npaden
Well-known member
If you like to hunt opening day I think you can hunt about 6 different opening days too. Pretty easy to coordinate it with your work schedule if you have times that are busy vs. times that aren't.
WY General Elk Tag options
- Thread starter Arrowed
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D
Deleted member 18333
Guest
Arrowed,
Look to the Wyoming Range, Salt River, Greys River range units. Anywhere from Cokeville to Jackson is about as cant miss as you can get. There is a reason they have any elk seasons along with the bulls only seasons and so many reduced price cow/calf tags. You and your father would have to try hard to not find elk. Not trying to over simplify it, but honestly, pick one of those units, find a drainage with timber on one side, openings on the other and hunt it. I would be stunned if you did not find elk.
Look to the Wyoming Range, Salt River, Greys River range units. Anywhere from Cokeville to Jackson is about as cant miss as you can get. There is a reason they have any elk seasons along with the bulls only seasons and so many reduced price cow/calf tags. You and your father would have to try hard to not find elk. Not trying to over simplify it, but honestly, pick one of those units, find a drainage with timber on one side, openings on the other and hunt it. I would be stunned if you did not find elk.
D
Deleted member 18333
Guest
Wytex,
Interesting! Where I typically hunt elk I can ever recall seeing sheep. I am guessing you were south of where I hunt. Just a guess. They run cattle where I hunt and my experience has been that the elk could not care less about the cattle. I remember the first year I ever hunted elk. The day before the opener, I dropped into this small basin with a big sage covered flat in the middle of it. earlier that day I have glassed a couple of nice bulls out on the flat. When I go to the flat I found it looked like a stock yard. Poop, piss puddles, grass grazed to nubs. Not knowing much about anything bigger than a turkey I just assumed it had been from domestic sheep. When I got to the same place at first light on opening day, there were well over 100 elk on that flat. Bulls bugling, chasing off smaller bulls, hooking cows, etc. It was quite a sight. I have never seen a sheep one in this basin but every time I have hunted it I have seen elk.
Interesting! Where I typically hunt elk I can ever recall seeing sheep. I am guessing you were south of where I hunt. Just a guess. They run cattle where I hunt and my experience has been that the elk could not care less about the cattle. I remember the first year I ever hunted elk. The day before the opener, I dropped into this small basin with a big sage covered flat in the middle of it. earlier that day I have glassed a couple of nice bulls out on the flat. When I go to the flat I found it looked like a stock yard. Poop, piss puddles, grass grazed to nubs. Not knowing much about anything bigger than a turkey I just assumed it had been from domestic sheep. When I got to the same place at first light on opening day, there were well over 100 elk on that flat. Bulls bugling, chasing off smaller bulls, hooking cows, etc. It was quite a sight. I have never seen a sheep one in this basin but every time I have hunted it I have seen elk.
I'll also add, I hunt one of those units that are on the lower end of success rates and see/hear elk every single day. In 13 years of hunting this unit I think I can count on one hand the days I haven't seen or heard an elk. In the last 5 years I don't recall not seeing or hearing elk during a day of hunting. It obviously took a lot of work, all of the Wyoming general units do. But if you can put a plan together and find some elk to hunt it's very rewarding. Get at least a mile off the road and you'll be into elk.
Hunted north of Viva Naughton and soon as you got away from sheep elk were bugling their heads off. Love that country, found elk in little pockets of timber below the forest. We may have been a little too early as the sheep were being moved down. Elk above them and below just not even in the same vicinity as the sheep. Lots of grouse hunting over there, blue and ruffed.
A ranch I used to work with in UT would bring in a couple bands of sheep in the summer to move the elk off the high elevation riparian areas. Not sure if its the sheep or the dogs/humans herding them that move the elk off, but either way they generally aren't around sheep.
Took us a couple of days to figure out why no elk where there was lots of sign, then we found the herd, sheep that is. Between the dogs and hundreds of sheep I know why they move out now.
Back to OP, lots of good general areas just have to work for those elk. Sometimes however the hunting pressure can work for you. Hunt during the week and avoid the holiday weekend for archery. Rifle season I would be there opening day if possible waiting for someone to bump one by me. Biologist can tell you which areas have good population dynamics. Call the regional office in the areas you're looking at. Sierra Madre and Snowy Range get hunted hard by residents but usually on the weekends.
Back to OP, lots of good general areas just have to work for those elk. Sometimes however the hunting pressure can work for you. Hunt during the week and avoid the holiday weekend for archery. Rifle season I would be there opening day if possible waiting for someone to bump one by me. Biologist can tell you which areas have good population dynamics. Call the regional office in the areas you're looking at. Sierra Madre and Snowy Range get hunted hard by residents but usually on the weekends.
You'll do fine in unit 13,21 or 98.I've hunted all of those units.If your east of wyoming,I wouldn't drive past units 13/21 to go hunt 98.And I wouldn't pass 98 to go hunt 13/21.Next time I draw general,I'll be hunting 98 and then over to 13.I've never had any trouble finding elk in Wyoming
Epfd217
Member
I'm not sure if its still true, but I believe unit 21 kills more elk than any other zone in the state. 21 kills more elk than some units have in herd size. However, in order to kill that many elk there has to be that many hunters. Everything has its trade off.
I think Snowy made my point better than I did. Talk to your dad and decide what kind of hunt you would like to have. Think about your reasonable expectations and compare the two. If you want a pre-rut high country archery hunt, but you don't think you can do it physically, then look for some zones with more moderate terrain. The elk will still be in rut.
The ability to draw the General tag every other year is an amazing opportunity for elk hunters.
I think Snowy made my point better than I did. Talk to your dad and decide what kind of hunt you would like to have. Think about your reasonable expectations and compare the two. If you want a pre-rut high country archery hunt, but you don't think you can do it physically, then look for some zones with more moderate terrain. The elk will still be in rut.
The ability to draw the General tag every other year is an amazing opportunity for elk hunters.
I hunted 21 in 2015. There are a metric-ton of hunters. as a non-resident, you cannot hunt the wilderness area either. It was pretty discouraging to us to pull up to the trailhead and see 9 pickups already there. Met some nice people though!
TahoeWesternHunter
Member
I think the advice given about what experience you're looking for is really important. I have my first WY elk tag this year and will head into an area my dad has told stories of for 30 years. I just want to hunt that terrain and get him in those mountains one more time while he still can. Plus, a few more years and I'll have a mule deer tag for the same unit so I will start learning the area now.
What do you want from the hunt? If it's simply your best chance and harvesting then narrow it to the areas with the best success rates and decent access.
Good luck!
What do you want from the hunt? If it's simply your best chance and harvesting then narrow it to the areas with the best success rates and decent access.
Good luck!
