Planning for 2022

[G. McAlister]

Hey everyone I am looking at going out west again next year and want to burn the five points I will have for Wyoming. Does anyone have any recommendations for units that I could reasonably draw with those points that have decent success rates? I don’t want your honey holes, but something with the opportunity to take my first elk. A bull would be nice but it is not a necessity.

 

[ccc23454]

General!

 

[Werty]

I know you said bull, but apply for a cow tags and hunt some areas to get familiar with. It's cheaper, less pressure and you don't burn your points.

 

[G. McAlister]

I know you said bull, but apply for a cow tags and hunt some areas to get familiar with. It's cheaper, less pressure and you don't burn your points.

Werty, this may be a dumb question, but as it would be my first time actually participating in the Wyoming draw, how would it be possible to get a cow tag and not burn points? I don’t recall seeing anything like that in the regs, not saying I didn’t miss it, but a chance to bring home meat and save points for further down the road sounds too good to be true.

 

[rustednuts]

General tag

 

[ccc23454]

All reduced cow tags (-6/-7) are half price basically and dont use points. You need to read and fully understand regs if your getting into this game. It can be confusing, try to figure it out and ask for clarity or use search feature. Either way burn those 5 on a general like i said earlier, if you work hard you will have a blast.

 

[wytex]

G. like stated above, reduced price cow tags are a random, separate draw from any elk tags. You can apply for a reduced price cow tag and keep your PP for another year.
Type 4 tags are not reduced price and will take your PP if drawn.

 

[ntodwild]

Im with the crowd on this one. Apply for the cow tags, cross your fingers and if not drawn but really want to come out west. Hit the Colorado OTC general season and go hunt. I know you said WY but there are other states you can find yourself in as long as its about the experience and not the trophy.

My hunting group (4 of us) are committed to "the hunt" so if you have partners who are willing to travel with you/you willing to travel with them IF one of you draws a tag that means you all get to go hunting (only one can pull the trigger/sling the arrow). If it's about the experience, the more partners you have applying and committed to going the more opportunity you afford yourself to "experience" hunting in the west. Not only do you get to experience a hunt but the cost is significantly reduced. In our case 4x less as we all share in the cost. We have been doing this for the last 7 years and have been on some pretty fantastic trips. Just an option for more opportunity.

 

[G. McAlister]

All reduced cow tags (-6/-7) are half price basically and dont use points. You need to read and fully understand regs if your getting into this game. It can be confusing, try to figure it out and ask for clarity or use search feature. Either way burn those 5 on a general like i said earlier, if you work hard you will have a blast.

Thanks C, like I said I try to read and understand it all, but may have skipped the section in the interest of the general season tag or I could be looking at the wrong thing completely. Glad you and the whole Hunt Talk crew are around to help.

 

[gwhunter]

I followed the same advice on getting the cow tag first that I was given 5-6 years ago on HT when I first joined and started asking questions and am soooo glad I did the cow hunt first before burning my 2 points on the General tag. It was my very first time hunting elk and actually my first time hunting in the west. The zone I picked I actually never saw an elk (we bundled a pronghorn hunt into the deal so I did come home with some meat). For not seeing an elk, it was the greatest learning experience I could have done and significantly helped my hunt the following year.

The regs out west are a LOT different than our couple page deer regs here in the midwest. Make sure to read all 100 pages of each states regs to figure it out. But, I was also able to shorten my learning curve a TON by asking questions here on HT and receiving some AWESOME guidance from the folks here.

The advice so far in this thread is solid. Although, once you figure out what you want to do, you may want to hold onto those 5 points and build for a limited entry unit instead of "just" a general unit tag. (Some of the general zones in Wyoming are pretty solid zones too, though)