area 16 Wyoming Elk 2022

dslaughter

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I'm considering burning points this year in Wyoming. I have one less than max points (so 15 going into this application). I have a chance to draw 16 this year but I'm having really poor luck finding any recent information (other than the data on the game and fish website) on the unit. Does anyone here have firsthand knowledge that they'd be willing to share? I think the potential is definitely there for a great bull but I also know that access to private land could be out of my price range and I don't want to just throw 15 points away because the unit looks good on paper. thanks in advance - dslaughter
 
I've never hunted Shirley Mtns- but have hunted Ferris several times many years ago. They are very popular- but part of that is due to proximity to Casper. Per Eastman's article- Shirley's don't produce many 350 class bulls and may be hard to find good access. Here is the article (a few years old):


Ferris is one of my fav places on the planet- but haven't been there in a very long time. It used to produce some pretty nice bulls...
 
I vote general also..take a couple buddies and make them pay your fare
I considered sharing points with a friend to do a mid-tier unit but at the end of the day I think I'll try for a hunting experience that I can't have here in Colorado.
 
Humm, I've seen bigger than 330 come out of Central Wyoming.
Sorry your missing my point. I state advice in what the average person can expect from hunting the unit that puts in the time and is a good hunter, otherwise its giving the OP an unrealistic expectation. One guy may do better because he has family access to a great ranch another may scout his tail off, another may have already hunted the unit several times and know how the elk behave once the season starts. Yes central wyoming produces some monsters but very few boone and crockett elk. Even a Q Creek elk of 330 shouldn't be passed up in 16. They shoot bigger sometimes but plenty of stories on the ranch of a paying customer passing a 330 first day and having to shoot a 300 to 320 bull.
 
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Sorry your missing my point. I state advice in what the average person can expect from hunting the unit that puts in the time and is a good hunter, otherwise its giving the OP an unrealistic expectation. One guy may do better because he has family access to a great ranch another may scout his tail off, another may have already hunted the unit several times and know how the elk behave once the season starts. Yes central wyoming produces some monsters but very few boone and crockett elk. Even a Q Creek elk of 330 shouldn't be passed up in 16. They shoot bigger sometimes but plenty of stories on the ranch of a paying customer passing a 330 first day and having to shoot a 300 to 320 bull.
 
On average the type 1 produces a better chance at a bigger bull than the type 2 even on the Q, but for the public land or limited access hunter the type 2 has the best potential on producing a monster if the hunter is serious enough to take the hunt down to the wire. Easier for a local resident than a nonresident as weather has the potential to shut the access down unless you have snow machines which are great for a big ranch but not for a public guy going through fences without gates.
 
There's plenty of access to areas in the unit that don't hold elk. Some accessible areas do hold elk, obviously, but at any moment they can drift onto "king-X" and you're left just looking at them.

Be prepared to see hundreds of elk on the Q Creek and not where you can hunt them. This can be the biggest frustration. Seeing them is fun but not rewarding.

If you draw a type 2, weather can become a huge factor and almost any access can be shut down and even more likely the elk are on private. I've had resident friends shut out a couple different times because of snow depths. Killed no elk.

I've hunted it early twice and late once (me and family members with tags) and still don't have a handle on how to kill a big one. We did take 3 nice 6 point bulls, (see 30Hart's posts on size). I have yet to see a bull approach 350 or probably even 340 for that matter. Yes, there's always a possibility of an exceptional bull but in over 8 weeks on the unit, I have not seen one.

I've got sons-in-law and daughters with plenty of points to draw and we have started looking elsewhere.

That's as honest as I can be having actually spent lots of time in the unit vs spewing what I've just read on the internet.

Zeke
 

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