- Kolin Korsi 05/12/2003, ID=2124

Kolin,

Garth Carter at Carter's Hunter Services, P.O. Box 409, Minersville, UT 84752; (435) 386-1020 provides that kind of service. Other companies do also, but I've never dealt with them and would hesitate to recommend them. I don't personally use Garth's service, but I know Garth and think he's a straight shooter.

If you're interested specifically in sheep, my friend Lance Kronberger would be a good guy to contact. He guides throughout the West and sends in applications for many hunters. His phone is (208) 631-4611, and his e-mail is [email protected].

While it might be easier to use an application service, don't overlook the possibility of doing your own applications. With all of the Fish and Game departments on line these days, it's pretty easy to keep up with the systems. You can read all the regs on-line, but it's handy to order the printed regs so you can study them at your leisure. But if you know the systems, you can assure yourself of tags in the future. In Colorado and Oregon you can simply buy preference points. That's something you should be doing every year. Idaho has no preference system at all, but the drawing odds are good because of the restrictions placed on the number of species each hunter can apply for. Montana has started a preference point system. You have to apply for a tag, but if you pay $20 and you don't draw, you buy a point. Wyoming issues preference points for some species. In Nevada you have to apply for each species, but if you don't draw you earn a point, and each subsequent year, Nevada squares the points, so consistency of applying really pays off. In Arizona, you gain preference points for each year you fail to draw, but that state doesn't square the points. Utah has a preference point system for its el-primo units.

Take that for what it's worth. It takes a little work to learn all the different systems (every state is unique), but once you catch on, it's not all that hard to apply each year on your own. That's what I do. My only fear is drawing two desert bighorn tags in the same year. Yeah, right!

Dwight Schuh

- Mark A McBride 05/07/2003, ID=2118

Mark,

That would be very hard to say. I seriously doubt that the difference in penetrating ability is quantifiable. I have shot Easton A/C/C shafts for years and have always got excellent penetration with relatively light draw weights. If you're shooting 60 pounds, I think you're going to get adequate penetration, regardless of shaft material. As I keep saying, over and over, shot placement is everything. If you put the arrow in the right place with your bow, you will get adequate penetration and make clean kills.

With all of that said, I continue to shoot aluminum/carbon arrows because I think, overall, they're the best shafts going.

Shoot straight,

Dwight Schuh

- Spencer 05/04/2003, ID=2113

Spencer,

You're right -- I will say the key is shot placement. That's because your bow is more than adequate. And, as I've often said in the past, your effective killing range is not limited by the power of your bow, it's limited by your shooting ability. If you're accurate at 40 yards, then that's your maximum killing range on both deer and elk with your Oneida at 50 pounds. If your accuracy limit is 30 yards, then that's the effective killing distance of your bow. Your bow has plenty of oomph out to any range at which you're accurate. So honestly judge your own maximum accuracy distance, and restrict your shots to that distance and closer. Also, wait for broadside shots on calm, stationary animals. If you follow these guidelines, your bow is more than adequate.

Thunderhead 125s are excellent broadheads. They will do the job. In my opinion, you do not need to shoot two-blade heads. Put a Thunderhead six inches behind the front shoulder bone, one-third of the way up the body on a broadside elk or mule deer and you've got him.

Dwight Schuh

- Bob Chapin 04/28/2003, ID=2097

Bob,

Over the counter? That gets a little tough these days. Oregon has some good hunts, and deer numbers aren't bad there these days. The high mountains of the northeastern corner have some good bucks, and it's fabulous country if you like roaming alpine peaks. The desert country of the southeast also is coming back to some degree. Look for potential traditional-only opportunities there.

How about desert mule deer in southern Arizona? You might not see the big groups of bucks you would see on an August hunt in the Colorado high country, but there are good bucks roaming the desert lowlands from the Mogollon Rim south to the Mexico border, the seasons are generous, and the tag is OTC.

Idaho is first-come, first-served, but the tags have not been selling out lately, so it's essentially OTC. Some of the mountains around Sun Valley have very good bucks, but you'll work for them. That's tough stuff. Also, keep your eye open for some traditional-only hunts in this state. So far we haven't seen one, but rumor is that these are coming. These could be just right for a longbow guy like you.

Utah also has some OTC tags, but I haven't kept up with the possibilities there, so you're on your own with that one. Washington also has OTC tags, but, again, I haven't kept up on mule deer herds there. Don't overlook California. It has some good mule deer hunting, but the blacktail hunting in the coastal ranges is probably better. It's high mountain stuff, just like most mule deer terrain. The deer just have black tails.

Let me know if you find a fabulous spot. I'll join you there.

Dwight

- Wyatt Johnson 04/23/2003, ID=2087

Wyatt,

You're making me drool. Anywhere I want to hunt? What a thought! Well, it's not going to happen, so I'll just throw out my dream list, and you can take it from there. I'll define great hunting as "having few hunters, lots of elk, and big bulls." All of what I say below refers to public lands. In every state, private ranches add a different dimension, but I've never hunted any private ranches. Maybe I will someday.

Arizona would still be my first pick, partly because I like that flat, blah-looking juniper country. It intrigues me. But the main reason would be plentiful elk and big bulls. Arizona has it. (Well, it has way too many roads and a few too many hunters, but I could deal with that if the ADF&G would send me a tag.) Problem is, Arizona doesn't issue a lot of tags. Nowadays, if you could draw an Arizona archery bull tag every 10 years, you would probably be doing well.

Some of the limited-entry hunts in Colorado have great potential. I'm accumulating preference points with hopes of drawing another good one there.

Right up there would be some units in Wyoming. Many are limited entry and archers are relatively scarce in much of Wyoming. So, if a guy can draw, as a nonresident, he can have some pretty fabulous hunting.

I also like northwestern Montana. It's some of the most awful country I've ever hunted (meaning steep and brushy), but for that reason it has some very good elk. So do the Missouri Breaks, but they also have a lot of hunters, which diminishes its appeal for me.

My home state of Idaho has some very good hunting, and I love it because it's remote. A guy can still find a lonely elk or two in this state. But he'll work for that opportunity. And I'm note sure our elk are doing all that well. In the famous Clearwater drainage, elk numbers are down markedly. And south of the Salmon River, nearly all the way to Boise, it seems like wolves are having a significant impact on some elk herds.

Oregon has some limited-entry units with fabulous elk hunting. A guy just needs to apply religiously to get one of those tags. Utah also has some excellent limited-entry elk hunts. And Nevada may be the best state of all -- if a guy could ever draw a tag, which isn't likely. I suppose some people would have expected me to list New Mexico at or near the top. Certainly it has some great elk hunting, but I think it has some serious elk-management problems these days, and, from what I hear (I haven't hunted there in several years), the quality of bulls has declined in many of the famous big-bull units. Besides, NM is a little too proud of its elk tags. If the state would get back to managing for monster bulls, the tags might be worth the price.

With all of that said, I didn't really answer your question. I guess that's because you really can't pick one state in this day and age, because almost all have restrictions of some kind or another, particularly on nonresidents. So you have to play the system in order to get one of the really good hunts every few years. Then you can fill in with over-the-counter tags on the years you don't draw the blockbusters. I hope this gives you some ideas, or at least something to dream about.

Dwight

Be sure to visit Dwight Schuh's Website - Dwight Schuh is perhaps the most respected authority on bowhunting Western big game. The author of numerous books including "Hunting Open Country Mule Deer" and "Bugling for Elk" is here to answer your specific questions on bowhunting Western Big Game.