Who gets to shoot the elk...

[tanto]

Long story short, who gets to shoot the elk?? Done some searching, turned up no answers. Forgive me if we've been down this road already. Lets say you and your 3-man team of Texan redneck self-proclaimed elk-slayers are in the early stages of planning your elk hunt and come to a crossroads. If by the grace of the good Lord, the planets line up, your shoes are double knotted, got the golf-visor cocked backwards, and all of your loose change is in your right front pants pocket... (someone will catch this reference I hope...) and y'all somehow manage to kill 3 of these magnificent creatures, how do 3 bow-wielding boys from Texas pack out the trophies? "MY" answer is, you don't. This will be a budget DIY hunt. No drop camp, horses, or pack mules. Roughly 10 days in the mountains, everything that goes in and comes out does it on the backs of 3 young men full of **** and vinegar eager to stick an elk. I just do not think it is possible nor rational to assume that the three of us will all connect, recover, quarter, and pack out considering this is our first elk hunt much less, virgin territory for the 3 of us. If some of yall have had success with 3 guys and I am going about this all wrong, please correct me. But I do not want to assume it can be done and walk blind into a situation where, AT BEST, 2 of us are going to be eating tag sandwiches on our way down the mountain. I just think it is a better idea to put all of our eggs into one basket and take turns in subsequent seasons to come. So the question remains... WHO GETS TO SHOOT THE ELK?

[Huggybear]

If you only buy one tag you will see 500 5x5s! If you all buy a tag you will see one spike bull 3 mountains over! Lol. Best of luck in what you decide but I would say all buy a tag . Go big or go home.

[Pedernal]

Rock, paper, scissors!!!

[SwampGhost]

It can happen..... i personally would not be out there and it out a tag
Last year 3 out of the four in our group shot and the fourth guy passed on a cow elk he could have shot all on the 3rd day of our trip.

[horns07]

It is very possible that all 3 shoot. Is all about preperation and studying a map to get to know your area. Try and find people who have hunted there before and can guide you on where to start. How you decide on who shoots is between yall. You can either change who gets first shot every hunt or everyday or wait till that person connects. With us is usually the oldest person or the one who put the most preperation into the hunt gets first shot. Good luck.

[Fargus]

Wouldn't catch me in the mountains without my tags. Packing 3 out will be one heck of a chore, but think about the story, the steaks and the sense of accomplishment a week after you recover.

[Kdog]

I don't think you can party hunt can you? Personally I would plan for the best and hope for the best. Might not happen but it seems to me the odds of all 3 killing an elk are greatly increased if you all have tags. For that matter the odds of killing 1 or 2 elk are greatly increased if you are all hunting.

[austinRecurve]

If more than one guys scores leap frog all your gear and meat out about 500 yards at a time. Each one of you take 100 lbs and walk it 500 yards, put it down, go back and get another 100 lbs. over and over.

[eastex56]

Have plenty of game bags, good sturdy pack frames, de-bone the meat and stay hydrated! I've done this and even using pack animals, the dry air will suck the moisture out of you quickly while working at altitude. Get some Kevlar mesh gloves if you can find them because the least thing you need is a nasty cut on your hand.

[hopedale]

I'm lost.

Are you saying you're hunting together so who shoots or are y'all splitting up, so if an elk is shot it's enough meat for three to pack out?

[TexasHunter83]

Not sure how OTC elk tags are, but if you draw for an elk, the permit is issued to one person specifically; the name on the tag is the only person who can shoot the animal. If OTC tags are specifically issued to one person, no one else can shoot it or you've hunted it illegally in the eyes of the state.

Sometimes these situations can be solved by the way you go about hunting. IF it were me, there are several different options you can take. If you're worried about the pack-out, then just hunt together. You can take turns on who gets the shot. Draw numbers and see who gets the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd shot of the trip. If you don't want to take turns on shots, take turns on days. If your trip is 6 days long, then everyone gets 2 days worth of shooting time. If you stick a bull on day one, then the remaining time gets split between the other two guys. This way, whenever and whatever you kill, you've got all 3 guys right there to pack it straight out. The other option is to just split up, hunt, and when one sticks a bull, the other two are required to drop what they're doing and show up to pack it out. If it were my group going, I'd encourage every guy to buy a tag and hunt like the day is long.

[akey]

Long story short, who gets to shoot the elk?? Done some searching, turned up no answers. Forgive me if we've been down this road already. Lets say you and your 3-man team of Texan redneck self-proclaimed elk-slayers are in the early stages of planning your elk hunt and come to a crossroads. If by the grace of the good Lord, the planets line up, your shoes are double knotted, got the golf-visor cocked backwards, and all of your loose change is in your right front pants pocket... (someone will catch this reference I hope...) and y'all somehow manage to kill 3 of these magnificent creatures, how do 3 bow-wielding boys from Texas pack out the trophies? "MY" answer is, you don't. This will be a budget DIY hunt. No drop camp, horses, or pack mules. Roughly 10 days in the mountains, everything that goes in and comes out does it on the backs of 3 young men full of **** and vinegar eager to stick an elk. I just do not think it is possible nor rational to assume that the three of us will all connect, recover, quarter, and pack out considering this is our first elk hunt much less, virgin territory for the 3 of us. If some of yall have had success with 3 guys and I am going about this all wrong, please correct me. But I do not want to assume it can be done and walk blind into a situation where, AT BEST, 2 of us are going to be eating tag sandwiches on our way down the mountain. I just think it is a better idea to put all of our eggs into one basket and take turns in subsequent seasons to come. So the question remains... WHO GETS TO SHOOT THE ELK?

Tin Cup!

[msubaseball31]

You could always have two guys with bows if one shooter feels more comfortable shooting longer distances and the elk hangs up its his shot. If the elk comes in on a string its the other guys shot. Then you just rotate shooters, but if everyone feels like they can reach out and touch them paper, rock, scissors till the death.

[east tx hoghunt]

Similar thing happened this year to me.
Day one headed up the mountain with a buddy to show him around an area he never hunted before and I was starting to show signs of altitude sickness.
Day 2 I went up the mountain but had to come back down right after daylight due to horrible altitude sickness. My buddy shoots an elk the evening of day 2!
Day 3 I wake up and feel like super man so we spend all day packing out my buddy's elk. Day 4 and 5 I hunt hard and don't see a single elk.

Moral of the story is multiple tags and hunting separately increase your odds of success but when the first person is successful shut everything down and take care of the meat.

[tanto]

Similar thing happened this year to me.
Day one headed up the mountain with a buddy to show him around an area he never hunted before and I was starting to show signs of altitude sickness.
Day 2 I went up the mountain but had to come back down right after daylight due to horrible altitude sickness. My buddy shoots an elk the evening of day 2!
Day 3 I wake up and feel like super man so we spend all day packing out my buddy's elk. Day 4 and 5 I hunt hard and don't see a single elk.

Moral of the story is multiple tags and hunting separately increase your odds of success but when the first person is successful shut everything down and take care of the meat.

I like that mentality. Everyone gets a fair shot, and everyone works to bring home the bacon, or elk in this case haha