[tinman]

I have been wanting to do an out-of-state DIY hunt for a couple of years now and would really to make it happen in Sept.'06. My wife gave me the green light to plan and I am still kicking some ideas around and thought I'd see if anyone from this forum might want to make a small camp of trad-shooters of it?

I have been focussed on pack hunts primarily, CO Elk hunt or NM black bear. Either will be physical and low % hunt...but either will also be rewarding/exciting if someone gets to fill a tag.

CO - I am still debating on either the Gunnison area (bull only, point restrictions) or the San Juan's in SW Colorado (either sex, no antler restrictions). I think the stuff between the () is still correct for OTC tags in these areas...but that could change for 2006. Either will be a physical hunt and the weather will be a factor even in the early bow season.

NM - tough hunt, still physical but maybe a little better weather...maybe? No baiting in NM for bear, groundblinds on waterholes seems to be the method that produces shots for some trad-shooters. Not monster bear either...but an affordable bear hunt fairly close to home. I have researched the area around Ruidosa (with topo maps) in the past and heard some good reports from this area...OL & Bowhunter4Life have done well there.

Time - Early Sept '06 - 9 day limit for me. Probably only 5 days in the mountains but that's all the time I can take off from work. Leave on a Friday night and return the following Sunday, only use one week of vacation.

Cost - Tags, travel & gear could be done for less than $1000 (unless tags in CO go up again).

Training - Start now! :lol:

Now before someone from 'the other side of the campfire' sees this and yells elitist snobs at us, not trying to discriminate against the bows with wheels here...just think it would fun to have a camp of tradbows on the mountain. You're welcome to grab a stickbow and join us. :lol:

Like I said, I have been looking at these two hunts due to budget and location (travel time) but would be open to ideas on other affordable DIY out-of-state hunts.

Anyone interested in helping to plan a Trad-Camp 2006 hunt?