Outfitter recommendations please

[DMTJager]

LAST EDITED ON Nov-15-17 AT 12:12PM (MST)[p]Although I have taken 4 bulls on 100% DIY elk hunts, my situation is I must accept I should likely go outfitted.

I now have 19 LE points for Utah elk and as I have never hired one nor have any experience with them, I need some experienced based outfitter recommendations. As with all my elk hunts of the past, I will be in excellent shape and VERY proficient with my rifle.

I have been researching Utah elk on and off for 19 years now so I have some idea on what the LE elk units have to offer, but still would appreciate advice on the best unit to apply for with 19 points for a rifle hunt.

I am not looking to do this on the cheap, as I know excellence doesn't come cheap, no garage sale outfitters for me, but I also have to stay with what I can afford.

I have read literally COUNTLESS outfitter horror stories and I don't want mine to be among them.

So anyone who wishes to help me with my search, I am most interested in first hand experiences with guides and outfitters and unit recommendations.

Thanks,
DMTJager/Art.

 

[DBG3285]

I would be willing to guess your hugest responses will be HTO or Mossback.

But if you could give details at to which unit(s) you are considering it would help narrow it down.

With 19 depending on you expectations there are many good units, including some you could get the premium tag for.

 

[Carnage2011]

>LAST EDITED ON Nov-15-17
>AT 12:12?PM (MST)
>
>Although I have taken 4 bulls
>on 100% DIY elk hunts,
>my situation is I must
>accept I should likely go
>outfitted.
>
>I now have 19 LE points
>for Utah elk and as
>I have never hired one
>nor have any experience with
>them, I need some experienced
>based outfitter recommendations. As with
>all my elk hunts of
>the past, I will be
>in excellent shape and VERY
>proficient with my rifle.
>
>I have been researching Utah elk
>on and off for 19
>years now so I have
>some idea on what the
>LE elk units have to
>offer, but still would appreciate
>advice on the best unit
>to apply for with 19
>points for a rifle hunt.
>
>
>I am not looking to do
>this on the cheap, as
>I know excellence doesn't come
>cheap, no garage sale outfitters
>for me, but I also
>have to stay with what
>I can afford.
>
>I have read literally COUNTLESS outfitter
>horror stories and I don't
>want mine to be among
>them.
>
>So anyone who wishes to help
>me with my search, I
>am most interested in first
>hand experiences with guides and
>outfitters and unit recommendations.
>
>Thanks,
>DMTJager/Art.

If you are willing to archery hunt I think Ryan Carter with DC Outfitters is the best in the business right now. He does a ton of homework and has some absolute giants patterned every year.

 

[Blackie6]

I would say that it depends on which unit your looking at.
Utah big game outfitters do very well on certain units that you can draw. Shane Scott has some good guides on certain units that you can draw. There are a handful of names that pop up depending on which unit you hunt.

 

[utarchery]

www.shanescottoutfitting.com

 

[wstrntines]

If this is me asking the question I'd cut the sh!t right away and let you know what unit I'm wanting to hunt. With such a vague question you are not going to get much serious of a response. And then the people you are asking for advise will be able to narrow down which outfitters really do well on those units. And you have 19 pts. odds are you'll be in a pine box before you draw another one. So let us know what unit you'd like to hunt. And we'll start rattling off some people to talk to that are outfitters.

"We don't have a gun problem we have prescription drug problem."

 

[Cam@strawberry]

Here?s a short list:
In no particular order
Boulder Archery Ryan Carter Dc outfitters
Manti premium Gooch?s
Pahvant muzz Mossback probably still a couple years out here
San Juan muzz Mossback again probably a couple years out.
Beaver season doesn't matter but go with Gooch?s still a few points short
Wasatch Premium click the link below

Wouldn?t even look at any other tags beyond that list. No unit separates itself IMHO


https://www.facebook.com/strawberrybayoutfitters

 

[utarchery]

Don?t overlook fishlake and the SWD!

www.shanescottoutfitting.com

 

[Manti377]

>Here?s a short list:
>In no particular order
>Boulder Archery Ryan Carter Dc outfitters
>
>Manti premium Gooch?s
>Pahvant muzz Mossback probably still a
>couple years out here
>San Juan muzz Mossback again probably
>a couple years out.
>Beaver season doesn't matter but go
>with Gooch?s still a few
>points short
>Wasatch Premium click the link below
>
>
>Wouldn?t even look at any other
>tags beyond that list.
>No unit separates itself IMHO
>
>
>
>https://www.facebook.com/strawberrybayoutfitters


I seconded the recommendation for Gooch based upon first hand experience (see http://www.monstermuleys.info/dcforum/DCForumID12/17125.html). Also, saw the other stud bulls they put down this season. Gooch and his guides are hand down first rate.

 

[DMTJager]

Thanks very much for the help so far. Considering this will be my one and only shot at a Utah LE bull elk I don't see how I can go with anything besides a rifle, be it a CF or a muzzleloader.
>If this is me asking the
>question I'd cut the sh!t
>right away and let you
>know what unit I'm wanting
>to hunt. With such a
>vague question you are not
>going to get much serious
>of a response. And then
>the people you are asking
>for advise will be able
>to narrow down which outfitters
>really do well on those
>units. And you have 19
>pts. odds are you'll be
>in a pine box before
>you draw another one. So
>let us know what unit
>you'd like to hunt. And
>we'll start rattling off some
>people to talk to that
>are outfitters.
>
> "We don't have a gun
>problem we have prescription drug
>problem."
Thanks for the advice W/tines, but thats the thing. Both my friends have gone and hunted Utah LE bull elk units, one in MT. Dutton for late rifle this year, the other I'm not 100% certain which one, but it was an early rifle LE elk unit. Both are experienced backpack hunters. One was an assistant guide in AK. Both like me had at least 3-4 DIY elk hunts under our belts, both of these guys are brothers who back in 2001 did a 100% DIY fly in/BP in caribou hunt in AK's Kenai Peninsula. Both killed very good bulls, one scored 398" B&C.
One who hunted Mt. Dutton (AKA "The Rock") late rifle killed a decent bull the other ate his tag. After both of these guys have hunted Utah's LE elk units they admitted it is going to be EXTREMELY difficult for a non-res like them and eventually me who have never previously set foot in the unit of our choosing, to come to a Utah LE elk unit and be successful let alone kill a big bull.

Bottom line my friend finally openly admitted because the UT LE units are so huge (Mt. Dutton is over 90 miles long and 40 miles wide) that a non-res like me totally on his own going solo must have some form of considerable assisitance to have a really good chance at success.

My friend who hunted Mt. Dutton late rifle this year had accompanied me on two DIY WY LE bull elk hunts and we both killed very good bulls. He told me while in WY we saw more bulls in 1-2 days than in the first week he spent scouting the Dutton.

Keep in mind we all researched the living crap out of the units we were interested in, I mean you name the source we called it, contacted them, read it, ran the numbers ets, ets, but now after both of my friends went to their chosen units and one was unsuccessful the other was only successful due to an unbelievable amount of truly wonderful assistance from a large group of UT residents he made contact with prior to going, I no longer have faith in my research. That is why I am asking for some help here pointing me to as good an outfitter as I can afford.

The only things I can be certain of at this point is I will be as prepared as I can for the hunt. By that I mean I will be in as good physical shape as I can get and I will be absolutely competent with my rifle.

So yes as I type this my friend and I have already began researching which LE elk unit I should try for in UT, but I have decided I will go fully guided and correct me if I am wrong, but is not one of the services an outfitter provides suggesting which is the best unit I should put in for based on my #s of points?

I failed to mention I am also VERY, VERY good with a muzzleloader and I own a stainless laminate Savage 10ML-II smokeless ML who's performance is quite impressive launching a .458" 300 grain Barnes Original semi-spritzer at a MV of 2350fps. So a ML LE/elk tag is also a serious option for my consideration.

 

[DMTJager]

Also pardon my ineptitude, but I can not seem to find an direct access to Gooch's guide service, can someone kindly supply a link.
Thanks,
DMT/Art

 

[marley]

If I was sitting on 19 points there's no question I'd be hunting Boulder with a muzzleloader and I'd have Wade Lemons guides with me again. Giant bulls and top notch guides.

 

[headshot05]

What kind of bull are you looking for? I'm with Marley, I'd do boulder muzzle loader, or book cliffs muzzle loader as I know that area and there are great bulls there, GT outfitters, Shane Scott outfitting or Brett Nielsen all kill GREAT bulls on the bookcliffs.

 

[2lumpy]

I'm going to make a couple of assumptions. Stated bluntly but not intended to be in any way negative.

It seems that:

1. Your primary objective is killing the largest scoring, free ranging, bull elk in Utah, that the system can provide.

2. You've killed a number of bull elk hunting DYI and regardless of "all other factors", your going to hire an outfitter to give you the very best chance at achieving your primary objective.

3. You prefer to hunt with a rifle, because you believe it will give you the best shooting weapon between archery, muzzleloader, and high powered rifle.

4. Regarding other issues related to what you want, refer to #1.

berrysblaster gave you more than half of your answer, as to which outfitter to hire. He basically said, "hunt the Boulder, the San Juan, or the Beaver. And.........the Pahvant has started to produce giants again, as well. Why? Because, right now, those three/four units are producing the largest bulls. Folks will say, and correctly so, other units produce big bulls too, but, right now, in 2017/2018, these three/four units are far and above all the others, regardless what others have produced in the past, such as the Wasatch, Fish Lake, West Desert, Monroe, Dutton, etc, etc. Times, hunting pressure, environmentally conditions and State management objectives, for each unit, change over time.

So...... now that berrysblaster has told you which units, it's narrowed down the outfitter choices. Which outfitters, in the last three years have killed the biggest bulls on these three units? There are lots of outfitters but few top shelf outfitters. The top shelf outfitters don't make spend a lot of time promoting themselves on hunting Forums, but they are still well know, by the folks that use outfitters to hunt elk every year. berrysblaster and marley gave you the names of some of the best ie: Mossback, Wade or Kalan Lemon, and I don't know about Gooch or Ryan Carter but if berrysblaster recommended them, you can take his word for it. These outfitters are expensive, because they produce, year in year out. Other outfitters kill big bulls too but, if......................Your primary objective is killing the largest scoring, free ranging, bull elk in Utah, that the system can provide. Reseach which of these four know the most about these three/four units and as soon as you draw your tag, get him hired immediately, so he can begin to immediately be location the bulls for you to hunt in the fall.

You may want to call these four outfitter before you draw, they will pretty much know what bulls are left on the units they hunt, after the season has ended. Believe me, they keep as close an eye on what gets killed each year, andwhat doesn't get killed. It's their business to stay on top of what's left, so they can can advise future clients, such as yourself.

Good luck, I hope you draw and have the best elk hunt you've ever had.

DC

 

[songdog]

Hey 2lumpy,

I sent you a PM...

 

[Manti377]

>Also pardon my ineptitude, but I
>can not seem to find
>an direct access to Gooch's
>guide service, can someone kindly
>supply a link.
>Thanks,
>DMT/Art


PM sent.

 

[DeerHunter53]

Rusty Hall Offgrid Outfitters he shoots big bulls try him and see if he can help you

 

[wstrntines]

LAST EDITED ON Nov-28-17 AT 01:10PM (MST)[p] DMTJager I believe you see more bulls in Wyo. than on the Dutton. And myself I'd go across the road to the boulder with your points. I'd call the Tines Up boys or Ryan Carter long before anyone else for that unit. Not sure if you do IG of FB. Check out what those boys killed this year and years past and you'll know why. Rick Crawford does a great job as well. There's another guy on IG and FB I believe is a guide as well his screen name is boulderhunter not sure if he guides himself or if he is an outfitter. You may be able to get some semi-guided packages as well from some guys.

"We don't have a gun problem we have prescription drug problem."

 

[Horniac]

>LAST EDITED ON Nov-15-17
>AT 12:12?PM (MST)
>
>Although I have taken 4 bulls
>on 100% DIY elk hunts,
>my situation is I must
>accept I should likely go
>outfitted.
>
>I now have 19 LE points
>for Utah elk and as
>I have never hired one
>nor have any experience with
>them, I need some experienced
>based outfitter recommendations. As with
>all my elk hunts of
>the past, I will be
>in excellent shape and VERY
>proficient with my rifle.
>
>I have been researching Utah elk
>on and off for 19
>years now so I have
>some idea on what the
>LE elk units have to
>offer, but still would appreciate
>advice on the best unit
>to apply for with 19
>points for a rifle hunt.
>
>
>I am not looking to do
>this on the cheap, as
>I know excellence doesn't come
>cheap, no garage sale outfitters
>for me, but I also
>have to stay with what
>I can afford.
>
>I have read literally COUNTLESS outfitter
>horror stories and I don't
>want mine to be among
>them.
>
>So anyone who wishes to help
>me with my search, I
>am most interested in first
>hand experiences with guides and
>outfitters and unit recommendations.
>
>Thanks,
>DMTJager/Art.


Assuming you are wanting to apply and use your 19 NR points for an elk hunt in 2018, you are most likely aware that there are very few, if any, bonus tags you would be guaranteed to draw with the 19 NR points you currently have within the shortlisted elk unit/hunt recommendations provided to you on this thread.

If you are set on hunting next year, I would see what early rifle hunts you can draw with your points and go from there. The muzzlelader hunts are out for you since there are no NR bonus tags in most of the premium units, usually just one NR random tag, if any, that can go to any applicant, without regard to bonus points. The only hunts from the shortlisted units mentioned that you look like you would be guaranteed to draw next year would be Manti early rifle and the Wasatch premium tag. Most of the premium units like San Juan are only giving out a single NR bonus tag per year so you could be in for a long, long wait (i.e. 50+ years) as there are many NR applicants ahead of you.

Anyhow, I hope this helps narrow your research for an elk hunt/outfitter. Good luck on your hunt and I hope you kill a big bull with a great outfitter...

Horniac