Elk Pack services

[Tejasbow]

Are there any around the Aspen Colorado area?

 

[burlap]

I'm also interested. Subbed.

 

[freshta]

Me three!!!

 

[Cliff Gray]

You mean services packing out elk? Google by unit and the term "outfitter", there are guys working all those units. Rates are around $500 now within a days pack (usually less than 10 miles). When you call guys on this realize that most outfitters do it on a "as available" basis. Be prepared to pack it out on your back if need be.

 

[Tejasbow]

Thanks FT

 

[bogeyboy555]

There are some fishing guides, rafting guides, ski patrol, etc... who post on craigslist and will help you pack it out. They almost always want it to be boned out, but these dudes will usually do $100 per trip. Some guys will partner and you can pay the $200, plus one trip of your own and get it out. Most outfitters lease their horses from local stables and ranchers, so the odds of them having something available are pretty slim, especially during rifle season. Like someone else said before, I would plan on doing the whole thing yourself.... with maybe help from one other.

 

[svivian]

Also young poor college kids who will also do it

 

[freshta]

Yep, around here there is a moving company called College Hunks Moving Junk. That would be a perfect job for a group of outdoorsy college kids (who haven't been brainwashed by some mega-liberal hippie prof.) to make some serious money and save some old man's back for another years hunt!!!

 

[Cliff Gray]

Not to be a wet blanket on this, but you gotta be really careful on who you hire to do this. When it comes to illegal outfitting, although rarely enforced, it has rough penalties in Colorado, which are both equal to the hunter and illegal outfitter. Packing game for a fee is outfitting in Colorado. The compliance, regulations etc... in these forests are ridiculous for special use permits, so almost all legal outfitters will report guys doing it.

 

[robby denning]

Not to be a wet blanket on this, but you gotta be really careful on who you hire to do this. When it comes to illegal outfitting, although rarely enforced, it has rough penalties in Colorado, which are both equal to the hunter and illegal outfitter. Packing game for a fee is outfitting in Colorado. The compliance, regulations etc... in these forests are ridiculous for special use permits, so almost all legal outfitters will report guys doing it.

Yip, we used to offer referrals for packing with our scouting packages but quit, in part for this reason. In Idaho, they (Outfitters Board & F&G) claim they'll ticket anyone who's not a licensed outfitter for this. I don't know if they ever have, though. The other reason was because of what FTguides said earlier. Outfitters would tell us yes, then when the hunter would call, no answer and 600 lb bull lying five miles in the backcountry.

 

[freshta]

Dang! Thanks for the heads up. That sucks!

 

[Dos Perros]

It's kinda a scam, IMO. In the unit I hunt, there happens to be only one licensed outfitter for the public land, who also happens to guide on that land. In order to limit access to the land they are hunting with hoity toity clients, they want to charge more than 2000 to pack out an elk.

 

[MesaHorseCo.]

It's kinda a scam, IMO. In the unit I hunt, there happens to be only one licensed outfitter for the public land, who also happens to guide on that land. In order to limit access to the land they are hunting with hoity toity clients, they want to charge more than 2000 to pack out an elk.

That's because he doesn't really want to jack around with it. He would rather take care of his clients than pack out someone elses shit, but for enough money he would be happy to

 

[xziang]

I didn't know that in regards to packing 'out' an animal would be considered outfitting. Heck if I was in the back country and had one down and another hunter offered to help out I would give them some of the meat for their assistance if they wanted it.

Back to OG poster may want to call the hunt planner number and see what they suggest and who has an outfitter license for that area.

*edited*
Can you legally rent a horse/mule from a rancher on your own to assist you with packing out game?

 

[Dos Perros]

That's because he doesn't really want to jack around with it. He would rather take care of his clients than pack out someone elses shit, but for enough money he would be happy to

That's not true in this instance. I contacted an independent guide who sometimes guides for this outfit. He said he'd be happy to pack meat for me, but that he'd have to be a sub of this outfitter, and that they would charge a 2000 fee on top of whatever he charged. He specifically told me the fee was intended to keep people like me from hunting the area.

 

[theleo91386]

That's not true in this instance. I contacted an independent guide who sometimes guides for this outfit. He said he'd be happy to pack meat for me, but that he'd have to be a sub of this outfitter, and that they would charge a 2000 fee on top of whatever he charged. He specifically told me the fee was intended to keep people like me from hunting the area.

He's not limiting access, he's just offering a service for a fee that most people won't pay. If it's public land, you have every right in the world to go hunt there. That however doesn't mean the outfitter has to provide services at a cheap rate for a guy that didn't pay for a guided hunt or drop camp. He makes his money providing his clients hunts on animals that get lower pressure because they are in further than most guys on foot can reach or pack out. If he started offering to pack out elk for $100.00 then there would be a lot more pressure on the animals in that area because guys could walk in, shoot an animal, and get it packed out cheap. The pressure would lessen the quality of trip for the guys paying $5,000.00-$6,000.00 who go in there on a guided hunt or ones paying for drop camps. At some point it would cost the outfitter repeat business from those clients. He's there trying to make a living and just because his price is more than you want to pay, it has nothing to do with him limiting your access to the back country. If you want to go hunt there, get some pack stock (or buddy up with someone that has some) and go hunt it. Hunting is business for outfitters and there goal is providing a great experience and a trophy animal for there clients. Even if you don't end up hampering his clients experience, you are in competition with them for that trophy animal, and in business, it's not always in a persons best interest to help out their direct competition.

 

[Dos Perros]

He's not limiting access, he's just offering a service for a fee that most people won't pay. If it's public land, you have every right in the world to go hunt there. That however doesn't mean the outfitter has to provide services at a cheap rate for a guy that didn't pay for a guided hunt or drop camp. He makes his money providing his clients hunts on animals that get lower pressure because they are in further than most guys on foot can reach or pack out. If he started offering to pack out elk for $100.00 then there would be a lot more pressure on the animals in that area because guys could walk in, shoot an animal, and get it packed out cheap. The pressure would lessen the quality of trip for the guys paying $5,000.00-$6,000.00 who go in there on a guided hunt or ones paying for drop camps. At some point it would cost the outfitter repeat business from those clients. He's there trying to make a living and just because his price is more than you want to pay, it has nothing to do with him limiting your access to the back country. If you want to go hunt there, get some pack stock (or buddy up with someone that has some) and go hunt it. Hunting is business for outfitters and there goal is providing a great experience and a trophy animal for there clients. Even if you don't end up hampering his clients experience, you are in competition with them for that trophy animal, and in business, it's not always in a persons best interest to help out their direct competition.

He's not literally limiting access, but he absolutely is practically limiting access, as you further explained it.

My rub, what I think is the scam, is that the independent outfitter I spoke to who is licensed in adjacent units can't pack meat for me in this particular unit because only one outfit has a permit to do so. He'd love a permit but can't get one, why exactly I don't know.

My frustration with the outfitter is that I'm willing to pay a regular rate (not cheap) for a service that is commonly offered in other units but that they exclusively control in this unit. I even inquired about trespassing about 10 yards of their private ground between public and a public road and the 2000 fee was still the same, which I do understand, but still frustrates me. The outfit is more of a corporation (owned and run out of state) than one good dude and family helping middle class folks like you or me hunt our public lands. They charge many times what you referenced for a hunt.

I have a friend of a friend with stock in the area, and I think it's ridiculous that he can't help me if I would like to show my gratitude by paying or offering a gift of some sort. No matter, it won't keep me out of there, but I still have the right to be upset with public organizations that aren't exactly benefiting the public.

 

[theleo91386]

He's not literally limiting access, but he absolutely is practically limiting access, as you further explained it.

My rub, what I think is the scam, is that the independent outfitter I spoke to who is licensed in adjacent units can't pack meat for me in this particular unit because only one outfit has a permit to do so. He'd love a permit but can't get one, why exactly I don't know.

My frustration with the outfitter is that I'm willing to pay a regular rate (not cheap) for a service that is commonly offered in other units but that they exclusively control in this unit. I even inquired about trespassing about 10 yards of their private ground between public and a public road and the 2000 fee was still the same, which I do understand, but still frustrates me. The outfit is more of a corporation (owned and run out of state) than one good dude and family helping middle class folks like you or me hunt our public lands. They charge many times what you referenced for a hunt.

I have a friend of a friend with stock in the area, and I think it's ridiculous that he can't help me if I would like to show my gratitude by paying or offering a gift of some sort. No matter, it won't keep me out of there, but I still have the right to be upset with public organizations that aren't exactly benefiting the public.

The outfitter is not even pratically limiting access. He's just not helping you out. The reason the independent guy doesn't have the ability to get the permit is the outfitter likely put down a lot of money ro be the only outfit to operate in that unit. Most states operate in a manner so that a properly ran outfitting service has some security in their investment. So not anybody can just come in and start guiding over the top of them, it's not all that different than grazing permits. They paid state and federal fees to be the soul operation there. There's other units they csn operate in because of the same reason. If your friend is a good guy and will pack out your elk for no fee or requirement for something in return, then he sounds like a friend you'd be justified in getting a pretty amazing birthday or Christmas present. Sounds like he could be a good hunting partner for other times of the year. In regards to the outfitter being responsible for limiting your access to public ground, it's no different than if you didn't have an outfitter operating in that unit at all. You still couldn't pay your friend (legally) for packing your elk out and the independent guy would have to pay the fees to operate in that unit, likely upping his price to pack your stuff out. He's not obligated to help you. He's no more responsible for your opportunity to access public grounds as I am if someone back packs into where I hunt, kills something, then need me to pack it out my mules. Might I do it to be nice, sure. Am I likely to not care about their situation, if in some way or another, their hunting negatively impacted me, absolutely. It's not my responsibility for them to hunt in farther than they themselves have the ability to pack an animal out. It's not the outfitters responsibility to set prices where you want them, to pack out an animal you don't have the ability to pack out.

Something else to think about, is how many more hunters would you have to deal with if the outfitter offered reasonable rates on packing out downed game? My guess is at least a few more.

Be upset all you want, but at the end of the day you don't have the rite to set prices of a private, legal, operating business that's not yours. Hunt where you have the ability to hunt, especially if you're a DIY kind of guy. If you want the ability to hunt further back then increase the ability for you and your party to do so. Pay out more money, get in better shape, or help your friend put up hay for his animals. The only person limiting your access to the back country is you. If the fee is too high, find another way you can deal with. The draw of back country hunting where most guys can't go, is that most guys can't go there. If you don't want to be most guys, then step it up and find a way.

 

[weaver]

I have found firsthand that Idaho takes unlicensed packing pretty seriously. The outfitter in the area I rifle hunt called the the f&g on us and 2 officers packed in with mules posing as mule deer hunters. We were legal and got everything sorted out but they badly wanted to ticket us after going through all that effort.
We have friends with horses than packed our elk out that year but we have since started renting horses.