERIENCED ELK HUNTERS...We need your help!!!

[Cootling]

Agreed with Montucky about Idaho.  North Idaho is my favorite place in the world to hunt elk... but a very hard area to learn on, as you won't get much feedback.  You can do everything right and see about the same number of elk as if you do everything wrong... but a guy who knows the ropes and does things right will probably get his one good chance... and that is all it takes.

[John Scifres]

You can hunt CO for under a grand if you drive with one other guy, stay one or two nights in a cheap motel and don't spend a ton on dining out.  Also, keep in mind any gear you might have to buy.  Even at that, you could get minimally geared out for less than $500 more, especially if you aren't a gearhead and watch Craigslist carefully.

[Silvertip Marc]

Thanks for all of the info guys!!! Keep it coming!  Grapes and I are already looking forward to the trip!!!

[montucky]

There are lots of great areas - great problem to have.  
One thing that is worth stressing and something that I tell myself every year...go all out, go to your dream spot, and set aside the time and resources to have the elk hunt that you will remember with fond memories.  The tricky thing about elk hunting is that it can be 20% hunting elk, and 80% logistics involved with overcoming terrain and finding the herd and packing out meat.  If you dont give yourself enough time and sort of baby yourself when you can...you can leave your elk hunt feeling broken and overwhelmed by the sheer amount of country and feel pysically torn down.  If you nail down a good general area, and get into a roadless part and take the time to hike and scout for several days on an almost liesurely scale...then give yourself several days on the back end to pack out and break camp - you will go home with great memories.  
Too many years, I have taken only a few days off work, got on my horse at O-dark-thirty and scrambled to high country, busted my ass all day and night, drenched with sweat, and come home, thrown the quarters on the kitchen floor and said, "Never again! that was my last elk hunt I swear"!  You can imagine what it was like without a horse. But when I took the time to hunt with good friends and set up a good camp and hunted for 7 days at least - it made the experience totally different and really amazing!  I guess what I am getting at is that elk hunting can be surprisingly brutal if you try and rush and/or try and go minimalist with your camp.  All I can say is DIY but go all in, set up a great camp, give yourself at least 7 days on site and have fun!  You will be thanking yourself when you have an elk down and realize it will take you three rigorous days to get the elk and camp back to the truck.
Still my favorite hunt was back home in my yankee hardwoods, taking a white-tail, dragging down the hill to my house just in time to have morning coffee with my lady...those were the days damn-it.

[HugeBull]

OK, I an a novice, only been once, but headed back in 2011.  Here's my 2 cents:

Spend the money for the right gear to do backcountry:
1)  You need a sleeping bag that'll keep you warm even if the temps are unseasonably cold (we nearly froze in front country in 2009).  There is a good chance of snow at elk elevations in Sept., and even if it doesn't dump enough to chase you down, it'll still be damn cold at night.
2) You also need to have the right gear to get you pack weight down to something you can manage.  Some UL backpackers can go a week on 25 lbs, but maybe 40 is a more reasonable goal for elk hunting.  Still mine was over 40 when I left home.  A good but light bag, shelter and pack will help you drop weight, but a pack that'll haul out elk quarters seems to be heavier than the same volume internal built for rec backpackers.  Personally, I'm still looking for the right bag, but the one I carried was not it.

Read everything you can on the subject, I got 4 new books for Xmas on elk hunting!  I'm near the end of Backcountry Bowhunting (C. Hanes) now.  Good book, but he is not my kinda bowhunter (wheels and horn porn . . .).  Lot's of good info on how he does it and hunting hard.  Also, it is clear from his book that they take long shots.  I do not expect to ever feel Ok about 50 yard shots, but every extra foot that you can shoot buys you more opportunities!

Don't give up and always be ready!  Oh, and never underestimate elk.  They can show up in some unexpected spots.  I nearly swalloed my toothbrush one a.m. when they were right across the meadow (about half a mile).  

Don't think of elk hunting like whitetails, think more like turkeys with much larger brains.  We were even using a decoy, but didn't have any luck with it. Like Elknut says in his book, turkey tactics can pay off if two hunters can work together, but you've gotta be at least 40 yards apart imo; some more experienced elk hunters say up to 100 yards.  Twice we were able to call a bull back to us but he locked up just outta sight.  If the shooter had been outta sight of the caller, he should have been closer to the bull and maybe w/in shooting distance.

Be prepared, but definitely go.  Oh, and live right so the gods will smile on you, especially the god of wind . . .

BTW, the tag in CO costs more than $500 and though you can hunt from a road for less, I figure a backcountry hunt will cost you about another grand in gear, unless you are already into winter camping in snow country!  But look at it this way, I've got a buddy that figures it is gonna cost $1000 to start any new hobby: kayaking, mtn biking, fly fishing, you name it!

Just my 2 cents.  

Hugh Bullock
Signal Mountain, TN
[email protected]