Where to Hunt Elk

[hopefulhunter]

Hi I am in college and my father and i are looking at applying for out of state tags. We live in oregon, this area does hold some elk but not in numbers compared to other states. We are not looking to find a world record elk. We would be happy with pursuing bulls in the 330 to 350 range. As with this my father is getting older and the sooner that we could draw a tag would be better. What states produce these anumals with a decent chance of being drawn in the shortest period of time. Thanks for your imput on the situation

 

[Outdoordan]

"What states produce these anumals with a decent chance of being drawn in the shortest period of time."
That is the million dollar question. Utah has one of the cheapest draws, Wyoming would be a good bet, and Montana another good bet. How much money and time do you have? First year of Wyoming preference point system. I put in for almost every western state every year. Started in 1998 with AZ, drew the tag with one point in '99. This was the last elk tag drawn except Montana general draw. For the biggest bulls 330-350 AZ, NM, NV, and Utah, but don't be in a hurry. Colorado could be a good bet. If you are talking the next couple years, stick with MT, ID, WY, and your home state. But who knows you could get lucky in one of the others, I did once.....

 

[Budrow]

New Mexico is guarranted tags to nonresident and you could draw the first year. New Mexico has good bulls in all the draw areas. There are very few places there are over the counter tags. Forget Colorado draw units, because in the areas you might have good odds seeing some 300 plus bulls you will not live long enough to draw, unless the DOW changes the way they draw non-residents.

 

[GilaJeff]

New Mexico allocates 22% of elk tags for a particular unit to non-resident; 12% of the total number of tags to those nonresidents who hunt with an outfitter, and 10% to those nonresidents who are DIY'ers. Many units in northern NM are relatively easy to draw and have tons of elk. Finding a 350" bull there would be difficult, finding a 300" bull would not. The units in the Gila seem to be harder to draw, but there are some bruisers in there. This is where I've done all my NM elk hunting. There are units like 21, 22, and 23 that are real easy to draw, and hold some huge bulls. The thing is that the elk densities are low, and the terrain can kick your a$$. To shoot one of these bulls, you have to know what you are doing, and hunt like a man. NM has no preference/bonus point system, so annually you start on an equal foot with all other nonresidents.

In Arizona, you could technically draw an elk tag on your first attempt, but I know guys who have not drawn in 10+ years. Then again, I know several people who have drawn on their first try. A guy I work with drew three years in a row for a really good unit. If you get drawn in AZ, you could potentially shoot a monster with little effort. I'm not saying it's a cake-walk, but with the very low number of tags given out each year, and the high densities of elk, and high number of mature bulls, it would not be too difficult, in my opinion, to meet your 330" objective. The topography in most of the best elk units is fairly gentle also. The hardest part will be to draw the tag.

 

[bsneekee]

Well sounds like you might just want to hunt elk soon. This being the case I say screw the draw, buy an OTC tag in some state and spend some time scouting and you can probably be ok. However, if you have your hopes set on the 330 to 350 class it may be better to hold out for a draw. However if you have the time to scout and hunt you can kill these caliber of bulls general season OTC. I might suggest looking to Wy or Mont.