New area/state--Starting over.

[elkflunky]

Last season brought a lot of discouragement but I am now refreshed and trying to find a new area/state to elk hunt in. The problem with this is trying to scout an area due to distance and time. I live in MI and it makes it difficult to just jump in my truck and drive a state or two away to do some scouting. This might be the dumbest question and I never thought I would even consider this but has anyone heard of hiring someone to scout an area out for another? I always enjoyed "exploring" new areas but now with the cost of what it takes me to hunt in a elk state with my 13 yr old son and "my old" spot that was always loaded with bugling bulls but fell completely apart this last season. I am considering hiring someone to scout an area that I would normally do myself in order to save some valuable hunting time. I will do the leg work at home but I need some feet on the ground in the area I am interested in. I need a camp confirmation spot near water, I am looking for solitude(if possible), and I would love to have some decent elk sign in the area. I am not trying to look lazy but just want the most time available to hunt and less time scouting in a unfamiliar area. During the hunt I feel you are always "scoutin" but I need some eyes to help get my basework done. I like areas that require packing in to and not into camping at the truck. Looking at states of WY,MT,CO, ID and maybe NM. All states public land only. Thanks for any input, comments or criticism.

[Swede]

I am not sure how kooky your idea is. The problem I see is determining a fair price, and getting reliable information. Obviously not everyone is qualified to be a scout. It is one thing to find an area that holds some elk now. It is another matter to know where they may be in hunting season. Could your scout accurately predict that? It is easy to find an area that has elk, but where do you place a tree stand? Also, there are no hunters out now, but will your scout be sending you into an area crowded with green hunters? What do you do then?
I think you can do a lot by calling the game department and/or the Forest Service and asking them. Another good option is to ask for a good area on this forum, or offer to pay expenses for someone skilled, that just wants to get out and enjoy the outdoors. Ya: It is kinda crazy, but it just might work. Just be prudent with your funds. You could spend an lot and get nothing usable, or worse.

[elkflunky]

Yes that would be some of the risks involved I guess. It would be a gamble for sure unless you find a qualified person willing to make some money. There are a lot of dishonest people out there and what they actually scout for you would be their word. Just hope you could find the right, honest, hard working person that is willing to make it right for you an get some pay in return.Next question would be how much do you pay someone to do this. I know if I lived out in one of those elk states I would jump all over an opportunity to spend time in the mountains making money and doing what I enjoy. Someone laid off from work or needs some extra cash could make some dough. It would be awesome for people in my position also and make it much easier knowing you are not going to be chasing your tail searching for a camping spot and just knowing you are in a decent area would be money well spent if it was a qualified scout that brought you honest data back.

[bnsafe]

not exactly sure how it works but would that even be legal, or would the scout have to have an outfitters liscense. i like the idea, just not sure how well it would work. now if swede would come to co and put a treestand up for me it would be worth a couple washingtons, lol

[dotman]

Contact Robby Denning on Rokslide, he has provided this service for a few years and is very honest and qualified. I forget the name of his company that does this but cost varies depending on what you want and how far he or one of his guides has to travel.

[Indian Summer]

The word is consultant. No he would not need an outfitters license. No services are being provided for the client on national forest.

There used to be a business that tried selling hunt plans but it didn't pan out. I asked them why and they gave the exact answer I guessed. the hunters would not follow the plan in full and then decided the plan wasn't a good one. Not hard to imagine. I was going to get involved and sell them some plans.

What state are you considering? I'm a scouting machine er uh.... I mean elk consultant. Make me an offer.

For this year or next?

[>>>---WW---->]

Dotman beat me to it. There are people that actually do this type of thing as a business. Some are good and some aren't so good. Just be careful!

[bnsafe]

this should be interesting. cant wait to see how it turns out.

[Trophyhill]

I bought a scouting package from Tommy Maldonado for my Gila hunt last year so yes it is something available. At least where I hunted it was. Complete with maps and gps coordinates to some water tanks. I never stepped foot in the unit til opening day. I did a lot of homework in other ways too.

[elkflunky]

Yes I am considering getting someone to do this for me for sure. This last year I was in MT for two weeks and never saw a elk except a couple on private property. It was great to be there but it was a BIG disappointment as far as elk. Indian I will be getting with you. It will be next year. What state are you living in? Trophy how did it work out for you? My dream is to see my son get a elk before my time comes when I can't go with him anymore. Thanks for all the feedback guys!

[JGH]

I think it sounds like an excellent use of money.

A trip out is expensive!

The cost of fuel is one thing, but time is another, especially if you are self-employed. (If you have an employer who allows "paid time off", I suppose that's another thing, but if YOU are the one paying the bills, there is no such thing!)

I don't think you'd need exact locations of treestands.

Just knowing some maps, and a general "This is how I would hunt the place"-description along with some basic information from the Game & Fish like harvest data and so-on would go a long way. I think, in short, what you are asking for is a starting point, so you are not wasting the first three days of your trip second-guessing yourself.

As some have said regarding ANY scouting -- you won't find animals during the season where you left them while scouting. But ... you will find the trail-head exactly where you left it. And that builds confidence, and is one less thing to worry about. Just having someone start you out ... "Start at the Lazy Trail Trail-head and head in to the second water-crossing" ... gives you time to worry about other stuff, like whether your boy is enjoying himself.

Good money spent, I say, even if for limited information.

Most everything we spend money on -- in elk hunting or life in general -- is to buy some confidence. And I don't mean that in a bad way, but a good one. In fact, I would say that if you are spending money on anything and you don't think it will add confidence to you life, you shouldn't.

Confidence that you will survive a night out in bad weather. (Buying a good tent).

Confidence that you will be healthy. (Buying healthcare.)

Confidence that you will not have to worry about your wife waiting on the side of the interstate for help. (Buying tires).

[Trophyhill]

Yes I am considering getting someone to do this for me for sure. This last year I was in MT for two weeks and never saw a elk except a couple on private property. It was great to be there but it was a BIG disappointment as far as elk. Indian I will be getting with you. It will be next year. What state are you living in? Trophy how did it work out for you? My dream is to see my son get a elk before my time comes when I can't go with him anymore. Thanks for all the feedback guys!

I talked to him ahead of time and he tailored the package to how I planned my hunt and confirmed my suspicions from the legwork I had done. I did not hunt in the exact locations that were pinpointed on his maps/GPS coordinates but had I not gotten into elk daily I would have. It was a primo draw unit so I might have treated the info differently had it been an OTC hunt.

[CrazyElkHunter]

Every time I am going to hunt a new area, which is not very often, I spend a lot of time on forums, study topo maps, Google Earth a lot for birds eye view of drainages, water sources, terrain, basins, camping. Mark all of them with GPS coordinates, download them to your GPS and walk right to them when you get there. I always have new topo and ariel maps made from mytopo.com. Like yourself, I do not have the luxury of scouting until I get there for the hunt. Contact the warden and biologist for the new area and ask where they have seen elk through the summer.

[ST52V]

Send Aron Snyder a message. They were kicking this idea around on Rokslide a few months back. I don't know what happened to the thread or the idea. He may be able to help.

[elkflunky]

Yes Crazy that's normally what I have done in the past but I had a bad experience this last time with that. I was basically told no wolves, elk are so thick you can shoot in the air and have a nice bull. I am being a bit sarcastic here but I am trying to get my point across. In the perfect world I love doing it all on my own but a trip to me is very expensive to gamble on different things that are detrimental to the trip being a great time or it being a bust. It would just be nice to have some eyes and feet on the ground to confirm an area to be productive or a waste of time. I love DIY hunts and not looking for a guided hunt but rather some scouting that I am unable to do. I used to go to the same spot but that place went drastically south on me this last season. ST52V what is Rokslide and how do I contact Aaron? I am tossing some options around here with a bunch of suggestions and offers. I very much appreciate ALL the help so far!!!!

[dotman]

www.rokslide.com

I would just pm Aron Snyder or Robby Denning (they are both owners of rokslide) Aron was beat up pretty good when he proposed this idea.

[CrazyElkHunter]

Allan, It's to bad you had a bad experience with bad information. Elk hunting non resident style as we do, can be very expensive. I guess I was fortunate in using the way I research a new area in the message I shared and have taken many elk doing it that way. Elk hunting was a lot cheaper 35 years ago. When I first started elk hunting, my round trip, including gas, food, deer and elk tags was around $500.00 per person. Now it's around $3000.00 if I include the bear tag. Our area also went south several years ago due to road closure to our camp spot. We jumped around for 4 years and finally found a area we really like. This will be our 9th year coming up in this new area. Our old area we hunted for over 20 years. Good luck on your next hunt, no matter how you do your research.

[elkflunky]

Yes thanks for the information Crazy. It has been pretty similar to the technique I have used in the past and has worked splendid. On the other hand I found my "spot" and it provided some awesome hunting which = good times. The problem is that a lot changed in this area and it created a small problem that could have been avoided had I actually been able to put my feet on the ground to confirm all was still good. I went on my past researching and past experiences to this spot which caused my elk season to become a trip rather than a hunt when it was discovered that elk were not in there like years prior. I found a lot of old wolf crap with elk/deer hair in it though. It is hard to get my point across typing this without sounding negative but I am trying to not sound that way. I just did what I could do considering some of the circumstances involved and it just didnt work out. There is nothing like researching and putting a plan together and have it work but actually getting some eyes and feet pounding the area would have to be a great plan if you can arrange that. I am simply saying I can not afford the time and money to physically scout an area. I still do the research but I just hire someone to evaluate my research area. If the area is a bust I try to get my consultant in another area to get some feet in that area to prevent a bunch of unnecessary "scrambling" when I have limited time available for the hunt. I feel scouting never stops even when you get in a good area. You are constantly learning more about an area every time you hunt it. This plan would simply confirm if I was on the right track in my new area. I would love doing this for people if I lived in a elk state. I love exploring new areas and enjoy helping others out. My problem is what would something like this be considered a fair price for everyone involved?

[Bartfrncs]

Look into Elk camp.com they sell diy hunting packages. While not super cheap its an option.

[LarryBud]

Hi Folks,

Nice forum. Newbie here.

I'm a rookie Elk hunter and making my first trip this fall. My group has hired a " scout " for the trip. I've always been a DYI guy but going to a far off state with no knowledge did not appeal to me. Neither did hiring a guide for both the cost and loss of control.

Our package included help with picking a unit based on the points we have and will include maps, pictures, gps coordinate and hunting tips. I was referred to this service by someone I trust. He specializes in mule deer but has good elk info as well. He factors in you expectations and fitness level. I can't tell you how it will work our but we drew our CO tags and are pretty fired up.

The cost was $675 for our party. At $225 a piece, I'll call it money well spent if we get any quality information.

[Glacier Country]

I live in Montana, and for $225.00 I would hire someone to scout an area. It costs me almost that much just to drive my pickup to our hunting areas. I do most of my scouting during my hunt Same as some of you because we live so far from our hunting area. Last year I scouted an area in July when I was on Vacation and found a ton of elk. Yehaw. Then when I showed up to hunt them the 2nd week in Sept. I found that 800- 1000 elk had moved onto a ranch below the forest. I hunted the FS boundary 1 day and packed up to a different location I had only looked at on maps google etc. I even had a Forest Circus guy tell me I could take a camper to a lake, that turns out is a freaking goat trail. luckily I had unhooked from the camper to scout it out before going up there! But Boy was I pissed. I had also talked to the wardens and biologists in both areas. I ended up just going To a spot I had looked at on maps for several years and had never put my boots on that dirt. I killed a bull in 45 minutes. I then met up with a friend and he killed an elk in an area we both know well. Everybody it seems on the west side of the state is looking at new areas because predators have killed so many elk. MT has an elk plan that is just plain terrible. Kill all of the cows to get to a quota then wolves move in and kill 1/2 of the rest. It's can be tough. Great hunting, then in a matter of a few short years dead zone!

[elkflunky]

I totally agree with you Glacier! I thought I was going crazy but you are another person that confirmed my theory. I talked to a local after season was over in the area I hunted and he also stated that it stunk....the whole season. There goes the slight hope that I had that it was just timing or bad luck on my part. I guess time will tell how this all works out for the elk and elk hunting. Larry good luck in CO, it should be a great time!