Idaho or Colorado for diy elk

[rclouse79]

Everyone saying Idaho is from Colorado and everyone saying Colorado is from Idaho. Why not just go to Montana?

 

[Doc Holliday]

Better make up your mind soon. New zone caps are coming and tags go on sale in two weeks.

What tags for 2021 go on sale in 2 weeks?

 

[Salmon River Solutions]

Idaho is better, here is why:

You don’t have to cover up your $800 camo getup with an ugly orange vest.

That is all.

 

[mtnbiker208]

What tags for 2021 go on sale in 2 weeks?

I believe nonresident tags go on sale dec 1.

 

[87TT]

Yep Dec 1st for NR

 

[Nubs]

No state is cheaper if you have to go there 2 or 4 seasons to kill an elk. Write your priorities down. If low cost is higher on the list than a dead elk then, in my opinion you need to rethink your list. I’d say Montana before Idaho or Colorado.

I will look into Montana a little bit more. The price always turned me off.

The buddy I'll be meeting is coming from Texas and I from Wisconsin.

Sent from my SM-G975U1 using Tapatalk

 

[Next Ridge]

I recommend getting a little more detailed in your decision. If not, at a state level it really comes down to travel distance and cost, both of which are easy to evaluate. Once inside a state the variation can be large. I haven’t hunted Idaho but I have hunted Montana, Arizona and Colorado. Spent time fishing and backpacking in each also. Each state has big differences from one area to another! Choose one unit in a state, maybe really good, another not so much. Which is more important logistics or hunt details?

 

[Olympics777]

There’s no elk here in Idaho, I’d probably go to Colorado

 

[elkocd]

I've hunted both as well as every other Western elk state than NM. I really can't imagine not being able to kill a bull in CO if you're not picky about size. ID has some better size potential in OTC, but is also a much harder hunt to get that done. I hear all the time about CO being difficult because of pressure, but what I've always seen there is a CHIT ton of elk if you just get out of you SxS Last time we there 2 years ago my son saw 30+ legal bulls in 3 days of 2nd season hunting in a 10% success rate area. We never saw another hunter in the field. Saw a lot driving around.

 

[AaronMColeman]

I've hunted both as well as every other Western elk state than NM. I really can't imagine not being able to kill a bull in CO if you're not picky about size. ID has some better size potential in OTC, but is also a much harder hunt to get that done. I hear all the time about CO being difficult because of pressure, but what I've always seen there is a CHIT ton of elk if you just get out of you SxS Last time we there 2 years ago my son saw 30+ legal bulls in 3 days of 2nd season hunting in a 10% success rate area. We never saw another hunter in the field. Saw a lot driving around.

I’ve only hunted Wyoming In pressures public land. Not knocking anyone but I think so many people don’t know how to hunt elk, have the energy to work elk country for many days in a row, or know the land well. I think if you can string together effort, knowledge of how to hunt elk, and knowledge of the land, success rates go through the roof.

So to all the discouraged hunters, keep learning, spend time in the land you want to hunt if possible, and get in shape so you can put in max effort day after day. No guarantee but I’ll bet that quadruples the odds of success.

 

[elkocd]

I’ve only hunted Wyoming In pressures public land. Not knocking anyone but I think so many people don’t know how to hunt elk, have the energy to work elk country for many days in a row, or know the land well. I think if you can string together effort, knowledge of how to hunt elk, and knowledge of the land, success rates go through the roof.

So to all the discouraged hunters, keep learning, spend time in the land you want to hunt if possible, and get in shape so you can put in max effort day after day. No guarantee but I’ll bet that quadruples the odds of success.

Agree 100%.

 

[AaronMColeman]

Agree 100%.

This was the first season I felt like I know how to hunt elk, always learning but I mostly have an idea what to do. Plus I’m still a hack compared to most of the seasoned hunters

I know the land because I’ve lived here a few years now. I try to learn more and more about it by hiking in summer, and pouring over maps in evenings.

I also worked my butt of getting in shape. I decided conditioning is a year round thing and I’m going to work on it every day.

All 3 worked together to get my elk. It was a TON of work and took WAY longer than I thought it would. But if I hadn’t been in better shape I never could have hiked fast enough to cut off a herd, if I didn’t know the land I never would have known where to look and how to get where I wanted to be, and if I didn’t know how to hunt elk I would have spooked them or never seen them. It’s a process that takes time and a commitment to always trying to be better. That’s why I have become obsessed with elk!

 

[Nubs]

I really appreciate all the input! I've been trying to read and watch videos on YouTube. I do not have high expectations, but I'm gonna give her a go. Still doing research. Hope to make up our mind before the Idaho tags go on sale.

Sent from my SM-G975U1 using Tapatalk

 

[huntertx]

Personally I would do idaho otc. But note there are 1st rifle tags in Colorado you can draw with 0 points. At least in those hunts hunter numbers are capped and there aren’t deer hunters in the field generally.

Colorado is the default for most people driving west to hunt elk. I hear Idaho pressure is increasing but I cannot imagine it is where Colorado is currently.

 

[CoffeeGoat]

Something to add to your list of thinking - the probability of things working out. When you're thinking about a hunting trip a year or years in advance a lot can happen to screw up your plans. For example, a big fire, an early snow storm, a pandemic, hunting partner bails at the last minute, and that's just the last two years for me!

Without scouting regularly, and observing a hunting season or two it's hard to figure out an area. Once I back packed in 5 plus miles to the Continental divide for some isolation and three horse camps set up within a half mile ("we're here every year son"). Another trip was 2 miles from the road and could actually see a ski resort from camp and got a cow with in 20 minute of opening morning.

All this to say, try to think about hunting either of these states as more of a multi-year pursuit or at least several trips to get it figured out. Either state will offer good hunting, either state will have challenges, and every hunting season comes with unexpected challenges you're just trying to minimize them.

 

[Longranginidaho]

Agree

 

[Crowmangler]

Next year the mask Nazi's in CO will probably require verification of your vaccine card & microchip implant so I'd lean going to ID

 

[TXJaeger]

Great advice here. I live in a non-elk state. I have hunted both as a NR. As has been said, it’s tough to make a state-wide comparison. Better to drill down to specific areas. In CO, I wish I would’ve better understood the legal bull regs and spent more time understanding what legal bulls look like in the field. I had a bull pinned down. Couldn’t feel 100% certain he was legal so, of course, I passed. Did my homework after the fact, and learned he was legal, and there were some reliable ways I could’ve verified that.

If filling the tag is the priority lean toward the option that will give you the greatest mobility in the field and allow the most time in the field. Learning how elk utilize the terrain and respond to the various factors you can’t control (weather, pressure, fire, predation), is important. It’s tough to do when we can’t spend a lot of time in the area. It’s also a big bonus to be able to move to plan A, B, C, etc., when the elk aren’t there. I ignore my own advice, because I’m a sucker for the backcountry wilderness experience. I love that experience, but I have to accept, that I am tied down to hunting a limited amount of terrain. Seems when I go into a new area, I spend most of the hunt figuring out where the elk are and how to hunt the area. There’s a lot to be said for developing a multi-year plan that allows you to acquire knowledge of an area. I also ignore this advice, because I’m a sucker for seeing new terrain! But mobility and familiarity with an area increase your odds of success.

Acquire as much knowledge as you can from trusted sources that know the area. But independently learn enough that you can’t easily be duped.

Anything good that has happened to me in the elk woods can be attributed to understanding what’s beyond my control and accepting it, and then working my guts out (year round), to positively influence those things that are in my control—elk knowledge, understanding terrain and habitat of where I’ll be hunting, fitness, building other skills that will boost my confidence. The elk I’ve taken have come after reaching a “breaking point,” that would have done me in had I not invested so much in myself and the hunt that I was unwilling to quit and had the confidence to press forward. It’s also important to acclimate yourself to enduring misery and staying positive when it feels like everything is going against you. Train your mind and body to do those things, and you’ll put yourself in a great position to notch a tag. And, when you know you’ve done all you can and keep learning and applying your knowledge, your hunt will be a success, even when you don’t notch a tag.

If you decided ID, I hope you survived the online rodeo yesterday (buying tags).

 

[Billinsd]

Next year the mask Nazi's in CO will probably require verification of your vaccine card & microchip implant so I'd lean going to ID

Idaho is much more free than Colorado if that matters to you, where you spend your money and time.

 

[Josh_]

I have been to Colorado 3 times for elk. There is always people, but if you put in the effort, you can find elk. I have never hunted Idaho. I think going where you can spend the most days hunting is key. When you are coming from out of state, you need to give yourself time to figure it out.

I will be back Colorado in the future, but should be hunting a Wyoming general tag this coming year.