big horn mts elk hunts?

adubs · Sep 30, 2014

I have 5 pts after this year and my brother has 7. We are considering cashing the pts next year and attempting to hunt either 35, 38, or 45. We also have another brother, father and two family friends (total of 6) that have 5 pts as well. The two of us are considering getting the type 1 license (in the special draw if neccessary) and booking an outfitter for the archery hunt, if we're not successful we'll rifle hunt with the rest of the group in an attempt to fill our tags.

My question is what unit do you think we'd have the best hunt on (probably 45) and do you think an outfitter is neccessary. We've had pretty good success in the past but mainly on 300 class bulls and under. (only a couple 300+ in 16 years of public land diy hunts) We're really hoping to get a chance at that 300-330+ bull on our wyoming hunt and would wait another year or two if we felt that would increase our odds or book an outfitter in an effort to increase our odds for success on a mature bull. I've found 4 outfitters in 38 and 45, Ross adney with beaver trap in 38, jeff smith of seven j in 45, todd jones with paint rock adventures in 45, and jeff schweighart of hot springs outfitting in 45 also. Have any of you hunted with any of these outfitters or do you know of friends/family that have. We're trying to keep the cost as low as we can ($5000 or under). We paid $11000 for a hunt for our father in utah in 2010 and the guide had him pull the trigger on the first 6 pt we saw, thinking it was a 320-330 bull, it scored an even 302. Not that it isn't a good bull and the hunt was still fun, just not what we had in mind for $11000...

Thanks for any feedback,

Adubs

WapitiBob · Sep 30, 2014

LAST EDITED ON Sep-30-14 AT 06:18PM (MST)[p]38 doesn't have an archery season for a type 1 license, 37/45 do however.

ironranger · Sep 30, 2014

A friend and I hunted 45 a few years ago on a non type 1 so we started Sept 15th with the bow hunt. Saw elk but not a ton....we both got close to at least one big bull and I missed a satellite bull (Hit log that I was shooting over). Ended up arrowing a spike bull (My choice as I needed to make a good shot after wounding one a few years ago) and my friend ate his tag. I talked to one Wyoming resident and his wife and they had gotten into more elk (Experience as they had hunted it before) and he had shot a huge bull a few years before (406 according to him) and his best tip was to get off the roads and put down some boot leather which I guess would be the best tip just about anywhere!!

Of course as a non resident we couldn't hunt Cloud Peak Wilderness. We hunted north of Deer Haven mostly and some to the south of Meadowlark Lake. We didn't get up to Paintrock Canyon area until the rifle season and I wish we had spent some time hunting there. The biggest mistake we made was not moving around more and trying different areas. Still, I'd hunt it again as the country was fairly easy to navigate compared to some hell holes I've been in Colorado and it was just an enjoyable hunt for us. My hunting partner mentioned an outfitter in 45 and I called him to ask the name. If I get that I'll forward to you....as far as whether you'd need an outfitter I'll leave that to those with more experience with Wyoming as I have only hunted the state twice for elk.

WVHUNTER · Oct 1, 2014

You need to take a close look at the draw odds before you get too deep into your decision making.

For instance no one in 2014 drew an Area 45 Type 1 tag with 5 points in the preference point draws.

If you and your brother averaged your points you would have 6 and some 45 tags were drawn with 6 but it wasn't 100%

adubs · Oct 1, 2014

yup WVHUNTER I've seen the updated numbers but if you look at the trend over the last three years you'll notice something. I do realize 38 is a for sure, 35 is very likely and 45 is about a coin flip. I've talked to the biologist in 38, and have been playing phone tag with the biologist from 45 and 35 the past few days. I'm interested to see what they have to say?

Thanks for the feedback though

WVHUNTER · Oct 2, 2014

I don't know if the 35, 38 and 45 hunts you are looking at are private or public land but you have about the same chance of drawing Area 7 as 45.

If you are willing to pay $5,500 each for a guided hunt you would be all private in Area 7 and there would be 320-350 type bulls on the property. Of course that doesn't mean you would be able to get on them.

cmbbulldog · Oct 4, 2014

PM Sent

Sierra · Oct 4, 2014

Unit 45 isn't that easy unless you really know the area and have horses. Not too mention that point creep will hurt your chances of drawing. If you do draw, you should consider hiring a guide.

440sixpack · Oct 5, 2014

I've hunted 45 twice and I'd agree with Sierra if you want a decent bull.

If any bull would do then a DIY isn't that hard.

Stay thirsty my friends

desperatehills · Oct 5, 2014

We applied for 45 last year in the regular price draw. My friend had max points and my wife and I were one less with the forth applicant being two back of max for a average of 7....... Unsuccessful! Draw odds had us at 42% but that is difficult to predict since many people buy points until they apply

adubs · Oct 5, 2014

thank for all the feedback and pm's everyone. We are planning on throwing our names in the hat in the special draw for 45. We most likely won't draw but if we do my brother and myself will be going guided for the archery portion of the type 1 and if we don't score on that we'll go back with rifles. We have enough points to draw our MT archery hunt next year (most likely) and if WY and MT both come up unsuccessful we'll head to NM. I'm really looking forward to our WY hunt, hope its in 2015 but if it takes a year or two longer so be it. It could be worse... could be sitting on 10 points in CO and not have any chance of drawing a quality tag unless you want to go 20 or 40 and pay good $$ for private?oh wait I am in that situation ;-/

adubs