Comparing Elk Hunting State by State

[406LIFE]

I was talking with some guys who hunt NM and AZ and comparing it to MT. That got me wondering how you could objectibely compare the hunting in each state. Ignoring what it would take to getvthe tag, once uou were hunting what would a general MT tag hunt be compared to a special draw in NM? What criteria would you look at to say, this state is like this. The idea isnt to rank them, but to give a better idea of what to expect in the areas. Then you might be qble to say if younhunter MT 380, its like NM unit X.

 

[elkocd]

I have hunted OR, UT, AZ, WY, MT, NV, CO, WA. There are a couple like ID and NM I have not, but I feel like I have a pretty broad perspective. I don't think you can compare apples to apples. Each state has it's own plusses and minus. If you're strictly talking about the size of bulls I think that could be gathered from the B & C stats or something like that, but even that is not a determination of the "quality" of the hunt.

As a concrete example: I have hunted UT and also helped my dad on his UT hunt. I did not get a bull, but missed a 340+ bull, my dad shot a 374" bull. But both hunts were subpar as far as the hunt quality. Not a lot of elk or a lot of action. Just hard hunting. By comparison I've hunted many general areas in other states where there were tons of elk and non-stop action. So which was better? Not sure you could objectivly make a comparison without actually hunting each area yourself and seeing what was more fun to you.

 

[Roughwater]

Elkocd,

I have hunted several states as well. I think our expeirence is often more unit based than state based. If one happens to be in a unit at the right time they may get a different perspective of that state than someone else hunting a different unit at the wrong time. For example last year was my first hunt in Utah. I happened to get some good advice on where to hunt from a local and got even luckier in that I stumbled on a mountain where Elk were bugling when I missed a turn. I saw more Elk there than both my 2 previous hunts combined which were in Northern Idaho and in Colorado in 2012. So to me Ut looked way better than ID and Colorado so UT is where I'm going back to this year. It helped me a lot also to arrive a couple days early in order to scout and get set up.

 

[2rocky]

Habitats and Elevations and topography and pressure affect elk behavior in the same way regardless of what state is printed on your tag. After you hunt a few states you can get an idea of how elk are gonna move when you find them in a new state. a 10,000 ft elevation elk in Northern New Mexico is going to be in similar country to an 8000 ft elk in the Gros Ventre of Wyoming.

Focus on the cover food and water.