WY unit 31 - hype?

[glacial21]

Anyone with 5 minutes to study the WY elk stats has their eye drawn to unit 31. It is incredibly tough to draw and the success rate is very high.

Having never been down there, I am curious about the details. My topo programs shows fairly easy terrain absolutely crisscrossed with roads. Do the lucky few who get this tag mostly road hunt? Do many of them try the archery season?

Almost everyone with a tag shoots a bull, but are they big bulls? Some units are tough to draw because of their trophy potential and some are tough to draw because they offer ridiculously easy access to elk. Which one of those characterizes unit 31 best?

Any thoughts?

 

[jims]

What do you classify as a big bull...P&Y...B&C...one that fills a freezer? Some people consider a 300 class bull huge while others may think a 300 is a dink? You would be pretty amazed at how many guys can't tell the difference between a 280...300 or 330 bull. It is pretty funny how some hunters wait so many years to draw a tag and then shoot the first bull they see! If success is high there must be a reason? I know I didn't answer your questions but may give you a few things to think about?

 

[WyoXtec]

If you can get a tag...

You will see a bunch of elk and probably get a 330-350 class bull if you know what you're doin. Don't expect much bigger even though it is possible. Easy access, public land, archery pressure depends year to year, usually low but it depends on who draws the tags. I videoed a 350 bull from the truck around the end of the rifle hunt this year, my boss had a 102 deer tag and all we could find were dinks and elk.

Good luck in the draw.

WyoXtec

 

[bonepiler]

I would classify area 31 as "rediculously easy to access elk" more than I would its "trophy potential". I had a pronghorn tag in the unit this year and also spent a couple of days photographing elk. I would expect most people will shoot a 320 class bull or less. I didn't see anything this year that really impressed me that much. Roads and old seismic trails do criss-cross the unit and a couple of large wildfires a few years ago removed a huge portion of the pinyon-juniper cover on the unit, making it easy to find the elk.

 

[glacial21]

Thanks for the input guys.

It is hard to decide where to apply, given the current P.point situation. I want to make sure I draw a hunt that I would really enjoy.

I love hunting tough alpine terrain more than anything. So, if I am going to use my Wyoming application on one of these low, sagebrush-country hunts I want it to have some serious trophy potential. I guess I am weighing out hunting the kind of country I love vs. my want to take a big bull. If unit 31 offers an excellent chance at a 330" bull, I would consider it. If the bulls top out below that, give me hard times up in the mountains in another unit!

 

[ktc]

21,

I have been in that unit twice. It is hardly a trophy unit? I mean, there are a little above average elk, but not 350+ or anything. I think you can get the occasional one, but I would expect 320 and probably less. If you like timber line stuff you will not like it. This is like antelope country.

I seriously doubt preference points will matter in this unit for many many years. If it was Utah I would wait. I would not wait for 31.