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School me on OTC elk hunting

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    #31
    Originally posted by Shurshot View Post
    So has anyone on here done a hunt like this without going with someone who has been before?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Yes, in several states. I hunt elk, mulies, bear and Pronghorn every year out west. Had some great success years, some expensive tag sandwich years and a ton of adventures that I wouldn’t trade for anything

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      #32
      Originally posted by JustinJ View Post
      Would be useful to go on a guided hunt first to get your feet wet, but not a dang thing wrong with DIY OTC to start. Thats how I started. I'd suggest Colorado because there are a ton of OTC tags and areas to hunt. IF you're going archery, the tags are either sex, so you dont have to limit yourself to a cow or bull.

      A quick how to;

      1. Find a general area to hunt (lots of units in Colorado). Colorado Big game booklet
      Go to pg. 35 and you can see all the units that have OTC tags. You can throw a dart and pick one, or do some online research on units. Picking a unit west of I25 is better due to private land. Using Gohunt will also help you narrow down a unit.

      2. Find spots using google earth within the unit. Plenty of info online about how to do this, but to sum it up, Look for cover, feed and water and a lack of roads. Randy Newberg has a good video on e-scouting.

      3. Decide on basecamp or backcountry hunt. I'd start with a basecamp and spike camp if you get into elk. Basecamp can be as fancy or bare bones as you want. Camping in Colorado is not much different than camping anywhere else. A cot and cot pad with a good warm sleeping bag is a big plus as good sleep helps you hunt harder. Other than that, its just camping for a week.

      4. Hike your *** off starting now. The better shape you are in the more ground you can cover. The more ground you can cover the better your chances of killing an elk. That's not to say you just need to hike all day to find elk, as you can and will blow them out. But if you hear or see elk far off, being in good shape will pay huge dividends.

      5. Start watching youtube videos and listening to podcasts about hunting elk. Calling, scouting, techniques, etc is all much different than hunting in Texas.

      6. Go hunt. Remember to enjoy the hunt whether or not you kill. Success rates hover around 10%, so dont go thinking the only way to have a good time is to kill. Its gorgeous country and chasing elk is like nothing else


      Hope this helps!


      Thanks!


      Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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        #33
        1) Go with someone that has been to the mountains befire, it helps.
        2) Get in great shape.
        3) Don't think you have to pack in miles. Elk are where they are, use the crowd to your advantage. It's big country but people are predictable.
        4) Pace yourself, enjoy the trip.
        5) Learn a little every year. You can take 5 or 6 trips for what one good guided trip costs.
        6) Start rat holing elk money, one trip will turn into an addiction.

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          #34
          Originally posted by Shurshot View Post
          So has anyone on here done a hunt like this without going with someone who has been before?


          Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


          I went by myself 6 years ago, everything I'm telling you I'm also telling myself from 6 years ago. I bit off a few mouthfuls and wasn't ready. It's a blast and you will be hooked just waking up in that country

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            #35
            Copied/pasted my experience I posted on another forum:


            gatorgrizz27
            Registered User

            Join Date: Jul 2005
            Member # 50525
            Location: Tallahassee, FL
            Posts: 2,576
            Alright, here’s my experience from my first elk hunt the other week, which was also my first western and backpack hunt. We were in a CO OTC unit, I drew a muzzleloader cow tag with 0 points, but the other 3 guys in the trip just bought OTC archery tags.

            The pieces of advice you’ll hear repeated over and over again are pretty much true, including:

            “You can’t be in good enough shape.”

            “The elk are where you find them.”

            “Shoot the first legal elk you see.”

            “You’ll never beat elk’s nose, watch the wind constantly.”

            “Your boots/feet are your most important equipment.”

            We backpacked in 5 miles and set up a small camp that we hunted out of. There were elk closer to the truck than that, but we killed a bull another mile and a half further in also. I spent a lot of time getting my gear dialed in and at showed. I used everything I took and didn’t need anything else. You don’t need top notch gear to hunt, but having lightweight stuff that keeps you comfortable and you aren’t messing with constantly allows you to stay out longer and focus on hunting. I do wish I had gotten it figured out over the winter when I could test stuff in colder temps. I was doing it in the spring/summer so I was guessing on what gear would be sufficient, and was a bit over-prepared for the cold in case it dropped more than expected.

            I started hiking with a 45 lb pack in January 1-2 times per week and had no issues other than acclimating to the altitude the first 2 days. One of the guys on the trip took the “tough it out” approach but was much slower and another guy barely ended up hunting due to being out of shape. It is important to be able to go where the elk are, you pretty much get one shot if you’re lucky. If you ***** and moan about climbing for 2 1/2 hours you might not get that one opportunity.

            I didn’t spend enough time figuring out how to actually hunt the elk, it took a couple days. We glassed 20 cows from behind camp the first night and went up to shoot one in the morning. They had a 5x5 with them that came into bow range with my buddy there, so I told him to take the opportunity as it probably wasn’t going to happen again. He killed him and it took us all day to get it quartered and the meat back to camp, then a day and a half to pack it out to the truck. I didn’t have another chance at one until the second to last day where I missed a head shot on a bedded cow. We put too much emphasis on calling which wasn’t working, and we knew they were in the dark timber but it’s really hard to move quietly, so you just end up bumping them before you have a chance to get a shot. What I finally found worked the best was finding fresh sign in the timber and then getting on a trail and slipping through it super slow, stopping and glassing every few steps.

            There’s a lot more info and small tidbits of stuff I learned, but I don’t want to hijack the whole thread.

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              #36
              The guys who are successful out west on Public land are the guys who become consumed.. They are to stupid to quit.. I would say you have a <10% chance of even seeing an elk your first trip.. If you do its either because you truly prepared or got lucky..

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                #37
                I’ve been lucky enough to hunt with a friend around Taos for the past 3 seasons. I’ve filled my tags with him on all three hunts. Without his knowledge- I would have had less that 20% chance of success. I shot the first legal elk, deer, elk I saw.

                It takes time to hunt out west. Plan for travel and scouting. Many of us are used to jumping in the truck and hunting that afternoon. A two day trip up and back, on top of six plus days of hunting eats up a lot of vacation.

                Elk (and some deer) are big. Packing meat on your back in steep terrain is hard work. This isn’t just drive up and load the animal. Guys on this forum aren’t kidding when they say they worked all day butchering and packing an animal.

                Read the OTC statistics in Colorado- low term for most units.




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                  #38
                  Originally posted by Spearchunker View Post
                  I dont mean to hi jack, but might help us both kinda question.

                  I have access to private land that backs up to public Gila National Forest. Can the NM land owner give me tags without me drawing? Or do I have to draw regardless?

                  He sends me pics of huge Elk in his yard. It's in NM unit 16 B.

                  I tried looking on line and it was confusing to me lol
                  Sounds like you, Dan, and I need to get together and go hunt some elk. Planning to go next year.

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                    #39
                    Read this thread:

                    Walks through the entire process of JT's NM hunt: strategy for getting tags, gear, hunting tactics, great hunt story!

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                      #40
                      In, thanks guys.


                      Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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                        #41
                        I havent seen it mentioned yet...toprut is a good quick place to get draw odds and success rates for a unit you are looking into.

                        NM is draw only but if you get a tag its going to be a much easier hunt than CO OTC would be. You have to front the money for a tag when you apply but you get all but a few dollars back if you dont draw. Deadline for NM is in March and CO is in April.
                        Last edited by Felix40; 10-01-2018, 09:51 PM.

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                          #42
                          Forget the hunt I just want to camp like that!!!
                          Beautiful
                          Originally posted by jaker_cc View Post
                          Oh my sweet baby Jesus!! Camp, as far in and as far away from people as you can get. It's not a leisurely stroll in the woods, it's busting your butt super early and hiking back to camp way after dark. Driving to a hotel would be a waste of time for sure. Be as light and mobile as you can in my opinion. It's one of those things that beats you down physically to the point where when it's over you are ready to go home, but as soon as you get a couple of days of rest you can't wait to do it again. And again, and again. Please don't think you will be able to drive up to a trailhead from the hotel, jump out and be all alone, hike up the trail and shoot an elk. These things get pressured and are educated in the ways of flatlander.

                          Sent from my LM-X210CMR using Tapatalk

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                            #43
                            Originally posted by JTeLarkin08 View Post
                            The guys who are successful out west on Public land are the guys who become consumed.. They are to stupid to quit.. I would say you have a <10% chance of even seeing an elk your first trip.. If you do its either because you truly prepared or got lucky..
                            No truer a statement has been said on TBH.

                            The vast majority of Western hunters are your typical road hunter/weekend warrior that hope they stumble into game. The guys that do their work and get back in there are the ones pulling the game out. It takes a lot of work and dedication to be successful, especially on elk...or a lot of luck.

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                              #44
                              Man I'm glad I'm not Road Hunter.
                              Just never seen the appeal I've sent it on a road looking 3 for 500 yards in either direction and waiting for something to cross.

                              Originally posted by Bowhuntamistad View Post
                              No truer a statement has been said on TBH.

                              The vast majority of Western hunters are your typical road hunter/weekend warrior that hope they stumble into game. The guys that do their work and get back in there are the ones pulling the game out. It takes a lot of work and dedication to be successful, especially on elk...or a lot of luck.
                              Sent from my LM-X210CMR using Tapatalk

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                                #45
                                Elk101.com

                                Then the 900 page Elk thread on here.

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