Hey Jim what is your recommendation for a mule deer or an elk hunt. What state? Best way to get tags and self guided or diy hunt. Also if you have an idea on the cost of tags or guide fees that would be helpful to thanks
If you’ve got the time (and it takes a lot of time) to watch the Fresh Tracts YouTube channel, they go over all of that.
Randy Newberg lays out state by state the application process and odds. Somewhere in that series he ranks the states for both Elk and Mule Deer.
Your best bet is probably Idaho at this point. Early December is the draw. It’s getting extremely hard to hunt deer and elk in the west.
Thanks guys I’ll check it out I live in nc and have never had a chance to do the western hunting thing I am use to being able to just go to a different state and buy a hunting license and just go hunting I don’t know why you westerners have to make things so complicated lol.
Here are his recommendations from 2024.
I don’t think for 2025 he did a summary video like that. Instead he just went through every state again and explained their crazy processes for getting tags.
Yeah, come to North Carolina from out of state, walk into your local Walmart with a credit card and boom you’ve got four, (or is it five now?) Deer tags.
It’s actually 6 deer tags here in nc but that might be just for residents. Thanks guys for the info it’s be a dream of mine to go out west but I just wasn’t sure how to do it the point systems all seem to complicated.
Just looked it up, it’s 6 for non-resident too.
There are a bunch of ways to approach this dilemma. I have been using Huntin Fool for their info for 2 decades almost. You can use their service for applying for points/tags but I do it on my own using their intel. Once you are a member you can call and talk to anyone there about hunting animals in any State. Another option could be Zero OutFitter fees thru with Dan Adler/Dimond Outfitters. I have hunted several times with Dan’s Guides and even first met Dan on a white-tail hunt in Kansas some years ago. He is a great guy and runs a good business. Again you can use his service to apply or do it on your own, but if you draw a tag with them your hunt will cost you Zero Dollars…Zero. It costs $ to build up points so if you are not in it for 6-12 years I probably wouldn’t bother as you won’t get into trophy areas as a non-resident before then. I have hunted low point draws in Colorado several times and never came home with an elk and never had a shot opportunity at a decent elk most trips.
If you go guided, Mule deer in New Mexico, tags are under $400 and guides get a good chunk of the non-Resident tags, I put in for the first time this year after years of Montana hunting deer. And got drawn my first try, in unit 2. Elk is going to be a lot harder to get drawn in NM, but at least every year it’s a clean slate and everyone has the same odds of drawing a tag. Always land owner tags there too if you have the money