I will say it again, for a first archery hunt, book a good guide service.

you stand a much better chance of a kill and if you pay attention you will be way better off on any solo hunt going forward.

tons of good info in this thread but not knowing an area, not being fully acclimated (it takes a while, 2 days is normal for light activity) puts you at a huge disadvantage

and a first time archery hunt will be costly at minimum.

last but not least, if you do go solo be sure to take some sort of bullet proof cart to haul out on. last bull I packed out on animals was totaled at 1125# all included.

6x7 killed behind purgatory ski area, spread was over 60", huge bull in lightly hunted area north of durango.

weimenuche wilderness area had the largest herd in the state, they also migrate to far northern n.m. west of the apache res. lots of great hunting for archery or black

powder (my favorite hunters were bow or black powder) but if you don't know the area a little you can have big problems packing a bull out. .

hope you have a great hunt either way.

"weimenuche wilderness area had the largest herd in the state"

I'm pretty sure White River heard has always had the largest heard in Colorado. I did a solo elk hunt in sept around 2010 in the Weimenuche. I put in at Rio Grande lake, hiked west to Weimenuche creek then south past the CDT a couple miles. Hunted a week in that area and finally got out. Saw more outfitters with clients than elk. I did find a 6x6 and a 5x5 skull antlers and packed them out. 10 + miles on the hike out. Almost 90 pounds and I never got off my feet, I would just bend over to relieve the pressure. Big mistake. Went to the foot doc and I had collapsed my arches. Had to get orthotics to fix my feet. That area is now a draw unit. OTC back then.

Weiminuche Wilderness....real fond memories lol

Lots of good advice and I’m now too old to tackle the mountains. By the time you get to the top, you wish you could grab some O2 to stuff down your lungs. Leg strength is one of the biggest keys to success. I remember several times that I saw a bull and couldn’t either control my breathing or steady my scope.

Application season is open in NM and CO

I live in north idaho. Elk is way down due to wolves. Idaho is paying $2,000 per wolf

Some good info in here.

I'll also add that if you plan to do a DIY hunt and plan to do more DIY elk hunts in the future, create an account at GoHunt.com and it'll give you all sorts of information for different states, units, species, etc. It's not free but for me, it's been worth it. It's not a do-all tool but it'll give you a lot of information in one webpage instead of scouring through all of the different states websites to find the information.

I guess he still has NR draw available think OTC sold out in seconds with new caps. I only put in for moose right now. I do miss being able to pick up archery elk and deer tag on thevway up there though.

I’m up in MT visiting the folks for a couple weeks, here’s a handful I saw yesterday evening working their way down. There’s about 100 head of ‘em showing up in the lower pasture just before dark, will try getting a pic tomorrow.

Are you near Plains?

Didn’t see the big group but these guys wandered into the other end of the field last night before dark. There were more milling around just inside the timber.

Let me perfectly blunt with you if I may. I’ve lived in Texas my entire life and thus I’ve hunted in Texas my entire life. In 2022 I did a true backcountry elk hunt in Idaho and I was very successful. In 2023 I went back with the same outfitter but this time I was a camp cook for 3 weeks. The vast majority of the hunters that hunted were from Texas and to a hunter, none of them were prepared for the hunt! Not physically prepared, not mentally prepare, not prepared with the right clothing, hell one guy brought 20 year old hunting boots and blew out the soles on both boots the first day, his guide had to use zip ties to secure the soles of his boots enough to get him off the mountain!!! I mean what good is it to have a "$5000 rifle and scope" and you are so out of shape that you physically can't get out of the cot in the morning or you can't get on or off your horse, no joke!!! I witnessed this several times over 3 weeks.

What I’m trying to say to you is that it doesn’t matter where you go or the hunt you select. If you treat it like you are hunting in Texas be prepared to fail and be prepared to be in for a miserable time. Especially if you are doing an archery hunt. Get yourself in shape and get good quality clothing and equipment. What you use to hunt with in Texas isn’t the best options for hunting out West.

Now, go do it, you will love it!!

If you’ve never ridden a horse before, let me assure you the day following your first six or eight hour ride will be quite memorable.

I am headed up and will have a backup plan on packing out if I want. There are almost always services that will pack your meat out for a cost. For me that would be the easy button!

Better get that set up way in advance, those services require a licensed outfitter in most states and many are too busy during season to pack out meat for hunters other than their own.

This is a very good information to get a new elk hunter started.

OP, did you put in for anything? Deadline for CO was yesterday.

He never replied to his own thread, likely a tire kicker.

most the rifle seasons, due to temp, offer up way more time to get meat off the mountain then you think. Its the lower elevation Sept hunts that can get you, but even those can get through 3-4 days of 70+ weather with some proper planning. good fly proof game bags, slit to the bone, citric acid and or pepper, shady spot and creek area, etc. with that said having packer’s contract info(email for inreach) is best backup plan, just be ready for sticker shock.