Best bet for a guided bow hunt???

[13bonatter69]

Since my partner and I are just starting out, we are wondering if we would be money ahead to go ahead and do a semi type guided hunt this upcoming season. We were lucky enough to both tag out on our first year this past season. We read everything we can get our hands on and live on these Elk forums, and worked our butts off this last season. Luckily we both connected even though the Bulls were as quiet as can be.
Our thought are that if we hooked up with an experienced guide next year, we could possibly LEAR A TON. It could possibly give us a foundation of actual "do's and don'ts " to build on for the next few years.
This leaves us with a couple of serious questions to answer.
1. How much can 2 guys look to spend for a 2 hunter one guide type archery hunt? Lets say not counting tag, just guide.
Probably ten or twelve days total.

2. Is there one state that would be better than any other for guided? If anyone has any positive feedback PLEASE pm me with info.....thanks

3. What would be the possibility of both hunters getting a shot at bulls over 300 inches?

4. It seems all you read about is BAD experiences with guided hunts, would we be better served to just keep going at it on our own and save our money?
Thanks for any and all info.......Billy

[Swede]

Billy: I do not know anything about you and your friend's knowledge and skill level except what you just wrote. Assuming you are familiar with elk hunting and the elk woods, but from being an expert, I will suggest the following:
A good guide service can increase your likelihood of getting a bull and you can learn a lot at the same time. If I were to use an outfitter/guide, I would choose one that worked reasonably close to where I wanted to hunt on my own. Generally 300 class bulls come at a cost, luck, or by a draw which often takes years to get. States with the best bulls use the draw for their better units or in total. If you have the money available to spend on hunting, go with a 1 to 1 guide situation, but if you need to scrimp, then you can still have a good hunt and learn a lot with a 2 on 1 situation.
How much will you spend just for the guide service. I would start at $4,500 including tip and go over $15,000 for high quality big bull hunts.

I booked a caribou hunt through Cabelas years ago. It was excellent. You could use them, or if you like his area, I would go with Indian Summer. To go with Indian Summer al you need to do is click on his advertisement above to get started.

[Indian Summer]

I think I can help. First a few 300+ bulls for beginner hunters for you to check out: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2945

Semi-guided $2500, 2 on 1 fully guided $3500 each, 1 hunter per guide $4500.

Those semi guided hunts are what I like to refer to as outfitted DIY. One day of guiding to show you around and teach some tactics and the rest of the time you're on your own. All meals & game care included. PM me for more info if you'd like.

Thanks Swede!

[ElkNut1]

Billy, if I were looking for an Outfitter to hunt with I would without a doubt consider Joe with Indian Summer Outfitters. He's a great guy & will steer you right! As far as 2 - 300" bulls goes that a pretty tall order to fill for any outfit.

ElKNut1

[Indian Summer]

Realistically yes it is. You'll likely see them but seeing and killing are 2 different things. If you want (semi) guaranteed bulls like that it's time to shell out some cash for a high dollar hunt. Unless as Swede said you draw a good limited tag or hunt top notch private land where most likely you won't learn much about real public land hunting. The chances of drawing 2 quality limited draw permits aren't too good either.

BUT.... it sounds like you guys are pretty sneaky to take 2 bulls where they were quiet so with some luck who knows. I wouldn't mind hearing more about that hunt if you'd care to share the story with us.

This is primarily a do it yourself website and crowd. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't all for that. I'm a diy guy myself not much different than the rest. Yeah it's nice to get repeat clients but I'm a teacher by nature & so my angle is always to help guys go do it on their own if that's their goal. I don't think the majority of outfits and guides look at it that way. A lot of times our clients come on a guided hunt only to feel comfortable rebooking with a semi guided or even drop camp hunt.

One time at a show in Harrisburg 4 diy guys came up to me and said we've been doing it on our own for 3 years. They laughed and said we haven't killed a darn thing yet but the problem is we think we're about to and that scares us. It could be the end of the hunt for our entire group because it'll take us awhile to get the thing out of the hills and cared for properly. With some support you can kill elk and keep on hunting. Pretty nice. Not to mention the time involved in getting yourself & camp in & out of the back country. Funny to hear guys say we've learned the DIY thing so we want an outfitter. Kinda backward. Or is it? I dream of booking a hunt with a good outfitter. LOLOL

[ElkNut1]

" Funny to hear guys say we've learned the DIY thing so we want an outfitter. Kinda backward. Or is it? I dream of booking a hunt with a good outfitter. LOLOL"

Joe, that's funny, I thought the same thing when I read that sentence!

ElkNut1

[13bonatter69]

Ok maybe this was a stupid question to ask here, but I did, so I will take my lumps. A little more about my situation..... By nature, my partner and I have NO USE for going on guided hunts every year and having our hands held. We are both in our lower forties and just getting into elk hunting. We are die hard hunters and pretty "in your face" "go at it and get it" type guys. This was our first year and we did well. We were camped around others that knew the area well, and when we left out, our animals were the only ones harvested. I believe we are on the right track for sure and I hope in another four or five years, neither of us will be shooting anything that we are not willing to have mounted, unless its a cow for table fair. This site as well as a couple others have proved INVALUABLE!!!! Paul himself has been a plethora of knowledge, and has giving us some great advice. We have purchased everything that he makes from instructional material to all his calls, and it had us in pretty good shape when we arrived at camp.
The thought behind the guide deal was simply hoping to learn something that we could continue to build off of. After studying the prices of what it would cost as well as all the PM's I have received on several forums that I have posted on, I believe my partner and I will continue the way we are going. We were actually in a couple of REALLY good situations that we unfortunately boogered up and took a lump on the head. We actually came VERY close to leaving with one bull that would have went straight to the taxi. The funny thing about that bull, is he came just as close to dying as he did living. Just a freak thing that happens and tips the scale the wrong direction.
All in all, we had a great time, enjoyed some gorgeous countryside, and had a great face to face Grizzly encounter. We learned a ton, and asked each other about six thousand time...."what do you think ELKNUT would do right now?"....LOL

[Indian Summer]

No such thing as a stupid question. It does sound like you're on the right track. However there will ALWAYS be more to learn. There are an infinite amount of situations and scenarios and the like life itself the only way to learn about them is to run into a particular one and see how it plays out. Good bad or ugly you will have learned. Then.... even when you get pretty good at things there's the fact that there can be more than one good way to deal with things. It's interesting to me in the mountains or even on these forums to know that while I may decide one idea is the way to go others see things in a totally different light. One thing that does make me scratch my head though is how often the word outfitter is viewed in a negative way. Like I said this is a DIY site really but obviously outfitters and their many clients have so many days weeks and years under their belts cumulatively that they must know something right! As long as you find one who is passing it all on you will get way more than just a hunt for your money. And like I mentioned above..... there's a lot to do when packing it all in & out on your own whereas if you have the support of an outfitter it's just eat sleep hunt and repeat if necessary. kill one bull and don't miss a beat getting after the next one. Let me know if I can help. Good luck!

[13bonatter69]

Indian Summer......I will be getting in touch with you in the near future. Thanks again for your help!!

[welka]

Not sure if this submitted properly the first time. You can't go wrong with Joe and his brother Doug. They offer guided, semi-guided, and drop camp. They are very smart and experienced elk killers who run a great and fun camp. Based on your description, sounds like you should go with the guided or semi and let them show you the ropes and some. Good luck.