December Elk Hunt

[Kiwi]

I’m busy researching hunts for my son. Biggest challenge is fitting his hunt around his high school commitments.

My son finishes school November 29 so looking at hunts in December 2023. Planning to apply for the AZ late elk hunts and also WY limited quota.

I’ve been researching gohunt and the WY fish and game website but if anyone is willing to PM WY December hunt info that would be awesome. First hand knowledge of winter access and conditions is something hard to find on the internet.

My son has 3 elk points in CO, 4 in WY and 6 in AZ. I have 6 WY elk points which I could split.

Thanks in advance and as always happy to provide New Zealand hunting info.

 

[wyoboypt]

Bull or cow?

 

[trb]

FYI, New Mexico has a few Dec elk options as well.

As for access and conditions in WY, it depends on the weather. One week you could be hunting in 45+ mph winds and only an inch or two of snow, the next you could be hunting in 45+ mph winds and 2 feet of snow. Quite a diversity.

 

[Kiwi]

Bull or cow?

Good question! Bull would be my preference but a cow hunt would great too.

Also he has 4 elk points and as he’s 16 years old can use youth prices.

 

[Addicting]

Those AZ hunts he will have to miss the last week of school. Most of them start on the 25th of Nov.

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

How many points do you guys have? Normally the late bull hunts in WY take quite a few points, and if they don't they aren't really worth it. Cow hunts are a different story.

 

[Kiwi]

How many points do you guys have? Normally the late bull hunts in WY take quite a few points, and if they don't they aren't really worth it. Cow hunts are a different story.

I have updated the OP now. My son has 4 WY elk points and I have 6. I’d be happy to apply together.

 

[Blackcats06]

December cow hunts in az are awesome. Might be a guarantee with 6 points for a couple units.

 

[MTGomer]

December cow hunts in az are awesome. Might be a guarantee with 6 points for a couple units.

I haven’t looked in a while but I think you could take your pick of about any unit with that many points for a cow cant you?

 

[Fremont15]

Wyo has some great late season cow hunts in December. The late bull tags that extend into December typically take max points.

 

[Kiwi]

Thanks for the tips on cow hunts! They do look good. I may even use his points and apply for a cow hunt in an interesting area. If we can see big bulls while cow hunting that would be great.

And use his deer points for a late season whitetail hunt.

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

I'm pretty sure the type 6 reduced priced cow tags are just random, no preference points. A type 4 or 5 full priced tag cow (antlerless) do take preference points. Something to keep in mind.

 

[Blackcats06]

I haven’t looked in a while but I think you could take your pick of about any unit with that many points for a cow cant you?

In Arizona, no. Most cow tags are now taking 6 points for residents, about the same for non-residents. Yes it is crazy that cow hunts are taking that many points to guarantee a tag.

 

[EastCoast94]

I did a hunt last year in Wyoming in mid January and there was a ton of snow from my second day of the hunt on. I follow Wyoming DOT on Facebook and they give daily updates on snow and road conditions

 

[Kiwi]

Thanks to the help of Hunttalkers I now have a solid application plan for my son. The hunt plan is to focus on a winter whitetail buck and cow in WY.

I'll be going first two weeks or so of December when the weather will play a huge part. I will need to refresh my gear for the cold conditions, which will be simlair to our winter tahr hunting. New Zealand is fairly windy so the WY winds shouldn't be too much of a shock! Where I live, its know as the windiest city in the world :0.

I'm planning to use TURO so I can get a 4x4 truck with snow tires. More expensive than a traditional rental company but WY in December with a 2 wheel drive truck does not seem like a good plan!

Anyone else have experience with TURO?

 

[EastCoast94]

Thanks to the help of Hunttalkers I now have a solid application plan for my son. The hunt plan is to focus on a winter whitetail buck and cow in WY.

I'll be going first two weeks or so of December when the weather will play a huge part. I will need to refresh my gear for the cold conditions, which will be simlair to our winter tahr hunting. New Zealand is fairly windy so the WY winds shouldn't be too much of a shock! Where I live, its know as the windiest city in the world :0.

I'm planning to use TURO so I can get a 4x4 truck with snow tires. More expensive than a traditional rental company but WY in December with a 2 wheel drive truck does not seem like a good plan!

Anyone else have experience with TURO?

I used Turo in Montana for an antelope hunt. I rented a Subaru Crosstrek and everything went very smooth. Only annoying thing with Turo when I used it is it required me to take a bunch of pictures of the car and get a car wash before returning. I definitely saved money tho using it.

 

[Kiwi]

I used Turo in Montana for an antelope hunt. I rented a Subaru Crosstrek and everything went very smooth. Only annoying thing with Turo when I used it is it required me to take a bunch of pictures of the car and get a car wash before returning. I definitely saved money tho using it.

Interesting, thanks. It might be the trucks I’m looking at (F150 and Toyota tundra) are more expensive than rental company’s.