What do you consider a lot of tags for an elk unit?

[Sccritterkiller]

I’m looking for the opposite when I go out this year. I hate people. Of course, I don’t have to go out west to go elk hunting with low elk numbers and alone. I can stay right here in Virginia!

If I was you would definitely be looking to lease land on the edge of the EMZ..VA R deer tags are cheap and your succes rate on elk would probably be about the same as heading west.

 

[Poser]

I don't think in terms of actual total numbers, it is more of a perceived numbers things. If I drive 25 miles of FS road and there are trucks with Hoyt stickers or horse trailers or Yeti coolers and/or or canvas tents at every single pull out and/or if I go to the grocery store and have to wait in line behind 5 dudes wearing head to toe matching camo buying all of the ice and all of the Busch beer while their truck trailer combos are taking up 5 parking spots then too many tags have been issued. My favorite is the truck pulling a camper + a 2nd trailer with a ATV who pulls through the gas station blocking the 2nd pump while using the first pump.... = Too many tags.

 

[270-300]

Well as a wyoming resident who elk hunts 6 months a year, theres 3 important parts to this question.

First there is the "my spot" syndrome

Secondly the places people actually go when hunting

Thirdly the actual hunter density of a whole hunt area.

To start with the my spot syndrome, many wyoming locals will drag some crappy trailer up into the national forest at first summer snow melt in order to mark where they will hunt in october. This instantly makes the immediate area, and anything they feel like hunting on any given day "my spot".

My next example ties "my spot" and where people actually hunt together.

Last season i was out at a state plot of land i hunt every year. I had been out all weekend camped in a tent. On the second day i decided to drive away from this plot of land, down a county road, and up around the other side of the plot. This was a strategy to get across plot without winding the elk bedding area. I got in while it was still dark in the morning, and hiked it. I set up on a rock and glasses from a tripod all day. Well about 40 minutes from sunset i see a yuppy drive up in a nissan exterra and park blocking the gate, "Preventing" my F450 from driving back out. He gets out and proceeds to speed walk through all the bedding areas and then sees me crow call and walks back out. Doesnt move his little car though. I had to track him down on foot to find out if he would prefer i use the winch or the push bumper to move his car so i could leave. That was his opportunity to lecture me on how i was hunting "my spot". This guy frequently does the "Laramie Stroll" hunting technique of walking through all the bedding areas of a spot in the first or last 1 hour of daylight and then leaving, never spending any other time of day out there.

Most people i see hunting are on a 4 wheeler on the road all day. I hunt one area thats general tags, not remote at all, and most people are out 3 hours max and leave. The other area i hunt is in and around a wilderness area miles down inside a canyon thats very rough. I see more people there despite few tags drawn the people who do draw them tend to bring big wall tents and horses and make a month of it.

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

It depends on too many factors and not just unit size. I hunted an AZ unit that is 700+ sq miles with 70+% public, less than 100 tags. I saw people every single day because the unit only holds elk in a relatively small portion. A unit I hunt in MT is on a general tag, you read anywhere online it's overrun, but in 10 years of hunting around there, I've ran into 1 person. Then you have actual pressure vs perceived pressure. There can be 50 tags but if the unit is primarily BLM with a SxS trail on every ridge, you are going to see people all day. Depending on the unit, that may or may not actually be pressuring the animals, but is annoying nevertheless. Then there are the units where pressure helps the hunting

 

[Q_Sertorius]

If I was you would definitely be looking to lease land on the edge of the EMZ..VA R deer tags are cheap and your succes rate on elk would probably be about the same as heading west.

The EMZ isn’t that far from my land.

 

[CMF]

I think it definitely depends alot on the available roadless area. We hunted a unit that is more than 550 sq. miles and the tag is good for an additional unit, although most hunting is in the one. 240+ tags felt like a ton of pressure because there was literally no roadless area. Even areas without marked roads, had sxs trails through them. It was impossible to get away from people

 

[Teaman1]

So without discussing specific units, is there a certain ratio of acres to hunters that you find acceptable?

For now, I’m going to try to get cow tags in these units before I spend points on them. Bout the only way I’ll know for sure.

 

[Teaman1]

Coming from the world of otc I. Colorado though, 200-500 tags seemed heavenly on paper haha

 

[270-300]

I think it definitely depends alot on the available roadless area. We hunted a unit that is more than 550 sq. miles and the tag is good for an additional unit, although most hunting is in the one. 240+ tags felt like a ton of pressure because there was literally no roadless area. Even areas without marked roads, had sxs trails through them. It was impossible to get away from people

The other point is how attractive the roadless areas are. 1 asq mile of no roads in steep terrain seems ro get a lot less people than wilderness areas that are miles from roads but attractive for horses.

 

[Teaman1]

The other point is how attractive the roadless areas are. 1 asq mile of no roads in steep terrain seems ro get a lot less people than wilderness areas that are miles from roads but attractive for horses.

I agree with this, I’ve found solitude in an otc unit by staying away from the wilderness.

 

[270-300]

I agree with this, I’ve found solitude in an otc unit by staying away from the wilderness.

As much as i do love the wilderness area hunts, its quite common to find higher densities of elk, deer, antelope, and especially turkeys around horse pastures and hay fields. I certainly dont enjoy hunting an irrigated hayfield the same way i do a rough wilderness area full of pre 1900s logging camps, but when i shot my trophy merriams turkey the hayfield was the place to be.

 

[sodaksooner]

Ive hunted units with 650 tags and seen very few folks, mostly at trailheads. Units with 100 ish tags it's been crowded so it is kind of a crapshoot. That said, see very few folks in the field on most occasions. The few times we have met people in the field, we just kind of chat about where each group is planning on going and never had a conflict. When you do see folks, or even meet them, the vast majority of our interactions have been great and we even exchange numbers and emails and keep each other up to date. Have made some valuable acquaintances as well. Shit, we have even hunted with other folks after meeting them. The further back we get the fewer folks we see. The vast majority of our hunts tend to be day hunts even at that.

 

[Skerhunter]

Every elk unit is “crowded” on public land, especially rifle seasons.

I look more at bull to cow ratio/harvest data/herd population (under/at/over objective) to get an idea of what hunting that unit might be like. Then look at the unit itself for how much public land is accessible and road access (make sure most harvest isn’t on private or inaccessible terrain).

I’ve hunted draw units that sucked (no pressure but few elk) and general units that were perfect hunts (lots of ppl but healthy population that spread out pressure).