DIY Elk Hunt

I'd go back to your spot in Colorado. Don't leave elk to find them. Last year I was hunting a new area, and it had a lot of downfall but there was elk there. One of the guys in our group wanted to try a different spot that might not have so much downfall. We left and tried a different spot, and the downfall was worse and we didn't find elk.
 
This is where I am kind of caught up, because I feel like I do have a pretty good chance of killing something if I go back to the same area I was in Colorado, but it will probably be a raghorn. We saw one smaller 6x6 on private land last year, but all bulls we saw on public were young. The reason I am leaning towards Montana is that I feel like there’s a higher chance of finding a mature bull, but also realize I would be going in blind so may take several days to start to figure out and area and have the possibility of not finding an elk at all. I do have 8 points in Wyoming currently, so I am planning on going to a good unit in a few years there. Whether I go with an outfitter or not yet then I am not sure, but I have always enjoyed being able to do it myself and have killed several nice whitetails over the past years solo. Obviously not expecting to go in and kill a 320+ inch bull on public, but is it realistic to have an opportunity to kill a mature bull in a general or low point entry unit? Or am I better off just going in a killing the first legal animal I have an opportunity and using that knowledge to be more successful in better units later down the road?
If you have 8 point in Wyo, I would just focus on getting in as many elk as you can. Young ones are hard to kill with a bow, mature ones even harder. I'd focus on at-bats this year and burn your points for a big one if thats what you're after
 
If you haven't tagged an elk with your bow yet - I highly recommend doing that as part of your journey. You don't want to wait several seasons to finally get your shot at a big 6x6 and then it doesn't go as planned...you want to already be a seasoned vet when that opportunity arrives. Even for everything you learn after the shot. Elk are not like deer, they are hard to kill, harder to process in the field, harder to pack out and avoid high temps.

Good Luck!
 
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