OTC archery Elk out of state...

[Rogue541]

I have been wanting to load up the truck and hunt out of state for a while now. I hunt otc archery eastern Oregon currently. I would likely go straight to another state after my Oregon hunt. I know lots of folks have the notion to steer people away from their home state but just looking for a general consensus as to which might be the best experience for my brother and I. I have a feeling most will say Colorado, I have no issues getting around in tougher terrain. Any tips from personal experience would be appreciated!


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[5MilesBack]

Being in Eastern Oregon I would say it would be a no-brainer to go to Idaho. If I lived closer I'd be there every year as well as hunting CO.

 

[Idaho Lefty]

Being in Eastern Oregon I would say it would be a no-brainer to go to Idaho. If I lived closer I'd be there every year as well as hunting CO.

YES, come to Idaho, to Hunt with,.. the 3,000 Wolves !

 

[5MilesBack]

YES, come to Idaho, to Hunt with,.. the 3,000 Wolves !

Absolutely! It's not everywhere that you can do that.

 

[dotman]

Having hunted CO, ID and MT and not living in any of these states, I would recommend ID and MT over CO.

 

[hi2u]

Having hunted CO, ID and MT and not living in any of these states, I would recommend ID and MT over CO.

Why?just curious since I'm debating this decision as well


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[Rogue541]

I appreciate the feedback! Hopefully OnX roadless put me in the right canyon in the right state. Dam we are lucky to get to chase after Elk in September.


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[mfllood3800]

Everyone who hunts in ID should consider a wolf tag.
If me, a NR is gong to use their resources to hunt elk, I have no problem helping their state remove the over population of these wolves.

I love hunting Utah during archery. OTC spike archery tag where I live allows me to shoot a spike or cow. If I cross the interstate I can then be on an any bull unit where I can hunt a spike, cow or bull.

 

[sneaky]

Why?just curious since I'm debating this decision as well


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Number of hunters. Colorado gets WAY more NR pressure than either of the other two.

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[justinspicher]

As a CO resident, I see a ton of hunters every year flock here to hunt, however, over the last two seasons I’ve actually seen about ten people in the woods. That close to 100 days in the woods between 2016-2017. It’s not as crowded as you’d think.

 

[sneaky]

As a CO resident, I see a ton of hunters every year flock here to hunt, however, over the last two seasons I’ve actually seen about ten people in the woods. That close to 100 days in the woods between 2016-2017. It’s not as crowded as you’d think.

Not in your neck of the woods. Idaho caps NR tags at 12,000 roughly, Colorado sells WAY more NR tags than that.

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[5MilesBack]

As a CO resident, I see a ton of hunters every year flock here to hunt, however, over the last two seasons I’ve actually seen about ten people in the woods. That close to 100 days in the woods between 2016-2017. It’s not as crowded as you’d think.

It's kind of like the wind. It changes all the time. It also depends where you are. But overall statewide......yes, it's definitely a heck of a lot more crowded than it's ever been during archery season.

I think we see waves of hunters moving around the state from year to year as well. A bunch of them will hunt one area and not find many elk, so they move to another hoping for better results. When they realize it's no better in the new area, they might move to another area. So the wave just moves around the state year to year.

 

[gelton]

I would agree with 5miles...the first couple of trips to Colorado OTC for elk were during first rifle and second rifle. Wanting to get away from the crowds I decided on archery - I was AMAZED how many people there were...at least twice as many as during the previous rifle seasons. Even pretty deep in the backcountry. I was solo and had driven 18 hours expecting to have most of the place to myself and it was more crowded than ever.

After archery hunting for the next 3 years I hunted second rifle last year out of necessity due to work commitments and I was amazed how little people there were. Things had changed drastically. I think many of these people had moved on to newer places because they weren't finding elk.

So like he said - its like the wind tough to put your finger on it.

 

[justinspicher]

You’re probably right about it changing from season to season. I’ve only lived here for a year and only hunted where I live, never up in central or northwestern Colorado.

 

[njdoxie]

Not to derail the thread, but I've noticed a significant increase in 2nd rifle every year for the last several years in southern CO.

 

[justinspicher]

I didn’t see anyone in second rifle down here in SW Colorado except at camp.

 

[dotman]

Why?just curious since I'm debating this decision as well


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CO is very crowded, ID and MT not so much.

 

[5MilesBack]

About 10 years ago I hunted a new area and I was the only hunter in there. No camps, no vehicles, nobody......except mine. It was really nice......rutting elk acting like rutting elk. The next year there were 4 or 5 camps in the area......some with non-stop barking dogs, some with chainsaws, and another with a generator......loud stereo......and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. What the frick?

A couple years later.......you couldn't even find a place to camp. It was like what I imagine Woodstock was like......people literally parking on the main road going into this place and putting up a tent right there. I have no idea what was going on, but I didn't even stop. Turned around and drove a couple hundred miles to a backup area. The weird thing was......they all looked like they were going to be hunting.

Two years later, it was back to 4 or 5 camps, and thankfully not the ones with the dogs, chainsaws, and stereos.

 

[Gobbler36]

I've seen more people here in Idaho otc archery than my archery hunt in CO, just gotta know which unit to pick and which areas to go, a lot more elk also. MT could be a good choice don't have any experience though