From Georgia to Colorado budget. Mainly for gas

[Rayjtay89]

I'm just here so I don't get fined

 

[slaton]

Southwest now flies to Montrose from Atlanta a couple times a week. We typically fly out and drive back. There is 2 of us so we split all cost with the rental car and gas for coming home. This year the rental car is about triple what we paid last year. We like being able to drive back because we are free to come home when we choose and have the ability to bring back anything we kill in coolers and not as extra checked bags. Feel free to PM me and I can share any information that might help that doesn’t need to be discussed in the open where anybody with google can find.


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[RO1459]

I go every year and drive from Chattanooga. I budgeted $2,000 last year and, including a Cow Tag, spent $1889. I spend three nights in a hotel going and two returning. (Hampton INN) That way I can acclimate. If you have $2,000 budgeted, you will be fine. Especially if you already have your Tag ad aren't going to use an outfitter. Good Luck.

 

[Thunder17]

2k should be plenty. Do it, you won’t regret it

 

[Phishintrip007]

I'm heading to Montana from FL panhandle this year and I'm flying. I have to say I was a little surprised when I went to rent a vehicle. Definitely could of driven for way less $$ but then again this is a solo trip so no way I could drive straight through and I couldn't afford to waste days on the interstate/sleeping in walmart parking lots. I'd rather spend a few days acclimating to the elevation and be ready to hunt when it's time to hunt instead of stepping off into the wilderness exhausted from the drive and then getting back on the road after the hunt exhausted from being in the backcountry. If I had a couple other guys to help drive (and was heading to CO or NM), I would probably choose to drive.

 

[kvw4x4]

I’m excited to see a 350 Bull on a Mercedes

 

[Kwa_bena]

I’m excited to see a 350 Bull on a Mercedes

So am I. Not really concerned about how big it is as long as it's legal. I'm just trying to look around the area and see what it it looks like.

 

[Steve1662]

For you guys that fly one way and then drive back... do you just check your coolers as oversized baggage with the airline?

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[slaton]

For you guys that fly one way and then drive back... do you just check your coolers as oversized baggage with the airline?

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I buy coolers when I get there. Last year I picked up 2 large coolers in Denver from Sam’s club. Filled with ice and locked in the back of the rental truck. Unfortunately last year we didn’t kill anything so when I got home I returned them to Sam’s. If I would have killed some thing I would have kept the coolers. And sell them on Facebook marketplace when I get home.

 

[BrianB7mm]

I would think $2K for fuel is very high but would be fine for the total budget. Big thing is get in great shape, if you can't walk 20 miles a day in Georgia, 5 miles in elk country is going to be hard. I am not saying you cannot be successful on your first time hunting out west especially with all the e-scouting we have now. But a guide will give you better odds and a faster learning curve. Which ever way you go have fun.

 

[BrianB7mm]

So am I. Not really concerned about how big it is as long as it's legal. I'm just trying to look around the area and see what it it looks like.

I wonder if you could put the skull in the back seat and have the antlers come out each window on the side. I hope he post pictures.

 

[Rayjtay89]

I'm just here so I don't get fined

 

[Kwa_bena]

I wonder if you could put the skull in the back seat and have the antlers come out each window on the side. I hope he post pictures.

If I can make it happen I will. But like I said, it's mainly a scouting trip more than anything. But I will post pics of some of the stuff I've seen.

 

[specneeds]

You have the right amount budgeted but I’d suggest you find a buddy to join in the trip & cut gas costs in 1/2, one with a 4wheel drive truck or a UTV or 2 ATVs on a trailer. The Mercedes will get you to the edge of decent public hunting areas but adding a coupe of miles of hiking in & packing out still severely limits your access. I’ve killed a bull within 800 yards of a paved road on public land twice so it can certainly be done. But having the ability to move around to different areas & elevations is key to finding elk often. Killing an elk is about as much fun as you will ever have. Hauling one out solo is much less enjoyable in snow, mud, steep terrain all in the dark after you are fairly exhausted.

if you hike in a ways & set up camp without any elk or lots of fresh sign you want to move & maybe move again. With a truck a central camp might allow you to hunt several areas. Truck needs 4x4, chains, winch or come along. Elk are big you need a 165 qt cooler & anothe 60 qt cooler to haul back the meat from a good bull boned or processed. Wet ice with frequent draining if boned or dry ice if processed & frozen.

Don’t let any of this stop you the sooner you start the faster you get to be an experienced elk hunter - while your legs & lungs still work at peak efficiency. The old farts often know what to do but can’t do it nearly well enough compared to younger hunters. Get a cow tag if you can - they taste better & are easier to find & kill.

All you really need are good boots, stuff to stay warm, a rifle or bow you can shoot well, a knife, ingenuity & persistence. I suggest watching Randy Newberg - he does have & use fancy gear that makes the hunting easier but he’s hunting places you can hunt without writing a big check.

 

[specneeds]

Rather than a scouting trip, I’d suggest you buy an oVer the counter bull Bull tag & make it a hunting trip. The extra $600 changes it too a real elk hunting trip. You never know what can happen- I have a hunting buddy who on his first trip killed his cow opening morning 50 yards from the road & had a legal bull staying at him from 75 yards after she hit the ground.

 

[fatlander]

Your money would be best spent to go out and scout this year. You don’t know what you don’t know. Some forest service roads, open to all vehicles, are impassable without a 4wd. The mountains are bigger and steeper than they look on the map. There’s a lot more country where elk aren’t than country where they are. Spending 7k on a guide will probably yield you an elk and some elk hunting knowledge, however you won’t learn an area you can return to.

Your budget is probably fine, until you bust the oil pan out of the bottom of that Mercedes trying to take it up a road you have no business on. Tires are another thing you need to consider. Forest service roads are rough, and low profile street tires don’t tend to fare well in the mountains.


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[specneeds]

Flatlander is certainly the voice of reason here, I had an unexpected $1700 truck repair and lost a belt on the Polaris 3 miles into the area on snowy muddy roads. But the idea of being in elk country during elk season without a readily available tag is hard for me to fathom. Do young single guys turn down supermodels? Do racing enthusiasts skip a lap around the track at the brickyard? Golfers pass on Augusta?

Always be prudent & careful & as you can tell nobody thinks your vehicle is suitable- but you have months to prepare & recruit a friend with a truck - and every season missed is a potential elk of a lifetime or freezer full of burgers passed up forever.

 

[fatlander]

Flatlander is certainly the voice of reason here, I had an unexpected $1700 truck repair and lost a belt on the Polaris 3 miles into the area on snowy muddy roads. But the idea of being in elk country during elk season without a readily available tag is hard for me to fathom. Do young single guys turn down supermodels? Do racing enthusiasts skip a lap around the track at the brickyard? Golfers pass on Augusta?

Always be prudent & careful & as you can tell nobody thinks your vehicle is suitable- but you have months to prepare & recruit a friend with a truck - and every season missed is a potential elk of a lifetime or freezer full of burgers passed up forever.

Since it is an OTC unit, he could do both. Go scout, and if he finds elk while he still has time to hunt; go buy a tag. Speaking for myself, and everyone else I know that’s done it; the first trip elk trip for someone that hasn’t ever been hunting in the West is a glorified scouting mission. In the long run, I would have been way better off financially to go scout for a long weekend or two then hunt once I had done so.

You have to cover country to find elk. You have to learn what fresh elk sign actually looks like. But most importantly you have to know when to stop covering country quickly and when to start hunting slowly. Without ever being there, that last part is super tough to nail down. Furthermore, e-scouting was pretty pointless until actually being in elk country. Once you’re there, you find what to look for on the map and areas where there’s a high probably of finding elk jumps off the map.

Blowing elk out without a tag in your pocket hurts a lot less than blowing them out after walking yourself to death for a week on your glorified bow hike that cost you a couple months rent.


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[Kwa_bena]

Go scout, and if he finds elk while he still has time to hunt; go buy a tag. Speaking for myself, and everyone else I know that’s done it; the first trip elk trip for someone that hasn’t ever been hunting in the West is a glorified scouting mission. In the long run, I would have been way better off financially to go scout for a long weekend or two then hunt once I had done so.

I will be doing this actually. I may make another post so people can post some examples of what an elk sign looks like both fresh and historical. I just know when starting out in a brand new area it's best to see where there might be other hunters. The tag is in a separate budget the gas money is in my travel budget. Hopefully I can get to a mechanic to see if I'm safe enough to drive that distance. I would be getting a fresh oil change before I head out

You have the right amount budgeted but I’d suggest you find a buddy to join in the trip & cut gas costs in 1/2, one with a 4wheel drive truck or a UTV or 2 ATVs on a trailer.

That's the general consensus in this thread so far. For the buddy part, I'm a bit of a loner on top of only moving back but I'll see what I can do.

 

[GringoBling]

Fuel at $4/gallon

$375 to get there and $375 to get back. Another $150 for driving around to hunting spots (probably be a fraction of that) and you are at $900.

In reality fuel will probably be closer to $3 than $4.

Fuel in Gunnison was at $3.89 for regular unleaded last week. Shockingly high. It typically is 40 cents more per gallon than what I pay in Dallas, TX. But, this was $1.10 more per gallon. And that was IF you could find it. Three places in town were completely out 2 times that I tried to fill up. The I70 shutdown has apparently brought in more traffic to Delta, Montrose, Gunnison, Salida, etc.