Semi guided hunt in Colorado

[919]

How far out do you generally need to contact guides for a semiguided hunt? Looking to go elk hunting with some buddies in Colorado and noticed that a lot of operations were already booked out for 2025 season when we started looking this lasty February.

 

[WeiserBucks]

Could be several years, beware of any outfit with openings available in the same calendar year you want to hunt.

 

[longtail]

there all different but now would be a good time to be doing your research/gathering info and then ask them directly how their process works. Hard to get ahold of any outfitter during hunting seasons. The one semi guided hunt I went on they always let their return customers have priority to rebook and then if there were any openings they would let you in. Then they were pretty strict about a date in January to put your deposit in to reserve your hunt for the next year. Do a lot of research and then you still never know what your getting into completely. That hunt ended up being nothing but an expensive camping spot.

 

[Balderdash]

Yes, do your research well on these guys. Living in the Midwest, have known a ton of guys who hired semi guided western hunts and then ended up as an expensive camping trip, as stated above.

Another part of the equasion when researching drop camp outfits is that a lot of folks have mismatched expectations. It's a pretty common theme with new elk hunters that they dont fully appreciate how much walking is required for continued success while elk hunting. Some might have been placed in decent country, but didn't explore the area enough to find game and then blame the outfitter for something that just comes with the territory.