First Elk Hunt Poll

[Aaronpaul14]

Trying to get some insight on which route to focus on.

This will be our first year going out West. I live in Kansas and my buddy is in NC.

We are going to start building points in Wyoming and some other options but for getting out this Fall here are my thoughts (no particular order).

We are not opposed to truck camping, spike camps, or camp on our backs. We are not locked into archery or rifle. We are just wanting to learn and hopefully bring meat home to the family. Budgets are not huge so guided/semi guided/drop camps are probably out.

In the future I see us doing mostly archery hunts if that plays into the decision.

I appreciate the help!

***EDIT***
Just realized Tapatalk doesn't recognize the pole.

If on Tapatalk here are the options:

Option 1: CO OTC
Option 2: CO Archer Draw
Option 3: CO 1st Rifle Draw
Option 4: MT General
Option 5: Cow Elk Hunt.

 

[RCB]

Cows are usually easier and cheaper to draw, easier to hunt, and very tasty. My first hunt was a cow.

 

[Superdoo]

I'm kind of in the same boat as you. Go with the cow and it will allow you to get more familiar with the areas you plan on hunting in.

 

[JakeSCH]

Yeah my first few elk hunts were cows, lots of fun and better odds of success. I personally love the meat and shooting a cow is still exciting because I get to fill the freezer.

I would say if you are spending money and you are justifying the cost by the meat you get out of it then go cow. However, If you just want the experience of chasing elk I would go bull.

 

[AaronMColeman]

To me Cow (rifle), Bull (rifle), and Bull (archery) are all completely different types of hunt. Which one do you want to do?

Cow is easier, but not as much fun IMO. But It's fun in it's own way.

Bull rifle and archery are wildly differnt ways of hunting.

 

[Aaronpaul14]

Yeah my first few elk hunts were cows, lots of fun and better odds of success. I personally love the meat and shooting a cow is still exciting because I get to fill the freezer.

I would say if you are spending money and you are justifying the cost by the meat you get out of it then go cow. However, If you just want the experience of chasing elk I would go bull.

I’d say the money spent for this hunt is more of the experience. Learning to locate elk and how to approach them once located is probably the highest agenda.

 

[Firestone]

Montana general is a good hunt. If you draw you can hunt archery then come back and do rifle if your unsuccessful. You could hunt 11 weeks if your heart desires.

 

[hobbes]

You can shoot a cow or a bull with a CO OTC archery tag or shoot a cow during archery season with a general MT license. If archery is where you want to end up, I'd start there. Besides hiking the mountains, a rifle hunt in October/November won't teach you much about elk in September.

With that said, a cow tag is usually about half the cost of a bull or either sex tag. Cows are not necessarily an easy slam dunk hunt, so nothing to be ashamed of with hunting cows. A cow tag is probably the best bet for getting close to a bull.

 

[Aaronpaul14]

To me Cow (rifle), Bull (rifle), and Bull (archery) are all completely different types of hunt. Which one do you want to do?

Cow is easier, but not as much fun IMO. But It's fun in it's own way.

Bull rifle and archery are wildly differnt ways of hunting.

I’d say our future elk hunting will mostly consist of archery bull hunts.

We are really wanting to get out and use this season as a learning experience mostly. Meat will be a bonus.

If that means we need to experience archery bulls because that’s what our end game is then we are happy to go for that.

 

[Aaronpaul14]

Montana general is a good hunt. If you draw you can hunt archery then come back and do rifle if your unsuccessful. You could hunt 11 weeks if your heart desires.

I’d be happy to hunt 11 weeks of elk! I don’t think my wife or boss would appreciate that though. Lol

 

[AaronMColeman]

I’d say our future elk hunting will mostly consist of archery bull hunts.

We are really wanting to get out and use this season as a learning experience mostly. Meat will be a bonus.

If that means we need to experience archery bulls because that’s what our end game is then we are happy to go for that.

My experience is that a cow hunt or a rifle bull hunt will not prepare you much for a bull hunt.

bulls (in rut) during archery are about calling and many many other factors. The other types of elk (again only my experience) are spot and stalk more than anything.

so my mostly worthless advice would be go for that archery bull. If you are willing to invest a season or two...and the corresponding off seasons...you’ll be happier in the end and have more fun.

I shot a cow and bull this year with rifle. But my top 5 days of the season were all archery days wirh bugles and tons of up close experience. Don’t get be wrong, but shooting the bull was a fun day and the cow was awesome, but majority of what I enjoyed was during archery.

 

[cnelk]

History has shown that if you have a cow tag, all you will see is bulls! Haha! Funny but true.

My advice would be to definitely do an E/S tag. Have you thought about a ML hunt?

 

[Seamaster]

Bulls and cows live in the same country for most of the year, and there are a lot more cows than there are legal bulls. It is relatively easy to draw a cow tag, even in the top-end units whereas bull tags in those units are almost a once-in-a-lifetime event anymore. If you want to see bulls and get experience in elk country then you may well be best served to pull a cow tag in a premium unit.

 

[CObywayofUSAF]

As the others have said, get your cow tag and see the biggest bulls of your life lol

 

[coelk81]

I would research OTC units as they are mostly either sex for archery. Then you have a shot at a legal bull or cow. Just an FYI all OTC units hold elk, and yep they are pressured by hunters which is they way things are now. Hunt for Elk and be prepared to move to another area. Most of the time your move should not be more 5-8 miles in my experience. Of course I am biased as I only hunt 2 units for elk. I would rather hunt either sex archery than try to draw and cow tag in Colorado.

 

[Aaronpaul14]

History has shown that if you have a cow tag, all you will see is bulls! Haha! Funny but true.

My advice would be to definitely do an E/S tag. Have you thought about a ML hunt?

That’s what I would be afraid of.. I wonder how many B&C elk have been seen in range with a cow tag only!

I haven’t really looked at ML. Be another piece of equipment to buy. When looking at Colorado was in the middle of archery so just figure I’d use a bow and have more time/dates to hunt.

 

[Aaronpaul14]

I would research OTC units as they are mostly either sex for archery. Then you have a shot at a legal bull or cow. Just an FYI all OTC units hold elk, and yep they are pressured by hunters which is they way things are now. Hunt for Elk and be prepared to move to another area. Most of the time your move should not be more 5-8 miles in my experience. Of course I am biased as I only hunt 2 units for elk. I would rather hunt either sex archery than try to draw and cow tag in Colorado.

That was one big question I had about Colorado if we go OTC or an easy draw was better. Draw you are limited to that or nearby units but hunters are limited. OTC you are free to move units more and risk more hunters. One thing about Colorado for our first hunt that might be appealing is I only live 8hrs from the mountains. We talked about a summer scouting trip.

 

[westslopelaker]

Colorado first rifle either sex elk tag would 100% be what I'd do in your shoes. However, I've never hunted Montana but I've hunted all those other options quite a few times.

 

[JPeters218]

I’d say our future elk hunting will mostly consist of archery bull hunts.

We are really wanting to get out and use this season as a learning experience mostly. Meat will be a bonus.

If that means we need to experience archery bulls because that’s what our end game is then we are happy to go for that.

I would say that if you plan on mostly archery hunting in the future, and that your goal this year is to learn, then just do archery. As some have said, archery and rifle hunts are totally different, so I’d just start with archery.
My one piece of advice would be to find a unit that you can draw with 0 points. OTC units get pounded, and even though it doesn’t take any points to draw some units, the whole draw process will keep some people out

 

[GreenMtnElk]

I have to agree with everyone else.If your goal is to harvest an elk with a bow then go archery either sex. You will learn a lot and be in beautiful country at an exciting time of year.Colorado OTC zones got hammered with crowds last year but if you are willing to not give up put on a lot of miles