Need the low down on Ky. Elk
Elk
Ok folks who has hunted Kentucky for elk?
I am gonna be honest I havent looked into hunting there very much and I live 25 miles north of the state.
So what can you share to help with getting me started?
You don't hunt KY elk. You hunt the tag.
If you get one of those you get your KY elk. kind of like Maine moose............you'd have to really bust you ass doing a lot of stuff really wrong to end the season with an unfilled tag for either of those hunts.
That's my understanding as well... slim odds. We have an NWTF nationwide raffle for a KY elk hunt. Odds are probably about the same in the NWTF raffle as they are drawing the tag.
I drew a cow tag (random draw) in 2010. Cow hunt is much much harder than killing a P&Y class bull. I spent 5 weekends trying to kill a cow and didn't see a single cow on 2 of those trips. Did see tons of bulls, from spikes up to a couple giants.
I killed my cow on the last weekend before the rifle season. I think only 12 bowhunters killed elk the year I hunted there. This was before they divided the tags into Archery Bull/Archery Cow/Rifle Bull/Rifle Cow.
Well, I'm a KY resident and have been putting in for a tag as long as there has been a season(approx. 11 years) and have never been drawn. The success ratio is high as you have seen in previous posts. The quality of the elk seems to be pretty high as well. I've come to the conclusion that it will likely be a once in a lifetime tag, and I'm a resident....... Hope that helps you some. It is pretty cheap to put in for--$10/chance--you get 2 chances per year if you want to "tithe" to KDFWR. By far the cheapest tag I apply for each year, I just don't plan on drawing it. Maybe my luck will change before I'm too old.
It's a go to tag now that huntfool covers it, starting this year
What an elk reintroduction success story they got going east of the big river
Bou'bound is right, hunt the tag. I drew in 2007, less tags then. I killed a right nice bull. 5 day hunt, 5 in camp, 100% success. Coal company land. Even fed by RMEF. 3 days and all were tagged out.
Same exact deal as Pennsylvania Kelly. Put in over here and if you draw I'll help you out.
I've put in for several years and haven't drawn....yet!
I live close by in Illinois, but don't waste my time applying. Nonresident odds are only ~ 1 in 600, and will only get worse with HF promoting. Your reward for "winning" is the privilege to pay $700 to hunt 3-5 year old bulls. There have been only 2 bulls taken over 350" (barely) in the last 4 years statewide. Heck last time in New Mexico I killed a 330" for $555 in a what this year was a 100% draw unit. So are you really winning anything even if you beat those horrendous odds?
"I've come to the conclusion that it will likely be a once in a lifetime tag, and I'm a resident."
A little more like a once in ten lifetimes tag.
It's just unrealistic, and really just for the novelty of hunting elk in a new environment.
Ive been putting in for a long time! It use to be I would get exited around drawing time, now when I check it, not so much!
Two bulls over 350" actually seems pretty good to me for what they have as far as herd size and area. You also went home empty handed from 38 Zim, so I'm not sure how the one personal experience in NM applies.
Either way it is what it is, and that is something I really don't desire to hunt, unless they make it a lot easier to draw somehow.
Wow Zim1, filling a tag in a 100% draw unit in NM. That's really good.Only hunted NM one time. Not the best unit and only had a chance at a cow.Congrats to you!
BowMad23, The reason I made the analogy to my New Mexico hunt was because that was in one of the easy draw areas anyone can have the opportunity to hunt almost every year, to point out the wild disparity in odds for what some may perceive as a similar quality elk hunt. 1 in 1 odds to 1 in 600. I just think life is too short to be unrealistic in your future hunt plans. There are many great opportunities available with very realistic odds.
The 38 hunt was in fact MUCH better, but took 8 years to draw, and thus is not as good an example of the opportunities readily available. Failing to arrow a bull was simply my own choice to gamble. I passed easy shots on 6 bulls up to 320" because I was working on several 350's before getting snowed out. Some folks equate killing with success. Much easier to use the NM as an example. The 38 hunt was slammer, but try to tell that to a newbie who does not know better.
We are all just helping the Kentucky fish and Wildlife departments out, by providing them spending money. I hope the residents enjoy reasonable hunting license prices, because of it. I will keep feeding the kitty though, because like the lottery, someone has to win.
