Wyoming area 54 type 1

[7MMRM]

This year due to concerns about possible changes in tag allocations I dumped my points in Wyoming and drew a 54 type 1 tag. I have drawn some great tags here in Colorado over the years but my work situation never allowed for enough time off to really enjoy those hunts. This year I have enough vacation to take a couple of weeks throughout the season to really enjoy the hunt. To say I’m excited is an understatement. I’ve upgraded my optics, spent way too much time at work e-scouting and have had some great discussions with people with experience hunting that area. I’m going to arrive early, hunt the opening week and then go back for another week towards the end of the season in November.
I guess this post is my pressure valve! The 7mm is dialed in and I am amped up!
I look forward to keeping you all posted and any words of encouragement are appreciated.

 

[BuckeyeRifleman]

Wrong thread!

 

[7MMRM]

This year due to concerns about possible changes in tag allocations I dumped my points in Wyoming and drew a 54 type 1 tag. I have drawn some great tags here in Colorado over the years but my work situation never allowed for enough time off to really enjoy those hunts. This year I have enough vacation to take a couple of weeks throughout the season to really enjoy the hunt. To say I’m excited is an understatement. I’ve upgraded my optics, spent way too much time at work e-scouting and have had some great discussions with people with experience hunting that area. I’m going to arrive early, hunt the opening week and then go back for another week towards the end of the season in November.
I guess this post is my pressure valve! The 7mm is dialed in and I am amped up!
I look forward to keeping you all posted and any words of encouragement are appreciated.

Its probably a time to give an update and share my story so far...
I drove up Wednesday before the opener, shot my rifle at the Cody shooting complex (very nice facility with friendly/helpful people) and crashed for the evening. The rifle shot ok at 100 yards, not as good as I'd want but ok... at 200 not nearly as good as I'd want but ok...(This summer I 'upgraded' my scope to a Leupold VX5-HD 3-15/44)...
Thursday we drove to one of my primary locations to scout. The weather was dry but rain was coming. We were seeing elk but all on private ground and I figured this would be the story for this early in the season. It started raining Thursday afternoon. We covered as much country as we could but the public land that I wanted to concentrate on clouded/fogged out pretty bad so by early that afternoon it was time to head back in. Friday was very similar - lots of rain and fog.
One thing that I had not counted on was that a lot of those roads get so bad when it rains that they are just impassable... (like the top 3 inches of road was covered in butter... - good to know...
There was one trail that we hadn't scouted Thursday or Friday due to the weather so I headed in there during opening weekend. Very cool country. I saw a few other hunters but I wouldn't say it was crowded but we just weren't turning up any elk, much less any big bulls on public.
The VRBO we stayed at had river access so after each mornings hunting we'd catch rainbows until we got sick of it, take a nap and head back out. It was a worthwhile trip from a scouting standpoint but still early. Monday morning we woke up to pouring rain so we headed home (saving the vacation days for a better time in the season). Zero grizzly bear encounters...
Now that I'm home, I've been shooting a good deal and I REALLY think my scope has something loose... With 2 weeks left before my return, I'm putting my old Vari-X III 3-10/50 back on and seeing if things tighten back up. This rifle has been a tack driver for years and I can't convince myself that the rifle is the problem. This isn't exactly where I figured I'd be at this point but here we are... and if the problem persists after the scope swap, I'll be in the market for a new rifle... If the rifle is ok, then I'll send the scope in for repair and probably won't have it back in time for the hunt. The other issue is just finding ammunition... Oh the joys of hunting ...!
That's it for now. More updates after I figure this rifle thing out...

 

[The Hedgehog]

I'm glad to have a MT general license and not a 54-1 permit. Good luck with that one. I'm expecting to fare better this year, than I did there in 2020.

 

[7MMRM]

I'm glad for you! Good luck up there!

 

[Sabineshooter]

Not having confidence in my gun setup is one of my worst nightmares . Good luck when you get back up there !

 

[7MMRM]

Well, the season came and went so I thought I'd catch up on this in case anyone researches this hunt in the future.
My last update left off with rifle issues. It turns out it was nothing that a credit card couldn't fix. After I mounted my old scope to my old rifle using a known good ammunition load I was still not able to obtain groups like the rifle had in the past. I did some quick online shopping and made a few phone calls and found a Christensen Arms Mesa 7mm Remington Magnum in stock at the Pueblo Sportsman's Warehouse. After trying a few different loads out of this rifle with my new Leupold VX5-HD scope I was cutting a single hole at 100 yards and shooting a .5 MOA group at 250. Rifle problem solved.
November 11th we headed back to Cody.
If you want details hit me up. Here's the takeaways.
1) I think this is a great hunt for residents that can wait for the weather to do what it needs to for elk to show up.
2) I think the wolves have really done a number on the resident elk in that area/unit. I hunted opening weekend hoping we'd get into some rutting action and we never found elk on public ground.
3) This is a COLD WEATHER HUNT! I was really happy with my gear and I was able to endure sitting behind a spotting scope for hours on end but it was COLD. Being mobile in that much cold weather clothing adds another level of effort. I passed a bull my last day out because it wasn't worth the 1200 foot elevation gain to get it out of the basin it was in.
4) The hunt is a GRIND. Every day you'll do the same thing trying to find elk or waiting on elk to show up.
5) I'm sure it varies year to year but for us, if you get enough snow to push the animals into these areas they can become impassable in a hurry.
6) I've always considered myself a good glasser but this hunt took it to the next level. Sometimes I found elk just by grid searching ridges 2 miles away with the spotter. I never would have picked up those elk with binos.
7) This was a BIG bull hunt. You have to be really comfortable eating your tag and going days on end without seeing something you'd go after. Don't think this is a hunt that you'll settle for a lesser bull on the last day. You may not see a bull on the last day (of any size).
8) I have no sour grapes about our experience. We saw and incredible bull taken within a few miles of us in our unit by another hunter. This unit can produce really big bulls. When I considered how to use my points (1 less than max points) I decided that this hunt would provide me with an adventure and possible opportunities that I would not otherwise have. It provided adventure in spades and I met some really great folks. If I wasn't out for adventure I'd probably lean towards the type 9 archery hunt in 38. I discussed this with my hunting partner this morning. He agreed - it was a great hunt for BIG bulls and we were fine rolling the dice. The points game get's weird for people with one less than max points. From doing research I noticed that in 2021 this moved from a max point hunt to 1 less than max points so we gave it a shot because we never were going to draw a max point unit.
I think this should catch us up. Feel free to reach out if you ever have specific questions.

 

[The Hedgehog]

@7MMRM Even though this is a limited quota, difficult to draw permit, I think you should remove much your last post, or at least the specific details. It may not mean much to you, or even to the casual reader, but to the locals, guides, etc that showed you courtesy during your hunt, keep in mind they will be there next year, and the years to come. Zero reason to simplify where to be focusing on a public forum. Had I known you would be specific here, I would not have been so free with information when you reached out.

 

[7MMRM]

I just deleted most of it. I don't think anything I had up would be news to anyone but you made some good points.

 

[The Hedgehog]

I just deleted most of it. I don't think anything I had up would be news to anyone but you made some good points.

Thank you.