Best place for first elk or mule deer hunt?

[dgolden]

So chasing after an elk or a mule deer has been on my bucket list for some time now. A friend of mine was lucky enough to score a nice mule deer on some private land in Colorado a few weeks ago. This was fuel to the fire! I've never hunted outside of Tennessee. So my question is, where do I start?

I don't have tons of money to spend on a guided hunt. Any good places to hunt public land with over the counter tags for bow or gun? Any advice is greatly appreciated as I know very little about this.

 

[AT Hiker]

Montana has the best option for OTC mule deer. Tags are pricey but public land is ample and they have prime rut dates.

CO for elk as far as OTC is concerned. Im building elk points in every Western state practically and Im in no rush. If I wanted to hunt elk next year it would be OTC in CO or a cow tag in WY.


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[dgolden]

Thanks for the info guys! I have 2 buddies that also want to go. We have agreed upon mule deer and we all have the same goals. We just want to cut our teeth on a different type of hunting. Not just out for the biggest trophy. Montana looks appealing for mule deer. They sure are proud of their nonresident tags though!

Any particular zones you guys would recommend? We would like to camp near by if possible. Motor home or tent is fine.

 

[AT Hiker]

ID is an option for sure, WTs to the North and Mulies everywhere else. I just wouldnt put ID as my first DIY Western hunt. Some reasons are; further drive and rougher country although it is on my to-do list within the next few years and WTs are on my list.

For MT look into the South Eastern portion of the state. Plenty of block management land and the Custer NF is big. Western MT will bring you into grizzly country. One benefit to Western MT is that some of the wilderness areas have a rifle opener of mid Sept. Thats on my to-do list one year too.

My to-do list is huge and gets bigger every year[emoji2]


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[southernjet]

montana has no OTC tags but what has happened over these last few yrs is they do not sell out on there non res elk/deer combo tag draw. so when it does not sell out they then put them up for sale OTC or on line to buy. not sure about the date that this takes place but im sure if you get on there web site you could find that info. elk can be good for non res early in the season but as it goes on you can run in to deep snow and very cold weather making it hard to almost impossible to get to the elk. the same thing can happen with the deer .where i hunt mule deer they can start to run around nov 10-12 and this can be a very good time to go for them. also what i see happen a lot is out of state hunters show up not really ready for this type of hunting. if you want to do on your own self guided free range spot and stock you need to be in shape for long hikes in good or bad weather. i took 2 texans out with me last yr for elk and both of them were not ready for the hike. we got there a day early to scout and find some elk to give us a better way to head into the next morning in the dark on opening day.the first hike did them in and they just could not keep up to get into the elk. i had 1 of the guys with me on the 2nd day and i pointed out 2 bull elk about 1 1/2 miles ahead of us and he could not even make to them . we hunt at 6000-8000 ft elevation and i think this killed them more then the miles. this yr 1 of the guys with me tracked our hunts a cpl days on his GPS and 1 of the days was 20.5 miles hiking to the elk and back to camp.
so one of the best things you can do is show up in shape . no tree stands here shooting deer 50 ft away lol . also know your rifle and be ready to shoot from 50 yrds to 600 yrds you just never know where you will have to shoot