Looking for an option in the next 3 years

[wytex]

I'll say this about general areas in Wyoming, I have never hunted in wilderness areas and have yet to have an archery season where we didn't get into elk , in 32 years. How many have I harvested in general areas , not many, but have had opportunities.
Most general areas are any elk during the archery season and many are any elk for part of the rifle season, we pass on cows due to having private access to fill additional cow tags.
Elk are well distributed all over the NF , not just holed up in wilderness areas.
Don't forget while building PP in Wyoming you can apply for a LQ tag in hopes of getting a random draw.
And you can hunt archery season and rifle season on general elk licenses til your tag is filled ,in any general area around the entire state.

Kudos to all of you packing those animals out several miles ! Not sure I have that left in me at this point.

Hey wllm1313 didn't mean top come off as an azz.
There certainly are areas where the elk seem to head right to the wilderness once the seasons open. I would think it's very frustrating to watch residents going in after 'em when you can't.
I usually do not even hunt near wilderness areas so should have clarified my statements based on that.
I could have not quoted you and got the same point across, more tactfully perhaps.


It will be interesting to see how point creep plays out in the next few years, but remember there are some random draw tags.

 

[WesternRookie]

WY. Start buying points this year.

I'm a little confused and am new to this, so please bear with me and help me understand if you can. I just logged into Wyoming F&G, and it is offering me the options of applying for Non-Resident Leftover: Elk, Elk Reduced Price, Deer, Deer Reduced Price, Antelope and Antelope Reduced Price. If points are required, why would there be any elk leftovers?

 

[Deleted member 18333]

Personally I'm not sure if I would do WY simply because you can't hunt wilderness areas as a NR, and during archery season elk will be up high and most of the places up high in WY are wilderness. Finding a spot that will hold elk in Sept, is in a General unit, and is not wilderness is going to be more logistically complicated. That said it also does help you narrow down hunting spots lol

Stevie Wonder could find an elk outside of the Wilderness in a wyo gen unit. There are some LQ units that the NR wilderness rule really screws up and a few gen units that it makes is more difficult but tons of gen units where it is a non issue.

 

[Deleted member 18333]

I'm a little confused and am new to this, so please bear with me and help me understand if you can. I just logged into Wyoming F&G, and it is offering me the options of applying for Non-Resident Leftover: Elk, Elk Reduced Price, Deer, Deer Reduced Price, Antelope and Antelope Reduced Price. If points are required, why would there be any elk leftovers?

Res hunters didn't want all the tags allocated to them.

 

[JWhunter]

Idaho you can go for the next 3 years and have different experiences depending on what part of the state you hunt in. I think that's a great reason why Idaho is appealing.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Hey wllm1313 didn't mean top come off as an azz.
There certainly are areas where the elk seem to head right to the wilderness once the seasons open. I would think it's very frustrating to watch residents going in after 'em when you can't.
I usually do not even hunt near wilderness areas so should have clarified my statements based on that.
I could have not quoted you and got the same point across, more tactfully perhaps.
It will be interesting to see how point creep plays out in the next few years, but remember there are some random draw tags.

You are all good, and I 100% agree you can definitely be successful in WY as a NR in spite of the rule. I saw two bulls duking it out and bugling their heads off during pronghorn season in Oct on BLM 50miles from a wilderness area, my gripe is that this law is totally antithetical to the north american model and violates the constitutions. Would love to see it challenged appealed to a higher court outside of the state.

"Still, it’s a long, commonly accepted, badly kept secret that the law is not designed to ensure the safety of non-resident big game hunters, but in fact exists to line the pockets of Wyoming’s outfitters and guides. It’s no coincidence that the big game and trophy animals an out-of-state hunter is most likely to pursue in a Wyoming wilderness area are big ticket hunts for outfitters. Meanwhile, there is no guiding market for the dusky grouse that live in wilderness areas right alongside elk, mule deer, bighorn sheep, black bears and mountain lions."

https://www.themeateater.com/conser...uTEc2ts13XjKaQBRFzi7LVdDl-znlDpuCJGmhv9hVSyBk

 

[wytex]

Yep, the outfitters have that locked down. Honestly , I don't know a resident that supports it but I'm sure a few do.