MuleyMadness Hunting Forums

My name is Larry Walker, I am looking to try to get my granddaughter on a good elk for her 16th Birthday . What hunts and what states should I be looking at to draw a good solid youth elk tag.I am willing to pay a good guide so any guide refrences would be appreciated. I have just started my search, I see utah has good draw odds for a youth elk tag, but I am not sure about the quality of the hunt areas,

Any help would be appreciated, we are from Indiana, Lexi has hunted whitetails since she was 6 yrs old and thats when she killed her first deer. She is real patient and can shoot, she wants to kill an elk and a moose and I plan to help her as much as I can. She will be 16 in october 2016, we lost her mother on memorial day weekend 2014 to a massive heart attack at 35 yrs old her mother was also my only daughter. So this girl is very special to me and I would like to try and put her a hunt together that will be a lifetime of good memories, We are just common working class folk from Indiana. I am an avid hunter and willing to put in the time and effort to make this hunt successfull, I need all the help I can get

Thanks for reading

Larry

Are you wanting to go guided? Or try it yourself?

The utah youth hunt can be done, but its rough country. If your were to go guided for the youth hunt you can do pretty good with lots easier access and probably better sized bulls

Thanks 9er

If someone could maybe narrow down to what part of the state and possibly recommend a really good guide I would appreciate it.

Thanks Larry

9er wrote:Are you wanting to go guided? Or try it yourself?

The utah youth hunt can be done, but its rough country. If your were to go guided for the youth hunt you can do pretty good with lots easier access and probably better sized bulls

Either or I really do not want to go thru an outfitter but yes I definitely would hire a solid guide for sure.

If I could get something narrowed down to maybe a few good solid areas I would try it without a guide but probly will only have a week or lil more to get it done so a good guide would be very helpfull

In order to hunt the "youth hunt" you need to draw a tag. It is only open to the any bull units which can be hard to hunt/find elk. There are areas that hold elk that are open to the public and it could be a fun time. Dont expect much for size but there is always a chance at a nice bull. If you draw the tag let me know and I will fill you in with what I know.

If you just wanted to do an OTC hunt, I would think a place like Colorado or a landowner voucher in NM would be better.

Ok Thanks, I am not sure but I think Idaho and New Mexico also offer youth tags and maybe they dont limit the youth to hunting just the general areas. As picky as Lexi is on whitetail I think its gonna take a pretty nice bull or she wont shoot.I just started reading about the Idaho youth hunts and have found some info on New Mexico, Also I have been looking into Landowner Tags in Colorado. It seems the DNR websites have very limited info about the youth hunt/tags. I am still looking reading learning and looking for ideas and help, just like to get something solid set up and locked down as much as possible. I do appreciate your help.

Thanks Larry

I would definitely be interested in a landowner tag/voucher. This seems to be the most guaranteed way to lock down a good tag. Is there a list that would put you directly in contact with landowner to buy these tags ??

You could also look into the CWMU (Cooperative Wildlife Management Unit) hunts in Utah.
If you don't want to play the draw odds you can talk with these unit managers and discuss with them what type of hunting that you would like to do and go from there. The tags can be a little pricey but with most of them there wouldn't be guide fees on top of that unless you decide to go that route also.

Good luck on your adventures.

a_bow_nut wrote:You could also look into the CWMU (Cooperative Wildlife Management Unit) hunts in Utah.
If you don't want to play the draw odds you can talk with these unit managers and discuss with them what type of hunting that you would like to do and go from there. The tags can be a little pricey but with most of them there wouldn't be guide fees on top of that unless you decide to go that route also.

Good luck on your adventures.

Thanks Man I will look into it.

This can be very frustrating, it looks like they about have the working class folk priced out of a quality hunt. Looks like may just have to go with luck of the draw and that aint good for non-residents, or an over the counter tag. I killed an elk in Idaho with an over the counter tag. But it took me 3 trips out there and 2 seasons of hard hunting to get it done. Still searching waying out my options. I have 9 pref points in wyoming myself for elk but that doesnt do me much good for getting Lexi a tag. Just blowing off a lil steam, I will stop rambling now. Any help appreciated, I have some awsome whitetail hunting here in the midwest Indiana and Illinois, I would do some trading if someone was interested.