(Photo submitted by the author)
October 21, 2024
By Jace Bauserman
The West is rich in hunting lore, and if you desire adventure in awe-inspiring terrain teeming with game animals you’ve only dreamed of, it’s time to plan your Western rendezvous. I’m here to help.
For more than 20 years, the Rocky Mountains, the sage-dappled plains and the cedar-studded canyons of the West have been my playground. I’ve planned and executed more do-it-yourself missions than I can count, have pulled a few dream tags, and have had incredible success hunting under-the-radar units that require only a point or two to draw. Here’s how you can do the same.
LADIES FIRST Many of my first Western hunts were for female critters, and this is a tip I feel few are willing to put out there. Rifle tags for cow elk, doe deer and doe pronghorn are easier to come by, and if you want to experience the West and get a handle on planning and executing a hunt, this is an excellent go-to route.
There is no better way to learn a hunting area inside and out than actually hunting it, and when I know a limited, draw-only bull or buck tag will come my way in a few years, I pull an easier-to-get tag and learn the locale and how game animals use it.
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Even if you can’t get a tag for a female elk, deer, or pronghorn in the exact unit you want to hunt bucks or bulls in, going West with any doe or cow tag in your pocket is an excellent way to build experience and gain hunting confidence.
KNOWLEDGE FOR NEWBIES (Photo submitted by the author) The West is vast and intimidating, and I recommend a pronghorn mission for the first-time hunter looking to punch a buck tag. I know elk and mule deer are likely higher on the list of dream animals, but planning an off-the-beaten-path hunt for elk and mule deer is more complex than planning a pronghorn hunt, and nothing will build your confidence like finding speed goats in open terrain and having a successful hunt.
In most locales of the West, success rates for pronghorn hover around 75% in rifle units. And while almost every state with pronghorn requires the hunter to enter into a draw process, plenty of units out there don’t require years of waiting.
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I also encourage would-be pronghorn hunters to look at muzzleloader and archery seasons. Over 50% of Colorado’s big-game units are available over the counter (OTC) for archery hunters. I have killed 22 speed goats while bowhunting in OTC archery units during my hunting tenure. I also talk with several hunters each year that draw a muzzleloader tag on their first or second year of applying.
Pronghorn inhabit open spaces where they can use their eyes and legs to escape danger, and most states harboring pronghorn are loaded with open-to-anyone dirt. Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana are three of my favorites, but I also enter the drawing for tags in Arizona and Nevada each year. Being flexible and hunting with archery tackle has allowed me to hunt pronghorn out West yearly while I build points in multiple states for rifle tags.
POWER IN THE PREP Prepare: There is no substitute for developing a know-where-it-is and how-to-use-it gear system. (Photo submitted by the author) Planning is critical regardless of whether your first Western hunt is for pronghorn, elk or mule deer. As one of my hunting mentors told me at a young age, “You don’t want to go off half-cocked. Do that, and you’ll be miserable and find trouble.” For me, the hunt starts the second I have secured a tag. In most places, you’ll know your draw fortune by mid-June or before, and if you’re going the OTC route, the mission should have already started.
Study those maps—drop pins for camping areas, access points and glassing locales—and get the best gear you can afford. However, the devil is in the details, and you need to familiarize yourself with each piece of your hunt gear to have a safe, successful and enjoyable hunt.
You need to learn your backpack inside and out. You need to load the pack down with your hunting gear and develop a what-goes-where system that stays the same. You must walk with your pack and train your body to accept what that pack feels like, loaded with weight.
Once you decide on your sleeping system, which should include a tent, sleeping bag, cot/air mattress and pillow, you must know that you can get that system deployed in minutes when Mother Nature gets nasty. Even though I have used the same Alps Tasmanian 2-person tent, Zenith 0° mummy bag and Swift Air Mat for several years, I set it up three or four times a summer in my backyard. The same goes for my cookware, food, first-aid and kill kit. Do you know your stove will work in freezing snow and howling wind? Have you consumed the foods you plan to take on your hunt to ensure they agree with your gut? Do you have three methods for starting a fire, a way to contact emergency services, and a first-aid kit with more than some duct tape and Band-Aids? These questions must be answered, and you need to know your gear and how to use it inside and out.
ACCLIMATE Gear preparation is critical, and it’s a great idea to take regular walks with your backpack loaded down with your complete Western system. (Photo submitted by the author) Each year, hundreds of Western hunts are over before they begin. Last year, I helped two bowhunters from sea-level geographic regions get off the mountain. Both arrived on day one full of piss and vinegar, covered six miles in elevations between 9,000 and 11,000 feet, and got altitude sickness. Both had done their preseason due diligence and were in top physical shape. Still, there is no way to prepare for altitude unless you make a preseason scouting trip or arrive a couple of days early and spend time puttin’ around camp and taking things slowly to allow your body time to acclimate. I live at 4,400 feet above sea level, and even though I head to the mountains multiple times each summer to scout and fish, I never go ultra-hard on the first day of hunting.
BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF Be ready to handle Mother Nature’s worst moods. Lack of preparation can end a hunt quickly. (Photo submitted by the author) I keep in top physical shape for Western hunting, but at age 43, I can’t do what I could at age 27. Time catches up with everyone, and you need to have a solid plan for getting the meat of an animal out of the backcountry and into a Yeti.
Too many hunters look past this, and the excitement of downing a bull six miles from the truck starts to dwindle when you realize that animal must be broken down and hundreds of pounds of meat must be packed off the mountain. And this isn’t only for elk. Spoilage can happen fast when you kill a pronghorn in 95-degree heat and don’t have game bags to keep the meat clean or any plan to get the goat cooled quickly.
Prepare ahead of time. If you don’t know how to bone out game, YouTube is a great place to start. Nothing trumps practice, and I recommend, even if it’s on a whitetail you can drive to, bone it out instead, put it in game bags and pack it out on your back. As any coach will tell you, practice leads to success.
It’s also an excellent idea if you don’t want to haul meat on your back to make plans with a packer ahead of your hunt. A top-end packer is a lifesaver and will bring a string of horses and mules to your location, pack up your meat and get it off the mountain for you.
BE REAL Most years, the author hunts OTC units for elk, and when he does, he is after any legal bull. (Photo submitted by the author) The question I get asked the most at seminars, and which dings my social media inbox more than any other: “I’m just looking to shoot a 300-inch bull, nothing too big, and would like some tips for a good OTC unit.”
If you want to hold out for a 300-inch bull, that’s up to you, but please understand how much horn it takes to make up 300 inches and that in 20+ years of hunting the West, I have yet to kill a 300-inch bull in an OTC unit.
When hunting OTC units or those that take only a year or two to draw, regardless of the state I’m hunting, I kill the first legal bull, or buck for that matter, that I see. Be realistic. When you draw that trophy unit, hold out for whatever you have deemed a trophy, but when hunting general units, arrive with the attitude that you’re going to have an excellent hunt, and, hopefully, kill a legal animal in the process.