Wyoming elk units

jgriffin82 · Dec 1, 2016

My party of 4 will have an average of 7.75 points going into the 2017 draw for elk. Should we hold out a couple more years to draw a better unit or are there units we can draw that have a really good chance at a 300-320 bull? We've hunted WY deer around Rock Springs and Casper, never had an elk tag though. We'd like to stay away from the special draw. Thanks.

Jim

finnman · Dec 1, 2016

Um, just go general unit. Some of them have a great chance at a nice bull. My brother in law hunted a general unit this fall and with that October snow they ended up 4for5 on bulls, two were 6x6's.

WapitiBob · Dec 1, 2016

^^ Don't do this

HiMtnHntr · Dec 1, 2016

Yeah, with that many pp I would not go general.

chipc · Dec 1, 2016

No way would I go general with that many points. I don't know what your definition of "really good chance at a 300-320 bull"is. Too many variables to answer that one - how much will you scout ? how hard will you hunt ? How far can you hike ? Do you have horses, etc, etc, 300-320 is a pretty nice bull and to have a realistic chance at one in a 7 preference point unit you'll have to work hard and get lucky. Yes, there are plenty of stories about those people who do much better than that. Thats always possible but its not the norm. My daughter and buddy had a 7 PP unit tag in the Bighorns last fall. They both killed nice 5 points.They were the best bulls we had a chance at. We hiked an average of 12 miles per day and had a great hunt. I saw several 300 + inch bulls but they were on private. GOOD LUCK

Thomas11 · Dec 2, 2016

I would think there are several units u could draw that would be quality hunts. I think u gotta decide if u want to or ok w hunting in grizzly country or do u want to go w one of the bighorn units? But no way would I burn that many points on a general hunt! That's just plain dumb?

HalfAce · Dec 2, 2016

Burn nearly a decade of waiting and $400 on points just to hunt general? Not a good idea. There is a reason units take 1 point or max points. Its because of perceived quality of the hunt and trophy potential. Take a loo at last years draws, see what units can be drawn in the regular draw with 7 to 7.5 points, make a list and come back with some more specific questions on what units to try. I'm sure you will get a bit better of a response. But don't go general.

HiMtnHntr · Dec 2, 2016

LAST EDITED ON Dec-02-16 AT 06:31PM (MST)[p]It would be warranted if you had intimate knowledge of a specific bull in an area that nobody else knew about or access to private land or you tied one to a tree, but for darn near 8 pp you are in a few decent mid tier areas. A search of the draw stats will reveal a relatively short list in that category.

jgriffin82 · Dec 2, 2016

LAST EDITED ON Dec-02-16 AT 09:18PM (MST)[p] I sincerely appreciate the info and guidance. I've preliminarily narrowed our choices down to 29 possible hunts through the regular NR PP draw and 4 hunts through the special draw. These are units that had 100% draw rate with <8 points. I am aware that we still aren't guaranteed a tag with 7.75 point average.
I'll study my OnX chip and narrow down even further from there based on wilderness and access. After that criteria has been sifted through, i'll focus on harvest stats and season dates. That's how i've done it in the past and it's worked well.
We don't mind hunting grizzly country. We'll just be a bit more on edge and will be packing a couple pounds of iron and lead in a chest rig!
Allow me to clarify how I define a good chance at a 300+ bull. It'll be 4 of us hunting. We hunt very hard. We don't have quads and horses so we put a lot of miles on our Chevrolegs! 10-12 miles a day is definitely doable for us. We average slightly less than that in CO GMU 66 and 54 elk hunting. That is steep country. Especially GMU 54! If one of us can see a bull or two in 300+ category, that's what I consider a good chance.
I know we won't all kill big bulls. Hell, I doubt we'll all kill bulls. We average 35% success on a 2 PP draw unit and two OTC units in SW Colorado. That's pretty much our expectation when we elk hunt. Of course in CO, we've hunted the same GMU multiple times and have a really intimate knowledge of the specific area we hunt in that unit. Every year our harvest opportunity has improved vastly.

Thanks again fellas.

Jim

finnman · Dec 2, 2016

Just to clarify.......going general was as a 2nd choice option, not first!
Get your points, hunt general see how it goes, build another point!
I have had more friends kill larger bulls in WY on the general tags then hard to draw Units.
Some of these units are cream and fluff, you have to wade through it all to see the clear picture.

jgriffin82 · Dec 2, 2016

LAST EDITED ON Dec-02-16 AT 11:34PM (MST)[p]Below is my preliminary list of units that were drawn in 2016 with <8 PP, special or regular which is noted in the last column. These are the ones with 50% harvest or better. There are about ten more options that aren't listed. They're sorted by success rates. The success rates are R and NR combined for the specific hunt type. I'm thinking the ones that have high success rates and are able to be drawn in the regular draw, may have NR access issues. I may be completely wrong. I'll do that research tomorrow.

Unit Type Dates Success Special or Regular

122 1 10/15-11/30 79.3 R
108 1 10/11-10/31 76 R
125 1 10/1-12/31 70.8 R
19 1 10/1-10/14 69.6 R
48 1 10/9-10/31 68.1 R
19 2 11/1-11/20 64.2 R
118 1 10/22-11/22 64 S
91 1 10/1-10/31 63.8 R
120 1 10/9-10/31 63.4 S
49 1 10/9-10/31 63.3 S
47 1 10/9-10/31 58.2 R
8 1 10/1-10/31 58.1 R
7 1 10/15-11/20 57.8 S
35 1 10/15-11/5 57.8 R
117 1 10/15-11/30 57 R
39 1 10/15-11/4 55.2 R
64 2 11/1-11/15 55.2 S
23 1 10/1-10/31 52.9 R
88 1 10/1-10/31 51.4 R
38 1 10/15-11/5 50.6 R
25/27 1 10/1-10/31 50 R
40 1 10/15-11/4 49.7 R
45 1 10/15-11/4 49.7 S (89%)

WapitiBob · Dec 2, 2016

Split your points and go over two years. Locals like late hunts.

chipc · Dec 6, 2016

Jim, remember that those harvest odds include both Bulls AND Cows.

jgriffin82 · Dec 6, 2016

Thanks Chip. I did make a note of that when I compiled that list. I wish WY did their harvest reports like CO. Broken down by antlered and antlerless. Definitely makes the decision making process a bit easier and clearer, for me anyhow. I haven't been able to do much more with my research since compiling that list. Too busy at home to sit down for a minute! Gotta come to work to get a couple minutes of free time!

Jim

jgriffin82 · Dec 7, 2016

I was looking at last Jan/Feb Eastman's mag with the WY elk MRS. Eastman's stats listed success rates on branch antlered bulls, 2014-2012. Does WY provide these stats or did Eastman's extrapolate these from the harvest reports? I'm narrowing my list down and would love to see these numbers at the source to confirm accuracy.

We're now considering going outfitted. Unit 61 looks promising if we do decide to go this way. Could you guys recommend a good outfitter for the unit?

Thanks,
Jim

brdhuntr · Dec 7, 2016

>I was looking at last Jan/Feb
>Eastman's mag with the WY
>elk MRS. Eastman's stats listed
>success rates on branch antlered
>bulls, 2014-2012. Does WY provide
>these stats or did Eastman's
>extrapolate these from the harvest
>reports? I'm narrowing my list
>down and would love to
>see these numbers at the
>source to confirm accuracy.
>
>We're now considering going outfitted. Unit
>61 looks promising if we
>do decide to go this
>way. Could you guys recommend
>a good outfitter for the
>unit?
>
>Thanks,
>Jim

Trails's West is hands down the one to go with. A friend has hunted with them three times,and had great experiences every time. Check out their web site,i will probably use them some day myself. Good luck..

WapitiBob · Dec 7, 2016

Wyoming breaks down success rates, bull/spike/cow/calf per hunt code, per res/nr, per unit.

Link is on the hunting page.

jgriffin82 · Dec 7, 2016

The harvest reports tell you how many of each type of elk were killed and how many licenses were issued per hunt type but, it isn't specific on how many NR hunters had any elk, antlered elk and antlerless licenses. I'll have to extract that from the drawing reports. Colorado and Nevada spoil us with the way they compile their stats!

Teepee · Dec 8, 2016

Bob Sundeen sold Trails West. The area will still be very good though. I would still recommend. I've hunted it several times as a resident (DYI). I still apply for the tag, just can't draw it.