Hi Guys
Any one done any Elk hunting over in the USA or Canada.
Looking to do it next September and any info would be helpful as there are lots of outfitters and costs very wildly.
Looking bow and rifle hunt
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Hi Guys
Any one done any Elk hunting over in the USA or Canada.
Looking to do it next September and any info would be helpful as there are lots of outfitters and costs very wildly.
Looking bow and rifle hunt
You could also consider Mongolia, shorter beam than the best Nth American but very good tynes. Probably heads are better on average
Your best bet for getting a tag in the States would be an OTC (over-the-counter) tag for Colorado in my opinion. Most other states have a preference point system they use to draw tags for non-residents and this could take years to draw a tag in a prime area.
I had a friend get an OTC tag last year for Colorado. I believe it was for 3rd season. He saw lots of elk on his week long trip, but never harvesting anything. (He was looking for a trophy bull 350+) This was around the Walden, CO area.
Here is the link for Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
https://cpw.state.co.us/thingstodo/Pages/BigGame.aspx
Although, you could spend pile of money and hire an outfitter if you don't want to do a DIY hunt. If that's the case, some states allow outfitters to sell a certain number of tags to non-resident hunters.
You can get OTC tags in Alberta, Canada as well. some zones are 3-point and some zones (mostly in the mountians) are 6 point. others are on draw. There is lots of public land and grazing land you can access. The only thing is you need a resident to 'Hunter Host' you. I don't know much about outfitters in the area.
And tags are spendy for non-residents.
PM me if you want some more info.
I have done the hunter host thing for elk in Alberta. Elk numbers are variable, read low compared to US.
If you’re looking to DIY, ie cheaper, look to Colorado.
If you have plenty of cash then lots of really cool hunts available.
I hunted Montana last season on a general non res tag. I wanted a mature bull so ended up passing on a number of hulls that didn't tickle my fancy. Just remember you can't get the meat into NZ so may as well be picky. I hate it when people shoot young animals here so I won't do it there. The numbers were similar to NZ although I found they became pressured very fast from rifle opener (I here they are less effected by pressure in the rut bow season). Also be ready to hunt int the cold. It was below for most of the season and negative 40 for a few days. Its an awesome experience we'll worth it. Here are a few of my public land solo hunting exploits including a decent bull I passed chasing something special.
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I've successfully hunted elk, bear, whitetail, mule deer and pronghorn. Heading back this year to hunt Wyoming, Colorado and Idaho if i draw my tags.
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If you want any advice give me a call 021 0309461.
Thanks for the comments chaps cb14 will be in touch to see how you get on this year hope the borders are open
So do I! I've just done my Colorado elk application and decided to go for a hard to draw tag as I'm sure applications will be down this year. If the borders are closed I have flights booked to CHCH for a Plan B tahr hunt in Oct.Quote:
Originally Posted by Beanie
I flagged this year. Was planning CO elk and prongies. Turns out good call not to go. Hopefully next year but looking at the way things are going in the States am not holding my breath. Might hold off until the vaccine is out. Gutted.
Colorado has a lot of elk, low numbers of wolves (unfortunately people are trying to change that), and supposed to be no grizzlies.
All of that being said I've heard it is hard to get away from the people there, and have a friend and cousin that come back to Montana to hunt each year.
One thing I've personally noticed about Montana is that the number of nonresident bowhunters has increased in the last few years, but there are a lot of opportunity of each state and if you do your research and Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and Montana all produce big general tag bulls each year.
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Anyone planning to hunt USA next year? Hoping by Oct 22 getting to the USA and back should be easy enough.
I’m buying a Idaho deer tag (can also be used for bear, wolf and lion) next week. Keen to get back after a 2 year break!
I've just recently moved back to NZ from a few years living in SW Colorado (Durango area). Some great elk hunting down there and in adjacent New Mexico, though NM is difficult to obtain tags as nonresidents. Happy to answer questions about CO elk hunting, I did both draw and OTC seasons. Contrary to what people might have originally thought, the pandemic brought many more thousands of folks into the tag lottery systems as well as many more millions of Americans into the outdoors more generally. It can be hard to get away from folks in a lot of more popular areas. But you Kiwis are all hard buggers, put in the leg work and the advanced sudy of maps and you can find pockets of animals and no people. Make sure to pick up an OTC black bear tag when you go, they want more taken there are heaps.
