OTC Elk Hunt Cost - Guys from the East Coast

[Muddler]

Very helpful guys, thanks. Looks pretty doable...just gotta talk the wife into it!

 

[Wapiti1]

Question o have wondered for a long time:

How do you deal with horses on a trip that long? Do you let them out of the trailer at rest stops?

Yes. Get them out at some of the big truck stops or any of the rest areas that have a decent grassy area. Just pull into a far corner. No one will care.

Jeremy

 

[Clarence]

From Pa as well. On our Co trips with tag, driving straight through, gas split 2 ways ( We go with 3 guys, truck owner doesn't pay for gas is established aheadoftime), 2 nights hotel (recovery/acclimate day when we get there/shower and rest up coming off the mountain before we start home), and 4 meals out, and a little misc, I wrapped 1200 into it. I dehydrate most of my own meals and make granola bars and jerky, but no mountain food is figured in that number. If you're buying all of your backpack food, I would figure 25 to 30 dollars per day on food. You can pay off a good dehydrator in 2 trips for sure vs buying freeze dried meals and packaged trail food. I spend more on gear each year adding and upgrading, but that's my own affliction.

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[Clarence]

And on the processing side, we bone out to pack out, then buy 40 bucks worth of dry ice at Walmart. I have a monster cheapo Igloo I use that I can get a boned out elk in with dry ice. We haul it home in game bags, and its froze pretty stiff til we get home. Temper, cut, clean and wrap ourselves at home.

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[Firehole Hunter]

We usually hunt in Colorado during rifle seasons. Coming from Atlanta pulling a trailer and hauling all my gear (we truck camp with wall tents) for me and my hunting buddies. We usually spend the night around Topeka at a hotel costing around a $100 and then spend the night around Rifle spending the same amount. Gas is about $350 one way. I have a F-150 Turbo-6 that doesn't get great gas mileage pulling a trailer and fully weighted down. Next morning buy groceries then hunt until Wed and spend night anywhere from Eagle to Denver depending on how long it takes to break camp. Hopefully we get past Kansas City the next day and spend night in Missouri somewhere. Again hotels are around to the $100 a pop and hopefully you get to split them with someone in your group. Now obviously there are short-cuts you can make to save money, but I tend to spoil myself a little because this is something I look forward to doing all year. I make sacrifices in Atlanta to spoil myself out West. Usually buy too many groceries and bring too much crap, but better safe than sorry. Forgot a shovel to dig latrine once, chainsaw oil last year, etc. Oh, but don't forget the credit card. Last year I lost a bearing in Topeka and spent the day in a trailer shop and lost the new axle that evening when trying to make up for lost time ran over something big in the middle of the interstate which took out the new axle and spent the next day in Denver waiting on another repair. The credit card hit was almost $2000 for 2 axles and tires. Hell the damn trailer didn't cost but $2500 but what can you do when you're 1000 miles from home and you're pulling all your gear in a trailer. I always say bring extra cash and we will travel, but don't forget the plastic you never know.

We haul the meat back to Atlanta and butcher it myself the day after I get back. Have really nice and expensive coolers to keep meat fine til we get back home and haven't lost any of the meat. Actually the coolers keep the meat from freezing while in Colorado at elevation and ice isn't a concern until we get to the flatlands.

 

[Firehole Hunter]

Oh on a side note, if doing it all over again I would have made me a cooler instead of my expensive ones. Really easy to do too.

 

[Muddler]

Another dumb question: assuming success and getting a nice bull, any perceived issues with getting the head/antlers into a truck bed that has a cap?

More dumb questions: If going with a group, how many guys would you say is max per truck, no trailer? Thinking along the lines again of if both/all were successful, we would need to haul back all of our gear, plus the meat and racks of the elk. 2 seems OK, 3 seems like it might be too much to fit everything.

 

[Muddler]

Oh on a side note, if doing it all over again I would have made me a cooler instead of my expensive ones. Really easy to do too.

Interested in your homemade cooler idea...just a bunch of 2" foam board taped together?

 

[Clarence]

3 to a truck is perfect. 3 first timers connecting...Don't worry about it until it happens, then deal with a good problem!

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[ColtyJr]

That sounds about right on the money. I drive from western Pa every year. Just divide your miles by the mileage of your vehicle for your fuel cost. If you are towing anything remember mileage in the mountains while towing anything sucks. That cost can vary greatly obviously depending on whether you’re driving to eastern Colorado or western Montana. Splitting travel costs with 1 or more partners really lowers the cost of hunting since gas is your biggest expense other than the license.

I never include food cost as an expense because I eat whether I’m hunting or back home. My gas is about $700 with one partner. Meat processing $250-$300 including vac sealing which I like. I buy about $35 worth of dry ice for the trip home. I might have a high restaurant/bar tab for one night after tags are punched. There are some highway tolls from Pa through Illinois as well. That’s about it for hard costs. Cheap!

And then there is the fact that every year there is some new piece of gear that you can’t live without. Lol

Going in 2021 with my son Thanks for your thoughts

 

[Muddler]

Right I don't have any expectation that all 3 would connect, one would probably be a miracle. Just kind of a hope for the best, plan for the worst type thought experiment

 

[williaada]

My group has gone out a few times and we figure 1,800 for the total trip while driving our own rig. Renting a truck is a 100-200 more per person for a nice truck.

 

[Kbhillhunter]

have taken a few road trips to CO. Both started as basecamp tenting and ended with motels. Without the cost of the motel it was about 1200-1300 all in for tag and my share of the rental car, gas and food, split with one other guy.

 

[johnw]

Another dumb question: assuming success and getting a nice bull, any perceived issues with getting the head/antlers into a truck bed that has a cap?

More dumb questions: If going with a group, how many guys would you say is max per truck, no trailer? Thinking along the lines again of if both/all were successful, we would need to haul back all of our gear, plus the meat and racks of the elk. 2 seems OK, 3 seems like it might be too much to fit everything.

Depends on how much you have in your bed, but theres been enough room on every bull I've shot lol. One cost/complication to consider is that in transporting the head/antlers back home, I believe it needs to be free of any brain matter. I always have a taxidermist do a quick euro mount before heading home or take a pot and propane and do it yourself.

 

[Wapiti1]

Interested in your homemade cooler idea...just a bunch of 2" foam board taped together?

1/4" plywood laminated with spray adhesive to whatever thickness foam with angle aluminum corners and edging attached by liquid nails. A piano hinge for the lid. Line with plastic before putting the quarters and ice in.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is CWD regulations. No spine, or brains. Bones are almost a no-no these days as well. It's easy to debone, so might as well and it fits in the cooler better.

Make damn sure the meat is cool/cold to the core before putting it in the cooler. You can get center spoilage if you put hot meat into a cooler even covered in ice. Randy Newberg has a good video on meat care.

No issues putting 3 normal bulls into a truck with a cap and coolers. The problem will be what you do with all your gear that was living where the elk meat is now living. Don't discount renting a U-haul trailer for the trip home, or picking up a $500-700 utility trailer and selling it when you get back.

Jeremy

 

[jpe5714]

Another dumb question: assuming success and getting a nice bull, any perceived issues with getting the head/antlers into a truck bed that has a cap?

More dumb questions: If going with a group, how many guys would you say is max per truck, no trailer? Thinking along the lines again of if both/all were successful, we would need to haul back all of our gear, plus the meat and racks of the elk. 2 seems OK, 3 seems like it might be too much to fit everything.

If you bring back the skull, make sure you clean out the eyes and brain, I got stopped last year coming back from NM to PA by a PA bunny cop...saw the rack in my bed, pulled me over for an hour, and threatened to seize my rack n skull because of CVD.

 

[Firehole Hunter]

Interested in your homemade cooler idea...just a bunch of 2" foam board taped together?

I would use 1/4 inch plywood outer shell and then use the 2" inch foam. The wood would give rigidity and still be lightweight enough to lift in and out of a vehicle. Don't forget to add a drain and handles. Plus it is easier to pack stuff in it until there are elk to placed therein.

Lastly, you always need to plan that everyone will be successful because that can and does happen sometimes. So plan your space and gear accordingly. Generally they don't have U-Haul trailers or utility trailers for rent/sale at the trail head where your truck is when hauling out an elk.

 

[Mtcarter34]

Montana you can get tags for 600 and license for 400 so 1000 plus gas and food that would be about all it would cost you

 

[Muddler]

Good point about CWD. I'll add searching out a taxidermist to the list. Definitely not going to boil my own. Did a whitetail once, won't do it again. Thought that I had a strong stomach....nope.

 

[Indian Summer]

If you bring back the skull, make sure you clean out the eyes and brain, I got stopped last year coming back from NM to PA by a PA bunny cop...saw the rack in my bed, pulled me over for an hour, and threatened to seize my rack n skull because of CVD.

Haha that’s CWD not CVD! Covid on the brain? Lol