Just got my notice on KY elk draw (I'm in)

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gunfire876

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Now I need to pick my hunting area. Anyone know where to go from here. I have never hunted Elk. I can only kill a cow but I am hyped if anyone knows if I should get a guide or any contact info on private land it would be appreciated. I've hunted deer for many years and feel comfortable on my shooting but that's about it. feel free to email me [email protected] or repond in this thread or pm me.
 
congrats on the draw.

now is the time to do your homework. start by contacting the game warden that works the area you'll be hunting. meet him for some coffee and pie (yes, you'll be paying the bill), and pump him for as much info as he'll divulge. keep in touch with him, and build the relationship - he's going to be a fountain of knowledge for you.

after the game warden, go out to your hunting area and learn the boundaries, and start looking for travel corridors and such. if there's a significant amount of private land there, maybe ask a landowner if he ever sees elk, and let the conversation go from there. he might help, he might tell you to get lost. no harm in trying.

last, talk to people that work in the area (loggers and such) and ask them a few questions.

from there on, make it a point to drop by the hunting area once every 6 weeks or so until the month before the season opens - then you should be out there at least bi-weekly (catch the migratory shifts). keep up your contacts as you go, and you'll kill one on opening morning.
 
Thanks mio

I'm giddy as a school girl. over 33000 people apply and only 400 were drawn. And I finally get lucky.
 
Thanks

Dakotasin. Already talked to the game warden. Looking into private land. Not much info so far on the net about Ky Elk hunts. One guy wants 850.00 for a hunt and he will gut and prepare for process. Is that realistic?
 
Guide prices, like most things, are regional. In my area, 850 would be robery, but MT is a long way from KY.

I would shop around. Try to find other guides that work your area. I hate to say it, but that may be the going rate in your area. If that is out of your range then do your homework. A self guided hunt is not that difficult if you prepare.
 
Not worried about the kill

I'm worried about getting the thing out of the woods and in the truck.I have no 4 wheeler or wench or anytheing.I guess field dressing a elk is the same as deer instead of going wrist deep you go shoulder deep.
 
Congrats on your elk draw. Are you coming from out of state or are in Kentucky already?

BIGR, the Kentucky elk reintroduction program has been a big success. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation was a major partner in the project. The KY Department of Fish & Wildlife writes on their web page:


What’s a wapiti? Wapiti means “white rump” in Shawnee and is another name for “elk”. Elk disappeared from Kentucky in the mid 1800’s due to unregulated hunting and habitat loss. Now, thanks to a successful reintroduction program by the KDFWR and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Kentucky boasts the largest elk herd east of the Mississippi! …And people think Kentucky is just about horses. Elk are the noisiest members of the deer family. The bulls (males) bugle, the calves bleat and squeal, and the cows (females) bark, grunt, and squeal to communicate! Like deer, only the males have antlers and they shed them each winter and grow a new pair. We now have a herd of over 5,000 of these majestic animals in Kentucky.

More info from RMEF page:

kentucky.jpg
Elk territory

In 1996 the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation pledged over $1.4 million to the state of Kentucky’s elk restoration project. On December 18, 1997, seven elk that had been captured in Western Kansas were released at the Cyprus Amax Wildlife Management Area in Eastern Kentucky. This was the first of a series of releases that continued thru the winter of 2002. The plan originally contemplated releasing 1,800 elk at a rate of 200 per year for 9 years across a 15 county restoration zone. The translocations were discontinued in 2002, with just over 1,500 elk having been released at 8 different sites, 500 in the final 12 months of the releases. Since 1997, the Foundation has increased it’s funding of the project to $2,000,000.

The elk have thrived in Kentucky. They are achieving a 90% breeding success rate, and a 92% calf survival rate. The absence of predators, relatively mild Kentucky winters and abundant food sources have not only contributed to the remarkable population growth, but also account for the fact that the Kentucky elk are on average 15% larger than elk found in western states. By July 2000, Kentucky had the largest free ranging, wild elk herd east of Montana.
 
If you can field dress a deer you can field dress an elk. Same principles, just on a slightly larger scale.

The method of retrieval after the kill will mostly be dependent on terrain. I have never been to KY, but I'm guessing you will be hunting in a dense forest type of setting. For this I would recommend that you get yourself a pack frame and a small tarp. Read up on some ways to bone out an elk, because you will most likely be packing it out on your back.

Where I hunt there aren't a whole lot of trees. The coulees are fairly steep and deep, but once you get on top its pretty much flat. Therefore we use game carts for retrieval. A couple of guys can pull out an elk on a cart in just a few hours.

Oh and don't forget to take the ivories out before you ditch the head. ;)
 
Thanks everyone

I'm from Ky (Lex). With my work(firefighter) I can hunt several days but with gas the way it is I might have to try hard on opening weekend. As far as packing the meat out that is what worries me. I have always got my deer's processed and Don't want to screw this meat up. I plan on eating this wonderful animal. Thanks for all the info.
 
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