Elk Hunt 2004

[Elk Guide]

Well here is it all most December so i am geting ready to go up north and Guide Elk Hunters ....The orientation is Monday the 6th and the hunt will start Tuesday the 7th....I have two Bull hunters and 1 cow hunter and i will pick up hunters up there if there are any with out a guide who decide they need one....I will post how the hunt went when i get back and as soon as results are back a run down on bull and cow totals at the end of the hunt......this year we have 124 lucky hunters who the dnr expects to take 100 animals at least that is there goal for the hunt.......any questions feel free to ask ....thanks Carl

[#1duck]

How much do you charge?

[TradeMark]

I was just thinking the same thing myself. Good question #1duck.

Elk Guide what is your going rate and success history? If you don't mind me asking?

[Elk Guide]

Hi guys.........I charge $550 for bulls and $500 for antlerless......i have been deer hunting in the area for 35 yrs.....and guiding elk hunters for 7 yrs this will be 8 yrs.....i have guided 22 hunters to 22 elk as of 2003....i have 3 hunters booked for this year and anticapate i will pick up 1 or 2 at orientation if we have no snow and it dont look good for snow.....hope this answers your questions

[Big Game]

Hey guys if you don't want to hire a guide. ( I only say this because I've seen a few bad ones out there) You could come up and spend some time talking to some of the locals. I know of alot of guys who have them on their property and want them off. Fact is my father-in-law woke up the other night and saw elk for as far as he could see in the back of the hayfield. It's worth asking around up here if your looking to save some money. You don't need to hire a guide to be successful. However you will need to do your homework.

[choop]

I have often thought about applying for a tag but have been told they are rarer than hen's teeth. Maybe I will try next year, does anyone know when the application date is?

[Duckman Racing]

Application period to get an elk permit for 2004 was June 15 to July 15. I believe the dates are about the same every year.

[eiderdown]

I was lucky enough to be drawn for the 2002 elk hunt.

And I'm here to tell you that in the area I hunted you don't need to spend a ridiculous amount of money to hire a guide.

$500.00 for what. Are you hunting on your own private land? I doubt it.

I guess some folks have more money than brains, lucky for you.

[eiderdown]

And yes, I shot my 6 X 6 on the third day without the help of a guide.

And there was "NO SNOW" on the ground.

I got up there two days prior to the hunt, did my own scouting and guided myself.

70 yrd shot with my .50 cal Thompson Center Encore.

One shot, one kill.

[Elk Guide]

eiderdown......No one said you had to hire a guide ,so you were lucky and you filled only 50% who dont hire a guide fill there tags.....seeing the herd is down to about 700 animals it is geting harder every year what with deer hunters shooting elk and people chaseing them with quads or snowmobiles.....some people don't have time to spend looking for elk and paterning them and if you went up there just 2 days before the hunt you were indeed lucky to fill......what area did you draw may i ask?? elk cover a larger area than deer and when harrassed they will move up to 15 miles away from that area ....most people take 2 or 3 friends up there with them and then every body goes out and looks for elk and they push them so much that they move out of there area.....in 2002 your right we didnt have any snow and 80% filled there tags and of the 26 that didnt fill none of them had guides...you filled one tag one year i have filled 22 tags in 7 years because i know the area and i know what a elk will do at any given time plus i know where they will go when spooked .....my knowledge of the animal and the area is primarly what i offer to my hunters plus i gut and help get the animal out of the woods,plus i know what land is state and private and i know the rules of the elk hunt and i dont let my hunter violate any of those rules ..for instance shooting more than one elk,or shooting a spike bull when you have a antlerless tag....these may seem like easy things to remeber but it happens every year up there but not by my hunters !! i dont tresspass and i follow all rules of fair chase......i also guide in wyoming with a freind of mine who has a guide service out there......i hope this answers your question if not i guess i dont know why i am explaining my self to you any way the proof is in the pudding so to speak......also so you know there are guides who charge $1000 dollars up there and some who charge $100 ...i am in the middle and if you dont what to pay my price that is your decision i have references and they all speak highly of me........thanks and take care Carl

[eiderdown]

You keep throwing the word "LUCKY" out there.

I'd say it had alot more to do with Hunting Knowledge, persistence and Skill.

Luck had little to do with it.

[eiderdown]

By the way.

Wasn't tring to say that you didn't know your stuff.

Was just saying that I didn't think it was necessary for a person with some knowledge of the outdoors to hire a guide to shoot a MI elk.

Just get up there and do it.

[dinoday]

I hope one day to be one of the lucky guys who need an elk guide in Michigan.For now I just get to read about it :(

[tgafish]

$500.00 for what. Are you hunting on your own private land? I doubt it.

I guess some folks have more money than brains, lucky for you.


Eiderdown,
I would take this as a pretty inflammatory statement. You're questioning the service this guy provides without knowing a thing about it. Then you insult his clients. I don't know Elk Guide anymore than Adam but his post was informative and not a sales pitch. And over the past years he has always shared good stories on this board about the hunts to those of us who couldn't attend.

I'm sure there are folks who could take an animal on their own as you did. But I don't think the best way to forward that opinion is to crap on the porch of those who choose not to.

I step down from my perch.

[schaaed1]

But I don't think the best way to forward that opinion is to crap on the porch of those who choose not to.




:yeahthat:


Well said tgafish.

[dongiese]

ok someone else bet me to it.:yeahthat:

[D_Hunter]

Like many aspects of hunting....the debate as to hire a guide or not will never end. It is a personal choice. The only person you have to justify yourself too is you.

I have been putting in for an ELk tag for numerous years...and still waiting. If I ever do get drawn for a tag, a guide is one option that I would seriosly look into.

1) IF I were to draw a Bull Elk tag...I would be unable to obtain/purchase an eld license for the REMAINDER of my life.
2) IF I were to draw an ANTLERLESS ELk tag...I would be unable to obtain/purchase an Elk license for the 9 yrs.
3) I do not live in the Elk range area nor do I have family or friends that live up there.

Again, the choice to hire a guide is up to YOU..the person with the tag. Just like it is up to YOU if you wish to hunt Antlerless deer ( or how many do you wish to shoot)...it is up to YOU if you hunt with a rifle/shotgun/muzzle loader/hand gun/ compound bow/ recurve bow....it is up to YOU, do you hunt from a tree blind or ground blind...public or private land...mornings or evenings...trophy hunt or fill the freezer... The options are countless the choice is simple...YOU must live with YOU...what is your choice???

Good luck guiding....good luck to the LUCKY few that have drawn permits..
( I am not opposed to hand outs of Elk meet...hint hint ;) )

[bullcan]

Elk guide, thanks for posting and all the info you put on this board in regards to the elk hunt, we would never have any info at all on it if it were now for your posts. Hopefully one of these days i can actually draw a tag.

[Elk Guide]

Hi and thanks to you guys who relize it is someone choice to hire a guide....for the most part it is a once in a life time hunt for most how ever there are those who have drawn 2,3,or even 4 times ,repeat hunters don't happen to much any more do to the fact of myself and several other concerned guides and hunters like you guys that have voiced there opinion to the dnr on this issue this is why we have the draw a any elk and your out for life and draw a antlerless and your out for 10 yrs not 9 yrs.....I will post some pics and more info about my hunters hunt when i get back from guiding so thanks again to all who understand what i do and why i do it ....take care bye Carl

[mich buckmaster]

I know if I get drawn I will be calling you first thing!!

Thanks for being on MS. COM

[ds619]

I received a permit in 1993 for an anterless only. Like elk guide I had been hunting/fishing the pigeon river area for almost 15 years before I received the permit. I saw a ton of Bulls and one that probably would have been the state record. I shot a nice cow the 4th day of my season. Could have shot them eveyday. I put a lot of work and scouting into the hunt. Ran into a guide that I did not like while I was hunting I can't think of his name now but it wasn't elk guide.. It sounds like Elk Guide is fair about his prices and has a knowledge of the area. Just from what I have read about Elk Guide he seems to know the area well and does the work for the hunters.
Some people don't need a guide but some do and if I ever get a Bull Permit I will be calling you Elk Guide. Good Luck on the upcoming season

[#1duck]

Hey Eiderdown, if you shot a banded elk would you turn in the band? :D

[FISH]

Elk Guide

do you drag the elk out whole or just quarter it?

[2PawsRiver]

I have enjoyed Elk Guide's stories and pictures in the past.

If I ever get drawn I think I would want to do more then just shoot an Elk.

My guide would earn his 500 dollars. I would want to scout, track, call, check different areas and find an Elk worthy of a once in a lifetime opportunity. Sun up to Sun down and then spend half the night talking about the whys of the days activities and plan for the next days hunt.

To walk out back of a farmers house and shoot one off his field,......might as well hunt cattle.

If I get drawn Elk Guide will be guiding me and then complaining about it for years to come :lol:

[plugger]

In the late 80's my dad drew a tag and hired a guide. I dont remember what he paid but the guide just took us to one of the big hunt clubs. We found out later they only charged 50 bucks at the time. Because we didnt go directly through the club we were put on the second shift. It was no problem getting an elk. The club guys were great and were going to gut the elk even. I figured it might be my only chance to gut an elk so I did the honors. They got a truck close to the kill and got on the radio and got several people to drag and load the critter, I let them have this honor. I beleive the club we hunted at was called canada creek. I am sure conditions have changed since we were up there. Our guide had several clients like us at hunt clubs ect. I kind of felt taken by our guide because he was never even with us, but we did get a cow and had no previous experiencein the area.

[Elk Guide]

Hi Fish and 2pawsriver and everybody else to.......yes fish we drag them out whole so they can be weighed and any measureing of the antlers or aging of the teeth.....you can quarter them if you like but everything has to come out except the guts of course but they must be flaged out to the nearest road so the dnr can come take a sample for the lab in rose lake.....so i prefer to bring them out whole.....i also prefer to spot and stalk and track and have been on some long tracking jobs up there before we got a shot ,we covered 9 miles that day boy was i pooped.....i have a motto once i find a track i don't stop unless he either goes on private land or he/she is dead...I do have a bull hunter this year who is going to be very hard to fill because he wants to shoot the biggest bull out there i just hope he doesnt pass a good one up and then have to settle for a smaller one .....its alot of work starting with the scouting in march right up until the day befor the hunt i put in alot of time scouting but they can move right out of a area if they are pushed and thats what has happened the last two years ....my hunters are in area A the core area there are alot of animals in it but they only have to go about 6miles and there in area B and then i cant persue them because most of B is private at least in the area i hunt.....Plugger it does sound like canada creek that you were talking about they are kind of hard for us to get along with they bait the elk on and then holler about it ...they are allowed to bait ,well maybe on legally but nothing is done about it thats all i know.....my son hunted on there in 97 when he 14 he had a bull tag on the second day they told him he had to get off because he was following what i had told him and didn't shoot a rag horn he called my cell phone crying i was guiding another hunter in C so i stoped and went and got him .....the hunter i was guiding was understanding and went with me to get him we went out that night and took a nice fat cow for my hunter and the next day my hunter and my son and i tracked a herd of 11 bulls for 6 hours before my son took a nice 5x5 he didnt see this beautiful 7x6 standing behind the 5x5 so he shot the wrong one but he was happy and that is all that mattered to me and that is the way i feel about all my hunters .....i am happy if you are with what ever you choose to shoot i dont force you to shoot any thing my fee is for the whole season ...my goal is to do it fare chase and for you my hunter to have a great and successful hunt.....that was kind of long winded but ok i guess thanks again to all of you bye for now Carl

[Ken]

I was in on the 1997 hunt as well, and I found out all that I wanted to know about the Canada Creek people when I was there. That wouuld be the last place I would get near on an elk hunt. I was told one of their guides shot an elk for his hunter and nothing was done about it. He was also a state cop I believe, so I'm sure he was buddies with the right people in the state.

But, back to the topic. I hunted 4 days on my own without a guide, and I didn't get a chance to do much scouting before the season. So, it was not easy, and I saw very few animals because I wasn't in the right place. I hired a guide on the 5th day and within 3 hours I had a great cow elk in the back of my pickup. So, I can only speak from experience.

[Elk Guide]

Hi everyone......Well its time to head north for the elk hunt,i am sitting here waiting for my buddy bear hunter who is a member here to get here so we can leave for my elk camp......This has all the looks of a great season a little snow would only make it better .....to those of you who have said some nice things about what i do i would like to say thank you very much.....I will post results when i get back and some pics then once the tally of how many has been taken i will get that information and post that here as well......i tried to get a couple of the outdoors show to come video my hunters hunt but none were interested......i guess you have to be somebody to get them to video a hunt for tv for you.......i kind of wish i had the backing to start my own show i think i could do a much better job then some of them......any way that is less pressure on me with out some one videoing .....i can just concentrate on geting my hunter a good bull or cow......any way take care you guys and gals i will see you when i get back bye for now Carl... :yeahthat:

[mich buckmaster]

Hey Carl, when you get back let me know if you take bow hunters, and how effective that has been in the past!!

Thanks,

Dave

[Joe Archer]

Michigan Buckmaster, I read this entire thread to see if anyone would ask about success rates and odds of taking a bull with a bow. It has been a dream of mine ever since they started the lottery for elk tags.
Also Elk Guide, you seem sincere and honest... If I draw a tag and you think I have a chance with a bow I would hire you in a second! I hope your hunts go well this year. <----<<<

[Bwana]

I have been applying for years now and have not drawn a tag. When I do draw a tag I will be calling a guide especially if it is for a Bull.

[Elk Guide]

Hi mich. buckmaster,joe archer,bwana.......i am leaving tomorrow now because of the storm so i will answer a few questions tonight before i go.....there have been 4 elk taken with a bow that i know of and 2 were bulls i have asked the dnr if there were any before these 4 and they have told me they dont keep records on indivigual types of weapons used to take elk so all i can say is 4 that i am aware of......I am a archer to and yes i think i can get you close enough for a shot with a bow,it would be alot easier in september but there wont be any more september hunts because the herd is below the level that they wanted for winter but they won't admit the number of animals are lower......they dont answer to calls in december all though i can stop them with a cow call they wont answer or come to see what it is most times.....i put my heart and soul into my guiding and i to have been trying to draw a elk tag.....i applied my first time in 1964 then again in 1965 then i waited until 1984 and i haven't missed a year since that is a total of 22 times the most you could have applied legally.....with no luck i may add ...but you need to remember that the odds of you drawing is only .005% so you could apply every year for 100 yrs and not draw but to those lucky few it does happen,so if your a lucky person keep appling and someday i could be guiding you.......take care thanks Carl

[wiginton]

Hi Carl,

Good Luck on this years hunt. I was fortunate to have drawn a antlerless permit last year, and filled my tag with a 440lb (dressed out) cow. It was the heaviest cow during last years hunt, and aged out at 8 1/2 years old. I drew area C and harvested the cow about a 1/2 mile behind the Atlanta DNR Check Station. It was a hunt of a lifetime. I hope you Elk Guide, will be drawn to hunt Elk in Michigan sometime soon. I also wish the same for my two sons.

The guide service I hired was reputable, and on the third day put me on the cow I eventually harvested. Fresh snow that morning allowed us to pick up fresh tracks, and a 1/2 to 3/4 mile stalk took place. That was exciting. The first 2 days of the hunt were a disappointment. My assigned guide was a relative of the people that run the guide service I hired. He was not very well prepared, and not very knowledgeable about area C, except a small core area. He left for home after day 2 of the hunt, and I was assigned another guide on day 3. On day 3, I had my cow by 9:30am. The other so called guide was trying to tell me fresh deer track were elk track,the first 2 days, YEAH RIGHT!!!!!!
Supposedly the so called guide I was assigned with the first 2 days will not be helping out this year with the guide service I hired last year. Hopefully that is true, because he has no business out there guiding hunters. All of the other guides in camp were top notch.

Elk Guide, if I was not so busy last year moving and would of check this site about Elk Hunting, I probably would of hired you.

Again, Good Luck this year and glad to hear your son was drawn a few years back and good his bull.