Hello folks, I've been reading here for quite a while. This is my first post but I've read/learned a bunch and gained a lot of motivation from this forum and the people on it.
I'm a lifelong hunter in my mid 20's who's itching to get out west this fall. I've been hunting since I was 6 with my grandfather, father, and brother. Mostly eastern game (whitetail,turkey,black bear,squirrel). I have been lucky enough to hunt New Mexico rifle elk with my father before he passed. We had a couple amazing trips where we were successful. I spend most of my season hunting public land in my home state. The George Washington/Jefferson National Forest is relatively(for the east lol) large and i'm no stranger to going deep carrying heavy loads in and out. It's been a while since I've been on a western hunt but i'm finally established enough to make the trip out there again. Over the past year and a half a group of 3 friends and myself have planned an OTC archery elk hunt for this Sept. Thanks to a lot of what I've read here I'm feeling fairly(ish) well prepared with my gear, fitness, calling, strategy/gameplans. It likely won't go as planned but it will be a great time and a learning experience.
We've got 12 weeks until it's go time. We plan on setting up a base camp from the truck at a National Forest campground. From there we'll drive to a few spots we've picked out and make loops looking for sign, glassing, and calling. We'll be able to spike out if necessary but we plan on covering a lot of ground per day. We've spent countless hours looking at google maps and on x picking out locations. We've got more possible locations planned than we'll have time to try in the 17 days we'll be there. This is honestly more of an exploratory trip trying to figure out the area that we've picked. We've got long term plans with realistic expectations. Until then I'm going to put a few hundred miles running/hiking with pack behind me and focus on my calling. I've got my gear list sorted out. Got some pretty quality stuff that should last for years. There is some room for upgrading a couple things in the future but I'm extremely happy with what I've got and plan on putting it to use on one or more trips yearly.
Just wanted to introduce myself and say thank you all for the wealth of knowledge to be had here. Looking forward to this year's hunt and the many hunts in the years to come. Good luck to you all this fall!
I'm a lifelong hunter in my mid 20's who's itching to get out west this fall. I've been hunting since I was 6 with my grandfather, father, and brother. Mostly eastern game (whitetail,turkey,black bear,squirrel). I have been lucky enough to hunt New Mexico rifle elk with my father before he passed. We had a couple amazing trips where we were successful. I spend most of my season hunting public land in my home state. The George Washington/Jefferson National Forest is relatively(for the east lol) large and i'm no stranger to going deep carrying heavy loads in and out. It's been a while since I've been on a western hunt but i'm finally established enough to make the trip out there again. Over the past year and a half a group of 3 friends and myself have planned an OTC archery elk hunt for this Sept. Thanks to a lot of what I've read here I'm feeling fairly(ish) well prepared with my gear, fitness, calling, strategy/gameplans. It likely won't go as planned but it will be a great time and a learning experience.
We've got 12 weeks until it's go time. We plan on setting up a base camp from the truck at a National Forest campground. From there we'll drive to a few spots we've picked out and make loops looking for sign, glassing, and calling. We'll be able to spike out if necessary but we plan on covering a lot of ground per day. We've spent countless hours looking at google maps and on x picking out locations. We've got more possible locations planned than we'll have time to try in the 17 days we'll be there. This is honestly more of an exploratory trip trying to figure out the area that we've picked. We've got long term plans with realistic expectations. Until then I'm going to put a few hundred miles running/hiking with pack behind me and focus on my calling. I've got my gear list sorted out. Got some pretty quality stuff that should last for years. There is some room for upgrading a couple things in the future but I'm extremely happy with what I've got and plan on putting it to use on one or more trips yearly.
Just wanted to introduce myself and say thank you all for the wealth of knowledge to be had here. Looking forward to this year's hunt and the many hunts in the years to come. Good luck to you all this fall!
