How much is an elk hunt worth to you ?

[LuketheDog]

Hey, if I owned a big old ranch and could sell hunts on it, I certainly would! Gotta pay those bills and taxes man! I'd absolutely let friends or family come shoot game too. However, that being said, I'd still be out beating feet around the mountains after other animals every fall...

 

[jbm]

its not the part of them spending there own money on what they feel like it is there money if somebody told be i was wrong for spending my own $ the way i feel fit i would tell them to go to hell
that part that sucks is most but i am sure not all but most are doing it for the wrong reason
its not for the chance to see something new its not for a chance to maybe make new friend
or even to push themselves to climb high and go farther . it seems that so many to just get there pic taken with a [ booner ]
in the end they are only taking away from themselves what could be so rewarding and turning it into something so petty and cheap

for the guy that works hard for his money and saves and saves and somehow finds away to pay a guide for an elk hunt way back in the wilderness and takes in all he can on that trip is by far the richer man or woman in my eyes. if he does end up with an elk well thats just icing on the cake for all that he worked so hard to get a chance at

i myself would never pay for a guided hunt but that does not mean i am against those that do.
i had a girl friend that her daughter won a guided mule deer hunt which was also her first time hunting . she asked me to tag along as a chaperone . she did get her buck and by the time the guide got the horses down to the buck she already had her first deer gutted
that was the only guided hunt i have ever been and i was not even hunting just there to hold the horses lol

 

[MiStickSlinger]

I've lived in Michigan all my life, hunted both public and private for whitetails since I was 12. A couple years after I was done being a broke college kid I decided I wanted to travel around and experience hunting in different locations. It started with a public land black bear hunt in the upper peninsula. My buddies and I started talking about doing a diy elk hunt out west, then when it came time to put the money down for non resident tags they'd always back out.

After a couple years of this playing out, I finally got fed up. Being 1500 miles away from the nearest elk opportunities, and knowing nothing about hunting them except for the same advice regurgitated in the 10 or so elk hunting books I acquired, I scraped together $3,000 and paid an outfitter to bowhunt in southern Colorado. I came close a couple times, but never bagged an elk. I look at it now as if I were paying for a mini elk school, no it wasn't public land but I learned a ton about elk. I learned about how if you booger them they don't just run a couple hundred yards, they pack up and LEAVE. I learned about how to find them in my binoculars, that seems so simple but for someone from the midwest who hunts thick woods where I can't see 75 yards, it changed the game for me.

Most of all it gave me the confidence to go out and feel like I have at least some idea of what I'm supposed to do. Next fall I'll be doing my first public land hunt in Montana and I finally got one of my buddies to agree to do it, the only way I could convince him to go is, I have to pay for his tag and gas, and let him have the first shot opportunity (if we even see anything), I guess I'm kind of getting shafted in that regard but I'm just excited to get back out elk hunting

 

[Dinkshooter]

I wonder if the guys who drop coin on big money guided hunts ever envy the guys who do it DIY on a budget.

Never ever think of the little people!

 

[hank4elk]

Never ever think of the little people!

They take a trump every morning bigger than me...

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

Next fall I'll be doing my first public land hunt in Montana and I finally got one of my buddies to agree to do it, the only way I could convince him to go is, I have to pay for his tag and gas, and let him have the first shot opportunity (if we even see anything), I guess I'm kind of getting shafted in that regard but I'm just excited to get back out elk hunting

No offense intended on this (and you have to do, what you have to do), but please try and find a new hunting partner. If I could guarantee I was hunting elk in MT next year, I would tell you to come with us. Hang around here long enough and you might find someone to join up with for a hunt.

 

[buckykm1]

My DIY Elk hunts cost me about $1,800.00 to $2,000.00 for the 2 weeks that includes everything.
But there are people that hunt Indian Reservations in AZ, that are paying well over 25K to hunt.
I have heard about hunts in Utah priced over 15K plus trophy fee.
and the price you said for a private Ranch doesn't surprise me at all.

Kevin

 

[Topgun 30-06]

No offense intended on this (and you have to do, what you have to do), but please try and find a new hunting partner. If I could guarantee I was hunting elk in MT next year, I would tell you to come with us. Hang around here long enough and you might find someone to join up with for a hunt.

For sure! Any "buddy" that will only go on a hunt if you pay his way is downright BS IMHO!

 

[LCH]

First couple hunts I did were trespass fee/semi-guided type of hunts. I just didn't know it could be done DIY, had always heard you couldn't get any tags for places that had decent public land. Started off thinking it would be a once every few years kind of thing, until I started to figure out the DIY stuff. I now do 2 or 3 out of state hunts per year for less than 1 trespass fee hunt.

 

[pointingdogsrule]

Just looked at an elk hunt on a ranch in southern Colorado . Cost $12,500 for the hunt plus $2500 kill fee if successful . That is just incredible to me that there are folks that will pay that kind of money.

That's $7000 more than I paid for my first house !

I want to see a photo of your first house

good luck to all
the dog

 

[1976]

I have always done diy hunts in multiple western and central states always public and or walk in type land. However this year I drew an elk tag that took me 7 yrs to obtain in wyoming and due to work and time constraints was unable to scout the area so I went through an outfitter for the first time ever. The hunt was done on public land the way I like it where anyone willing to get of there 4 wheeler or razor could have had the satisfaction of shooting a nice bull. (Never saw another hunter walking) if I could draw every year or every other in the area it would have been a different diy. But for a 7 yr wait no way going blind, by the way the outfitter was very reasonably priced under 4500. Hopefully be calling him again in 7yrs. Have a merry Christmas everyone.

 

[2rocky]

So would you guys gripe about someone who would pay a $15,000 access fee and still does it himself?

Is it about the money, or the effort?

We all have our own limits on what we think is extravagant to spend on hunting and most people think spending more than they do is ridiculous.

I'm not going to argue with you that I feed a string of horses all year to hunt in the wilderness. You shouldn't have to justify owning a side by side and hunting outside the wilderness and using the two track trails and roads to get around.

Hey that guy who spends $30,000 a year at San Carlos isn't at my trailhead offering a bounty for a big bull tip. Makes my hunt in a general zone better because of it.

 

[TimeOnTarget]

Based on the extreme examples, I think the title of this thread should have been "How much is a shoulder mount of an elk big enough to prove you are better than your friends, but don't really want to work to get it, worth to you?"

IMO, you really aren't paying for a "hunt" based on the paradigm most of share.

To be honest, I kind of feal bad for these guys, as they are missing out on what I consider the best part of the hunt.

I agree. Some of the most memorable memories of past hunts is the 10 plus hour pack out.

 

[Corax]

I started out doing DIY deer hunts on a national wildlife refuge in New Jersey. My first elk hunts were all outfitted - what I really wanted was to do a horseback hunt in a wilderness area. I had a good time but did not see many elk, let alone kill one. I read an article years ago by Jim Zumbo “Hunt elk for $700”, and after I moved to Texas found that I could draw cow elk tags in New Mexico. My first DIY elk hunt was a solo hunt, sleeping in a backpacking tent in December, in 6 inches of snow - I froze, but got an elk.
Two years ago I cashed in my 13 preference points for a Colorado tag. At my age I will never have that many points again, so I went with an outfitted horseback hunt. I did get a bull, after a horseback ride up to over 11,000 feet, and hiking three miles out and three back through 10 inches of snow. Not a marathon, but I was beat.
Before I retired in 2013, I was trying to do one cheap (DIY) hunt and one outfitted hunt each year. Now they tend to be all DIY hunts. The DIY hunts are a lot more intense. I enjoy both. I am still waiting for the tea and crumpets after the kill.

 

[Corax]

I drew an elk tag that took me 7 yrs to obtain in wyoming and due to work and time constraints was unable to scout the area so I went through an outfitter for the first time ever.

My guess is that cow tags may be available - put in for a cow tag in the 2nd draw while you are building points. That way you can hunt elk most years, and know the area before you burn your points.

 

[Deleted member 20812]

Some of the most memorable memories of past hunts is the 10 plus hour pack out.

There are times I question that. However, to quote Dwight Schuh, the only thing worse than packing out an elk is NOT packing out an elk.

 

[1976]

Corax, I have thought of that quite a bit but with Montana rifle elk camp departure so close and already averaging 4 to 5 hunts I think I will stick with the 5 to 7 year wait, One of these times my wife will have my gear in the front yard if I add another yearly hunt LOL. Thanks

 

[quarterhorse]

Priceless!!!!

Priceless is the best answer to the original question of "What is an elk hunt worth to you?" How other people choose to hunt and what they are willing to pay to do it is their business. I hope I never have to fork out the actual amount of money that elk hunting means to me.

 

[88man]

Its a free country. People can buy any service they like if it's legal. I typically only hunt OMO or with friends OOO. If I added the costs up of fuel/equipment/wear and tear I think I would save money and could hunt out west more often if I did guided hunts. I have driven over 120,000 miles on western hunts to and back and on the hunt I'm from Pa most often pulling a trailer. Owning trailers used only for hunting and tents/stoves/Large coolers/tires/spotting scopes/maps /atvs/so much gear.