With only a few days left in the Idaho archery elk season, I was thrilled when two mature cow elk moseyed down the slope and drank cool water from the seep I was patrolling from a treestand. Given a slightly quartering-away angle, my arrow entered the pocket behind the shoulder and exited low through the brisket. The arrowed cow ran just a few steps and was already succumbing to the effects of the heart shot. In moments and only 10 yards away from the point of impact, the massive-bodied animal went down.  

My Idaho elk had barely fallen over when I started thinking about my Wyoming pronghorn tag. With only about 4 days of archery pronghorn season remaining, my wife and I would have to get the elk meat off the mountain and into our chest freezer ASAP. We did that, and the following day we crossed the border into Wyoming.

The pronghorn bucks were rutting hard. I hadn’t packed a decoy because I figured the rut would be virtually over by the time I was finished with the elk leg of my combo hunt. Man, was that an oversight! To redeem my poor decision, I secured a large cardboard sheet and cut out a “pronghorn.” With duct tape I had in our camper, I attached some wooden stakes, then used black and white spray paint (I had both in the camper as well) to mark it up. Before you could say “decoy,” I had a pretty realistic buck decoy ready to present to the Wyoming bucks.

A couple of different bucks responded to the decoy, but they didn’t commit all the way to within bow range. But, on my third attempt, two does curiously approached my decoy, and a Pope and Young-class buck followed them. At 57 yards, they all stopped. I drew my bow, leaned out from the decoy and sent a carbon stick downrange. Just like that, my combo hunt was a smashing success.

Getting Started

North American hunters: We are a fortunate lot. Think of all the different species we have access to within our 50 states and 10 provinces. From gobbling turkeys to dangerous grizzly bears, tons of potential hunting adventures exist. If you have the money and are willing to travel, a lifetime of adventures await on our continent.

If you’re planning on taking a hunting trip, perhaps you’re struggling to settle on a species or destination. In some contexts, you can supersize your hunting trip by pocketing licenses for two different species and making it a combo hunt. Just thinking about it gets my wheels turning.

If I’ve strummed the right chord and gotten your wheels turning, too, perhaps you should begin planning your own combo hunt right now. Following are some tips and considerations to guide you in planning your adventure.

Oh, the Possibilities

North America teems with opportunities for two-tag hunts, and some species go together like bread and butter. I immediately think of whitetails and pronghorns in states such as Montana or Wyoming. This hunt will keep you going all day, every day. Early season whitetails move primarily during the first and last hour of daylight, which means you can dedicate 2-3 hours in the morning and again in the late afternoon to sitting for whitetails. This opens up the entire midday for stalking pronghorns — they’re visible all day due to the terrain they inhabit.

Another solid option is to add a deer tag to your pocket during an elk hunt. Habitat for these two species often overlap, which means you can potentially encounter both without relocating. If you spot a buck you want to stalk and the elk aren’t bugling much, you’re still in the game. I had a deer and elk tag in Idaho last September. I saw and chased both. Although I was unsuccessful, it was a unique opportunity that I’d do again, although I’d go about things just a bit differently.

Mule deer and pronghorn pair well when their habitat intersects. During the several pronghorn hunts I’ve done, mule deer sightings were minimal because pronghorn concentrations were in such wide-open and flat country. Mule deer will often cross and even spend time in wide-open country, but they tend to bed in some type of terrain breaks or cover during the midday hours. So, don’t expect to be constantly tripping over both species all day long.  

Elk and pronghorn habitat intersects less frequently, as pronghorns reside in the wide open, while elk typically spend September in the timber at higher elevations. Still, pronghorn country usually isn’t too far away, which means that you can hunt pronghorn right before your elk hunt or right after it, as I did. 

Combo hunts aren’t only for the West. Many Midwest states have options to buy deer and turkey tags over the counter. The focus is on deer, but you’re golden when an unsuspecting bird wanders by your treestand. And don’t overlook spring options, such as pairing Florida or Texas hogs and turkeys — make it a trifecta with bowfishing.

Don’t Bite Off More Than You Can Chew 

Combo hunts are incredibly exciting, but don’t let the excitement cloud your view of reality. Let me issue a few cautionary words. First, two tags are OK, but getting tags for three species when you have only 1 week to hunt is probably biting off too much. You’ll likely find that you’re unable to dedicate enough time toward one specific species. And, if you do focus on one species at a time, you won’t likely get to put much time, if any, toward the second species, let alone a third. That’s reality.

Now, even a most basic combo hunt can be difficult to juggle. Last year’s Idaho elk-and-deer combo is a perfect example. Between the two tags, I spent more than $1,200. I hunted deer very sparingly because my main focus was killing an elk. My elk tag overlapped the unit my deer tag was valid for, but there were minimal elk in that unit. And in the unit where I was in elk daily, I saw a total of three mule deer during a week and a half of hunting, plus my deer tag wasn’t valid in that unit. So, my elk tag got at least 90 percent of the focus. That makes for a nice transition into the next point.

Species Priorities

Most of us would be tickled to harvest any species for which we have a tag. However, I suggest identifying your No. 1 target species beforehand. If you spend a lot of time hopping back and forth between two species, odds are you won’t be able to dedicate high-quality time toward one or the other, and that can influence whether you’re successful. It’s also easy to stress out as time ticks and you haven’t filled either tag.

Given two tags, which one would you be more satisfied with filling? Place more eggs in that basket, and then you’ll have greater odds of filling it with time to spare for your second tag. During my Idaho hunt last fall, it served me well to focus on elk, and as a result, I was hunting bulls every single day, not leaving them to go look for a mule deer. I did feel the urge to chase mule deer because I had money into the tag, but I constantly reminded myself that killing an elk was my top priority.

Addressing Double the Success

Another consideration is dealing with meat. This is so important that a combo hunt might not even be practical if you’re hunting solo. For example, if you’re doing an alpine or backcountry camping hunt, you can’t ignore meat-packing logistics.

Suppose you drop an elk 3 or 4 miles deep on the fourth day of your 7-day hunt. Realistically, it will take you three or four trips back and forth and potentially 2 days to retrieve all of the meat. Then, you’ll likely need at least a day of recovery. This will leave no time to hunt mule deer, and I don’t believe another big solo pack-out mission is physically doable in that timeframe. Don’t underestimate how difficult it is to pack out an animal for a few miles.

Another big challenge is dealing with meat after it’s at your vehicle. A thick-walled and well-insulated cooler is the way to go. If you’re hunting two species and find success on both, though, you’ll either need a huge cooler or up to three good-sized coolers. Another option is a chest freezer — that’s what I used on my elk/pronghorn combo in Idaho/Wyoming. However, you’ll need somewhere with electricity lined up in advance. If you stay at a campground or motel, this is practical.

In contrast, if you’re doing a backpack hunt and hiking in from a trailhead, you’re basically limited to coolers and dry ice. And once you leave the trailhead to pursue a second species, you can’t monitor the meat in the cooler. Perhaps hauling the quarters from the first animal to a meat processor to have it packaged and frozen until you complete your hunt is safest.  

A way to simplify tough tasks such as packing in camping gear or packing out game is to go with a partner. But, you have to remember that two animals could become four animals if success is abundant. Regardless, breaking down an elk or even a deer and packing it out is so much more straightforward with two people. I’d rather pack out four animals with an able-bodied partner than two all on my own.

Risk Vs. Reward

Two western tags can be expensive, so Midwest whitetail-and-turkey combos or southern hog-and-turkey combos are affordable alternatives. However, the West, Canada and Alaska have more species to choose from and arguably bigger adventure. Spending several hundred dollars to add a second tag to your pocket is certainly a risk, as my unsuccessful 2022 Idaho deer and elk hunt illustrates; $1,200 for my tags was a lot of money, and that didn’t include food, fuel and campground fees. Like me, you could be out a good chunk of money if things don’t come together.

Nonetheless, that’s no reason to avoid embarking on a combo hunt. If you have enough money and the burning desire to hunt two species, the rewards can be well worth the risks. Within just a few days, I put down an elk and a pronghorn on the hunt mentioned in my opener. Obviously, that is a best-case scenario, but it’s also one of the reasons to put a second tag in your pocket. And when it comes together like that, the rewards outweigh the risks. 

If you have a list of animals you’d love to pursue, seek opportunities to knock out two in one hunting adventure. Like supersizing your fast-food order, adding a second species to your hunt to make it a combo can provide double the action without doubling the cost. Sounds like a pretty neat proposition, doesn’t it?

Sidebar: Make It a Hunting-and-Fishing Combo

If a western combo sounds inviting but you’re short on time or can’t imagine butchering and packing out two large animals within a week, consider pairing up your elk, deer or pronghorn hunt with fishing. Most western states have lakes, rivers and reservoirs on which to fish for beautiful trout and sometimes other fish species. The beauty is that fishing licenses are sold over the counter, so you could realistically wait to commit to the fishing part of the combo until you bow-kill an animal.

My wife and I had a blast spending three 90-degree days during a recent elk hunt fishing for trout rather than chasing elk (who wants to pack out an elk when it’s 90 degrees?). We brought a collapsible Alpacka raft with paddles, two rods and a small tackle box. With that gear, we paddled out from shore onto a reservoir with a beautiful mountain backdrop. We caught our limit one day and one fish shy of our limit on the other 2 days, landing two fish shy of our possession limit. It was an incredible experience!

Photos by Becca and Darron McDougal