I would focus on one unless you got lots of money to burn. I would go with rifle or muzzleloader. You can get into muzzleloader without breaking the bank.
Planning to go with my brother and cousin but no experience between us so we were hoping to use this season to learn and the very small chance of a harvest. Considering a guide but looks to be quite expensive. Would it be a waste to not get a guide this season?
Absolutely not - there are plenty of people who go out hunting elk in a group with zero experience and get a harvest. It's gonna be eye opening unless you live out west, but that's just part of the learning curve. Just dont quit after day 2. Take a day off if you need to but keep at it - and if you can afford the time get here early to acclimate to elevation if your coming from somewhere with lower elevation.
Going with my cousin who has a rifle so wont be needing to purchase one. Have my hunter safety but both of us lack any actually experience.
Get out there and figure it out, forget about a guide. As long as you can both be happy having a good time in the woods and won't get too bent out of shape about not killing or seeing an elk then you don't need a guide.
Thats how I started off. My buddy and I hunted together figuring it out.
We all live in the front range and plan on doing some hiking/rucking this summer to get cardio ready. Thanks for the advice!
oh hey there neighbor. Your through half the battle, the mountains arent going to overwhelm you right out of the gate. The rest of its just gonna be experience - like lots of others have said .... watch some videos, get an idea of elk habitat and just get after it, switch spots if you dont hear no, see no, smell no elk .... the elk tags are cheap for you! dont break your bank on fancy gear yet, get some good boots and then see if elk hunting is something your going to do for more than one year
Keep hanging around this website and read the conversations, you'll pickup a lot even without asking questions on your own. Living in the area is a huge benefit, few hiking trips here and there and breaking in your boots will help a lot. I wouldn't bother with a guide, just go figure it out. Be sure you have a way to communicate with your team and make sure if yall split up that you know eachother's general area and plans. There's a lot to get started but you're not going to be able to plan for everything out of the gate without having done it, just keep getting out there and you'll discover things you needed and things you didn't need and refine it as you go.
My first question would be what have you hunted? What type of terrain have you hunted in? You said archery or rifle what type of weapons do you have? They’re also two totally different ball games so your needs will differ somewhat. I would suggest sticking with rifle for first time till you get an idea of what to expect in the field.
