I’m loading up the truck next week to finally drive up to Colorado from Texas and try my hand at harvesting an elk. Super excited and somewhat anxious as to what this journey has in store for me. Do you gentlemen have any last minute tips/advice/gear/items that you recommend? Thanks

For context, I am writing this for my dad who does not use Reddit. A concerned daughter who wants to warn others of BlackFeet Outfitting in Montana.

My dad is in his late 60’s and a seasoned hunter. This is very literally the only thing he likes to do, he’s gone on many outfitting trips - last year went to Wyoming and brought back a huge bull. He was beyond excited to get a tag to Montana for this season. Long story short, his buddy who usually finds the outfitters gets recommended Blackfeet Outfitting (by multiple people). Needless to stay it was a nightmare and a major safety risk.

I’m not going to outline the full details, dm me if you’re interested. But in short:

• No food or water provided.
• No hard shell tents per the contract. Outfitter went to Walmart and got tents for them to pop up.
• My dad and the other hunters had to set up the entire camp, and look for firewood during the night.
• The wrangler mentioned that he had never been to this area and did not know the trail system.
• Still no food or water by the end of night one. The outfitter offered my dad a bottle of water that was in the back of his truck.
• The wind blew away their tents and support poles broke.
• They all had to share a tent because it was freezing with no fire. He brought a gas chainsaw to cut down some branches but brought no gas along.
• No water for the horses.
• Got lost on multiple trails and left some non hunters alone for an hour without bear spray.
• Outfitter snuck them through the Blackfeet Nation Reservation (illegal)
• Multiple bears seen within a mile of camp with no plan to deal with them.
• Refusal to give back their contract and made them pay for their hotel room, was going to get physical at this point.

And so much more. I feel so bad for him and his friend. Obviously so much time and money was spent on this but also safety wise. Be careful out there.

We’ve been hiking around Unit 82 for 4 days with no luck. Anybody have any advice/tips for our last 2.5 days of second rifle?

200 yard shot with bergara 308, leupold mark 4 on top, 180 grain scirocco 2, hit the ground with one shot.

How hard is it to realistically switch from a rifle hunter to an archery hunter in the span of one year. Not worried about finding elk just more of a starting from almost zero previous experience with a bow and becoming semi proficient.

Would love to hear how the switch was for any of y’all.

I feel as if I’ve peaked with rifle and want to make it harder.

What sections are good? What to expect? Any tips for a successful and fun hunt for a couple of Kansas boys?

beyond thrilled to bag this guy. went home with tag soup last year in Colorado, now the freezer is filled and a nice trophy (for the area). 380 yard shot across a huge snow covered meadow.

Tracked this guy in a herd for 5 hours over several miles. 315 yd shot. Then packed the meat down 2200 very vertical feet. What an adventure and experience!! Now to find me a muley before my tag expires on Thursday.

Does anyone know if there are hunting programs in Wyoming for large groups of veterans? Me and the guys I served with are wanting to plan a hunting trip next year and are hoping theres veteran resources to help.

Looking for some insight from a recent elk hunt experience:

To keep it short, I will jump to the main parts. We were able to land my buddy his first bull elk mid to late afternoon. Temps were a bit warmer, around 60s. The shot was only 75 yards and he didn't move far leading us to be on the harvested animal and field dressing it quickly.

We noticed that there was dried blood coming from a separate wound on the front shoulder. While dressing it, we found 2 bullets in the elk, one was my buddies, as he only shot once and the other was from a previous hunter. I believe the elk had been wounded for approximately a day or two since the meat in the wounded shoulder had began to discolor and smell. The "bad" Meat was cut away and not packed out. We had the meat back in camp and hanging bone in by about 1am with temps dropping into the 40s. Next morning we drove down the mountain and straight to the butcher.

Few days later we received a call from the butcher who said the meat was a total loss and called it all "Bone Sour" with pictures for proof. Unfortunately he put the blame on us for not cooling it quickly enough etc.

This is the first animal I've ever been a part of where this has happened or lost meat. Elk, deer, antelope etc. A similar process was done just a day prior when I took a bull with no issues to the meat. Same temp conditions.

It's my opinion that this meat was either already going bad due to a septic like infection or the higher temps from it having a fever due to its wound in an already "hot blooded" animal caused this. Possibly wounded for longer than I'm estimating?

Any helpful insight is appreciated.

This photo came in through the gamecam tonight. Can't help but notice the frail nature of this cow. What do you think is going on?

I’m a resident in western Wyoming and am having a hard time even finding elk the past week. General seasoning runs from Oct 15-25 and has already been hit hard. Just yesterday I decided to hunt the thickest, nastiest country I could find. Very few tracks at all. Any input would be helpful.

Howdy everyone! Looking for advice if anyone on here has experience hunting Elk in the Sawtooth Zone in Idaho. The fires have made this a tough hunt. I have until November 8th to seal the deal. Anyone have any advice so I can seal the deal?

I just finished up five days in the back country, CO GMU 53. Absolutely great time and truly a pleasure to intimately enjoy nature at its finest, but got no meat. It's a bit discouraging putting in so much work on foot only for people with horses to zoom by effortlessly in the wilderness area. Had we gotten an Elk it would have been a serious undertaking to pack it out. Having said all of that, I have an electric mountain bike I would love to utilize next year. I can find GMUs which are well suited to horse or OHV, but I'm wondering if I can find an area which an E-MTB would be a good fit, and would let me take advantage of the vehicle without being majorly overrun by people on side by sides and the like. Any tips for an area or particular gmu like that I should research? Many thanks for any advice.

Edit: class 1 ebike, pedal assist, lowest amount of power that would be permitted anywhere an e-mtb is permitted

Long time listener, first time caller. This hunt will be airing this Sunday on Leupold Optics YouTube Channel as “Project Hunt: Straight & Narrow- A Wyoming Backcountry Elk Hunt”

Hey everyone. I think Winchester Model 70’s are cool. I know they are not the best most modern rifle, but I like them. If you all were getting a rifle today to hunt elk with, would you go 270, 30.06, 7rem, or 300win. Age old question but I’m currently stuck in paralyses by analysis.

Hi, I’m just getting into elk hunting and curious where to start. I got my hunter safety course done, plan to rifle hunt. I got some vortex binos, and I live in Colorado. Advice on what is best to prioritize when starting out or what you would have done differently? Thank you