Kentucky elk draw

[Kentucky]

I drew either sex archery. Only took 12 years.
I have never hunted elk before.

 

[smccardell]

I drew either sex archery. Only took 12 years.
I have never hunted elk before.

If you are looking for a KY guide let me know.


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[ohiohunter81]

I didn’t get drawn either. For the price I guess it is worth a shot to hunt elk that close to home.

 

[netman]

Details? Why did it suck? They have over a 40% success rate supposedly which is way down from what it used to be. PA is the only place higher I believe. I have a feeling outfitters have most of the control in states like KY and PA.

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Once you draw the tag there is a second draw for units/limited entry . Almost every unit has limited entry areas in them. Some units have several LE and some have none. Those that drew a tag can put in for three or so LE. The second draw is held and you are notified if you got your unit/LE. In my case I did not and got put into a unit with no LE and almost no public land.
A fellow rokslider got the same skunk. So we drove over to together and scouted the unit for three days. His college roommate is a biologist for Kentucky near the unit we were put in. We were given a landowners name who owned property that HAD elk on it in the past. We spoke to this guy who said there used to be elk on and around his property but the state had done aerial capture on elk in this area and transported the elk by helicopter to other areas. The landowner had pictures of several elk flying over his house on his camera. He owned cabins that were available for anyone to rent.
This guy said if we rent a cabin from him we could hunt his property. He went on to say that he had several other tracts of land landlocked and had worked out a deal with the landowners. He showed us a map and said we could hunt the whole area. We each booked a cabin.
We scouted the area with zero sign but it was summer. We learned by chatting with locals that there was a local deer hunter who had drawn a archery bull a few years earlier in this unit and killed a big bull nearby. We drove to his house and visited with him. He said the elk did not summer here but a few would winter nearby. He said when we came back for our hunt to reach out to him as he owned property across the road and we could hunt there. This guys property was part of the land the cabin owner said he had worked out a deal.
The other rokslider had a November cow hunt. He hunted the property around the cabin with zero luck. He was able to reach out to his biologist buddy who put him on some elk on private and he got a cow.
I had a late December early January cow hunt. My wife and I went over early and scouted. On the opening day we sat up on a ridge overlooking coal mine reclaim land. We watched for hours as people road hunted. Around noon we walked down a path to another piece of reclaim coal mine land to where we could see the guy who had killed the bull property. Nothing. My wife and I sat down and was eating walnuts when I seen a pickup driving across the reclaim. I first seen the truck and it was a couple miles away. As the truck got closer I seen it was a game warden. He pulled up nearby and got out asking me what I was doing. In the next ten minutes every sentence started with “ you out of staters”...
He asked me who gave me permission to hunt there. I told him who had and not thinking nothing about it. I’m just thinking I’m getting checked. One concern that I had was the I did not even have my rifle in hand. It was laying on the ground where I was eating walnuts. GW was very nervous and he was very shaky.
The GW got on the phone and called several people. After about 45 minutes he spoke to someone about me. He got off the phone and said the landowner wanted me prosecuted. I asked him if he had a complaint on me? He said no he had seen my blaze orange.
I got a ticket for hunting w/o consent. I told him I had consent. He told me he was going down to the guy who owned the cabins and get this hashed out. I called the guy who owned the cabins and told him about the ticket as my wife and I walked back to our cabin.
When I got to my cabin the owner was there in a very upset manner. He told me the GW who wrote me the ticket was the son in law of a former business partner of his. They had a falling out and the GW was getting even.
So a short time later the GW and his Lt. arrive at my cabin with the owner of the cabins. The Lt. asked me for my side of the story. I told him about the cabin owner giving me permission to hunt where I was at. The cabin owner who is standing right there is agreeing with me that he had given me permission. I look at the Lt and said ‘ now you see my point of view’ . He said Yes he did.
I asked him why can’t they give me a warning and correct the issue with the cabin owner and the landowners. He said it wasn’t their job to do that it was the prosecutors job.
I pointed out that it was a Saturday and the ticket was a E ticket and had not even been submitted. It was still on the computer screen. They (GW’s) said it was out of their hands now.
Avoid Knott County Kentucky is what I learned.

 

[TonySkyline]

Jesus. Yeah maybe I'll stick to the western hunts. That sounds like a complete sh!t show. That sucks that happened. Kentucky really does not want people from out of state hunting there. I almost went to a wma in western Kentucky 3 years ago for a whitetail hunt and broke my hip a week before the hunt. Maybe it was for the better. Lol.

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[TonySkyline]

I hope PA has more public land. Not that I'm likely to ever get drawn but its definitely super close for me

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[Agross]

No luck for me again. Really hoping to draw one of these years here in Michigan . This year my name will be in the hat a dozen times.

 

[smccardell]

Once you draw the tag there is a second draw for units/limited entry . Almost every unit has limited entry areas in them. Some units have several LE and some have none. Those that drew a tag can put in for three or so LE. The second draw is held and you are notified if you got your unit/LE. In my case I did not and got put into a unit with no LE and almost no public land.
A fellow rokslider got the same skunk. So we drove over to together and scouted the unit for three days. His college roommate is a biologist for Kentucky near the unit we were put in. We were given a landowners name who owned property that HAD elk on it in the past. We spoke to this guy who said there used to be elk on and around his property but the state had done aerial capture on elk in this area and transported the elk by helicopter to other areas. The landowner had pictures of several elk flying over his house on his camera. He owned cabins that were available for anyone to rent.
This guy said if we rent a cabin from him we could hunt his property. He went on to say that he had several other tracts of land landlocked and had worked out a deal with the landowners. He showed us a map and said we could hunt the whole area. We each booked a cabin.
We scouted the area with zero sign but it was summer. We learned by chatting with locals that there was a local deer hunter who had drawn a archery bull a few years earlier in this unit and killed a big bull nearby. We drove to his house and visited with him. He said the elk did not summer here but a few would winter nearby. He said when we came back for our hunt to reach out to him as he owned property across the road and we could hunt there. This guys property was part of the land the cabin owner said he had worked out a deal.
The other rokslider had a November cow hunt. He hunted the property around the cabin with zero luck. He was able to reach out to his biologist buddy who put him on some elk on private and he got a cow.
I had a late December early January cow hunt. My wife and I went over early and scouted. On the opening day we sat up on a ridge overlooking coal mine reclaim land. We watched for hours as people road hunted. Around noon we walked down a path to another piece of reclaim coal mine land to where we could see the guy who had killed the bull property. Nothing. My wife and I sat down and was eating walnuts when I seen a pickup driving across the reclaim. I first seen the truck and it was a couple miles away. As the truck got closer I seen it was a game warden. He pulled up nearby and got out asking me what I was doing. In the next ten minutes every sentence started with “ you out of staters”...
He asked me who gave me permission to hunt there. I told him who had and not thinking nothing about it. I’m just thinking I’m getting checked. One concern that I had was the I did not even have my rifle in hand. It was laying on the ground where I was eating walnuts. GW was very nervous and he was very shaky.
The GW got on the phone and called several people. After about 45 minutes he spoke to someone about me. He got off the phone and said the landowner wanted me prosecuted. I asked him if he had a complaint on me? He said no he had seen my blaze orange.
I got a ticket for hunting w/o consent. I told him I had consent. He told me he was going down to the guy who owned the cabins and get this hashed out. I called the guy who owned the cabins and told him about the ticket as my wife and I walked back to our cabin.
When I got to my cabin the owner was there in a very upset manner. He told me the GW who wrote me the ticket was the son in law of a former business partner of his. They had a falling out and the GW was getting even.
So a short time later the GW and his Lt. arrive at my cabin with the owner of the cabins. The Lt. asked me for my side of the story. I told him about the cabin owner giving me permission to hunt where I was at. The cabin owner who is standing right there is agreeing with me that he had given me permission. I look at the Lt and said ‘ now you see my point of view’ . He said Yes he did.
I asked him why can’t they give me a warning and correct the issue with the cabin owner and the landowners. He said it wasn’t their job to do that it was the prosecutors job.
I pointed out that it was a Saturday and the ticket was a E ticket and had not even been submitted. It was still on the computer screen. They (GW’s) said it was out of their hands now.
Avoid Knott County Kentucky is what I learned.

We had something similar on my son’s youth hunt. We were on reclaimed coal mine with a guide. We had to check in at the gate. GW saw us from a distance and screwed our first afternoon hunt as he went rounds with the guide trying to tell him the permission he had was to drive across the mine. The guide pulled out his OnX and marked our spot and then proceeded to show the GW who actually owned the land and that we were indeed on a piece of private that we accessed by driving through the mine area. My son was 10 at the time, which meant he didn’t need hunter safety and didn’t need a license or the elk tag, just the draw permit and a hang tag for the vehicle (I got all that straightened out with DNR and the biologist) and the GW asked me where I got the permit and tag from and I snapped back “your violist and your website, and if you don’t have anything further I’d like to get my son back to camp since it’s now completely dark and we missed out on the first night of hunting.” I asked for his name and badge number as I would be calling in the morning to let KDFW that he had nothing better to do than to harass a 10 yr old out of state elk hunter. He shut up at that point. But yeah the herd isn’t what it used to be. Not only have them been relocating elk within the elk zone but they also shipped off a bunch of pregnant cows to help establish VA’s herd not too long ago.


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[netman]

Tony I also reached out to LMO aka Lost Mountain Outfitters once I drew my tag. I told him I was an experienced elk hunter and wanted to DIY. He said if I paid him a consultation fee he would give me areas to draw for and point me in the direction of finding elk.
For $300 I got a list of LE to apply for. Once I found out I got none of the LE I was on my own. Disappointing.
The big problem with Kentucky elk is lack of public lands.
If one draws a bull tag you would be plumb silly to not hire an outfitter. Exception would be if you live in the elk units.
After my opening day pinch my wife and I went to the couple of tracts of public land. We stomped all over with no luck. We ran into other elk hunters who were just as disappointed as we were.
One thing I did not mention in the above response was that the land I was told to go hunt had one point of access to it. The road went through the cabin owners property. While hunting on opening day my wife and I seen three vehicles and several atvs driving on the same trail I was ticketed on. In addition when the GW was driving towards me he drove right past a pickup with two road hunters in it. My wife asked the GW about that truck. He said he was going to work on that.

 

[Gen273]

I have put in for 15 of the last 16 years, but I have never been drawn.

 

[FLAK]

I'm hearing a LOT of very disturbing stories that sound very similar.
Beginning to sound like a scam. Unless things change next year for
the better (like offering preference points for past years) I'll opt out.
Too many other options. And its not the app fee, I just don't want to
waste money / time on a hunt up there if its a crap show.

 

[TonySkyline]

I'm hearing a LOT of very disturbing stories that sound very similar.
Beginning to sound like a scam. Unless things change next year for
the better (like offering preference points for past years) I'll opt out.
Too many other options. And its not the app fee, I just don't want to
waste money / time on a hunt up there if its a crap show.

Agree. Its more of wasting the time for me. For alot that draw its probably their first elk hunt. That could ruin someone's perception on what elk hunting is really like. I would rather spend my time chasing them out west or just go every other year or 3 to places like MT, Wyoming,and Idaho. Odds are lower but I feel that it would bring you back even if you don't tag out like myself on my first elk hunt in 2018. I wonder how onx maps works in KY? Does it show the correct properties as private/public and what zones are what

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[timekiller13]

Kentucky elk lottery for non-residents is a shot in the dark at best. Since I live so close to Kentucky, I don't mind donating the money for the tiny chance of drawing. But, over the last few years, they have decreased tag numbers significantly. They used to give out 1,000 tags (total) and they have decreased that number every year. Kentucky also closed two WMAs that historically had decent elk numbers to "elk viewing areas only." No hunting allowed. I will probably keep donating my money to them, just because, but its a long shot at best.

 

[Ian Ketterman]

Once you draw the tag there is a second draw for units/limited entry . Almost every unit has limited entry areas in them. Some units have several LE and some have none. Those that drew a tag can put in for three or so LE. The second draw is held and you are notified if you got your unit/LE. In my case I did not and got put into a unit with no LE and almost no public land.
A fellow rokslider got the same skunk. So we drove over to together and scouted the unit for three days. His college roommate is a biologist for Kentucky near the unit we were put in. We were given a landowners name who owned property that HAD elk on it in the past. We spoke to this guy who said there used to be elk on and around his property but the state had done aerial capture on elk in this area and transported the elk by helicopter to other areas. The landowner had pictures of several elk flying over his house on his camera. He owned cabins that were available for anyone to rent.
This guy said if we rent a cabin from him we could hunt his property. He went on to say that he had several other tracts of land landlocked and had worked out a deal with the landowners. He showed us a map and said we could hunt the whole area. We each booked a cabin.
We scouted the area with zero sign but it was summer. We learned by chatting with locals that there was a local deer hunter who had drawn a archery bull a few years earlier in this unit and killed a big bull nearby. We drove to his house and visited with him. He said the elk did not summer here but a few would winter nearby. He said when we came back for our hunt to reach out to him as he owned property across the road and we could hunt there. This guys property was part of the land the cabin owner said he had worked out a deal.
The other rokslider had a November cow hunt. He hunted the property around the cabin with zero luck. He was able to reach out to his biologist buddy who put him on some elk on private and he got a cow.
I had a late December early January cow hunt. My wife and I went over early and scouted. On the opening day we sat up on a ridge overlooking coal mine reclaim land. We watched for hours as people road hunted. Around noon we walked down a path to another piece of reclaim coal mine land to where we could see the guy who had killed the bull property. Nothing. My wife and I sat down and was eating walnuts when I seen a pickup driving across the reclaim. I first seen the truck and it was a couple miles away. As the truck got closer I seen it was a game warden. He pulled up nearby and got out asking me what I was doing. In the next ten minutes every sentence started with “ you out of staters”...
He asked me who gave me permission to hunt there. I told him who had and not thinking nothing about it. I’m just thinking I’m getting checked. One concern that I had was the I did not even have my rifle in hand. It was laying on the ground where I was eating walnuts. GW was very nervous and he was very shaky.
The GW got on the phone and called several people. After about 45 minutes he spoke to someone about me. He got off the phone and said the landowner wanted me prosecuted. I asked him if he had a complaint on me? He said no he had seen my blaze orange.
I got a ticket for hunting w/o consent. I told him I had consent. He told me he was going down to the guy who owned the cabins and get this hashed out. I called the guy who owned the cabins and told him about the ticket as my wife and I walked back to our cabin.
When I got to my cabin the owner was there in a very upset manner. He told me the GW who wrote me the ticket was the son in law of a former business partner of his. They had a falling out and the GW was getting even.
So a short time later the GW and his Lt. arrive at my cabin with the owner of the cabins. The Lt. asked me for my side of the story. I told him about the cabin owner giving me permission to hunt where I was at. The cabin owner who is standing right there is agreeing with me that he had given me permission. I look at the Lt and said ‘ now you see my point of view’ . He said Yes he did.
I asked him why can’t they give me a warning and correct the issue with the cabin owner and the landowners. He said it wasn’t their job to do that it was the prosecutors job.
I pointed out that it was a Saturday and the ticket was a E ticket and had not even been submitted. It was still on the computer screen. They (GW’s) said it was out of their hands now.
Avoid Knott County Kentucky is what I learned.

Sounds like some good ol' small town law enforcement.

 

[KHNC]

THat 10 dollar tag EASILY turns into 7500.00 if you draw and have any hope of killing a bull. Outfitters seem to own the elk herd in kentucky.

 

[ShortMountain91]

Glad I read through this. I live very close to Kentucky but with these kind of stories I'll keep my elk draws a little further west

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[Kentucky]

I have decided not to get a guide and just do the best I can to figure out which units might be best... I have never been on an elk hunt before, so the calling and what not is all new to me.. sneaking around, patience, and shot place me at are not new to me..I’m looking forward to it.

 

[Indian Summer]

Details? Why did it suck? They have over a 40% success rate supposedly which is way down from what it used to be. PA is the only place higher I believe. I have a feeling outfitters have most of the control in states like KY and PA.

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Pa outfitters have control over what? There’s plenty of public land. You have the option to pick units with virtually all public.

 

[KHNC]

Pa outfitters have control over what? There’s plenty of public land. You have the option to pick units with virtually all public.

Outfitters own Kentucky elk hunting. I have no idea about PA

 

[Indian Summer]

I didn’t quote your post. Another member said that.