2024 Rifle Wyoming Resident Companion/Drop Camp Unit 60?

[BlacktailMaster]

So, some of you followed my story in Idaho this past season where my son did all of the heavy lifting and I was able to bag a great 6x6 Idaho DIY Public Land Wilderness Bull. Unfortunately he didn't have a tag and I got to shoot it. However, he called it in with cow calls and bugles and we made a great play on it. Fast forward now to me trying to return the favor and making plans for him for 2024. He is in unbelievable condition. He is 25, a professional athlete (Football) and a fantastic hunter. He can go deep, deep into Big Country and knows how to survive. Has great gear and wants the biggest challenge he can find going after a monster bull. With this in mind, he has been studying Unit 60 in Wyoming. I probably don't have the stamina/ability to go with him and he doesn't have the pocket book to hire a full on horse guided hunt yet (if an NFL team picks him up again that would certainly help but might delay when he can go to Unit 60 for obvious reasons). So, I told him I would come to my friends on Hunt Talk and see if they could help us out. There may be some totally ignorant questions/thoughts here by me...we are brand new to the Wyoming Hunt rules, so please bear with me. We do know you have to have a guide or Resident Companion and we know that an outfitter can help you get a tag for 60 but not sure if it is even possible to get a tag with just a resident companion...anyway, here are our thoughts.

We think we are looking for either:

1. A Resident Companion that has the passion/ability to hunt that big of country that far away from...well, everything. Also, someone who is a good human. My son is a great guy who just wants to work super hard for his animal and go after the biggest of big boys. If said Resident Companion had a horse (or two although I think my son could hike the whole way in and out) that would be a plus, especially to haul extra gear, meat, etc.

2. An outfitter that will do a drop camp for my son and a Resident Companion in Unit 60. Not sure if this even exists given the fact that you have to have a guide or a Resident Companion and they might be at odds with each other for business purposes. Anyway, that would be a great situation if I could find this.

He is willing to go in and scout for quite a while this summer during breaks from training so relationship and strategy can be built. Then he would get there several days before opening day to be in, camp set up and scouting complete and ready to go. We are willing to buy preference points as well if that is an option.

Please accept my apologies in advance for any super obvious things I have missed. We do understand the bear risks in there as well. Any help or guidance y'all can give would be absolutely fantastic and we would be very grateful! Thanks in advance!!

 

[conibear]

You want one of us (307 resident) to guide you and bring our livestock and pack for you, free of charge, on a Thorofare hunt. Okay that's enough internet for today, I'll see myself out...

 

[wytex]

He will have to draw the licenses, outfitters do not get outfitter tags or really have any advantage to draw other than PP sharing with other clients.
For wilderness yes he will need a guide, resident or outfitted.
Lots of grizz in 60, might be hard to find a resident guide going in with a newby in grizz country.
It is a general license, PP will be needed and with the changes coming to the NR draw odds could be all over the place next year.
Also remember he or you can not pay the resident guide, no compensation.
He could go scout but setting up camp early might get him a talking to from a GW, especially if he is going to be hunting, but not sure on the legalities of that.

Going to be hard to find a resident guide for the Thorofare and outfitters will be watching.

 

[HighDesertSage]

Just being honest, I would look at a different state, or hunt. You were successful in Idaho, why change?

 

[conibear]

Just being honest, I would look at a different state, or hunt. You were successful in Idaho, why change?

"...wants the biggest challenge he can find going after a monster bull."

How about that Norris Road hunt in Montana?

 

[HighDesertSage]

"...wants the biggest challenge he can find going after a monster bull."

How about that Norris Road hunt in Montana?

I would just hunt any of the easy-to-draw/otc units in Colorado then. It will be a challenge in any of those to find a monster bull...

 

[Straight Arrow]

So, some of you followed my story in Idaho this past season where my son did all of the heavy lifting and I was able to bag a great 6x6 Idaho DIY Public Land Wilderness Bull. Unfortunately he didn't have a tag and I got to shoot it. However, he called it in with cow calls and bugles and we made a great play on it. Fast forward now to me trying to return the favor and making plans for him for 2024. He is in unbelievable condition. He is 25, a professional athlete (Football) and a fantastic hunter. He can go deep, deep into Big Country and knows how to survive. Has great gear and wants the biggest challenge he can find going after a monster bull. With this in mind, he has been studying Unit 60 in Wyoming. I probably don't have the stamina/ability to go with him and he doesn't have the pocket book to hire a full on horse guided hunt yet (if an NFL team picks him up again that would certainly help but might delay when he can go to Unit 60 for obvious reasons). So, I told him I would come to my friends on Hunt Talk and see if they could help us out. There may be some totally ignorant questions/thoughts here by me...we are brand new to the Wyoming Hunt rules, so please bear with me. We do know you have to have a guide or Resident Companion and we know that an outfitter can help you get a tag for 60 but not sure if it is even possible to get a tag with just a resident companion...anyway, here are our thoughts.

We think we are looking for either:

1. A Resident Companion that has the passion/ability to hunt that big of country that far away from...well, everything. Also, someone who is a good human. My son is a great guy who just wants to work super hard for his animal and go after the biggest of big boys. If said Resident Companion had a horse (or two although I think my son could hike the whole way in and out) that would be a plus, especially to haul extra gear, meat, etc.

2. An outfitter that will do a drop camp for my son and a Resident Companion in Unit 60. Not sure if this even exists given the fact that you have to have a guide or a Resident Companion and they might be at odds with each other for business purposes. Anyway, that would be a great situation if I could find this.

He is willing to go in and scout for quite a while this summer during breaks from training so relationship and strategy can be built. Then he would get there several days before opening day to be in, camp set up and scouting complete and ready to go. We are willing to buy preference points as well if that is an option.

Please accept my apologies in advance for any super obvious things I have missed. We do understand the bear risks in there as well. Any help or guidance y'all can give would be absolutely fantastic and we would be very grateful! Thanks in advance!!

It might be helpful to research the options more thoroughly before tossing out such random thoughts on HT. Have you even been into the Wyoming Washakie Wilderness?

 

[perma]

Might also help that he's on the forum too. Let's get to know him more first before we walk into a grizz infested wilderness.

 

[BlacktailMaster]

You want one of us (307 resident) to guide you and bring our livestock and pack for you, free of charge, on a Thorofare hunt. Okay that's enough internet for today, I'll see myself out...

Thanks for responding, we definitely are only trying to do the right thing. I left out money on this topic because I don't know what the rules/expectations are. We are not trying to do wrong by anybody...in fact the exact opposite. I came here to get an idea of what is right and expected so we don't do anything wrong, have wrong expectations, etc. Thanks so much for the input.

 

[BlacktailMaster]

He will have to draw the licenses, outfitters do not get outfitter tags or really have any advantage to draw other than PP sharing with other clients.
For wilderness yes he will need a guide, resident or outfitted.
Lots of grizz in 60, might be hard to find a resident guide going in with a newby in grizz country.
It is a general license, PP will be needed and with the changes coming to the NR draw odds could be all over the place next year.
Also remember he or you can not pay the resident guide, no compensation.
He could go scout but setting up camp early might get him a talking to from a GW, especially if he is going to be hunting, but not sure on the legalities of that.

Going to be hard to find a resident guide for the Thorofare and outfitters will be watching.

This is incredibly helpful. Thank you so much.

 

[BlacktailMaster]

Just being honest, I would look at a different state, or hunt. You were successful in Idaho, why change?

He has been looking at Idaho as well. He just got studying Wyoming and the Unit 60 and got very interested. I absolutely appreciate your honesty on this. I will share this with him.

 

[BlacktailMaster]

"...wants the biggest challenge he can find going after a monster bull."

How about that Norris Road hunt in Montana?

Haven't heard of it. Will let him know...thanks!

 

[Treeshark]

Haven't heard of it. Will let him know...thanks!

That one was an inside joke at your expense, don’t bother looking into Norris Rd. Just trying to help out, I was in your shoes once.

 

[BlacktailMaster]

It might be helpful to research the options more thoroughly before tossing out such random thoughts on HT. Have you even been into the Wyoming Washakie Wilderness?

Thank you Straight Arrow for this. I was a little worried when I posted that a thought like this might be relayed...but don't necessarily disagree. He is definitely familiar with Large Wilderness type areas but has never been to the Wyoming Washakie Wilderness. We will continue to do our research and see what our options are. Most importantly, we want to be respectful to everyone and not do anything, including post on Hunt Talk, something that is not appropriate.

 

[wytex]

He could find his challenge in just about any wilderness area hunt in Wyoming, the Thororfare is something else due to grizz and the popularity of it.
Again draw odds may be wacked next year, he'll need some PP for Wyoming unless he gets lucky on the random side of the draw. The Special price going up may open up that random draw possibility if he goes that higher priced route.

Looks like you were asking for info and got it, never hurts to ask - most times that is, lol.

As stated, other states have the type of hunt he is looking for perhaps without have to have PP to draw a license.

Look into the various Commissioner license raffles coming up next year too. Might win a chance to buy that license and hunt in any area. There will be several up for raffle, I bet, starting first of the year or so.

 

[Westelker]

Seems like your son should be the one on HT, isn't he the one that will be hunting? As mentioned earlier, every state DOW has different rules and regulations. Seems like you and your son could do a little more research on your own into Wyoming rules and regs. instead of having HT feed you basic info. All of us, at some point, started from scratch ... zilch regarding a partial hunting unit. Takes years to learn an area, sometimes points and always luck. Seems like you're expecting someone to come forth and provide you guys with a camp, pack animals and the expertise to provide your son with a "monster " bull. That's asking a lot out us hunters who have, as I said, spent years finding our "honey" holes for nice bulls. If your son is only interested in killing a monster bull, I suggest he hire a guide on one of the NM Indian reservations and get it overwith. What say you?

 

[Wind in His Hair]

So, some of you followed my story in Idaho this past season where my son did all of the heavy lifting and I was able to bag a great 6x6 Idaho DIY Public Land Wilderness Bull. Unfortunately he didn't have a tag and I got to shoot it. However, he called it in with cow calls and bugles and we made a great play on it. Fast forward now to me trying to return the favor and making plans for him for 2024. He is in unbelievable condition. He is 25, a professional athlete (Football) and a fantastic hunter. He can go deep, deep into Big Country and knows how to survive. Has great gear and wants the biggest challenge he can find going after a monster bull. With this in mind, he has been studying Unit 60 in Wyoming. I probably don't have the stamina/ability to go with him and he doesn't have the pocket book to hire a full on horse guided hunt yet (if an NFL team picks him up again that would certainly help but might delay when he can go to Unit 60 for obvious reasons). So, I told him I would come to my friends on Hunt Talk and see if they could help us out. There may be some totally ignorant questions/thoughts here by me...we are brand new to the Wyoming Hunt rules, so please bear with me. We do know you have to have a guide or Resident Companion and we know that an outfitter can help you get a tag for 60 but not sure if it is even possible to get a tag with just a resident companion...anyway, here are our thoughts.

We think we are looking for either:

1. A Resident Companion that has the passion/ability to hunt that big of country that far away from...well, everything. Also, someone who is a good human. My son is a great guy who just wants to work super hard for his animal and go after the biggest of big boys. If said Resident Companion had a horse (or two although I think my son could hike the whole way in and out) that would be a plus, especially to haul extra gear, meat, etc.

2. An outfitter that will do a drop camp for my son and a Resident Companion in Unit 60. Not sure if this even exists given the fact that you have to have a guide or a Resident Companion and they might be at odds with each other for business purposes. Anyway, that would be a great situation if I could find this.

He is willing to go in and scout for quite a while this summer during breaks from training so relationship and strategy can be built. Then he would get there several days before opening day to be in, camp set up and scouting complete and ready to go. We are willing to buy preference points as well if that is an option.

Please accept my apologies in advance for any super obvious things I have missed. We do understand the bear risks in there as well. Any help or guidance y'all can give would be absolutely fantastic and we would be very grateful! Thanks in advance!!

Sounds like your son should sign up for either a Epic Outdoors or Huntin Fool membership, and utilize one of the consultants.

 

[BlacktailMaster]

Seems like your son should be the one on HT, isn't he the one that will be hunting? As mentioned earlier, every state DOW has different rules and regulations. Seems like you and your son could do a little more research on your own into Wyoming rules and regs. instead of having HT feed you basic info. All of us, at some point, started from scratch ... zilch regarding a partial hunting unit. Takes years to learn an area, sometimes points and always luck. Seems like you're expecting someone to come forth and provide you guys with a camp, pack animals and the expertise to provide your son with a "monster " bull. That's asking a lot out us hunters who have, as I said, spent years finding our "honey" holes for nice bulls. If your son is only interested in killing a monster bull, I suggest he hire a guide on one of the NM Indian reservations and get it overwith. What say you?

Thanks for the input Westelker. Your take is definitely not what we were trying to request. This year we grabbed a late leftover tag in September, got a little bit of direction from the friendly folk at HT (no honey holes...would never do that...) went on to OnX, GoHunt and Google Earth and E-scouted our butts off. Took three separate trips two for scouting and one the hunt to go look at areas ourselves, hike in and pre-season scout. All of this 12 hours one way from our home. We definitely started from scratch and are willing to do that in Wyoming. I don't believe it hurts to get some input from the folk on HT...and if someone was looking for input on hunting my local area I would definitely offer it up on the regular. I didn't ask for a drainage, honey hole, etc. I asked for input on how to go about things and what are the general rules/etc. around doing things the proper way. Any thoughts or suggestions other than that were 100% unintended...and I think I even mentioned that in the post. As it relates to the provide him with things...(Camp, pack, etc.) I actually had the opposite in mind. While I do think a Resident Companion having a horse would be great and advantageous, I didn't really expect him to ride one. He is willing to do all of the hiking/packing on his own. More worried about the companion than him...but also thought it couldn't hurt overall. If that was suggesting that we are looking for someone to provide him with a pack animal, camp, etc. I sincerely apologize. Not my intent. As for the expertise to provide him with a monster bull, he would much rather go by himself and our intent was not to poach expertise but to find someone who might have a similar mindset as he does and them both be able to work together to get a bull/bulls(I would expect the Resident Companion to hunt as well?). My son and I have no intention to do anything unethical or inappropriate whether it is in the hunt, the preparation for the hunt or even in a post on HT. We want to do everything the right way and are trying our best to do that. Having said that, I appreciate your input and will share it with him.

 

[kwyeewyk]

A cold ask for resident companion is a big ask just for a simple wilderness trip, but thorofare is a whole other beast, looks like over 10 miles just to get to the edge of the unit from the closest access point. It just isn't feasible for him to hunt on foot, stock of some sort is a necessity, especially considering likelihood of grizzly encounters.

Has he hunted/killed/packed an elk other than your ID hunt? On foot bare minimum of 3 trips for a bull elk plus camp, when you're talking 30-40 miles round trip it just doesn't pencil out.

Does he have any preference points? You've yet to answer this question, I'd guess at least 4 if not 5 or more points will be needed to draw that region in general tag. Odds of getting lucky in random can't be counted on at all. Honestly if he can get a general tag, there are tons of opportunities for great non wilderness hunting that can be quite remote and challenging, with good chances for a good bull.

 

[BlacktailMaster]

A cold ask for resident companion is a big ask just for a simple wilderness trip, but thorofare is a whole other beast, looks like over 10 miles just to get to the edge of the unit from the closest access point. It just isn't feasible for him to hunt on foot, stock of some sort is a necessity, especially considering likelihood of grizzly encounters.

Has he hunted/killed/packed an elk other than your ID hunt? On foot bare minimum of 3 trips for a bull elk plus camp, when you're talking 30-40 miles round trip it just doesn't pencil out.

Does he have any preference points? You've yet to answer this question, I'd guess at least 4 if not 5 or more points will be needed to draw that region in general tag. Odds of getting lucky in random can't be counted on at all. Honestly if he can get a general tag, there are tons of opportunities for great non wilderness hunting that can be quite remote and challenging, with good chances for a good bull.

Thanks Kwyeewyk, I appreciate the guidance on the ask for a resident companion. That is very helpful. I agree it is WAY back in there. Quite possible it isn't feasible but that was part of the reason for the post...was to get this kind of helpful feedback. Yes, he has been many miles in on several elk hunts and quartered, deboned and packed meat out. Plus several High Country Mule Deer Packs as well. As for preference points, we were reading online that we can purchase preference points for $52 each and that seemed like a good deal but are afraid we may have missed the window for this upcoming draw. I will look more into this. With this being our first foray into Wyoming hunting, no he doesn't have any points and would need to purchase some. I will study the General tag more...I so appreciate your feedback, thoughts and ideas.