You might look into Wyoming or Montana for elk both have some decent options that shouldn't require 10 years to draw or the use of an outfitter.
Texas has some good public land options for whitetail, mule deer, hogs and exotics that you can draw permits for if any of those are of interest. Some are harder to draw than others but I've been drawn for 8 hunts in 15 years including a few hunts where the odds of being drawn ranged from one in several hundred to one in a couple thousand. Of course, that was with several applications per year and the mule deer hunts are among the harder ones to draw.
If you are interested in hunting bear at all, tags are easy to draw in several western states and with some research you can find areas that work well for spot and stalk style hunting.
This what you’re looking for ?
This what you’re looking for ?
Dang, he's thick!This what you’re looking for ?
Good luck! If nothing else that is an interesting area to explore for a week.
Id doesnt look like much of the area is over a mile from a road. It will be a great test to see what I NEED in the pack vs what I WANT in the pack.
Check out the two latest The Hunting Public videos.
Whitetails.
They went way back on one.