Western NR Muzzleloading

[OXN939]

So I've gotten big into muzzleloading the past few years and have a pretty good amount of experience doing Whitetail back east with it. Started researching how it could be applied to big game opportunities out West, and basically found the following:


-New Mexico has some pretty badass elk tags that are ML only, but hard to draw. A friend and I both applied for them unsuccessfully this year.

-Wyoming has some pronghorn units that are ML only. Could be fun.

-Idaho has cow elk tags OTC and also restrictive regulations (iron sights only, no sabots; basically a pretty proactive approach to keeping hunters from ensuring an ethical shot). Nevada's regulations relatively similar.

-Colorado has OTC tags occasionally, but really requires a ton of preference points to get into a hunt worth sinking thousands of dollars into


So, what am I missing? If you were a nonresident interested in a physically challenging muzzleloading big game hunt in a relatively remote part of a Western state in the next few years, what would you be thinking? Thanks guys!

 

[Thomas11]

CO muzzy is draw, u can draw tags from 0 pts to 25 pts. Season dates are great. Fun hunt. Utah has some really attractive muzzy hunts, NM as u mentioned has some good muzzy hunts as well. In my opinion, most other states elk or mule deer don’t really have muzzy seasons or at least not very attractive seasons. I don’t count Oregon or Washington because I don’t apply there. So I’m not real sure about there’s

 

[OXN939]

CO muzzy is draw, u can draw tags from 0 pts to 25 pts. Season dates are great. Fun hunt. Utah has some really attractive muzzy hunts, NM as u mentioned has some good muzzy hunts as well. In my opinion, most other states elk or mule deer don’t really have muzzy seasons or at least not very attractive seasons. I don’t count Oregon or Washington because I don’t apply there. So I’m not real sure about there’s

Yeah. Think the game plan now is to accrue as many preference points as possible in CO and WY, and keep applying for NM whenever possible... those Muzzleloading hunts for Elk in the Gila look unreal.

Anyone got experience doing one of the aforementioned hunts? Idaho's "controlled hunts" look like they could be worth setting up a Muzzleloader without a scope for...

 

[Riles1050]

Colorado High Country Muzzle loader hunt. Several you can draw with just a few points.

 

[OXN939]

Colorado High Country Muzzle loader hunt. Several you can draw with just a few points.

Looked at some of these on GoHunt. Colorado's preference point system seems pretty convoluted, but I'm definitely going to start collecting them this year. I'm guessing you've done some of these hunts?

 

[Thomas11]

Looked at some of these on GoHunt. Colorado's preference point system seems pretty convoluted, but I'm definitely going to start collecting them this year. I'm guessing you've done some of these hunts?

Id say generally speaking the NM hunts could be pretty tuff. They r generally after the biggest part of the rut and very short seasons. CO pt system is simple, they give the tags to the highest point holders. It’s stricly a PP system

 

[OXN939]

Id say generally speaking the NM hunts could be pretty tuff. They r generally after the biggest part of the rut and very short seasons. CO pt system is simple, they give the tags to the highest point holders. It’s stricly a PP system

I'd probably do a hunt with an outfitter in NM; increases your chances of drawing, and really you're paying for the local knowledge to be able to capitalize on a 4 or 5 day hunting opportunity. As far as DIY, CO or WY look like best bets. Sucks Montana doesn't offer any ML-specific seasons.

Separate note, does anyone else find a lot of these western Muzzleloading restrictions to be pretty asinine? Idaho prohibiting 209 primers, for example. This literally does nothing except force hunters to use a less reliable ignition system, increasing the incidence of hangfires and thereby wounded animals. Even if they don't care about what makes sense in the field, count me as a lost opportunity for ID to bring in thousands of dollars of revenue that will now be going to another state.

 

[Redman]

I'd probably do a hunt with an outfitter in NM; increases your chances of drawing, and really you're paying for the local knowledge to be able to capitalize on a 4 or 5 day hunting opportunity. As far as DIY, CO or WY look like best bets. Sucks Montana doesn't offer any ML-specific seasons.

Separate note, does anyone else find a lot of these western Muzzleloading restrictions to be pretty asinine? Idaho prohibiting 209 primers, for example. This literally does nothing except force hunters to use a less reliable ignition system, increasing the incidence of hangfires and thereby wounded animals. Even if they don't care about what makes sense in the field, count me as a lost opportunity for ID to bring in thousands of dollars of revenue that will now be going to another state.

I used 4 points on CO last year. Tough year due to the high temps. Ended up shooting a cow on the last day.

I understand some of the rules, with a lot of the inline mzs today you are not that far from a cartridge gun. Some just don't make sense, but they have to draw the line somewhere.

 

[TraderMike]

I hunt muzzleloader seasons in CO. Open sights are not a big deal, if your vision is not severely compromised. I use peep sights and can hold a 4 inch group at 200 yards with 460 grain conical bullets. And they flat out hammer elk though I must admit my farthest shot has been 70-80 yards. As for your concerns about 209 shotgun primers vs no 11. My only mis-fires have come with 209's and IMO no 11's give very consistent ignition. I have the choice of both ignition types and I am going into the elk woods this September with a 30+ year old inline using no 11's. Just cant decide if it is going to be a Knight MK85 or a White M97. Best of luck to you whichever you choose to pursue.

 

[OXN939]

I used 4 points on CO last year. Tough year due to the high temps. Ended up shooting a cow on the last day.

I understand some of the rules, with a lot of the inline mzs today you are not that far from a cartridge gun. Some just don't make sense, but they have to draw the line somewhere.

Congrats on punching a tag, anyway. What were the dates of your hunt? Sounds like you used an either-sex tag on a cow? From what I understand, cow elk tags aren't too hard to get in a lot of states- that could be a fun avenue to go.

 

[5MilesBack]

What were the dates of your hunt? Sounds like you used an either-sex tag on a cow? From what I understand, cow elk tags aren't too hard to get in a lot of states- that could be a fun avenue to go.

The ML Elk season is always the third week of archery, right in the rut. So opportunities are generally in bow ranges. Last year my daughter got a ML tag for her first hunt and she shot a nice bull at 30 yards. It was either of our's first experience with a ML, or ML hunt. It depends on the unit, but some units are either sex or cow only, and some are bull only or cow only tags.

 

[OXN939]

The ML Elk season is always the third week of archery, right in the rut. So opportunities are generally in bow ranges. Last year my daughter got a ML tag for her first hunt and she shot a nice bull at 30 yards. It was either of our's first experience with a ML, or ML hunt. It depends on the unit, but some units are either sex or cow only, and some are bull only or cow only tags.

Killer, congrats to her on the bull. How crowded does it get during CO blackpowder season? Are there OTC tags as well as ones you have to draw?

 

[MuleyFever]

There are no OTC tags in Colorado for any mule deer or elk hunts if I remember correctly.

 

[5MilesBack]

Killer, congrats to her on the bull. How crowded does it get during CO blackpowder season? Are there OTC tags as well as ones you have to draw?

ML is all draw. How crowded depends on the unit. You can check the stats for how many tags they issue for each unit, but many of those units will also have OTC archery going on at the same time. So the OTC archery units will be impossible to tell how crowded it will be. The draw archery units will be much more predictable as far as crowds go, as both the number of archery and ML tags generally stay close to the same every year.

 

[OXN939]

ML is all draw. How crowded depends on the unit. You can check the stats for how many tags they issue for each unit, but many of those units will also have OTC archery going on at the same time. So the OTC archery units will be impossible to tell how crowded it will be. The draw archery units will be much more predictable as far as crowds go, as both the number of archery and ML tags generally stay close to the same every year.

Cool, will get into the weeds of that research here in the next few weeks. Thanks for the tip! Anyone backpack in and spike camp during blackpowder season in CO? I know it could get kind of austere between the WX and packing out a mulie/ elk, but I'm young and enjoy misery almost as much as hunting in real wilderness areas away from crowds.

 

[OXN939]

Update after prodigious volumes of research... CO/NM/UT the only way to go for NR muzzleloader tags. CO and UT have "preference point" and "bonus point" systems, respectively, which are actually fairly similar. NM is simply luck of the draw, which is difficult at best for nonresidents.

Basically, for a nonresident, the only viable options without years of point-saving are Idaho, NM or a leftover CO tag. Almost half of Idaho ML units for elk experienced a 0% success rate in 2017, so those are long odds to shell out cross country dineros for. NM is all luck. Seem to be some pretty decent leftover CO tags this year, but by this point, I've already got a hunt planned... so, my blackpowder season will be spent chasing whitetails on the East Coast again.