Western Elk Part 1: Getting Started Elk Hunting

This is a conversation recorded between James and Joe from The Fair Chase Podcast.
It’s Part 1 of an 8 Part Series on Getting Ready for Elk Season.

To watch the full video episode, click here. 

James: So Joe, why are talking about elk?

Joe: "We decided we'd start with elk. It's coming up soon. We’re in July now, so people are starting to transition from their spring turkey and bear activities to thinking about the fall. 

We have guys that live out west and they're out elk hunting anyway. They always want more information. But we also have a lot of guys from the Midwest that will go out west once a year. We wanted to share what we’ve learned so far being those Midwest guys who have to travel out west to hunt elk.”

James: What are the main states people look at when elk hunting?

Joe: "From a 10,000 foot view looking down, popular states: Colorado obviously. Montana is a great one for opportunity because of the length of the season and availability of multiple units. Idaho plays that line in a similar way, not exactly like Montana, but it does have General A and General B's. 

Those are the big three I think of when I think of opportunity states. Then you have Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Washington especially if you want to get into your Roosevelt side, a little bit into California too. But that’s it’s series."

James: How are over-the-counter elk tags changing?

Joe: "As of '25, Colorado is no longer over-the-counter archery season for non-residents. I did a similar video three years ago on the three top OTC elk states, and as of next year, none of those states are OTC. 

It was Colorado, Idaho and Oregon. By the time you listen to this, if this is a year-old podcast, some of this information will be different again. Take this as a blanket statement that you need to confirm this info because it's constantly changing."

James: What is point creep?

Joe: "Point creep is basically every year in these states, a lot of them do a point system where you pay $1 to $150 for a point. That ups your odds of getting a better limited-entry area the following year or years to come. 

But as that applicant pool gets greater, more people are looking to elk hunt, those points are worth consequently less and less in most cases. Kind of like point inflation."

James: What's your favorite elk hunting season?

Joe: "Archery, now that I figured it out. 

I spent an archery season figuring it out and going back with a rifle to actually get the kill. Now I've gotten to the point where I'm much more efficient during that archery season, knowing what they're going to do. 

They're so much more predictable that time of year than when you get into those rifle hunts. They get pushed around a lot, become much more isolated, they're not near as vocal So, I love archery elk season."

James: What advice do you have for beginners with no preference points?

Joe: "The big three states I would consider in that situation are Colorado, Montana and Idaho. Wyoming's tough if you have absolutely nothing. You can put in at zero points, you can put in as a super draw and pay an extra 500 bucks which kind of boosts you up a little bit.

The other thing you can do in all these states is if you don't have a thousand bucks or 800 bucks to throw at a tag, you can put in for a cow tag anywhere between 250 and 500 bucks, go get the experience of it. It’s better to learn by hunting a few cows first anyways. Learn the ropes and then go after the big elk."

James: How do you chooss an elk season, particularly for over-the-counter tags?

Joe: "I love hunting in the cold and I like hunting when there's not very many people around. I picked fourth season this year in Colorado for my second draw. It's going to be cold, snowy, nasty. The elk probably aren't going to be moving very far. If they are not down from the Alpine yet they will be soon. They'll be a little bit more predictable that time of year but it's going to take more to get to them."

James: What do you look for when choosing a hunting area?

Joe: "I look at posted success rates and try to find the lowest ones. Those are typically the ones I'm most interested in doing. If you find an area that has good elk density with low success rates, that's interesting to me as opposed to one that has decent elk density or objective elk density and high success rates. It's going to be Orange Army. 

On a rifle hunt, I'm betting that I'm willing to work harder than other people and go where people aren’t willing to go. There's other people that look at the success rate and they go okay well other people have been successful here I can too if that guy can do it I can do it. 

So again two different trains of thoughts here it's all what you want out of the hunt if you're okay with fighting other guys for Elk yeah look at the high success high high-density areas those are probably going to be where that takes place."

Thanks for reading!