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Let's talk DIY out of state hunts...

hesseu

hesseu

Well-Known Member
I know many on here head out of state for hunts throughout the fall. For those of us who have not done this, and do not want to go through an outfitter, can we get some information? Thinking the following will answer most of the questions:

1) Species (I.e. Whitetails, Mulies, Pronghorns, etc)
2) State & drive time to get there
3) Dates / Time Period
4) Public or Private
5) Tree stands / saddles / ground blinds, etc needed?
6) Tag Costs. Are they OTC or Draw? If Draw, when is draw period?
7) Lodging Costs / Details
8) Meal Prep? Or, pick up food at restaurants / fast food?
9) Additional info that would be beneficial to a new hunter in that state
 
What are you wanting to hunt? when? provide some details. I think a full textbook could be written responding to the vague details you’ve given.
 
Also weapon type, your physical abilities, your willingness to do hundreds of hours of research and digital scouting.
 
My out of state hunts have been through leasing, outfitters and public. For public or leasing we would rent a room or the best case scenario was a heated garage to set up camp in on the property. We took all the food, stands and other supplies with us. This would be my preference over an outfitter and much cheaper. So make sure all your planning and research is done well in advance.
 
nontyp said:
What are you wanting to hunt? when? provide some details. I think a full textbook could be written responding to the vague details you’ve given.
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Yes, I do think a full textbook could be written as well. I was just thinking of some general "face" questions / information that cold point people in a direction.
 
Well the best advice I could give without any specific questions being asked would be to get a Gohunt subscription. Then you can look at each state individually, pick a species, and determine if there are hunts that appeal to you.
 
If you want to start with something fairly simple DIY, pronghorn are pretty hard to beat. Wyoming is pretty accessible, monitor the winter kill. Last time I went in 2011 you could buy 2 buck tags, pretty fun hunt.

It gets complicated when you bundle it with mule deer, but that’s a lot of fun too.
 
7mmsendero said:
If you want to start with something fairly simple DIY, pronghorn are pretty hard to beat. Wyoming is pretty accessible, monitor the winter kill. Last time I went in 2011 you could buy 2 buck tags, pretty fun hunt.

It gets complicated when you bundle it with mule deer, but that’s a lot of fun too.
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Pronghorn
Wyoming
Early rifle-draw or leftover
12 hour travel time
Probably could camp, it should still be warm enough
Depending on how many go, you might pull this off for around $1,000 each.
 
7mmsendero said:
Pronghorn
Wyoming
Early rifle-draw or leftover
12 hour travel time
Probably could camp, it should still be warm enough
Depending on how many go, you might pull this off for around $1,000 each.
Click to expand...

Awesome! Wyoming pronghorn is what i am looking at now.
 
Western SD is pretty good for Pronghorn as well, but I don't know much about the tag situation.
 
For those who have done Wyoming, I've looked at a handful of units that you can almost guarantee a tag / draw your first year. Issue is, low volume of public land / accessibility.

Any thoughts / suggestions? Hints on places to go?

DWGH...you looking anywhere in particular?
 
hesseu said:
For those who have done Wyoming, I've looked at a handful of units that you can almost guarantee a tag / draw your first year.
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Non-residents need a guide to go into Wilderness Areas in WY. That’s where the elk/mule deer were when I was hunting the Bighorn Mtns north of Sheridan. When elk season opened, mule deer was in as well. There was a ton of mule deer hunters to the SW of the area I was trying to hunt. Not sure I would recommend that area.



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JNRBRONC said:
Non-residents need a guide to go into Wilderness Areas in WY. That’s where the elk/mule deer were when I was hunting the Bighorn Mtns north of Sheridan. When elk season opened, mule deer was in as well. There was a ton of mule deer hunters to the SW of the area I was trying to hunt. Not sure I would recommend that area.



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I'm looking more towards a pronghorn hunt for now. But, that is good info for the future!
 
Print the harvest odds out and the draw odds out ( Use a work printer its like 30 pages ) for Wyoming. Get 3 beers out , start circling units with high draw odds with one point - Go to the harvest odds - look at those units you circled with good draw odds, Find the highest harvest odds, circle those , you have your units. Buy Onyx for your smart phone and a rifle bipod and go kill one opening day. Ignore the *this unit has low public land BS on the WY website ...Guarantee you'll be done the first or second day. This is exactly what I did and I could I shot a truckload of antelope from the road..... Quite possibly the easiest big game hunt Ive been on .
 
isu22andy said:
Print the harvest odds out and the draw odds out ( Use a work printer its like 30 pages ) for Wyoming. Get 3 beers out , start circling units with high draw odds with one point - Go to the harvest odds - look at those units you circled with good draw odds, Find the highest harvest odds, circle those , you have your units. Buy Onyx for your smart phone and a rifle bipod and go kill one opening day. Ignore the *this unit has low public land BS on the WY website ...Guarantee you'll be done the first or second day. This is exactly what I did and I could I shot a truckload of antelope from the road..... Quite possibly the easiest big game hunt Ive been on .
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I've done pretty much what you've said...I haven't bought the OnX wyoming map yet. But, I was trying to figure out how / why it the success can be so high in area's that the website has such low public land. Thanks for the help.

Is there any "essential" equipment you would take out there? Or stuff one might forget because they only hunt midwest.

Did you transport meat / cape?
 
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hesseu said:
I've done pretty much what you've said...I haven't bought the OnX wyoming map yet. But, I was trying to figure out how / why it the success can be so high in area's that the website has such low public land. Thanks for the help.

Is there any "essential" equipment you would take out there? Or stuff one might forget because they only hunt midwest.

Did you transport meat / cape?
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Low public land is a scare tactic . Idk why it said that in certain areas . We hunted a low public land unit and maybe 80 percent of it was private. Thats a huge difference from what we are used to here though. Essential Id say a rifle that you can shoot to 300, a bipod ,and some sort of backpack and game bags incase you get in a pinch. I wouldnt spend 400 dollars on a frame pack though unless your gonna get addicted to western hunting like I am. Dont need a spotter or anything fancy. Just put the meat and cape on ice.
 
isu22andy said:
Low public land is a scare tactic . Idk why it said that in certain areas . We hunted a low public land unit and maybe 80 percent of it was private. Thats a huge difference from what we are used to here though. Essential Id say a rifle that you can shoot to 300, a bipod ,and some sort of backpack and game bags incase you get in a pinch. I wouldnt spend 400 dollars on a frame pack though unless your gonna get addicted to western hunting like I am. Dont need a spotter or anything fancy. Just put the meat and cape on ice.
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Did you use a game cart to load / retrieve?
 
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