Things to think about when you buy a reduced price cow tag.

[2rocky]

I got a reduced price cow tag because there was a season when my nephew was home from school. I did not take a lot of factors into account and my planning showed it.

I’m not bitter but I learned a few things that might help the next guy who looks at these “deals”

1) Remember these tags are Late season tags to apply pressure to elk to prevent them from over running private pastures and hayfields. Often the boundaries are only a subsection of the unit.
2) remember that these elk migrate from high mountain basins only when the snow is deep enough that they can’t reach feed. Deer migrate much sooner.
3) If there is not elk pressure on the private ground then the lands in the HMA s will not be open.
4) If you are not flexible on your hunting dates maybe consider a different tag if you want a quality hunt. These tags are often weather dependent.
5) Don’t assume the elk will surely have come down by a certain date. They don’t pay attention to the calendar. Only deep snow drives them into the late season zones. Not cold temperatures.
6) Have a reliable local source for weather and migration info. Especially if driving a day or more to hunt.
7) If you are from Texas and think camping in -10 degree weather is fun more power to you. We saw you left after two nights. Probably the best decision.
7a). Hunting hard doesn’t help when there aren’t elk around.
8) Seeing deer on winter range is an OK substitute when the elk aren’t down to play.

9) Locals don’t really care if you get an elk or not. Unless there are 200 head in their field.
10) If you can enjoy the scenery and have plan B then you can make the best of a trip when the elk aren’t around. If you need to see lots of elk then either be flexible or choose something else.

 

[BAKPAKR]

Tells us about your hunt.

 

[EKYHunter]

Tells us about your hunt.

I think he just did.

 

[brian flatlander]

I got a reduced price cow tag because there was a season when my nephew was home from school. I did not take a lot of factors into account and my planning showed it.

I’m not bitter but I learned a few things that might help the next guy who looks at these “deals”

1) Remember these tags are Late season tags to apply pressure to elk to prevent them from over running private pastures and hayfields. Often the boundaries are only a subsection of the unit.
2) remember that these elk migrate from high mountain basins only when the snow is deep enough that they can’t reach feed. Deer migrate much sooner.
3) If there is not elk pressure on the private ground then the lands in the HMA s will not be open.
4) If you are not flexible on your hunting dates maybe consider a different tag if you want a quality hunt. These tags are often weather dependent.
5) Don’t assume the elk will surely have come down by a certain date. They don’t pay attention to the calendar. Only deep snow drives them into the late season zones. Not cold temperatures.
6) Have a reliable local source for weather and migration info. Especially if driving a day or more to hunt.
7) If you are from Texas and think camping in -10 degree weather is fun more power to you. We saw you left after two nights. Probably the best decision.
7a). Hunting hard doesn’t help when there aren’t elk around.
8) Seeing deer on winter range is an OK substitute when the elk aren’t down to play.

9) Locals don’t really care if you get an elk or not. Unless there are 200 head in their field.
10) If you can enjoy the scenery and have plan B then you can make the best of a trip when the elk aren’t around. If you need to see lots of elk then either be flexible or choose something else.

 

[brian flatlander]

sounds like wyo 58

 

[conibear]

9) Locals don’t really care if you get an elk or not. Unless there are 200 head in their field.

Correct, we don't care. It's nothing personal, merely the effects of every content-creator in the US pimping and pumping Wyoming into Treasure Island destination fun for elk.

 

[Carnage2011]

I got a reduced price cow tag because there was a season when my nephew was home from school. I did not take a lot of factors into account and my planning showed it.

I’m not bitter but I learned a few things that might help the next guy who looks at these “deals”

1) Remember these tags are Late season tags to apply pressure to elk to prevent them from over running private pastures and hayfields. Often the boundaries are only a subsection of the unit.
2) remember that these elk migrate from high mountain basins only when the snow is deep enough that they can’t reach feed. Deer migrate much sooner.
3) If there is not elk pressure on the private ground then the lands in the HMA s will not be open.
4) If you are not flexible on your hunting dates maybe consider a different tag if you want a quality hunt. These tags are often weather dependent.
5) Don’t assume the elk will surely have come down by a certain date. They don’t pay attention to the calendar. Only deep snow drives them into the late season zones. Not cold temperatures.
6) Have a reliable local source for weather and migration info. Especially if driving a day or more to hunt.
7) If you are from Texas and think camping in -10 degree weather is fun more power to you. We saw you left after two nights. Probably the best decision.
7a). Hunting hard doesn’t help when there aren’t elk around.
8) Seeing deer on winter range is an OK substitute when the elk aren’t down to play.

9) Locals don’t really care if you get an elk or not. Unless there are 200 head in their field.
10) If you can enjoy the scenery and have plan B then you can make the best of a trip when the elk aren’t around. If you need to see lots of elk then either be flexible or choose something else.

Dang. That was 9 different ways of saying elk weren’t on their winter range.

 

[Addicting]

Remember these tags are Late season tags to apply pressure to elk to prevent them from over running private pastures and hayfields. Often the boundaries are only a subsection of the unit.

I’ve hunted and filled -6 tags on Aug 11 and Sep 25 with a rifle. There is way more opportunity than just late season.

 

[howl]

That's actually a helpful synopsis which will save anyone researching a lot of time or learning by hard knocks.

 

[Dsnow9]

I got a reduced price cow tag because there was a season when my nephew was home from school. I did not take a lot of factors into account and my planning showed it.

I’m not bitter but I learned a few things that might help the next guy who looks at these “deals”

1) Remember these tags are Late season tags to apply pressure to elk to prevent them from over running private pastures and hayfields. Often the boundaries are only a subsection of the unit.
2) remember that these elk migrate from high mountain basins only when the snow is deep enough that they can’t reach feed. Deer migrate much sooner.
3) If there is not elk pressure on the private ground then the lands in the HMA s will not be open.
4) If you are not flexible on your hunting dates maybe consider a different tag if you want a quality hunt. These tags are often weather dependent.
5) Don’t assume the elk will surely have come down by a certain date. They don’t pay attention to the calendar. Only deep snow drives them into the late season zones. Not cold temperatures.
6) Have a reliable local source for weather and migration info. Especially if driving a day or more to hunt.
7) If you are from Texas and think camping in -10 degree weather is fun more power to you. We saw you left after two nights. Probably the best decision.
7a). Hunting hard doesn’t help when there aren’t elk around.
8) Seeing deer on winter range is an OK substitute when the elk aren’t down to play.

9) Locals don’t really care if you get an elk or not. Unless there are 200 head in their field.
10) If you can enjoy the scenery and have plan B then you can make the best of a trip when the elk aren’t around. If you need to see lots of elk then either be flexible or choose something else.

I filled two reduced price cow tags on October first. Gotta research the given tag and unit before you commit to a certain tag. Not all tags are created the same.

 

[madtom]

9) Locals don’t really care if you get an elk or not.

To be fair, I don’t care if other locals get an elk either.

The quality of type 6 and 7 tags is highly variable by unit. Many are great hunts that don’t have challenging access or depend on weather. Some definitely are challenging for those reasons. Sorry you struck out.

 

[Dougfirtree]

Been there. Type 6 tags are funny. I think the big warning flag is often the draw odds. If it's type 6 and the draw odds are 20% it's probably a great hunt that is less weather/access dependant. If your chances are virtually 100% be suspicious about there being a "catch". I guess that can be true for more than type 6 tags in WY...

 

[Bigjay73]

Pretty sure reduced tags can run from August, with an archery permit, until late January. I've been researching my butt off trying to find a cow hunt for next year, doesn't take long to see that the late hints are very finicky and best for people who can hunt on a moments notice. Like stated, easy to grab tags have some sort of strings, figuring that part out is the hard part.

 

[Bigjay73]

I’ve hunted and filled -6 tags on Aug 11 and Sep 25 with a rifle. There is way more opportunity than just late season.

So, you can grab 2 type 6 elk tags like you can for type 6 pronghorn? I didn't even think about that

 

[ccc23454]

Pretty sure reduced tags can run from August, with an archery permit, until late January. I've been researching my butt off trying to find a cow hunt for next year, doesn't take long to see that the late hints are very finicky and best for people who can hunt on a moments notice. Like stated, easy to grab tags have some sort of strings, figuring that part out is the hard part.

is not that there "finicky" its you have to understand the elk and how they use that specfic area. MANY people dont even understand how elk herds work as seasons change and are often hunting in places they think cow elk should be rather than where they are. Most if not all of the list is a hysterically bad representation of truth, but we have all had bad hunts.

 

[Addicting]

So, you can grab 2 type 6 elk tags like you can for type 6 pronghorn? I didn't even think about that

Primary and secondary draw

 

[Bigjay73]

is not that there "finicky" its you have to understand the elk and how they use that specfic area. MANY people dont even understand how elk herds work as seasons change and are often hunting in places they think cow elk should be rather than where they are. Most if not all of the list is a hysterically bad representation of truth, but we have all had bad hunts.

True, but if you don't get the right weather on some of the later hunts, you're going to have a hard time filling the tag. Could be warm and no snow, could be too much snow and inaccessible roads, somethings are out of your control. Some hunts seem to be all about being in the unit the day the elk arrive, which is difficult for anyone more than a few hours away. I'm only going by what my research has told me.

 

[El Guapo]

Can you explain/expand on this:

"3) If there is not elk pressure on the private ground then the lands in the HMA s will not be open."

All of the HMAs I'm familiar with are open during the specified periods on the permission slip/ranch rules, regardless of whether elk are on them or not. Is this a specific clause/rule for certain HMAs?

 

[2rocky]

Can you explain/expand on this:

"3) If there is not elk pressure on the private ground then the lands in the HMA s will not be open."

All of the HMAs I'm familiar with are open during the specified periods on the permission slip/ranch rules, regardless of whether elk are on them or not. Is this a specific clause/rule for certain HMAs?

It is up to the landowner if they will "open the gate" even if they are enrolled in the HMA. Given the mild winter in my case many of the tracts that had roads which could have allowed us to get closer to the high country were closed. It's the landowners call. in this case , there was no elk coming into the private lands, so there was no incentive for the landowner to allow the public in. There were some tracts open but 50% were closed. That's how it goes...I gambled on a normal snow year and it bit me in the butt.

 

[JM77]

You're right @2rocky, reduced price tags suck and no one should apply for them.