Factors to help make your hunt research and planning phase that much easier
Going on your first out-of-state hunt is an absolute adrenaline rush. I want to go through four tips you need to know when planning your first out-of-state hunt.
The first step might be the most important, in my opinion. That is determining which species you would want to hunt. I prefer to start by thinking about species first, as there might be a certain species you’ve always wanted to hunt out of state. Most people always dream about hunting elk, while others might want to try out hunting antelope as their first western hunt. This is why I feel it's important to start at the species level.
Keep in mind that weapon choice is also important, as some weapon types are a little easier to get tags for. For example, if you’re a rifle hunter, you might be able to get a tag sooner if you pick up a muzzleloader or a bow.
Deciding where to hunt and doing the research to put yourself in the best position to secure a tag is going to be the next area of importance. For this step, jump into GOHUNT and dive into our Filtering tool. This is when you’ll need to look at states that have the species you’re looking to go on a hunt for.
You can do this either on the web version of Insider, or on our mobile app. So there is no excuse for not being able to research anywhere, anytime.
If you’re unfamiliar with GOHUNT, learn more about our membership below and how that will aid in your research:
After opening Filtering, select the state and species, then you can adjust our filters to narrow down the units that meet your specific criteria.
You can filter by a plethora of different options, from public land, harvest success, season/weapon, draw odds, and even trophy potential. Now, you’ll have a much smaller chunk of units to research. Keep in mind that you always go back and re-adjust filters to broaden or narrow down your search. If you see units that catch your eye, you can jump into the unit (what we call our Unit Profiles), to read more about each unit. This is a great way to get familiar with the terrain and intricate details of the unit. I really love all the data that is presented in each unit profile. Plus you can read comments from people who have hunted the unit, and have a discussion with them. And see terrain photos people have shared to give you more data to understand what the terrain will be like.
Learn more about how to use this tool by checking out the articles below:
Step number three is going to be picking a spot in that unit where you want to hunt. This is accomplished using e-scouting on GOHUNT Maps. Once I have a unit or several units narrowed down, my e-scouting efforts are focused around figuring out where animals might be, and if that terrain suits my hunting style. E-scouting can seem like a daunting task, but with some effort, you’ll start to piece together the puzzle and hone in on productive areas to hunt. Some things I look at are where that public land is located in the unit and analyzing the satellite imagery to gauge if that terrain will hold the animals I’m interested in. I’m also taking note of roads and trails across the unit. This process is pretty high level at this time, but I will start to drop waypoints and really analyze the terrain in 3D, so I know exactly how it looks. This will greatly help me to determine if this is a unit I want to hunt.
Step four is going to be hunt logistic planning. Do you need to fly to this state to hunt it? If so, what will that cost be? Check out a .
Can you reasonably drive there without burning too much vacation time? Depending on those questions you ask yourself, you might have to consider some other options, or you can take this step a bit further. If you know you’re driving, you can start to look at how far this hunting area is from towns, which will help determine if you need to pack extra gas and what other vehicle tools you might need to pack for safety reasons. Another part of this logistics planning is going to be assessing what gear you’ll need for this hunt. If it’s a backpack hunt, do you have the required backpack, sleeping bag, clothes system, rain gear, and boots to accomplish this hunt? What type of food will you need to pack? What is the weather typically like during the month you plan on hunting? And more specifically what does the weather look like the exact week as that is a big factor in the gear you need?
Meat care is a very essential step as well. So, most importantly, how will you get that animal off the mountain and properly keep the meat cooled down? If this is an elk hunt, extra consideration needs to happen to ensure you know how to break down an animal, and extreme thought should go into getting that animal out as fast as possible. This is the time when you can also start to plan out the cooler situation to some degree during this phase. Another option would be researching the closest town and trying to determine if there is a wild game butcher if you don’t process the animals yourself.
While planning your first western hunt might seem like a lot of upfront work, with a solid plan, the research phase will be much more enjoyable. And GOHUNT has all the tools you need to put your best foot forward this application season.
