I have 15 elk pref pts for a CO RFW tag for next year - which ranch to pick?

COEngineer

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I have done some research and heard good things about Three Forks until I found Randy's post about how they are basically making money off of the BLM land and the game on it without paying any fees to us, the real owners. So I am a little conflicted even though I would not be giving them any money if I hunted there.

Any other ranches that people would recommend?
 
I've hunted a handful of RFW properties for cows and does, and I haven't seen one I would throw 15 points down on. Every ranch has great animals and property, but 15 points for a place where you can't scout, learn the lay of the land, no way for my points.

If you like 3 forks, and it is a great place, I wouldn't worry about them using the regulations to their advantage.
 
I've hunted a handful of RFW properties for cows and does, and I haven't seen one I would throw 15 points down on. Every ranch has great animals and property, but 15 points for a place where you can't scout, learn the lay of the land, no way for my points.

This. it is a rip-off system move on to other public tags.
 
Let it be known that 100 bull elk will be shot by paying hunters at Three Forks BEFORE you go hunt there with your 15 pref points. I'd put those hard-earned points towards something bigger than a rag horn bull. You can buy an OTC tag and hunt all the property surrounding that ranch without burning any points.
 
What about one of the Hill Ranch properties? Depending on how large of a bull someone shoots, they charge as much as $15,000 to paying hunters. Definitely some good bulls there.
 
What about one of the Hill Ranch properties? Depending on how large of a bull someone shoots, they charge as much as $15,000 to paying hunters. Definitely some good bulls there.

AND the public hunters get to hunt after the paying crowd AND during crappy dates. Move on, it's a rip-off system.
 
What about one of the Hill Ranch properties? Depending on how large of a bull someone shoots, they charge as much as $15,000 to paying hunters. Definitely some good bulls there.

In addition to what Dink said, Hill Ranch took 24 points to draw this year. COEngineer has over 80 people ahead of him, with 3 tags issued annually.

I realize that there are reasons people would apply for one of the quality RFW properties. Generally unless you have 20 or more points, those reasons do not include wanting to hunt the biggest elk in the state. On most ranches the preference point cost is substantially higher than it would be for equivalent quality with a unitwide tag. Obviously it is nice to hunt uncrowded conditions with lots of elk, and the bigger ranches usually cater to the public hunters. That's what some people are looking for.
 
Let it be known that 100 bull elk will be shot by paying hunters at Three Forks BEFORE you go hunt there with your 15 pref points. I'd put those hard-earned points towards something bigger than a rag horn bull. You can buy an OTC tag and hunt all the property surrounding that ranch without burning any points.

If you want a mediocre bull at best, Three Forks is probably OK. They have lots of BLM locked off, though.
 
I am glad I asked this question and thanks for the replies. I did not burn my points yet, so now I'm looking at where to spend them on a public hunt. I am open to either archery or rifle and have 16 pts now. A friend mentioned GMU 10 and it looks like I might have a chance there (2017 minimum was 18 pts for archery, 20 for rifle).

Thanks again for any advice.
 

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