Drop Camps for Elk- What was you Experience?

[Cfriend]

you better get up 2-3 hours earlier than you plan to leave camp, to water/feed and check horses, and 2-3 hours after you get back to camp to do the same.

Not trying to be disagreeable here (I have no doubt you are far more experienced and knowledgeable than me), but what are you doing that could possibly take 2 h to care for the horses morning and evening?

I am certainly no expert, but I have had horses all of my life and used them out west a few times. Taking care of the horses never took me anywhere near that long. What do you need to do besides give them a look over, lead them to water, and give them hay? Obviously it's dependent on the number of horses, but I can't imagine that taking 2- 3 hours (at least it never has for me).

Not saying I am doing things correctly though - I can always learn to improve.

As for the diy drop camp in general I've decided its not worth it for me unless I have someone else that can stay in camp and take care of everything. If you do, it's awesome. Otherwise, it seems to be more hassle and worry than it's worth - thats just me though.

 

[BigAntlerGetter]

Not trying to be disagreeable here (I have no doubt you are far more experienced and knowledgeable than me), but what are you doing that could possibly take 2 h to care for the horses morning and evening?

I am certainly no expert, but I have had horses all of my life and used them out west a few times. Taking care of the horses never took me anywhere near that long. What do you need to do besides give them a look over, lead them to water, and give them hay? Obviously it's dependent on the number of horses, but I can't imagine that taking 2- 3 hours (at least it never has for me).

Not saying I am doing things correctly though - I can always learn to improve.

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I don’t just give them a look over, I don’t just offer them water. Sure walking up saying ok you look good here’s ur hay, try to drink this water is fine, but unusually have 6-8 horses, leading them to and from water so they get fresh water and if they don’t drink they make another round, then refilling their water buckets, cause horses are supposed to have water while they eat especially with hay. Sometimes we have to soak our alfalfa pellets so they don’t eat them to quick and they expand in their throat or stomach and cause choke or colic, we go through checking heart rates, temps and gut sounds. Never wanna come back to camp and have a horse on the ground colicing, or be headed up the mountain and one turns. We check for cuts and scrapes, anything rubbing like hobbles or halters. And I just sit and watch them for a while just to make sure they are doing good and acting normal.

Some people have horses to have horses, some people have horses that are their life, their business, etc. when you have as much money invested in your string as I do it takes a lot to replace them. Like I said if ur not putting the time into the animals when on the mountain then you shouldn’t be using them. I said 2-3 hours cause horses on the mountain are a commitment, one that many don’t understand… ive been doing this for over half my life professionally I’ve come
Up with a routine to keep my horses as safe and healthy on the mountain.

 

[Not65Again]

I’ve read quite a few posts on here asking for drop camp recommendations, but I wanted to pivot and ask what your drop camp experience. And I’m more concerned with how you felt the drop camp was in terms of putting you in a better position to kill an elk. Bonus points if you’ve rented your own stock ( horses, llamas, etc) and packed in your own camp to hunt and have also done a drop camp to compare. Drop camps are something I have kicked around in my head a lot for my dad and myself, so I’d be interested to hear other roksliders experiences. Again, not really focused on outfitter recs but if you had a good experience and want to plug them at the end of the story, wouldn’t mind to hear that. Pictures are welcome as well!

how many people do you think a drop camp should hold before you blow out an area with your scent?

 

[Mykolaivka887]

how many people do you think a drop camp should hold before you blow out an area with your scent?

Depends on the topography, plant life communities, animals themselves (wildlife), hunter density and effort, etcetera. No two situations are alike. At one location, the area could be blown out on the first night by just one person, while at another location six guys could share a camp and not have any noticeable effect after two weeks of hunting.

 

[Indian Summer]

I’ll give you a different perspective from an outfitters view. First, the common misconceptions from hunters. Lots of guys will say a drop camp is always in a place that’s not as good of hunting as they take their fully guided hunters. FALSE! Most of the times I put drop camps in great places where I just can’t get my guided hunters from Basecamp. Believe it or not if I had a choice, I would rather hunt out of my drop camp locations than my base camp.

The other comment I hear all the time is that hunters before you in the same camp will have ruined the hunting. Most outfitters don’t do that many drop camps. I only ever did one or two per season. I can tell you one thing, drop camp locations are hunted way less than Basecamp locations with all the fully guided hunters. I could never get all the supplies to my drop camp locations set up and things hauled back out at the end of the year for the price of a drop if it was as nice as my base camp.

The last thing worth mentioning is that when you pay for a drop camp, you get a lot more than a place to hunt. You get somebody to get your game out of the mountains and to the processor for you. Packing. Just to hire somebody to pack an elk out, it’s going to cost you anywhere from $500-$1000. So factor that in when you’re deciding if a drop camp with tents, woodstoves, firewood, cots and chairs, a table, lanterns and fuel etc is worth it.

Booking a drop camp is no different than booking a guided hunt. And that’s no different than hiring a landscaper. There are good ones and not so good ones. Do your homework talk to clients you were there recently and just as importantly do your homework on the area. The way I would go about booking a drop camp is to find the areas I wanted to hunt where I knew there was good game populations and then find an outfitter who can help me hunt it. Good luck.

 

[Wyoklaelk]

Hunted alongside a drop camp for 5 years, we got 7 elk they got 4. They were set on a sweet spot so we always trekked 2 more miles than them. They had everything they wanted for a decent price, with no commitments to animals. Sometimes I wonder if I should give em up but I think my kiddos would hate that haha.

 

[young7.3]

They are good when they are good. If your camp is in an area that the elk leave you are SOL.

 

[TAArrowood]

I did a 10 day drop camp in Idaho in 2009.. The original arrangement was that 3 buddies and I would be dropped on horses/mules about 10 miles deep into the wilderness into a camp with no other hunters, a cook tent and a sleeping tent... In looking at the remoteness and span of the area we'd be hunting, I worked a deal with the outfitter to arrange for a wrangler to stay with us to manage the horses and mules, but that's all he could do.. The wrangler was a young 19 year old kid who knew as much about horses and mules as anyone I've ever met.. He'd get up 2 hrs before us and feed/water the animals then saddle them up.. We'd get up and cook breakfast for us and him and be ready by the time he was.. Depending on where we wanted to hunt that day it would be an all day or half day.. For half days we'd just ride to where we hunted and tie off the animals and check on them a couple times during the half day. For full days the wrangler would ride with us and bring the animals back to camp and care for them during the day and return for us at the end of the day... This arrangement worked well for everyone and didn't cost us a ton more than the original arrangement... Every third day another wrangler would pack in pelletized hay for the livestock... It was an awesome arrangement.. I saw 41 elk the first day, 13 the second day and not another elk.. One of our hunters got a really nice muley.. Wolves were everywhere.. We had about 10" snow when we arrived in camp and you literally couldn't set your foot down without stepping in a wolf print.. The outfitter warned us that timing was everything and that if we were there when the wolves pushed the elk through we'd see tons.. If we were there just after the push we might not see anything... I think we were just a few days late, but it was one of my very best hunting experiences.. Do your homework and get references... If you're lucky and get a good outfitter it will be one of the best hunts of your life.. All the best..

 

[PNW bow hunter]

I have “ tried” to do a drop camp 2 times for elk. Not a supplied camp, just drop off, pick us back up and pack out meat.

It was an outfitter that was a friend of a friend.

We used him for deer, everything went smooth. Dropped us where we wanted, when he said. When we both tagged out, we got a text to him. He picked us up a day later. Great trip.

He told us about where he could do an elk hunt and how good the area was.

All summer he was texting my buddy about all the bulls he was seeing. We showed up mid September to get packed in 9 miles. The trailhead reaked like amononia(sheep piss and poop)

The entire ride out it stunk so bad, and all the brush up both sides of the basin were eaten down to the ground. We were pissed, the trailhead was about 5 miles passed his house, and it appeared thousands of sheep had been in this whole drainage all summer, then pushed out to the road to be trailered up within a day or two of our arrival. He dropped us of assuring there were tons of elk around. We hunted about a day and a half. We covered a ton of ground, found 1 semi fresh track zero rubs from that year, zero beds from that year ect.

We loaded our packs, hiked back to my truck, and went to a different unit we knew.

He felt bad offered to drop me in a different area I picked out a few drainages over the following year for free. He had me buy his outfitter tag( I sent him a check for that). Our deal was as soon as I killed a bull in Oregon I would call him and drive over when he wanted.

my buddy and I both killed bulls in Oregon, it took a couple days to get them packed out. I called him on the 12th September when I got service to finalize the plan of what day to head over for him to pack me out.

Apparently after I sent him a check for the outfitter tag he forgot about our plan. When I called he said he forgot, he dropped a guy in the area I wanted to go. He said he could take me somewhere else.

I cut my losses, just ate the cost of the Non res Idaho elk tag, and stayed home.

 

[ToolMann]

We (wife and I) are doing our first drop camp this year. First rifle. It is in an areas we've backpacked in to multiple times during the summer. She really wants to hunt the area and I'm not backpacking in there for a week long rifle hunt in October. So drop camp it is. I knew there was an outfitter doing camps in there so I had him send me coordinates for his camp locations. We went in last year, checked out each spot, and picked the one we wanted. We went for a horseback ride with him a month ago just to get on a horse (it has been a while). We're going to have fun either way. The outfitter is an awesome guy, safety is paramount, and his knowledge of the area is evident. Of course we want to kill a bull or two, but we're going in like every other elk hunt with an open mind and ready for an adventure. Decided to go in a day early so we'll have a full 7 nights on the mountain (hunt season is only 5 days). I have trouble the first night over 12K feet and we'll be close to that, so figured an extra night to acclimate and a day to scout would be good.

I can report back in October. It can't get her quick enough.

 

[David Kaden]

I have the luxury of owning several good horses that I ride year round. I have my own camp gear and use to pack in a lot. And it was wonderful, and I killed a lot of good bulls. But as elk hunting grew in popularity I had to move to another wilderness to get away from folks. Other guides finally found my honey holes. Fewer elk there in next areas I tried , but still had some great trips.
But horses and mules find a way to get loose. Many learned to move well with hobbles and decide in middle of night to go to trail head after dismantling their electric fence.. or down a canyon neither of us have been into before. My last pack two trips in Gila wilderness I spent a lot of energy and most of my time finding my runaways. so now I car camp and use new tricks to get away from hunters when I can draw a tag in limited units. I have tried to hire a wrangler /camp assistant but finding someone I trust to help with my horses, who is willing to take time off and go, is near impossible.
so its a real dilemma to DIY with stock, or drop camp etc. No easy choices. I do miss the good ole days in the 80s..Maybe it was because I was younger and stronger too,

 

[Beendare]

I’ve done it a couple times with Outfitters and many times with a buddies horses.

The problem with the Outfitters camps is they put their guided camps in the best spots. If you are the first Hunt, it’s halfway decent but if you were in there after three or four other groups of guys it’s typically burned out.

When you have your own horses, even if you just walk them in like we do with packed saddles. The key on any of these hunts,What it really boils down to is finding the elk.

If they aren’t there, you can move and we typically do just that two or three times on a hunt with our own horses.

 

[dtrkyman]

Did one in Colorado, a friend worked for the guy for a couple seasons so we had a solid in on what to expect and where to go. Week after muzzle loader. Guys killed a couple dink bulls from the same camp prior to us arriving.

Had a solid hunt, but the elk were not right at camp, which I thought was ok. Covered miles every day to get into them, passed one small bull and nearly killed two good ones.

Crazy thing is after not hearing a single elk from camp all week the last night we stayed elk were bugling everywhere around us, you couldn't even sleep, season was closed the following morning, go figure.

 

[learntohuntnyc]

I’m following along to see what others say. I’ve never drop camp hunted but to me it’s hard to picture an outfit is going to put me in a drop camp in their prime spots if they are also guiding higher paying customers my opinion with nothing to back it up. What do you guys think?


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I'm wondering the same

 

[Blackstorm]

Do your research and a drop camp can be great even if they use the camps year after year but allow for weather changes that are outside the outfitters control an migration timing. Had a great time last year but only saw a few animals, but missed the migration by a week or so but the camp(s) have produced year after year in the same locations. the outfitter did great in the early season last year better than normal but the later dates did worse just the luck of the dates. but quality animals an gear makes these type of outfitters different from each other.

 

[Deadfall]

I’ll give you a different perspective from an outfitters view. First, the common misconceptions from hunters. Lots of guys will say a drop camp is always in a place that’s not as good of hunting as they take their fully guided hunters. FALSE! Most of the times I put drop camps in great places where I just can’t get my guided hunters from Basecamp. Believe it or not if I had a choice, I would rather hunt out of my drop camp locations than my base camp.

The other comment I hear all the time is that hunters before you in the same camp will have ruined the hunting. Most outfitters don’t do that many drop camps. I only ever did one or two per season. I can tell you one thing, drop camp locations are hunted way less than Basecamp locations with all the fully guided hunters. I could never get all the supplies to my drop camp locations set up and things hauled back out at the end of the year for the price of a drop if it was as nice as my base camp.

The last thing worth mentioning is that when you pay for a drop camp, you get a lot more than a place to hunt. You get somebody to get your game out of the mountains and to the processor for you. Packing. Just to hire somebody to pack an elk out, it’s going to cost you anywhere from $500-$1000. So factor that in when you’re deciding if a drop camp with tents, woodstoves, firewood, cots and chairs, a table, lanterns and fuel etc is worth it.

Booking a drop camp is no different than booking a guided hunt. And that’s no different than hiring a landscaper. There are good ones and not so good ones. Do your homework talk to clients you were there recently and just as importantly do your homework on the area. The way I would go about booking a drop camp is to find the areas I wanted to hunt where I knew there was good game populations and then find an outfitter who can help me hunt it. Good luck.

This!!!

 

[Deadfall]

Most of what I see is people not leaving tents for more then about 4 hours a day. If that. The guys that go early and hunt hard are successful and the vast majority of drop campers are not successful. Most folks have to much fear and then spend all their time blaming this or that instead of looking in the direction of reality.