Last minute cow tag

[Dully]

My oldest son and I have been planning our first ever elk hunt for over a year. We both have cow tags for unit 49 in WY. As time went on I felt more and more guilty about leaving my youngest son at home, likely having to spend time Christmas shopping with my wife. So I call his school and speak to a wonderful administrator (sorry VA, ours are great in TN), and she told me to take him with us and have a great time. With excitement I jumped on WYGF website and sure enough, 49 is sold out. Closest unit is 33 so I picked up a cow tag for him. With only a week to escout, I'm begging anyone with information on 33 to PM me with advice. I have a few ideas on where we might want to start so I'm more interested in where to avoid. Definitely not asking for any honey holes. This trip is about memories with my boys and seeing some beautiful country. We know the hunting will be tough and actually harvesting a cow will be a huge bonus. Hope everyone is having a great season so far.

 

[Bam Bam]

I was there for Antelope less than two weeks ago. You will want to hunt as far North and West inside that unit as you can. I saw lots of Elk on the private land on the North side of the unit, but they were all staying on (private) croplands. If it was me, I would call the new warden Adam, and ask about landowners that would like to have some cow elk removed. Adam doesn't seem to know much about hunting, but he is friendly, and he answers his phone. And come to think of it, crop damage is probably the reason why there are so many cow elk tags in that unit to begin with. If you can't get permission to hunt private land on the North side, I think that you will be stuck heading into the Ed O Taylor Wildlife HMA, which is on the West side of the unit. (You can find it on the online map of Elk unit 33, use the North access road to get into more "elky" terrain.) Take extra spare tires if you can, that road into the North side is more of an ATV trail, but trucks do drive up there on a regular basis.

 

[Dully]

Thank you so much for the info Bam Bam. I tried the trespass fee route for 49 but have struck out so far. Outfitters have most of the private leased. I'll definitely give Adam a call. What the going rate for a trespass fee? Oh, and you made up my mind on Northwest part of the unit. The only way points marked on my OnX so far is in that corner and right below the WMA

 

[Bam Bam]

I'm sorry, I have no idea what a cow elk trespass fee goes for (it should not be more than a couple hundred dollars, it is just a meat tag). Adam should definitely know how much the fees are going for, though.

 

[Dully]

Awesome!! Thanks again. I'll keep you posted

 

[mountaineer1206]

Awesome!! Thanks again. I'll keep you posted

Hey how did it go? I'm thinking about going out in December.

 

[elkduds]

Hey how did it go? I'm thinking about going out in December.

Welcome to the forum