Alternate Ways to Access Backcountry Elk Hunting Areas

Now, we’re not suggesting that you illegally drive into the wilderness or otherwise illicitly cheat the system to make your hunt easier. These are just means of getting a little closer to your quarry without solely relying on your own horsepower.

Sure, your old truck can make it to most trailheads. But running your everyday rig on two-track roads is a surefire way to blow out your shocks and possibly puncture your tires faster than you’d like to replace them. UTVs are also capable of getting up scrappier sidecountry roads than your average pickup and usually do so with a more comfortable ride. This is due to the fact that many are engineered to tackle gnarly, rocky trails with ease.

If you’re going to use your UTV off-road, you need to know where you can and can’t take it. Most newcomers to the powersports world don’t realize the majority of trails out there are 50” width restricted. Meaning, from outside tire to outside tire, your machine must be 50” wide or less. Now there are still plenty of trails, forest service roads, and “jeep trails” to use larger UTVs on, but you should double-check your planned routes before heading out. This is where apps like onX Offroad come into play. They make it as easy as entering your vehicle width to filter out trails you can’t go on. All that’s left on your map is a clean view of the trails you’re able to drive on. This makes route planning a piece of cake.

Using stock to access the backcountry is one of the most traditional ways to get way high up without lugging all the gear on your back. If you’re using horses and mules, llamas, goats, or even donkeys, the result is the same. You get to pack in a cushy camp and truly live the high life.

There are some drawbacks to using livestock in the high country. You are in charge of taking care of living, breathing animals in a rugged environment. This means ensuring they have access to water, food, and some degree of shelter. They also have to be well acquainted with the demands and requirements of high altitude. Just because a horse is an all-star at the rodeo doesn’t mean it’s going to make a half-decent mountain pony.

Owning livestock is an expensive can of worms I won’t crack open. They’re often available to rent for a trip, but you do need a degree of experience to properly pack and avoid injury (to you and the animals). A simpler option is to hire an outfitter to pack you in. This removes the need to care for the critters while you’re busy hunting, and you still get the benefits of a nice, comfy camp where the elk are likely bugling.

Obviously, this is a pretty niche way to access hunting spots. Not many places to hunt have a lake or river cutting through them. But if you know an area with elk on the far side of the river, you can float down in a drift boat, raft, or canoe to a point of access. What might have been a treacherous packout to the nearest trailhead could be cut short a good amount by just getting back to the boat.

This tactic does require a good amount of scouting and planning. But if you’ve been eying a parcel on onX that meets the water requirements to float a boat, you could be in luck. You do have to plan ahead and run a shuttle beforehand. Hunting can be unpredictable, and you don’t want to be waiting on a shuttle in a storm with a boat full of meat.

Additionally, you need to plan ahead for the pack-paddle out. If you and two buddies are already maxing out a canoe, a quartered elk might just sink your ship.

If you’ve got money to burn and a landlocked area staring you down on onX, you could theoretically fly a helicopter in for an elk hunt. Now, helicopters can’t land in wilderness areas, but they can land on Forest Service and BLM lands with the correct permissions.

This realistically isn’t an option for most elk hunters (myself included). However, it is a fun idea to dream about when you’re e-scouting potential hotspots and come across a landlocked parcel. But the better plan is likely to seek out landowner permission for access.

However you access your spot, you’re still going to need to rely on yourself to get in where the action is. Two tracks probably won’t get you to where you’ll be shooting from, and very few pack mules would be happy about you firing a gun off their backs (unless you’re atop a particularly flashy mule.)

So while various means of transportation can get you closer, you’re going to need to be in good enough shape to crawl over some deadfall, take a shot from a potentially uncomfortable position, and hopefully, haul a hindquarter out on your back a little ways.