Hey guys... Myself and a buddy are wanting to go on a
cow elk hunt in the Box Elder unit in SW Nebr. We gotta put in for the draw by Friday for a chance at a tag. Anybody from that area on Trapperman ? Just trying to find out what season.... early or late ..... would be a better first choice. P M Me.....Thanks

I am in Mitchell Nebraska on west edge of the panhandle. I don’t know much of that unit, it’s a fair bit east of me. Sorry. Wish you well on your hunt. I suspect you already have permission lined up for land to hunt. Unfortunately getting elk hunting permission is neither cheap or easy in Nebraska.

Gun Nut

Not familiar with that hunt . I did look up the draw odds. Early 1 in 16 late 1 in 16 so you can flip a coin .
Or maybe try to draw according to probability of cooler weather for meat care. I personally would try for the later season for the reason above. And the breading season would more likely be over with the cows bunching up for winter. A light dusting of snow for tracking would be a plus. And if the ranches are like here they will have the cattle gathered in thus possibly opening up more land to hunt on.
Just random thoughts.

Thanks guys. I am leaning towards the late season....... more time to hunt and crops will be out. However the elk will have moved deeper into canyon country and won't be on the fields or stalks I am told. Gun Nut, I am working on finding spots to hunt. A cow tag should be a bit easier obtaining permission than a bull tag. And from what I have been finding out it seems the tolerance levels are going down with some farmers who don't like elk. I will be heading out there ( a 4 hour drive) a few times before fall to learn the area more and knock on some doors and visit the coffee shops and feed stores/coops. There is a lot of G & P open field/open canyons land out there and we want to try to have a mule deer meet up with one of our arrows this fall. It will be busy early hunting season as we hit Colorado OTC archery for elk, than antelope archery in NW Nebr and then archery deer here in Nebr. Thanks again for the comments...... just doing some foot work to learn all I can !!!!

Sounds like a lot of fun in store for you this fall. Good luck!