Flat Tops Wilderness Guided Horseback Wilderness Deer & Elk Hunts

This hunt is available for both Archery and Rifle Seasons. A mix of private land, forest service and wilderness area will be hunted. Horseback hunting will be our primary means of transportation, but 4×4 and hiking will be used to access some areas. The majority of hunting will be done on public land. Lodging and meals are provided in our high-end lodge adjacent to the Flat Tops Wilderness Area. In some cases, the option to spike camp for a night may be available. You can focus on several species (including elk, mule deer, and bears – based on season/tag availability) or focus on a single species. Lodge hunts are afternoon arrival, 5 full days of hunting, morning departure.

Success Rates:

Bear- Dedicated 5 day hunt – 75%+. As an “opportunity” tag added on to a deer/elk focused hunt – 20-25%

Elk- All of these hunts are true wilderness hunts where being in good shape, being able to ride a few hours each day and being able to bare inclement weather will pay off with the hunt of a lifetime. Rifle hunts average 40-80%+ shot opportunity on legal bulls for those that hunt every morning and afternoon/night of their hunt. Archery hunts run roughly 1/2 the success rate of rifle hunts. The biggest variable is weather and the hunter’s persistence. The majority of bulls are medium sized, 4-6 point animals. Roughly 1/10th of our harvested bulls score 300+.

Mule Deer- During 2nd and 3rd rifle seasons our hunters with deer tags have 50-80% shot opportunity on bucks. 4th Season rifle hunters generally have a 90-100% opportunity to harvest a mature buck. Dedicated muzzleloader hunters will have a 50-70% chance of getting an opportunity at a mature buck. Archery deer hunts are highly variable on the hunter’s shooting abilities. Shooting opportunities under 70 yards are 60-70% on a five day deer-focused hunt.

The primary focus of these hunts will be mature mule deer in the 160″+ class. We have taken many deer in the 170-180″ class and some over 200″.

Tag Availability:

September – Archery Deer are easy to draw, Archery Elk are over-the-counter, Rifle Bear are easy to draw

Muzzleloader – Deer tags are easy to draw, Elk tags require 2-4 preference points.

1st season – Elk are easy to draw, Bear tags are over-the-counter

2nd season – Deer are easy to draw, Elk are over-the-counter

3rd season – Deer require 0-1 preference points to draw. Elk are over-the-counter

4th season – Deer require 2-3 points for residents, non-residents should expect to draw with 4-6 points. Bull tags take 0-1 points to draw.