I have been going to Colorado (Archery Elk) for 7 years. In the National Forest. We've had good success, and not crowded. Nothing like rifle seasons. Last time I did that (rifle) was 1998, I'll NEVER do that again.

We do, Two weeks DIY, tags, food, fuel, processing for around $1000. We have a wall tent and SET UP CAMP. You'd think we were outfitters by our "homestead" .
But, Thats enough $$ for me. I just can't bring myself to do the guide $$ thing. It was hard enough to go back, when they DOUBLED their Non-Re$ tag$ a few years ago.

Do most of ya'll who hunt out-of-state use a guide? Is it reguired ? I thought I heard that NM rquired it?

Or do you use one because you are not able to scout and learn an area? For lodging and food? Accesibility to land? Horses?

We are considering different states for future years. And would like to keep the DIY aspect of the way we hunt.

Are other states "feasible" for DIY hunters or are they more catered to guided hunters and using outfitters? (I realize that draws play into these too,) Montana?, Wyoming? Arizona? others? I know a Fish & Game guy in Idaho (but that is a LONG WAYS!!

Acknowledging that we'd take a hit on scouting, and learning an area to start with.

Any DIY experiences from other states?

Phish-TX

I've been hunting in New Mexico now for 11 years DIY. A guide is not required for hunting there. I think the reason it mentions guides has to do with the draw and hunting on some private land. If you register with a guide you don't have to worry about getting in the draw, you'll get one thru them. We bring our tents, cookers, water barrels, and whatever else we need and stay for a week. Most of the scouting we do now is when we arrive for the hunt. Before, we just had to get familiar with the lay of the land and learn were and when to hunt an area. The tags went up 80.00 this year for a total of 270.00 now. So with that, gas out there and back, food, and misc the total will be about 500.00 ea. There is 9 of us going and although it is public land we've never had that much of a problem of bumping into other hunters. The area we hunt is Unit 30 which is west and southwest of Carlsbad. The best thing is we leave central Texas at 4:00am and after stopping for perishables and tags in Carlsbad we still have camp set up by 3:30 and get a couple of hours of scouting done. It beats having to drive 12 hrs or more. I don't bother to hunt Texas any longer unless I get drawn for public land hunts. If you would like anymore info just let me know.

I use a guide in Colorado elk hunting, and after I killed my bull a few years back, I only go up there after late season cow elk. We do that hunt on private land, and it is usually a one day hunt, because the elk are down off the National Forest, eating up the hay fields.

The private land issue is one reason to use a guide, especially if you are doing a rifle hunt on Public Land. A hunting trip in to one of the wilderness areas would be another. As far as I know, the only state that requires a guide, is Alaska, and that is just for mountain sheep/goats, and brown/grizzly bears.

All of the Canadian Provinces require non-resident aliens(U.S. and other foriegn citizens), to use a guide.

One place where I have done a couple of do it yourself rifle deer hunts, is western Nebraska. Really great country and there are mule deer and whitetail.

I know I won't be able to go up there this fall due to my knee surgery, but I would like to get a group together to go in 2007.

Never been much of a fan of Colorado elk hunting. The quality compared to what I have seen elsewhere, just isn't as good, IMO. You see a lot of elk, but not as big. I don't get to go away too often and just prefer to make the best of my time for my money on an out of state elk hunt and Colorado just doesn't have it.

I have been putting in for Arizona for 8 years now. I have been there to hunt hunt elk a few times and really love hunting units 9 and 10 and around the area of Williams and Flagstaff. I have taken some cows before but I have yet to take that big bull yet, although I have had opportunities on many in the 280-300 range, I'd like to get a 340 or better and one day it will happen. UNBELIEVABLE elk in that area!

I have used a guide before and I have gone just with some friends. It just depends on my budget for that year and how much other hunting I want to do. Its not required that you use a guide in Arizona. To me, the terrain is not the same as Colorado. I think its a little easier for me in Arizona to deal with the climate they have. Not as cold for one. Arizona is hard to draw, but well worth it when you see the quality versus what some other places have. Idaho and Utah have some tremendous elk populations as well. We never used horses. You drove where you could and we hiked it all in from there. The Kiabab forest is a pretty hot area but if your a bow hunter its a great place to hunt.

New Mexico is good but land owner permits are very expensive and for $6000 for a guided hunt and what type of elk to expect, well I'd rather save it up for Arizona from what I have seen personally.

Idaho is good from what a lot of my friends tell me when they went. In the areas they went, it was required to have a guide, if I remeber correctly. The pictures they showed me and the elk they brought home seemed really good.

Wyoming is one state that also requires a guide in certain wilderness areas. If you want to hunt in those units, you have to go with a certified guide to enter the wilderness hunting areas.