Use Outfitter or Not?

[SPDSpappy]

Looking for advice from the experienced folks out there. I’m trying to figure out if I should use some money I’m coming into to pay for an elk hunt outfitter. I’m an adult onset hunter. I’ll post an article I wrote that showed up in a magazine about our story getting into hunting, but it all started 6 whitetail seasons ago here in IL. After 6 seasons hunting whitetail, I have a fork buck, 2 does, and a bunch of great as well as frustrating times to show for it. I went on a guided red stag hunt in Scotland during 2017 (cheaper than a whitetail hunt in my own state of IL including the airplane tix) and loved my time there. I started listening to/watching Big Fin, Corey Jacobsen, Born and Raised Outdoors, Jay Scott, and Hush about 15 months ago. I went on my first western (elk) hunt on a CO leftover tag in the Flat Tops with about 3000 other hunters, saw elk 3 out of 5 days, never took a shot, but had a great time. I’ve read a ton of material from the ~2000 page book Big Fin recommended, went through the UEH course multiple times, read the biology reports online for the area, and watched every elk hunting video from BF on YouTube. I’m applying in WY, AZ, NM, and CO this year, but am only expecting to get a tag through the leftovers in CO. I’m 41 years old and not sure I can take a learning curve of 10 years (based on 10% probability of success overall) with paying $600-$1200 for a tag/tags per year... What would you recommend?

 

[SPDSpappy]

View attachment First Youth Turkey Season.pdf

 

[VikingsGuy]

the ~2000 page book Big Fin recommended, ?

Sorry to hijack the post, but do you mind sharing the title of this book?

 

[Nick87]

You have to decide do you want to hunt/ harvest an elk or do you want to be an elk hunter?

 

[ShootsManyBullets]

Go out there and F stuff up for awhile. You'll have fun and if you stick with it you'll eventually get one. With all the info you've crammed into your brain you probably know more than most of us.

 

[Frazier]

If you have the means to elk hunt on your own (time, equipment, skill) then do it. That’s the way I look at hunting on my own or using an outfitter. I have used an outfitter waterfowl hunting in Saskatchewan and Argentina, both times because I didn’t have the time or equipment to do it on my own.

 

[rveen]

Hunting with a guide/ outfitter can shorten the learning curve, but that experience comes with a high price tag.

 

[nontyp]

If you keep learning and work at it I would guess it will take you much less than 10 years. Don’t apply for glory tags. Apply for the lower end LE units and you could get drawn and have a great low pressure hunt. Check out the success rates in WY and NM, lots of 20-30% harvest during archery season.

 

[rveen]

I was able to go on a guided elk hunt in Wyoming in 2016 with my dad. Without a guide we never would have made it that far in the back country (or wilderness at all for that matter). Amazing experience.

 

[Bullshot]

Give a go DIY a few more times. By then you will know your preferences and possibly your limits, which will make you a much more informed guide shopper.

 

[HighWildFree]

You have to decide do you want to hunt/ harvest an elk or do you want to be an elk hunter?

I'd say that if you want to kill an elk then go guided. But don't expect it to really help you when you go on your own. You'll most likely be hunting on a private ranch or wilderness that won't be accessible to you as a DIYer. If you want to hunt elk, then DIY

 

[Bambistew]

Keep going DIY. Once you figure it out, you'll have it figured out. Going on a guided hunt will show you how one guys does (or doesn't) in an area you may or may never hunt again. Every habitat is different, hunting pressure is different, etc. IMO it takes years to learn how to hunt an animal successfully, and even longer if you bounce all over the place. Going on an outfitted hunt doesn't mean you will kill one either...

Elk are pretty predicable, once you figure out what they like. They may not be in the right spot at the right time, but you hit enough of their haunts and you'll put one down. Personally, having hunted a lot of different animals in a lot of different places. Elk hunting can either be the easiest thing you've ever hunted or the most frustrating.

Do more research, and get after it. It will be that much more rewarding in the end.

I've been trying to kill a lynx this winter, and haven't found one yet, but I will. I have no friggn clue what I'm doing, but it will come together at some point and I'll kill a cat.

 

[SPDSpappy]

Sorry to hijack the post, but do you mind sharing the title of this book?

Elk of North America: Ecology and Management. Big Fin had found a place to get this book for ~$50 b/c it's about $100+ on Amazon.

 

[SPDSpappy]

Go out there and F stuff up for awhile. You'll have fun and if you stick with it you'll eventually get one. With all the info you've crammed into your brain you probably know more than most of us.

Yeah, I know what you're saying about learning the process. I may not have more in my brain about elk hunting, but I probably have more notes taken than most. My OneNote elk portion of my hunting notebook has 59 sections, many with multiple pages... I went through the Elk & Elk ecology book, Jump Start Elk Hunting, Seasons of the elk, UEH, and the CO elk hunting class and took copious notes...

 

[SPDSpappy]

If you have the means to elk hunt on your own (time, equipment, skill) then do it. That’s the way I look at hunting on my own or using an outfitter. I have used an outfitter waterfowl hunting in Saskatchewan and Argentina, both times because I didn’t have the time or equipment to do it on my own.

Through my own stuff and buddies, we definitely have the gear. Skill is a whole different story. As I stated earlier, I didn't grow up hunting, so it's been a learning process. There's been times people have said, didn't you know X? Well, no, because nobody ever told me about X... Time is workable as I get a decent amount off each year, but traveling thousands of miles from IL to CO, WY, NM, etc. more than once a year is really a non-starter.

 

[SPDSpappy]

If you keep learning and work at it I would guess it will take you much less than 10 years. Don’t apply for glory tags. Apply for the lower end LE units and you could get drawn and have a great low pressure hunt. Check out the success rates in WY and NM, lots of 20-30% harvest during archery season.

Agreed about not waiting for glory tags. I've been following Big Fin's advice and plan to get about 3 points and just go for a unit w/ decent numbers. I have GoHunt and follow the process outlined in recent Elk Talk and Elk101 podcasts under Filtering 2.0.

 

[jeremys4]

If you got it spend it being your not hunting in your own state. If you feel it’s a lack of gear that had you falling short buy the best gear and give it a go. I’m not opposed to a guided hunt myself but I only hunt my home state. Good luck and give it your best either way none of us are getting younger.

 

[SPDSpappy]

Hunting with a guide/ outfitter can shorten the learning curve, but that experience comes with a high price tag.

True, but it doesn't take buying $1200 tags (CO cow + bull) plus all the other costs (food, gas, hotel on the way to/from, etc.) many times to make up for the $6500 guide fee.

 

[SPDSpappy]

I was able to go on a guided elk hunt in Wyoming in 2016 with my dad. Without a guide we never would have made it that far in the back country (or wilderness at all for that matter). Amazing experience.

Very cool, thanks for posting!

 

[SPDSpappy]

Give a go DIY a few more times. By then you will know your preferences and possibly your limits, which will make you a much more informed guide shopper.

I wasn't planning on going with a guide until 2020, so I'll get at least one more elk trip in (CO if not other places too depending on draw results) to help in this regard.