Public land vs private

[tbarile]

I’ve been on 2 elk hunts, one public and one private. Both were good experiences with the private land having a lot more action and opportunity. The public land hunt was cool because we had a lot more ground to cover so it felt like more opportunity. The private ground was 60,000 acres but most of the property was cattle field. That kept the 2-3 herds in 3 small patches of timber. This made for lots of action but I felt the elk had been pressured too much with 4 guys hunting them the week before me. Anyone have experiences with private ground and was tour experience similar to mine? Trying to plan 2020 and don’t know what to do. Thanks

 

[Indian Summer]

Unless you pay top dollar for a private land hunt they aren’t worth it. Once the elk on the property have been hunted they either jump the fence to the next ranch or they just don’t show themselves in the light of day. At that point you’re better off on public.

Plus what do you really learn on private land? It’s really not much different than deer hunting since you can pattern them. Public land means no boundaries and unlimited opportunities. You can always find elk and make it happen.

The other thing is if you keep hunting private you have to keep paying. So unless money is no matter to a person I cannot figure out why you’d pay to hunt a limited area when you can hunt unlimited wild beautiful country for free.

I’ve hunted elk on private land. Killed a nice 6 point herd bull there. All I did for the entire week was sit bored knowing better than to stomp around the place and dreamed of my past and future hunts in the mountains. I hated it! I could go back there for $1500 including a place to stay and probably kill more bulls but I’d never do it. It’s not elk hunting.

This is the bull I killed. Not many memories I can tell you.

 

[tbarile]

I'm an archery hunter BTW.

I am paying no matter what. I'm still learning to elk hunt and I can only get 1 week to do it. To me it's worth paying an outfitter (public or private) to give myself the best chance of success. I went with private this past year because it gave me a higher chance of success. I passed the opportunity for a shot on some smaller 4 its (just how I am) so it was a great experience and I definitely was not bored on either hunt. It just became apparent towards the end of the week that the elk were feeling pressured, it didn't help that our scent was being blasted with 40mph winds.

 

[5MilesBack]

I like having access to 2500+ sq miles about 50x50 miles for elk hunting. 60k acres is less than 100 sq miles. And if the elk aren't there, they aren't there.

 

[Indian Summer]

I see your point for sure. Having easily accessible elk gives you a better chance to watch and interact with them. So you can learn from that for sure. But as you’ve already seen hunting pressured elk is the same whether you’re on private or public.

So I’d say one of two things.... if you want to stick with private be pickier about the property. Makes sure there’s enough cover to give you options. Mainly the option to let one spot cool down while you go hunt the other end of the ranch. Also I’d forget about picking my dates based on the rut. Instead make sure you’re the first ones to hunt the property. If you can push that date back to the 15th great. But if not hunt early.

The other option is to just go to public land. At some point I’d think you’ll want to make that transition anyway. You can still use an outfitter but won’t have to worry about a camp, meals, or packing out elk. As long as you pock a good one you’ll still be learning. For the price of a guided private land hunt I’m sure you can find a quality guided mountain hunt. Try Triple Three. They advertise mostly their awesome private land hunts but have some great hunting up in the Bighorns too. Ask for Phil Rutt and tell him Joe Ferraro sent you. He has reviews online. He has some of the top bulls in this year’s annual issue of Wyoming Outdoors. Top notch! Good luck.

 

[Indian Summer]

I like having access to 2500+ sq miles about 50x50 miles for elk hunting. 60k acres is less than 100 sq miles. And if the elk aren't there, they aren't there.

Exactly! It’s all or nothing. I’m not a fan of that. Nothing like having plans B, C, and D up your sleeve.

 

[Salmonchaser]

My BIL has a ranch north of Yellowstone, good elk killing. Nobody pushes any thing, you sit and wait. Never had it take more than three days but you don’t go hunt them up. If you don’t bust them out of cover they stick around bust them they likely go to the neighbors. Shoot one, the herd really doesn’t move to far. I would imagine a lot of private land hunts are managed the same way. Have a friend in Oregon with a big chunk of private in the blues. If I’m running out of time up in Forest service he’ll sometimes let me on with a spike tag. Same thing sit all day in one or two spots. The advantage to both spots is the elk will be there, public land hunts push elk down there. But in my very limited experience on private ground I’d rather hunt public. Been doing it 52 years in Oregon, Montana, Colorado.
now if a won a big lottery I’d buy 20 to 50,000 acres and hunt it all by myself.

 

[tbarile]

My BIL has a ranch north of Yellowstone, good elk killing. Nobody pushes any thing, you sit and wait. Never had it take more than three days but you don’t go hunt them up. If you don’t bust them out of cover they stick around bust them they likely go to the neighbors. Shoot one, the herd really doesn’t move to far. I would imagine a lot of private land hunts are managed the same way. Have a friend in Oregon with a big chunk of private in the blues. If I’m running out of time up in Forest service he’ll sometimes let me on with a spike tag. Same thing sit all day in one or two spots. The advantage to both spots is the elk will be there, public land hunts push elk down there. But in my very limited experience on private ground I’d rather hunt public. Been doing it 52 years in Oregon, Montana, Colorado.
now if a won a big lottery I’d buy 20 to 50,000 acres and hunt it all by myself.

sit and wait isn’t my style of elk hunting, at least not archery hunting. Spot/stalk/calling is what gets me excited about elk.

on my private land hunt in Montanta we were hunting the way I wanted and like but as I said, it was basically the same 200 head of elk we were just pushing/following around and they eventually felt too pressured.

 

[tbarile]

I see your point for sure. Having easily accessible elk gives you a better chance to watch and interact with them. So you can learn from that for sure. But as you’ve already seen hunting pressured elk is the same whether you’re on private or public.

So I’d say one of two things.... if you want to stick with private be pickier about the property. Makes sure there’s enough cover to give you options. Mainly the option to let one spot cool down while you go hunt the other end of the ranch. Also I’d forget about picking my dates based on the rut. Instead make sure you’re the first ones to hunt the property. If you can push that date back to the 15th great. But if not hunt early.

The other option is to just go to public land. At some point I’d think you’ll want to make that transition anyway. You can still use an outfitter but won’t have to worry about a camp, meals, or packing out elk. As long as you pock a good one you’ll still be learning. For the price of a guided private land hunt I’m sure you can find a quality guided mountain hunt. Try Triple Three. They advertise mostly their awesome private land hunts but have some great hunting up in the Bighorns too. Ask for Phil Rutt and tell him Joe Ferraro sent you. He has reviews online. He has some of the top bulls in this year’s annual issue of Wyoming Outdoors. Top notch! Good luck.

thanks for the recommendations. I definitely plan to move to public DIY at some point but I have a lot of learning to do and very limited time, especially living in Indiana. One of the things I like about private is the guaranteed tag. I hate hoping/waiting on a draw.

 

[Indian Summer]

Man you have me going back and forth on what you should do. I see you mentioned landowner tags. You didn’t say that originally. That would definitely be another advantage to private land outfitted hunts. Again... as long as you can pay the piper.

But honestly I don’t think private is for you. If the guys that hunted it the week before you hunted like you want to on 60,000 acres with very limited timber patches you were doomed from the start. The number one rule of private land is don’t run the elk over the fence. Period. Run and gun where blowing an opportunity isn’t the end of the world is better done on millions of acres not thousands.

The type of hunt you are wired for is one where you can be aggressive until you find the bull that wants to cooperate. In the meantime you’re learning and having fun with the encounters. But if you blow encounters on public you go the other way. On private they go the other way and just get really smart at surviving under those circumstances. That can be the end of your world.

My advice is still take your money and buy the best public land hunt you can afford. Go chase elk there to your hearts content and I think you’ll have a way better time.

You mentioned you passed on a bull. What caliber are you dropping the hammer on? Whatever it is you can probably find it on public land.

 

[tbarile]

I was looking for a 270” +. I missed a nice 270”+ 6pt due to an inaccurate range, shot right over his back. Still wanna cry.

the biggest draw of the private land is because it comes with a guaranteed tag. I was looking at a public land outfittter in Montana last year but after talking with people I uncovered that he packs his units with as money hunters as possible and they typically run into other hunters. When I’m paying 5-7k, I don’t want to run into other hunters every day. I looked up your recommendation and they are in Wyoming which requires points (I’m up to 3 there). Man I wish I lived out west!

 

[Indian Summer]

Once you get some hunting under your belt do you want to do diy hunts?

In the meantime I’d say keep looking to Wyoming for a good public land hunt. 3-4 points could get you the tag for some good hunting especially if a 270 will do. In my opinion if there are 270s there are also 300+ inch bulls so you have very realistic goals for a hunt like that. Go wilderness pack in and don’t see much for other hunters.

 

[tbarile]

Yes I do want to do diy once I get more experienced

 

[JBrew]

I had a very similar experience for my first hunt on private ground this year. Elk were plentiful and freezers were filled, but I definitely think I enjoy the public ground scenario a lot more, for the way I like to hunt. I'm still thankful for the learning and experience though.

 

[WCB]

thanks for the recommendations. I definitely plan to move to public DIY at some point but I have a lot of learning to do and very limited time, especially living in Indiana. One of the things I like about private is the guaranteed tag. I hate hoping/waiting on a draw.

Was your private land hunt in Montana? Confused because you said it had guaranteed tags.

 

[tbarile]

The private land I just hunted was Montana and it was supposed to be guaranteed but almost wasn’t due to the amount of people applying for Montana now. A hunt I’m considering in New Mexico is a guaranteed LO tag.

 

[fatlander]

I’ll play devils advocate here. If you’ve got a hook up with a great private spot (consistently has elk
on it) and don’t mind the coin, stay.

Days on end without seeing elk and traveling 4K miles round trip will wear on you. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not the ‘I have to kill something.’ I’m just saying that not seeing anything, hiking yourself to death and running into people sucks.

Corey Jacobsen, BRO and a few guys here get to run around the mountains for weeks and even months. They can keep going and blowing out silent elk until they find one that really wants to play. The average joe has a week or so. At some point in my life I might change, but for now once I find elk I’m going to stay there until I kill one or have to go home. Bow hiking and bugling your head off is cool for about a day. After that all that matters is just finding and killing your quarry. So it really doesn’t matter if it takes ambushing, spot and stalking, blind calling or calling a fired up bull. It’s all a means to the same end.

 

[Indian Summer]

Surprised nobody has asked but what is your budget for the hunt including license?

 

[tbarile]

Budget is 7k but my original question is what I experienced the normal private land experience...chasing the same herd back and forth on the property or was this an isolated experience due to the amount of cover for the elk.

 

[Indian Summer]

That is normal. Those are your resident elk. They aren’t leaving unless you run them off. And elk aren’t coming onto the property unless someone pushes them from somewhere else. But I would bet those elk, like the ones on any adjacent properties are the same ones that were there last year. Once elk hit a piece of private not much changes. I know you don’t want to hear this but private land elk hunting is a game of waiting and ambushing. Low impact hunting so that you don’t push “your elk” out of there. They are there because they feel secure and you don’t want to change that. But toward the end of every hunt it’s all or nothing right so hunters, and guides will get more aggressive and take risks. That’s why I’d never hunt private if someone was there the week before. Unless it’s 200,000 acres with lots of cover and not a wide open cattle ranch. Like I said before if you were to go back to that ranch or anywhere similar I would book the first hunt.

Public is fun because there’s no holding back. Every encounter is all or nothing. If it doesn’t pan out you go find new elk to play with. Believe me you can pack into Wyoming wilderness... or even non wilderness for that matter and not have to deal with other hunters.

Ask Phil Rutt at Triple Three about his high camp hunts.