1st time for Elk. Draw, OTC, or just throw a dart at the map and get points?

Hello everyone,

I have been on Active Duty for 12 years now and been talking about wanting to do this since I last hunted Wyoming Thunder Basin National Grassland 17 years ago. I have been stalking Randy on Youtube for a while now and my wife is getting tired of me talking about it all the time.

SO... she made me take her and the kids to Disney and in return I got/she let me buy a new rifle (L.A.W 6.5 Creedmoore) last fall and surprised me with a Leopold vx-6 for Christmas. (I know you are saying she is awesome, but there is a catch, I got the bill on my credit card) SO... a guided hunt is out of the question and so is Wyoming with the deadline quickly approaching and having to front that kind of money with 0 points.

I have been applying for MI, KY, PA for the last few years but it's like the lotto and you all know how that goes. My hunting partner( also military) has several CO points and usually hunts #49 for elk and has gone 3 for 3 on DIY bulls. I won't qualify this year by the looks of the draw numbers and points required in that GMU. I don't want him to burn his points, but do want to hunt with him and he is willing to relocate so we can go together. Right now, I am looking at 3 rifle or muzzleloader options. #1 Utah South Slopes General tag, CO draw or OTC (reasonable draw % for 1st rifle 0 points) or just put the money into points and wait until I can go with him in #49.

We are not trophy hunters, but would like to have a good time, see animals, and not be near a pumpkin field.

What is a guy to do? Right now my small brain is spinning from googling Elk hunting too much. Thanks

There are decent units near 49 that are OTC.

Looks like the MZ and 1st rifle unit 49 seasons took 11 points last year and a few drew with 10, so those are a ways off. 2nd/3rd/4th were 50/50 @ 4 points.

There are a LOT of units in CO where you could have drawn 1st rifle with 0 points last year. I assume the same for Muzzy, but I don't know those stats. That's not a guarantee this year, but I have been going through the 1st rifle exercise for my buddies for our 2017 hunt.

If you go to the Colorado Statistics page and check out the 2016 Draw report (http://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/Hunting/BigGame/Statistics/Elk/2016ElkDrawRecap.pdf) you can look for hunt codes that were drawn out at 0 points, 2nd choice, leftover, etc for Non-Residents and develop a list. All the 1st rifle codes end with 'O1R' and all the MZ tags end with 'O1M'. The new data sheets look daunting at first, but are pretty sweet once you get the hang of them. Helpful to have the Big Game brochure open at the same time to check the hunt codes since that's how the reports are organized. As well as the GMU map.

For 1st rifle - that will narrow it down to probably ~40 hunt codes (so 50-60 units since many hunt codes span more than 1 unit). Then you can check out the harvest reports, maps, etc for units you're interested in.

I'd recommend a GoHunt Insider subscription if you want to have a lot of that info (plus much more) consolidated, but the data is all available from CPW.

Idaho draw is random and good tags are available OTC. If you're a disabled vet, discounted tags are available.

I looked into Idaho and had a friend who grew up hunting the Sawtooth Mountains area 34 and 27. I haven't looked into that as much due to the drive time and him moving down to Utah.

No disability for me, I have been one of the lucky ones. I did get Uncle Sam to give me the helicopter ride, then a plane ride to Germany, few months off here in the States, then back to work. The Docs told me I don't get to kick in doors anymore, just save the world one email at a time. I think that is another reason my wife wants me to get back to doing these type of trips, she knows how much I miss it while I am stuck finishing my retirement behind a desk.

Randy Newburg had a recent podcast on this subject. It's worth a listen while you ponder what to do.

brymoore said:

Randy Newburg had a recent podcast on this subject. It's worth a listen while you ponder what to do.

Click to expand...

Excellent call. It's expands a lot on what you're asking, Addicting.

Episode 48: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-001-randy-newberg-talks/id1012713381?i=345687547&mt=2

I think you can draw unit 55 no points 1st rifle.If u draw,I could help u a little with a good area to hunt

cedahm said:

Excellent call. It's expands a lot on what you're asking, Addicting.

Episode 48: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-001-randy-newberg-talks/id1012713381?i=345687547&mt=2

Click to expand...

I've never podcasted before, it says they are temp unavailable. Is that just me with my newbie skills or is that everyone.

forgot

I cant figure out why ITunes on my IPhone wont play the podcast on the podcast app. But, I figured it out a different way. Taking Randy advice here is my plan:

Short term: Apply for Montana unit with the lowest percentage limited draw to get the PP, wont draw and hunt off from the general tag. With the long season it frees up the most time with my weird schedule and starts me off for a PP draw in the future while I explore and make all my mistakes. This will also let me spend most of the summer narrowing down an area to hunt and purchase Onxmaps.

Long term: As Montana and NM are due about the same time I will play that lottery in NM as the budget allows, but I don't see being able to afford both every year until a refund comes back. Purchase Wyoming PP for the next few years while hunting in Montana to build up points for a retirement hunt.

So now I just have to start narrowing down to a area and work out details with my hunting partner on weather or not he is going to jump on board or stick to CO 49 to burn his points off. At the end of the day I couldn't make those short seasons work with both of our schedules and travel time.

Am I missing anything?