Units 90,101 & 102

elkhunter7pt · Oct 25, 2010

Looking at these units for putting in for deer, I have 5 points.
What could I expect to see in these units for quailty of deer. Are there to many tags to make it a zoo? Any help would be appreciated.

bigbuckman2 · Nov 10, 2010

I hunted 102 this year with my son. The first week is a zoo but it thins out pretty good after that. We saw a couple of great bucks and harvested a pretty good one. Great hunt.

kbuck · Nov 10, 2010

I also hunted 102 the last 5 days of the season they give too many tags for the unit. Alot of young bucks are shot the last couple of days because the hunters no they wont draw the tag for a long time.I hunted hard from sunup until dark an saw one mature buck about a 170 class deer. The hunter i was with shot a 168 class buck only 3 an half years old. If i had max pts. again i would not put in for 102 unless your happy shooting a 140 to 150 class buck a 20 to 22" 4x4. I love the unit great glassing lots of good country but the quality of bucks are not what i was looking for. Sorry guys i am telling you like it is. I wish someone would of posted something like i did before i burned my points. I guess that is why they call it hunting an i love to do it.

Cahunter805 · Nov 10, 2010

Any pics of the bucks guys???

losthuntr · Nov 10, 2010

hunted 102 saw great bucks while scouting and during archery season went out the last 4 days of rifle and got so sick of looking at 24 incher's I finally just shot one so I could make it home in time to go trick or treating.

shelbys · Nov 10, 2010

LAST EDITED ON Nov-10-10 AT 11:02PM (MST)[p]Sounds a lot like the Book Cliffs rifle hunt in Utah. Fun to see lots of decent bucks, but a bit frustrating to not see monsters like they once had out there. Crazy how the Book Cliffs takes 11 points for Non Residents and 8 for Residents. You can shoot just as good of a buck in the Central or Southeastern general units as you see in the Book Cliffs. (Sorry, not trying to hijack your thread, just drawing a comparison).

losthuntr · Nov 10, 2010

a few I saw in 102 scouting

early july

a couple days before the opener

never did find one worth shooting but saw a lot of bucks about the size of these one's

kbuck · Nov 11, 2010

Exactly what i saw also those pics were the top end bucks we saw. We saw an average of 20 bucks a day no shooters.

losthuntr · Nov 12, 2010

I saw better bucks but the elk hunt has been running for 15 days by the time the deer rifle starts and the bigger bucks are definately hid out and harder to find

Triple_BB · Nov 13, 2010

Shouldn't be any disappointment with what you saw. I bet if you phoned the WY G&F, they'd tell you right up front they're not managing as much for quality as they are for hunter opportunity. Each is mutually exclusive of the other and folks have been slow to figure this out with 102. Look at the increase in tags over the last 10 years. In this state if you want a monster, you need to research outfitter websites in those parts of the state where they traditionally pull better than average bucks. Some places with large tracks of deeded ground consistently produce B&C bucks every year. My choice would be south of Rawlins...

losthuntr · Nov 13, 2010

You read me wrong if you thought that I was disapointed with the hunt it was easy and the rest of my party were just after bucks but as far as seeing giant bucks I think I'll stick to the general hunt this was the first time I'd every applied for a draw area and more than likely the last until I have no general area's to hunt

backpacker · Nov 20, 2010

losthuntr, did you see many bigger bucks during the archery season and just not during the last few days of rifle? I was debating if I should burn my points and then hunt the archery, or just keep saving them.

losthuntr · Nov 21, 2010

I saw a lot of bucks, there are definately bigger bucks out there I passed on better bucks archery hunting than I saw while rifle hunting but the place is a zoo during the rifle hunt people everywhere 400 deer hunters, and atleast that many hunting elk plus everybody who is out there helping them spot I saw 2 bucks scouting that would push 200 typical but never could locate them again. watched anouther buck all summer then watched 6 others guys put the sneak on him during archery hunt he was also pushing 200 plus I know of 3 bucks that came off of the unit that were well over 200 inches this season

elkhunter7pt · Nov 21, 2010

So if I passed on these units are there any others with public land that have more limited tag numbers and have a healthy population of deer?

losthuntr · Nov 21, 2010

I don't know, I prefer the general hunt and backpacking just hunting deer while I hunt elk. That's the tag people around here want mainly because it's such an easy hunt unless your after something giant then it's almost as hard to hunt as anywhere

HiMtnHntr · Nov 21, 2010

Even with max points it's tough to draw these areas. If you don't mind waiting, putting the time and effort into these areas could really pay off. If you want to hunt every year or every other year, the trick then would be to pick a place with reasonable deer numbers, plenty of remote country, and learn the heck out of it. Big deer come from these areas. The mixed reviews you get from people who hunted the "top" areas should tell you something. Not everybody will kill a big buck! It takes a combination of time, effort, skill, and luck to pull a big deer from anywhere, even these "top" areas. One guy will tell you its the cats azz because he pounded a bruiser, and another guy will tell you he aint going back because all he saw were tons of mediocre deer. October seasons can be tough for big bucks. They just aren't in the habit of moving much during that time of year, especially when the lead starts flying!

piper · Nov 22, 2010

In area 102 I saw four or five 170+ bucks last year during the rut, they are there. I don't think the size of antlers is that good in area 90. There are no great sure fire big buck areas in WY, at least that I know about. There are some big bucks in the general areas, just like there are big ones in the general areas in Utah , the problem is there aren't very many big ones and there are lots and lots of hunters.