It's a long drive from Georgia to Colorado so I thought that I would try something different than a "do-it-yourself" hunt this year.

Here is what I would like to do...Fly into Colorado, rent a vehicle to get to an outfitter's location, be packed into an area that is not crawling with other hunters and have a reasonable chance at harvesting a good bull elk. I'd rather not have a guide but would like to use someone elses camp to keep from lugging all that crap from Georgia to Colorado! I'm in good shape and don't care to work hard for a bull.

I have 4 preference points for elk. Anyone care to make a recommendation?

Thanks in advance!

X

Three Forks Ranch


I don't remember their website name but if you google it you will find it.


Lots of elk and beautiful country!

Another option you might consider is to do a ranch hunt or a drop camp on a ranch. Cliff and Judy at the Broken Spoke ranch in Whitewater Colorado have a huge ranch. You can hunt from cabins at the ranch headquarters or do a drop camp up higher. You may not have to burn up your preference points if you do it this way some of their hunts are over the counter tags and you could keep building your points for a real good elk tag in a very limited area.
Just do a search for Broken Spoke Ranch in Whitewater and you'll see the website.

http://www.tristateoutfittersusa.com/about_us.htm


This is a top notch outfit,very professional, and very good success. Good famiy operation.

They hunt Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. THey lease a lot of ranches. Real easy to work with.

If you want a guided hunt try www.elkhornoutfitters.com
They have been in business a long time and have over 100,000 acres to hunt.They have several types of hunts and are 100% professional.

Hunt on private land and you'll likely see 10 times the elk over five days than you'll see over the same period on public property. It will cost a bit more, but if you only hunt in CO once a year, you might as well make the most of your time and it could prove cheaper in the long run.

Thanks for the recommendations guys...I'll check them out.

X

quote:

Hunt on private land and you'll likely see 10 times the elk over five days than you'll see over the same period on public property. It will cost a bit more, but if you only hunt in CO once a year, you might as well make the most of your time and it could prove cheaper in the long run.

Ditto.

Here's a Good Magazine to subscribe to that has alot of Private land outfitters:

http://www.bgamag.com/

They also sell hunts on their website.

Good Luck

Reloader

Here's a spot where I've hunted 3 times: Cross Mountain Adventures. The place is loaded with elk. You won't find bulls the size of what you'll see in NM and AZ in NW Colorado, but it's still a great hunt. They have about a 100% success ratio, vs maybe 20% on public land. It's also nice to be able to rifle hunt in September due to the state's Ranching for Wildlife Program.

I agree with the others that you will see a lot more game on the private ranches than on the public land.

There is probably over a 100 Colorado public land outfitters that will sell you a drop camp hunt but you will have only a 10% to 20% chance of harvesting even a small branch antlered bull.

The problem with a drop camp on private land is that not many ranches offer them. They usually have the fully guided hunts. Rocky Mountain Ranches is one that offers trespass hunts on private land.

Thanks for the information guys. I don't have anything against hunting on private land, I just don't want to hunt inside a fence and I'd rather not have anyone holding my hand.

I'll check these private ranches out as well.

Thanks again!
X

quote:

Originally posted by x-caliber:
I don't have anything against hunting on private land, I just don't want to hunt inside a fence

Hunting on private land does not mean hunting inside of a fence. It means hunting where there is much less pressure and where you see many more elk.

I can't see how this statement implies that all private land hunting is fenced. Anyway, that's not what I meant by that statement.

Thanks again to eveyone for your recommendations. I have contacted several of these outfitters and have begun checking references.

X

x-caliber,
Good luck and I hope you get one this year!

Three forks ranch. The best. I hunted there. Thousend of elks.Only be aware at the trophy before to shoot