Go Late For Bull Elk

Want a chance at a giant bull elk? Well, here are two suggestions from the experts. First, plan to hunt the late season. Next, start applying for tags soon as possible (summer), and expect to get one a few years down the road.

elk Outdoor writer Jim Zumbo lives in Wyoming, and he says for a really big bull, try hunting in the late season.

"We have a lot of snow in the high country which drives the animals to down into lower elevations where they're more accessible," he observes. "The biggest bulls consistently are taken late season. They are concentrated closer to roads where they're more accessible."

He advises, "The problem is most of the late season hunts are on a lottery draw. Those are typically the trophy hunts. Wyoming has late hunts until the first week of December, Montana has late hunts until February, and Colorado has late hunts into January. Those are all very sought-after tags which are pretty competitive to obtain."

"A lot of states have preference points and bonus points. For example, Colorado has a great system, if you apply for a tag and you don't get it, you get your money back plus a point. The following year, you do the same thing, get your money back and you got two points, and the following year you got three points. Ultimately, with persistence you will get that tag, once you have enough points."