ISO rifle elk hunt outfitter

[Hessticles]

A friend of a friend and his brother are looking for a trustworthy outfitter for rifle elk. They are hoping for this year! There are 2 brothers, their dad had recently passed away and he always promised them an elk hunt, from what I understand they are using life insurance money. Not sure if there is a top end budget or not. No preference to state, but I know its too late for some states already.

 

[1_pointer]

If I were in that position, I would start calling various Cooperative Wildlife Management Units (CWMU) in Utah and see which had openings. They run the gamut in size of acres, size of bulls, and price.

https://dwrapps.utah.gov/huntboundary/hbstart?SP=Elk&SE=Bull&HT=CWMU&TB=true

 

[cedahm]

I've never personally done a guided elk hunt, but if I was in the above situation, I'd have a few things settled in my mind first:

1 - General Ecosystem (Northern/Southern Rockies - SW vs NW vs Central Rockies - Big timber, subalpine vs canyons and glass, etc). Narrow it down at least to a couple of states
2 - Cabin/Lodge based vs. Wall Tent
3 - Horseback vs. Vehicle insertion/extraction
4 - High Bull density or a potential for a Chance @ 1 monster but not a lot of bulls to look over

The above can generally be found via internet searching, and the combination of the above will get you into a realistic number of options to start talking to. And - as a rule - if the price varies upon successful harvest or, worse, size - run away.

 

[CTELK83]

Obviously depends on what they are looking to get out of the hunt, but if they want to go on a good hunt with a good group of guys i went with grouse mesa outfitters a few years ago and for a first elk hunt for not a ton of money it was great. I went with a few older guys that DIY was out of the question, as was archery. Either way, i had a lot of fun and it gave the western hunt feel for sure.