What was your first western hunt - especially if from East of the Mississippi

[Btaylor]

CO archery mule deer in '87. 4 college kids loaded up and went. 2 of my buddies killed. I hit a buck in the shoulder and got no penetration.

 

[Scoot]

Elk hunt in WY. DIY, public land- buddy called in a 6x6 an hour into Day 1 and I arrowed it at 8 feet. While taking pics another bull bugled and I called it in and my buddy shot a 2nd 6x6. Then we had a pile of work in front of us!

 

[TreeDux]

Technically it was Saskatchewan duck hunting that first got me west of the Mississippi and I loved it. But for big game it was November 2001. For a time we were not even sure we would be able to fly with everything that was going on. A friend had gone to eastern Wyoming for a whitetail hunt the previous year and killed a nice buck. I had always wanted to go west so he didn’t have to try hard to convince me and a couple other guys.
We flew to Denver, stayed with a friend in Fort Collins and drove to Lusk the next day. As we we getting closer to our unit the friend ( the one who initiated the trip) proclaimed “ this is awesome. We’ve got good weather and plenty of time, all we gotta do now is find a place to hunt.” We were dumbfounded. Aren’t we hunting where you were last year? “Nah we can’t go there we have to find something different.”
We did and we went 4/5 on decent bucks. I was already in love with Wyoming and have made a good many trips there and beyond since then.

 

[Andrew12gauge]

Elk hunt in WY. DIY, public land- buddy called in a 6x6 an hour into Day 1 and I arrowed it at 8 feet. While taking pics another bull bugled and I called it in and my buddy shot a 2nd 6x6. Then we had a pile of work in front of us!

Wow, that is just insane


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DanimalW]

Archery elk hunt in Montana was my first. You live in NJ. A week or more camping out in the mountains is a success whether or not you even see the animal you’re after. When I do escouting for new places, I look at nearby hiking trails on AllTrails and look at the photos. Gives you a good idea for the lay of the land. As others have mentioned kill rates are low. At least you can choose a place that you find scenic. Most places I’ve been to out west I would return to just to camp and hike. But it’s impossible for me to not be happy if outside sept-Nov if I’m somewhere above the Mason-Dixon Line.

 

[JT47L]

Southern CO in the San Juans hunting elk with bow during 1st season. End of 1st day my Dad bugled in a big bull and he came running from across canyon to our location. He ran to us until he got to 75 yds at which point he ripped everyt limb off a young 10 ft spruce or whatever tree it was. That bull had me shaking bad. Wasn’t meant to be as he caught our scent and turned back disappearing into dark timber.

That first trip was exhausting getting up at 3:30am and hiking all day in the steeps. We departed camp by 4:30am and got back around 9:00pm for 8 days. I’m a flat lander from Mississippi and the San Juans are steep, high altitude, and difficult hiking whether ascending or descending. Never went back to hunting in those San Juans with 13,000 & 14,000 ft peaks all around.

Been hunting in Unit 62 several times since…in and around the Uncompagre Plateu and found more elk at lower elevations and far less physically taxing than that 1st trip. I want to go hunt the first rifle season for elk. I’m not going back on public land otc hunts with a bow again. Would very much like to go with a rifle. I would expect that bulls are still bugling in that 1st rifle season and the weather is most likely more pleasant during rifle season than early September bow season when it is still hot.

 

[dtrkyman]

Wyoming archery Pronghorn.

 

[weekender7]

Drew an elk tag in CO, had a drop camp and a BALL. Seen 100's of elk but went home with my tag and an addiction to archery elk hunting. One of the best hunts of my life even tough I didn't score. I LEARNED a LOT. Since then I have been successful but not always, however, I have ENJOYED all 12 of my elk hunts, most were OTC CO.

 

[wintersoldia]

My father drug me along when I was 10. I got to carry a rifle and had a tag when I was 12.

Judging from this you had a wonderful dad. Growing up my mom was in charge lol

 

[Zdub02]

My first western trip was an antelope hunt in Wyoming. DIY, public land with some buddies. One of the best trips I've ever been on. We had a blast and were able to fill some tags and our freezers.

 

[19hunt92]

Best advice i can say is to just go, get an OTC tag. Are the odds low, yes, will you be over sold with online pictures, yes. It is hard to beat the feeling though of being in the mountains, with a tag, wiht a bow...or gun...in hand knowing there is always the possibility. I also love those 20* mornings with heavy frost and watching wildlife in the mountains

With that said, my first hunt was the profile pic...really over shot the expectations there and followed that up with yearly elk hunting, mule deer hunting and throw in a moose/antelope/caribou hunt that i can swing every year after. Just had to start going and now i have to go once a year, if not -3 times

 

[rw79]

First DIY western hunt - Wyoming antelope - tagged out on a decent buck.
Second DIY western hunt - OTC Elk in CO - tagged out on a small but legal bull
Third DIY western hunt - Wyoming mule deer - got my ass handed to me

 

[cmeadors13]

texas then montana antelope

 

[SCHUNTER73]

My first western hunt was to hunt elk in the Gila NF in NM In 2003. It was our very first time putting in the elk draw. My gun was knocked way off during travel, so much so that I used the outfitters rifle, which was very nice rifle but much heavier then mine. Missed a real nice elk three times the first day. Guide was yelling at me to shoot and I buckled under pressure. Had another opp later in the week but my confidence was blown and I couldn’t pull the trigger. We put in a few years later and was drawn yet again in the neighboring unit. Killed a real nice bull that time. Haven’t been drawn since.

 

[Sunshine40]

I'm originally from NJ. It was always my dream to chase elk out west. I moved west about 8 or 9 years ago. I spent a year or so trying to find somone who wanted to do a grinder otc archery elk with me. No takers. Finally said screw it and drove to Colorado by myself and did a 10 day solo backpack hunt. Boy did I learn alottttttttt in those 10 days.

 

[sebastian.cassell]

2020 rifle mule deer in montana early november. Wild weather 60 one day -5 the next with 60 mph gusts and 12-16 inches of snow. Thankfully I tagged out on the 60 degree day lol nice 5x5 with patchy velvet. Got me hooked for life.

 

[gobblinglawyer]

Archery Antelope in Gillette, Wyoming. 1999. I was 23. Killed a great buck and have been traveling to hunt ever since!

 

[Westernwannabe]

OTC archery elk in ID. Got lucky and went a year before it became almost impossible to get that tag. The other guys I was going with didn’t get tags, so I just went for it. Planned to go solo but a buddy offered to tag along. We had a great trip and learned a ton. I have a bunch of accumulated points in multiple states but haven’t used any. Have been doing every other year in MT for experience before cashing in points on better hunts. Never know, those points may end up useless.

OP, my advise is just go, don’t wait for your busy buddies or perfect opportunities. You’ll gain more and have more fun doing it your way, not planning around other people’s schedules, leaving early because their wives are whining. Or think real hard about a specific guy or two that you really would like to go with and make that happen. Less is more, don’t try finding a big group, and tags are hard to get. If I was to go alone, I’d camp at the truck and hike in every morning. Nice having a partner when camping in backcountry, but definitely a little (ok, a lot) intimidating by yourself. Couple mile hike is nothing, it’s typically nice and cool in the am. Good luck and go for it!

 

[Fireflyfishing]

never been on a western hunt but I’ve seen every episode of meateater and watch YouTube all the time so I get on here and tell people why they’re idiots for hunting elk like how they are

The thing I like about that show, it gives me hope that I can draw any tag I want every year I apply…anywhere.

 

[mattdepiano]

Also from NJ here (Sussex county), first trip was to South Dakota and was a group of 3 of us. We ended up with 2 mule deer on that trip. We (one of the guys from the first trip and my brother replaced the other guy this trip) went to Montana for mule deer again a few years later and and my brother and buddy both were able to kill a buck this trip, I had a few close calls but no arrows were sent. We went to Idaho for elk 2 years ago and the first 5-6 days were a little slow but we changed areas and got into elk the following 4-5 days just couldn’t quite get it done with the shifting winds. We drove each time and it’s a decent amount of planning but totally worth the experience! If there is anything I can help with feel free to reach out!