DIY Planning Archery Elk Hunt - 2023?

[youngbuck96]

What's up everybody. I've finally decided to quit dreaming about a spot and stalk elk hunt and to make it happen. Elk have always been my #1 bucket list animal and I really want to do it during the rut with a bow. I've started doing some preliminary research into states, units, and tags, and man....its a lot! The first thing I'm trying to decide is which state and unit. I know limited draws and preference points might play a role in this, so I'm not locked into a 2023 date yet, could be later. As far as location, if it has elk, it's being considered. So far looks like CO and Idaho have lots of opportunities of OTC and limited draw with a few preference points.

If anyone has done a spot and stalk elk hunt before feel free to chime in with your experiences. This will be a completely new style of bowhunting for me and every little bit helps. I've done western style hunts before in Alaska for blacktail deer and caribou but that was with a rifle.

 

[Gerbdog]

If OTC is an option, and you have the funds, i'd just hit the ground running in 2022, Heck come up for rifle this year even, start building points, and dont wait to get the experience of elk hunting, there is a learning curve for sure and the first year will be eye opening, with or without a dead elk. Especially if you have never elk hunted before, i'd get some of the learning curve out of the way on OTC units and then when you get into a draw unit you'll be much more likely to fill the tag and you'll appreciate the draw unit compared to the OTC unit. 2023 is a long way away, like i said, if you can cut it for 2022 or sooner, i'd just jump into the deep end and hunt hard.

 

[youngbuck96]

If OTC is an option, and you have the funds, i'd just hit the ground running in 2022, Heck come up for rifle this year even, start building points, and dont wait to get the experience of elk hunting, there is a learning curve for sure and the first year will be eye opening, with or without a dead elk. Especially if you have never elk hunted before, i'd get some of the learning curve out of the way on OTC units and then when you get into a draw unit you'll be much more likely to fill the tag and you'll appreciate the draw unit compared to the OTC unit. 2023 is a long way away, like i said, if you can cut it for 2022 or sooner, i'd just jump into the deep end and hunt hard.

That is a great idea, I definitely would but I already have a big 2022 Alaska hunt planned around the same time frame. I've heard alot of hunters are staying away from the Colorado OTC units these days, too crowded too much pressure. What do you think about that? Ive heard even the easy to draw units are starting to fall off.

 

[Gerbdog]

That is a great idea, I definitely would but I already have a big 2022 Alaska hunt planned around the same time frame. I've heard alot of hunters are staying away from the Colorado OTC units these days, too crowded too much pressure. What do you think about that? Ive heard even the easy to draw units are starting to fall off.

Oh ya know... everyone should definitely stay away from CO OTC units.... definitely.... no elk anywhere, in the whole state....

Just noticed your new here, welcome to the forums! Hope the Alaska trip is awesome. As to the actual answer on OTC units in CO.... yea there are lots of hunters, but there are elk in there too. Work smarter AND harder then the camp next to you and you can find elk.... maybe..... well a lot dont... but that's where that learning curve comes in i mentioned above. Wish i had a better answer for you on CO OTC.... plenty of people are fed up with the hunting pressure in them... i saw people with dead elk this year in the OTC unit i hunt.... i FD my shot at a good elk myself.... but my experience is not the same as the overwhelming majorities experience with OTC CO hunts.... and the overwhelming majorities dont post on rokslide either. The stats speak for themselves, your looking at about a 10% success rate with archery elk.... and of those 10% ... well its the same dudes slaying elk every year..... only way your getting into that 10% consistently if your not a lucky SOB is just gonna be hard work, frustration, and gathering that experience with boots on the ground.

Goodness, what a rant.... posting and whiskey... get out there and hunt and you can get into that 10% and if you are a lucky SOB that learning curve can go faster

 

[youngbuck96]

Oh ya know... everyone should definitely stay away from CO OTC units.... definitely.... no elk anywhere, in the whole state....

Just noticed your new here, welcome to the forums! Hope the Alaska trip is awesome. As to the actual answer on OTC units in CO.... yea there are lots of hunters, but there are elk in there too. Work smarter AND harder then the camp next to you and you can find elk.... maybe..... well a lot dont... but that's where that learning curve comes in i mentioned above. Wish i had a better answer for you on CO OTC.... plenty of people are fed up with the hunting pressure in them... i saw people with dead elk this year in the OTC unit i hunt.... i FD my shot at a good elk myself.... but my experience is not the same as the overwhelming majorities experience with OTC CO hunts.... and the overwhelming majorities dont post on rokslide either. The stats speak for themselves, your looking at about a 10% success rate with archery elk.... and of those 10% ... well its the same dudes slaying elk every year..... only way your getting into that 10% consistently if your not a lucky SOB is just gonna be hard work, frustration, and gathering that experience with boots on the ground.

Goodness, what a rant.... posting and whiskey... get out there and hunt and you can get into that 10% and if you are a lucky SOB that learning curve can go faster

Thanks for the detailed reply. My buddy and I are going to send it next year OTC. I'm just going to work it around my Alaska trip. I figure if nothing else we will learn and have some memories. Then we can save the preference points towards another hunt later on. Will be a fun learning experience non-the-less.

 

[youngbuck96]

Anyone here live in Idaho I can messsage?

 

[cnelk]

Thanks for the detailed reply. My buddy and I are going to send it next year OTC. I'm just going to work it around my Alaska trip. I figure if nothing else we will learn and have some memories. Then we can save the preference points towards another hunt later on. Will be a fun learning experience non-the-less.

I hunted my OTC areas for the first 6 days of season - killed my cow on day 6. Drove home, put the quarters in a freezer, swapped gear for a day, flew to Alaska and moose hunted for a week. My buddy killed a moose.

Came home. Worked a couple days and then went back elk hunting with my son for 4 days.

Doable? Yep.

 

[trophyhill]

You have plenty of time if waiting for 2023. Why limit yourself to spot n stalk? Not saying there is anything wrong with that, just curious?

 

[youngbuck96]

I hunted my OTC areas for the first 6 days of season - killed my cow on day 6. Drove home, put the quarters in a freezer, swapped gear for a day, flew to Alaska and moose hunted for a week. My buddy killed a moose.

Came home. Worked a couple days and then went back elk hunting with my son for 4 days.

Doable? Yep.

Yes that it what we are going to do.

 

[youngbuck96]

You have plenty of time if waiting for 2023. Why limit yourself to spot n stalk? Not saying there is anything wrong with that, just curious?

I really just want to do an archery hunt during the rut, doesn't have to be spot and stalk.

 

[Highvoltage1]

Just spent 2 weeks in Colorado, never seen another hunter. This was our first otc elk hunt and We went 1/2 on bulls. Only bull we heard we killed. Only saw 1 other calf. This was our first otc archery hunt. Thankfully we were in shape because had we done nothing we would have left early. We spent hours researching online and e scouting, making calls and it was worth it. This is very doable but it’s a grind to say the least. When we rolled into the first unit and my buddy said “we’re hunting up there” I thought, we need rock climbing gear just to access. Lol if you want to archery elk hunt go for it but just know this much. In my honest opinion it’s the toughest hunt I’ve ever done. When you look at miles of public land and try to find 1 elk it’s overwhelming to say the least when you know physically it’s impossible to cover that much land. When the elk are not bugling it’s like a needle in a haystack. Best wishes to you!

 

[youngbuck96]

Just spent 2 weeks in Colorado, never seen another hunter. This was our first otc elk hunt and We went 1/2 on bulls. Only bull we heard we killed. Only saw 1 other calf. This was our first otc archery hunt. Thankfully we were in shape because had we done nothing we would have left early. We spent hours researching online and e scouting, making calls and it was worth it. This is very doable but it’s a grind to say the least. When we rolled into the first unit and my buddy said “we’re hunting up there” I thought, we need rock climbing gear just to access. Lol if you want to archery elk hunt go for it but just know this much. In my honest opinion it’s the toughest hunt I’ve ever done. When you look at miles of public land and try to find 1 elk it’s overwhelming to say the least when you know physically it’s impossible to cover that much land. When the elk are not bugling it’s like a needle in a haystack. Best wishes to you!

Thanks for the reply! Honestly thats the type of hunt we are looking for. If it aint tough we don't want it haha. We are looking at OTC in Idaho right now.

 

[Kwa_bena]

Oh ya know... everyone should definitely stay away from CO OTC units.... definitely.... no elk anywhere, in the whole state....

Just noticed your new here, welcome to the forums! Hope the Alaska trip is awesome. As to the actual answer on OTC units in CO.... yea there are lots of hunters, but there are elk in there too. Work smarter AND harder then the camp next to you and you can find elk.... maybe..... well a lot dont... but that's where that learning curve comes in i mentioned above. Wish i had a better answer for you on CO OTC.... plenty of people are fed up with the hunting pressure in them... i saw people with dead elk this year in the OTC unit i hunt.... i FD my shot at a good elk myself.... but my experience is not the same as the overwhelming majorities experience with OTC CO hunts.... and the overwhelming majorities dont post on rokslide either. The stats speak for themselves, your looking at about a 10% success rate with archery elk.... and of those 10% ... well its the same dudes slaying elk every year..... only way your getting into that 10% consistently if your not a lucky SOB is just gonna be hard work, frustration, and gathering that experience with boots on the ground.

Goodness, what a rant.... posting and whiskey... get out there and hunt and you can get into that 10% and if you are a lucky SOB that learning curve can go faster

That's why I'm just planning a scouting trip to a limited unit if I don't draw it next year. I'm just seeing it as hunting but with a camera. Even with that, the animals are getting bounced around with a rather small public area and the areas with mostly public land takes 2 decades to draw. Speaking of Colorado btw

 

[Zeb3]

I’ve been to Co OTC twice and it was rough. Tons of pressure but we still had a chance to shoot a solid bull. Just wasn’t able to make it happen. The memories and the adventure are worth the trip.

Now I’m planning a trip to Idaho in 2023. All these rule changes are hard to keep track.

How do you go about getting tags for two or more people? Will they change the system this year? I would still try to get an OTC tag if my buddy drew one and I didn’t but what about the zones?

 

[fatlander]

Unless Idaho changes the way they sell their tags, it’s very likely you’ll end up with tags in different zones. Keep researching you’re on the
right path there. There’s no secrets when it comes to OTC/general tags: it’s going to be tough, there’s going to lots of people, and the elk are going to be pressured. Before you dive into points, do some research on point creep over the past 5 years. There are quite a few states that you will never catch drawing a tag. . . Good luck!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk