Need elk advice

[cbd10pt]

My brother and I would like to go hunt elk in New Mexico, Texas or Colorado.Free range
We are fairly fit, and agile.
Neither of us care to harvest a big bull. A cow would actually be our preference.
We prefer an archery hunt early in the season.
We would like to keep total budget at $2500 for both including travel.

Any advice on were to go?

[RiverRat1]

For $2500 would most likely need to be DIY o public lands. And good luck getting anyone to post their honey hole. They're super hard to find now and just one hunter can screw them up.

I'd say plan a long camping trip. Get maps and try to walk in as far and as high as possible. Stay away, far away, from other hunters and hunt peaks where most hunters can't get to. That's the best chance IMO to walk right into a herd of cow elk you didn't even know were close by.

[BULL21]

Look up Innofthemountaingods.com and pull up outdoors. It's the Mescalero reservation and you have to apply but it's only about $600 for a cow. They have massive bulls but are $14.5k. I don't know about bow hunting though.

[TxArcheo]

we DIY rifle in colorado and do it on the cheap and typically spend ca. $1000-$1500 a piece...includes food, gas, license (OTC Bull). But we have invested a lot on equipment over the years. We haven't put in for a cow tag in many years so not a lot of help there but i do know the units we hunt the cow tags need to be drawn.

I strongly encourage you to do it....it's a lot of fun!

[texashunter56]

Contact the Longfellow Ranch in West Texas. Huge ranch with a lot Elk. Not sure if they do bowhunting but they do Cow Elk hunts starting Sept. 1st. http://www.longfellowranch.com/hunting

[cbd10pt]

I emailed Longfellow
I' ve seen land owner tags on Craigslist new mexico for around 500.
Surely there are some cow hunts at reasonable prices in areas were #s need to be reduced

[ladrones]

I emailed Longfellow
I' ve seen land owner tags on Craigslist new mexico for around 500.
Surely there are some cow hunts at reasonable prices in areas were #s need to be reduced

I paid 450 for my cow tag. I would not pay over 500. I think anywhere from 250-500 is a decent price.

[cbd10pt]

I paid 450 for my cow tag. I would not pay over 500. I think anywhere from 250-500 is a decent price.

How did it work out for you?

Do you still have access to this area

[basschump]

Non-residents cannot apply for cow tags in New Mexico. Non-residents can obtain two types of landowner vouchers. One is Unit Wide and can be used on public land during the cow season with draw hunters. The other is Ranch Only- and can only be used on the assigned ranch. NM has a program called e-plus that's lists all the tags available/owners by unit. Do your homework- some are really small


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[basschump]

I did a unit wide hunt near taos a couple of years ago. Rewarding- but tough hunting on public land. Tons of road hunters.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bowhuntamistad]

Nevada has NR cow and bull tags. Prices aren't too bad for cows, bulls are pricey if drawn.

[TexasHunter83]

If you don't have all of the equipment, I would suggest tagging along with a group that already goes on DIY trips to NM or CO. You can spend between $1,000-$1,500 on a full week of hunting and camping. This cost includes the tag, gas, food, etc... If you go with someone that already has all of the gear (tents, stoves, etc...) it will save you the cost on your first trip and you will learn what you need to get for the next trip. This last year a OTC Bull Elk in CO was $616 + a habitat stamp (which is like $13 I think). I head to CO every other year to hunt mule deer and now that I have all of the equipment, I spend between about $800-$1,000 on a full week of hunting and camping.

[ladrones]

How did it work out for you?

Do you still have access to this area

I head out the end of this month to the ranch.

[hooligan]

Tagging this. THribjing of doing an otc hunt next year instead of renewing the lease

[txjustin]

My brother and I are gonna do a DIY Idaho hunt this year