Self Guided out west

[HoosierDaddy28]

I have hunted out west a few times. Twice for mulies and once for antelope with an outfitter, but I would like to get started in self guided hunts. Any advice out there for where to start as far as tags and regions.

[_MD_]

Re: Self Guided out west

Which states are you looking at?

[rifleman25]

Re: Self Guided out west

[ QUOTE ]

I have hunted out west a few times. Twice for mulies and once for antelope with an outfitter, but I would like to get started in self guided hunts. Any advice out there for where to start as far as tags and regions.

[/ QUOTE ]

Start y doing your research. If you going to be happy with just any animal, then most areas will be fine for you. If you are looking for trophy deer look to some of the traditional big buck areas such as "The Strip" in Arizona, The Kaibab in New Mexico, The San Juan Mountains of Southern Colorado, Also in Colorado the area around Montrose and Crawford is great. Utah has the Valle Vidal, and the Book Cliffs area, Montana look to te Missouri Breaks, The seven Devils area of Idaho, and areas 102 and 101 in Wyoming. Those are all proven trohy areas for muleys. Plan on building up points for several years though to get e permit. The tougher the draw the better the quality of animals, thats the rule I go by. There are several You might want to try a site called www.huntodds.com. At that site atleast you know what your chances of pulling a tag are. The thing with the lottery is you could pull a tag at about any point but these areas will typically take 4-14 years to draw but are well worth the wait. Keep applying and apply in several states to keep you chances of drawing a tag early on better. I drew an AZ strip tag 4 years ago. I had 6 points. Everyone said that was a miracle to get that tag so early. TheCrawford and Montrose Colo area usually takes me 2-4 years to draw a deer tag. Wyoming is a little easier but not alot. Idaho and Montana are going to be the easiest draws and a little research will show there are some high quality areas of Nevada that aren't too hard to get if you don't mind all the idiot hunters from California. Like I said itjust depends on what you want to shoot. If any animal is cool with you then the Routt ntl forest in north central Colo has alot of 20-22 inch 4x4 bucks. Western Nebraska has OTC tags and 18-24 inch bucks are common. Once you have an area picked out check the land availability. Some areas known for producing good deer are easy draws because the area is mostly private land leaving the DIY hunter out. Once you have an area with the right elevation and terrain for the season you want, and when you draw a tag, budget enough time to make at least 2 scouting trips during late july and august. You will see the batchelor herds in the alpine basins and know atleast the area a buck lives in and have a place to start when you come back to hunt. Even on a DIY hunt I always hire a packer. He takes my gear and camp in, helps me set up, and does the same when it's time to come out. Look in the current issue of Peterson's Hunting for a map of the best areas for consistantly producing kepper bucks. Read a couple of books too. I recommend Kirt Darners Book, How to find Giant Bucks. It is still one of if not the best how to book on finding good muleys. Mike Eastman also has a book called High and Low in Mule Deer country. That is a helpful read there as well. Mike Eastman also has another ntitle called Public Land Mule Deer. These are all great books and will help you take some of the guess work out of your quest. Kirt Darner alo wrote a book called Hunting the Rockies Home of the Giants. That too is a great read with lots of pictures, story's and useful info. This should be enough right now to get you started. Remember too that most western states have applications that are due December through March so watch the states dadline you want to apply for.

[HoosierDaddy28]

Re: Self Guided out west

Awesome advice, thanks