Drew Wyoming Unit 52 Late Season Tag - Sunlight Basin

W

Wyomingben

Guest
Does anyone have any advice or experience with this hunt? It runs from November 22 to December 7. Only 33 Resident tags give with 11 percent odds in 03.

Thanks
Ben
 
Congrats! I drew a 51 late hunt. Its going to be a new deal for me too.

I have had a few friends that have logged this area and/or hunted there. I plan on keying on the migration routes and praying for lots of snow in the park. If not, I will be scouting a few holes for resident elk just so I have an ace up my sleeve.

I assume you live in Wyo? Do you have horses? If you need some outfitter help I could probably get a recommendation.
 
I live in Laramie,Wy. I'm sure that snow will have a big part of it. I've been trying to research at what date did the elk migration started in past years, I'm sure area 50 and 51 would be the about the same. I do not have horses but am considering renting them for the fall. I have researched the Outfitters in the area, looks like $4500 is the going rate on late season hunts. I have stayed at the K Bar Z in the summer and Ate supper there during a Hunt I had a few years ago in 50, its a good outfit. I don't plan on a outfitter at this point but may change my mind. I already have a complete camp, horse trailer, etc. but no horses. Seems the Wolfs up there are in bad shape with mange, good for us I guess. Let me know what you learn about your late season hunt, they seem pretty hard to draw, this was the first year I put in.....hehe. Figured I would just hunt general but didn't want to waste the draw.
 
Find a way to keep your water and other liquids from freezing. I have had 50 late a couple of times, the later the better, but it seems you can hear lots of shooting across the river about a week earlier. I ended up with good bulls late both times. Again, keeping water and beer from freezing was the biggest problem. If you have a trailer or RV, keep some heat going all the time, or drain your lines.
 
Sounds just like what I did. I have an area I love to hunt general tag for elk. I was kind of looking forward to it. We got good tags, but it'll be hunting alone for me anyway. Drives my wife nuts. I'm from Riverton area, so it isnt too far to scout a couple times. I'll let you know if I cross any good info on 52.
 
I have an rv and a 2 wall tents, I was planning leaving the RV at home and hunting out of the tent. It seems like trouble taking an rv in that late in the season, plus tents allow you to camp off road or up jeep trails. Not to mention there is nothing like a canvas tent and a wood fire, knowing there are wolves and Grizzlies in the same valley, of course a shower sure is nice, but there are enough guest ranches in the area finding a shower should be possible, but I'm not sure. When I hunted 50 late a few years back we slept in a suburban just one night. It was warm and no snow, all we saw was a wolf killed elk and wolf tracks. We hiked are butts off, all the way down clarks canyon, then again we only hunted about 2 days. The Sunlight Basin area seems more coveted, with the odds and all. Just wondering how much of my resorces to spend on this tag, as it may take another 11 years to draw. I have drawn a good deer and antelope tag also, so I am trying to figure out how to spend my time and funds with the tags I drew, can't believe I drew first pick on all three, the Deer and Antelope where at about 50 Percent, the elk at 11 Percent. If I knew it would snow 10 feet in the park, I would go all out on elk, but with no snow I will be hunting resident elk that have already been hunted archery and general rifle..... Such Problems...hehehe
 
You might start praying for snow now. No snow equates to poor success with those late season tags. I lived in Cody for awhile. Bears shouldn't be a problem when your season opens. I'd plan on renting horses if you're going to put in the time for a head. I believe Jake Clark out of Powell outfits 52. He's taken some huge elk on his late season hunts. Might be worth a call. Almost no roads in 52 so you're either walking or riding.
 
I checked out Jake Clarks website. Looks like a hard working outfit. For $5500 I could almost hunt Africa less airfair. I am sure it is worth it but still I have that do it yourself attitude, which usually ends up costing more in the long run....lol. Is there public corrals in there? Seems I remember seeing some but can't remember where. I have maped the area -

map.jpg


The Black line on the right is HWY296, also known as Chief Joseph Scenic Highway. Then you take a left on Sunlight Road witch is colored dark blue, I believe the 7D Ranch is close to there. There is about 10 Miles of good road to the ranger station. The Game and Fish planted food plots here, see link,

http://www.outdoorcentral.com/mc/pr/03/11/12a6.asp


The yellow line is the hunt area boundries, it appears that area 52 is about 30 miles long, from the highway to the park. And maybe 15 miles wide at the widest point. The red is wilderness boundries, not a lot of this area is wilderness, but about 4 miles of it separate the area from the park. The Brown line leading from the ranger station is either a road or a horse trail it leads to a ranch building. Another map I have shows roads past that all the way to the wilderness boundry and also up sulfur creek, but I'm not sure. There also seems to be a road a ways up grave bar creek. I have highlighted the drainages in light blue, The good thing is the road is down hill and the area does not go more that 5 miles on either side of the road.

As you can see Dead Indian Peak and Black Mountain are both over 11,000 ft! The Ranger station is at 7500 ft that's quite a elevation change in 3 miles. Anyway look it over and if my map is accurate and anything else I should ad.

Thanks
Ben
 
I had the unit 52 late tag two years ago. I did not kill a bull but I learned a lot about the area. I started my hunt a week after a big storm dropped two feet of snow. Big mistake, a large percentage of the elk had migrated clear through the unit shortly after the storm. They went into unit 51. There were still plenty of elk around but the migration would have been phenomenal.

There were large herds of cows and calves and a few bulls in the northern part of the unit. Most of the northern part of the unit is fairly accessible and there were lots of hunters. The elk there were very spooky and hard to hunt. While glassing some remote areas in the southeastern part of the unit I saw some small groups of very large bulls. I ran out of time and never got all the way back in to those areas. I am fairly sure those are the spots Jake Clark routinely takes big bulls.
 
Cowkiller,

Thanks for the info. What dates did you hunt? Do you believe if you had been there while it was snowing would you of caught them passing through? Was there already snow in the park when this storm hit? Did you hunt on foot or horseback? Do the elk come right down sunligh creek out of the park and go around Black Mountain into 51? Where did you camp? The bulls you spoted where they below Dead Indain Peak and east? Are there any roads in that area or is it horse only? If you could go back which particular drainage would you hunt first, with your experience?

Thanks
Wyomingben
 
Wyomingben, I hunted the last week of the season. There was very little snow in the park prior to the storm. The storm was huge though and it prompted a massive migration. When I got there the snow was already old and crusty. There were huge beaten paths where hundreds of elk had migrated through. Along the main road there were gut piles and drag marks everywhere. People I talked to said many nice bulls were taken along the main road during and shortly after the storm. The main migration route was from the southwest tip of the unit north and east with many trails converging and exiting the unit around Windy Mountain and Russell Peak.

Apart from the migration there appeared to be some areas of regularly used winter range for mature bulls. I saw bulls on all the ridges in a triangle between the Ranger Station, Elkhorn Peak and the ridge that forms the east unit boundary. All of this area is roadless but not so remote you couldn't day hunt it. I would have been all over it but I had a guy from Cody that supposedly was going to show me some B&C bulls. He refused to hike more than a mile or two and I foolishly followed him around until my time ran out. If I could hunt there again I would watch the weather and try to hit it during the first big storm and hunt the migration trails. If I missed the storm I would camp near the ranger station and hike several miles southeast every day. Good luck!
 
THANKS! Sounds like you had some good Elk to hunt, to bad you didn't connect. Are you a resident?

Thanks Agian for the Info,

Ben
 
I am not a resident. It is because of the ridiculous wilderness law that I got hooked up with the guy from Cody. I thought I needed him so I could legally enter the wilderness. The way it turned out, he never would go with me into the wilderness and the biggest bulls I saw were not in the wilderness anyway. I made a lot of mistakes in the planning and execution of that hunt but the biggest mistake was relying on another person. I continued to hunt with him and look over the same average bulls while the big bulls were plain to see just a few miles away. In retrospect I am convinced he really didn't want me to kill one of "his" big bulls and took me hunting in order to keep that from happening.
 
>Anyone else know anything about this
>Unit?

WyomingBen, where's some good places in moose area 38 to look for larger bulls. Figure you might have some good insight being a Laramie boy.
 
Hello Ben, I enjoy your video adds on ebay!
As for 52 I cannot add any valuable info that hasn't been covered already but can add my experience with 52.
A buddy and I drew in 98, we booked with Morning Creek as we were not equipped with horses & our time was limited. It was a 4 day hunt, the last four days of the season. We took our bulls on the 3rd day of the hunt after a all day snow storm on the 2nd day of the hunt. We spotted my bull in the headlights before 1st light not far from the correls, We driving to where the road ended with the horses to begin our day. The herd of elk spooked and back tracked over the mountain when we meet them on the road. We simply waited for light and followed there fresh tracks in the snow. I took the best bull out of the herd which officially scored 379 7/8 gross & 362 1/8 net. My buddy took a 330 class later in the day.
My advise is as previous stated. Hunt the migration route. Hunt late & hunt the storms.
Good luck my friend, that tag is a hell of a draw! Enjoy!
High5
 
Not sure about area 30, is that the Pinedale area? If so all I know is there are lots of moose there. I alway apply for the Bighorn Mtns, as I am familiar with the moose country there.
 
Wow, 379, thats a whopper. Do you have any pictures you could post? So I know what an elk like that looks like!

Thanks
Wyomingben
 
LAST EDITED ON Jul-14-04 AT 07:30PM (MST)[p]Ben, I'm sure I could email pictures but as far as posting I'm still a rookie, I don't have those skills yet.
High5
 
Here are pics of High5's Elk. I would say its a monster anywhere you go!

high5elk1.jpg


high5elk2.jpg


Thanks
Wyomingben
 
Did a little scouting this past weekend. Where in the unit do you shoot this big bull?
 

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