Help with first western hunt

[Warren1726]

Hey guys and gals,
I am planning on doing my first western (CO, WY, ID, NM, MT etc.) hunt next fall. I was originally planning on doing the CO OTC elk archery hunt, and have a unit and place picked out. My question is, is this the best first hunt? I'm open to suggestions of other places and animals.

A few things that may help in your suggestions: I would be happy with mule deer, elk, pronghorn or sheep (like that would happen). I am open to archery or rifle and am proficent with both. I'd be going with my brother, we are 31 and 27 years old and in good shape. We could backpack camp or truck camp. Of course we have limited funds, so we can't use a guide. Thanks everyone.

Warren

 

[realunlucky]

Warren antelope in Wyoming are the best value hunt available. Plenty of animals and plenty public land to hunt

 

[Matt Cashell]

OTC archery elk is a tall order on a first Western hunt, but it can be done.

I agree that pronghorn are the best introductory western hunting experience, and can be combined with deer. MT is another option, but license fees are steeper.

Good luck!

 

[Nick Muche]

Come out and hunt some Pronghorn to get your feet wet!

 

[2rocky]

Best is relative.

If you are talking lower degree of difficulty/ high success rate then antelope with a rifle is at the top of the list. Easy logistics, terrain is not as extreme, public land is plentiful. Leftover tags usually available but research on access may be required.

If we are talking rewarding, then Elk is at the top of the list. Degree of Difficulty and logistical complication is pretty high. Success rate is less than Antelope, but improves markedly as experience gained. The upside of a CO OTC hunt is the ability to do it every year and see your knowledge of the area and animal movement pay off.

I'd say a mule deer hunt would fall between the two in logistical complexity. That was my first out of state hunt, and I had an opportunity, but was unsuccessful. It solidified my desire to make an out of state western hunt an annual event.

 

[Warren1726]

Wow! Very helpful responses guys. Thank you. I'm going to look deeper in to the pronghorn hunt. All my time has been spent researching CO OTC archery elk, and I was talking to my bro over thanksgiving and he thought we should check in to other animals before we commit to it.

 

[Solitude]

I think a lot depends in what type of experience you are after and what defines a successful trip/hunt for you and your brother.

Your original post left virtually all options open, but I think you could dig just a bit deeper and determine if you two lean towards archery or rifle, backpack or truck trips, and figure out at this point if the western experience can be found for you in the WY flats on antelope or in the Rocky Mountains on deer/elk. The gear you already and the critters you have harvested in your life should help you make the decision.

I concurrently with many of the posts above, WY rifle antelope is a very fun hunt with plenty of targets and a trip all hunters should do. If you are looking for an adventurous good weather archery hunt, mule deer is hard to beat and you should be able to get on animals with some diligent research and stretch your legs. If you measure success by the adventure, lay awake at night dreaming about your life's future trips and will spend every free moment preparing for a possibly life changing hunt, in my opinion backpacking in on archery elk is very hard to beat. However, if both you and your brother are not 200% committed with a lot of free time I would gradually build to this level of a hunt.

 

[Warren1726]

I think a lot depends in what type of experience you are after and what defines a successful trip/hunt for you and your brother.

Your original post left virtually all options open, but I think you could dig just a bit deeper and determine if you two lean towards archery or rifle, backpack or truck trips, and figure out at this point if the western experience can be found for you in the WY flats on antelope or in the Rocky Mountains on deer/elk. The gear you already and the critters you have harvested in your life should help you make the decision.

I concurrently with many of the posts above, WY rifle antelope is a very fun hunt with plenty of targets and a trip all hunters should do. If you are looking for an adventurous good weather archery hunt, mule deer is hard to beat and you should be able to get on animals with some diligent research and stretch your legs. If you measure success by the adventure, lay awake at night dreaming about your life's future trips and will spend every free moment preparing for a possibly life changing hunt, in my opinion backpacking in on archery elk is very hard to beat. However, if both you and your brother are not 200% committed with a lot of free time I would gradually build to this level of a hunt.

Thanks, Solitude. I'll say this, I love hunting and being in the woods and don't have to kill to feel successfull, it sure helps though! I am more of a die hard hunter than my brother. I think we would like to backpack hunt and camp if that helps.

 

[Nick Muche]

Wow! Very helpful responses guys. Thank you. I'm going to look deeper in to the pronghorn hunt. All my time has been spent researching CO OTC archery elk, and I was talking to my bro over thanksgiving and he thought we should check in to other animals before we commit to it.

Elk will take commitment, especially if you plan to do a backpack style hunt. Sad, but it seems that many every year on the forums end up not going after all the planning. Pronghorn on the other hand can be pretty easy, especially so with a rifle. Buy a tag, a map and some gas... Go hunt.

 

[WyoBowhunter21]

I would say antelope as well. You can backpack hunt and camp for them in some areas. They are not just on the flats. Also, for elk in WY you need to check the area you want to go and make sure you are not going to be in forest where you will need a guide. My advice would be read the regs first and then work from there. I am not sure about the other states you have listed. If I were going to take a shot at my first western hunting trip I hontestly don't think I would try elk first unless you have killed and packed one or a similar animal out first. Elk are not small creatures and take A LOT of work to pack one out. I would work yourself up to an elk. Antelope, deer, then elk. That progression will allow you to get a feel for western hunting while being able to progress through the pack process. Not trying to deter you away from elk but if you down a bull (most are pretty big) you may feel overwhelmed. Especially if your brother is not 100% into it. I have killed an elk every single year since I have hunted so I do understand what size an elk is and how to hunt them. With this experience I can say that you don't want to ruin your first experience out west. Good luck and enjoy every miniute of it.

 

[Warren1726]

I would say antelope as well. You can backpack hunt and camp for them in some areas. They are not just on the flats. Also, for elk in WY you need to check the area you want to go and make sure you are not going to be in forest where you will need a guide. My advice would be read the regs first and then work from there. I am not sure about the other states you have listed. If I were going to take a shot at my first western hunting trip I hontestly don't think I would try elk first unless you have killed and packed one or a similar animal out first. Elk are not small creatures and take A LOT of work to pack one out. I would work yourself up to an elk. Antelope, deer, then elk. That progression will allow you to get a feel for western hunting while being able to progress through the pack process. Not trying to deter you away from elk but if you down a bull (most are pretty big) you may feel overwhelmed. Especially if your brother is not 100% into it. I have killed an elk every single year since I have hunted so I do understand what size an elk is and how to hunt them. With this experience I can say that you don't want to ruin your first experience out west. Good luck and enjoy every miniute of it.

Thanks, great advice. One caveat is that as a KY resident we have the good fortune of having our own 10000 head elk herd. What I'm hoping for is to draw a KY elk tag, then I can experience the hunting and packing aspect a little closer to home. Then I could hunt antelope or mule deer out west and get the "western" hunting experience.

 

[Muledeernv]

I would start with antelope then work up to back pack hunting elk. After you have killed your antelope you could always head to the elk spot you have in mind and spend a couple of days or so packing in and scouting to see if you and your brother are up to staying as long as you need to arrow an elk. That way you have a better idea of what to expect if and when you do decide to come out west to try elk hunting.

 

[tstowater]

Just do something. I went directly to elk as I love hunting elk. I was in Montana and shot a mulie on the combo license. I still haven't done an antelope hunt, but will soon. If your brother is not committed 110%, it might be easy for him to bail on you before or during the hunt and then you are SOL. Make it a hunt you both want to do. Every hunt is a learning experience and success is measured with satisfaction of the experience.

 

[Ohio Darin]

I did a rifle antelope hunt in Wyoming as my first western hunt. All three of us that went were successful (I was done by 9am the first day). Very easy on the wallet if you want it to be and was a whole lot of fun. Good luck in KY. Hoping to drawing an archery or rifle tag myself one of these days…...

 

[bigeasygator]

I've been on nine hunts out west, all in the last four years. I've done six elk hunts, two mule deer hunts, and a bear hunt. I've never been on a pronghorn hunt but am thinking of squeezing one in next year. My advice is go for elk. There's nothing like it and every hunt feels like that once in a lifetime experience. The logistics are tougher, but to me that's all part of the fun. You can't go wrong no matter what you do...but I say go for elk!

 

[blb078]

I think trying to get a cow elk tag would be the best option. More challenging than an antelope hunt, most tags around the same price of a buck antelope tag. And It will get your feet wet in elk hunting w/o having to spend $600 for a tag.