Western Wyoming not as bad as I thought

Founder

Founder

Founder Since 1999
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Did a two backpack trip in the high country this week. Looked at 26 bucks and at least 8 of them were yearling bucks. There's definitely not as many bucks as last year, but it wasn't as bad as that collared deer data portrayed.
Last year I averaged 16.4 bucks per day over 23 days. The area I was in this week isn't a place I scouted last year, so I can't compare it directly, but it's at least something.

I was skeptical of that collared deer data before going scouting, now I have very little faith in it at all. Another member here on the site also did 3 days scouting and about 25% of what he looked at were yearling bucks. The collared deer data said all fawns died. Obviously just a few days in the high country is very little to go on and I'll need more time to have a good opinion, but you can take it for what it's worth.

Sure a LOT of elk! I think I looked at 400+. They were everywhere!
 
That’s good news from where you sit. Was just up through Greys River mid June on our way to Yellowstone. Scouted two days and I didn’t like what I saw. Saw elk yes, deer no. I normally hunt that area. Now - I will say - there were still large pockets of snow up high - so I hope they were still making their way to the high country.

Fingers crossed. Time will tell. Hope that the herd prevails !
 
I’ve been to the Wyoming Range the last 3 weekends, Deer seemed late showing up but each time more and more deer have shown up. I’ve been impressed seeing all age classes of deer and boots on the ground seems to be different than the collar data. Deer look healthy, antler growth might be a little behind but looking good.
 
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For what it’s worth, I set up an outfitter for H as I have never been there and did not expect to draw. He took my deposit and stated he would make a scouting trip 7/1 and let me know if we would hunt or return my deposit. He reported back Tuesday that it’s a go and the deer looked good. Will see when we get there in mid September if he was right.
 
JB1975 said:
For what it’s worth, I set up an outfitter for H as I have never been there and did not expect to draw. He took my deposit and stated he would make a scouting trip 7/1 and let me know if we would hunt or return my deposit. He reported back Tuesday that it’s a go and the deer looked good. Will see when we get there in mid September if he was right.
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You'll need a good pair of boots for that hunt.
 
DoubleDropMuley said:
That’s because you took a ford over a Jeep ???
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I still took the toyota ?? the ford, chevy, and dodge are all hid away in the garage ?

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Gary Fralik did a podcast with Robby Denning on the ROKSLIDE forum. It was a good interview. Not advertising another site on MM, just his knowledge is pertinent to this thread and I know FOUNDER has met with him. Gary wouldn't commit to saying how much of the herd may have perished in the winter and won't know until this fall when deer return to the winter range. All he had also was the collared data and his observations on the ground. He didn't recommend any reduction in NR tags, that came from the commission. After this falls classification flights we'll have a better understanding on actual herd loss.
 
Wyo_Roadhunter said:
Haha had to pull off people get sensitive when you park in the middle of the road ?. Also unfortunately I've glassed up way more wyoming residents out driving on imaginary roads than utards.
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Those wyo residents are previous utard residents. I was in montana on a sxs ride Saturday and a rancher has cattle up on the forest and the rancher had no problem driving a few hundred yards off the dirt road to drop off a salt block
 
Just saw this thread. Glad you had some scouting luck founder. It gives me hope. Been pretty doom and gloom in the northern parts of g and Southern parts of H this summer so far. I just returned from a scouting trip myself and it was unsuccessful to say the least. The areas I was in usually produce dozens of bucks a day. I saw 2 in three days. It adds up after seeing the carnage on the winter range this spring. We saw hundreds of dead deer on a 9 mile hike this may. Looks like some sub herds got hit harder than others. On a good note. I have been seeing a few really big bucks compared to last. Seems to be all that is left in my location
 
JB1975 said:
For what it’s worth, I set up an outfitter for H as I have never been there and did not expect to draw. He took my deposit and stated he would make a scouting trip 7/1 and let me know if we would hunt or return my deposit. He reported back Tuesday that it’s a go and the deer looked good. Will see when we get there in mid September if he was right.
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I’ll be in H as well with an outfitter for my first mule deer hunt. Looking forward to the adventure.
 
Animals are resilent and adaptative. They just need the habitat. Especially mule deer. Focus on maintaining and creating good habitat by letting wildfires burn naturally, weed control, and keeping to good grazing practices.
 
El Gringo said:
That’s excellent news! It sure has been doom and gloom lately.

I’m Certain Wyoming will be adding Non Res tags back the p
Founder said:
Did a two backpack trip in the high country this week. Looked at 26 bucks and at least 8 of them were yearling bucks. There's definitely not as many bucks as last year, but it wasn't as bad as that collared deer data portrayed.
Last year I averaged 16.4 bucks per day over 23 days. The area I was in this week isn't a place I scouted last year, so I can't compare it directly, but it's at least something.

I was skeptical of that collared deer data before going scouting, now I have very little faith in it at all. Another member here on the site also did 3 days scouting and about 25% of what he looked at were yearling bucks. The collared deer data said all fawns died. Obviously just a few days in the high country is very little to go on and I'll need more time to have a good opinion, but you can take it for what it's worth.

Sure a LOT of elk! I think I looked at 400+. They were everywhere!
Click to expand...
Sooo, I have a General Elk Tag this year........ ?Just Sayin. Lol! Sounds like a great scouting trip!
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I spent 2.5 days backpacking in the unit. Located a good number of deer and a few decent bucks. Question is, how much additional antler growth would you expect to see in the next couple weeks?
 
_gloomis said:
I spent 2.5 days backpacking in the unit. Located a good number of deer and a few decent bucks. Question is, how much additional antler growth would you expect to see in the next couple weeks?
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I’d say about the norm. Some bucks were done at the end of July, while some will put a bit more on and even fewer, the some of the best bucks, could add 3-4 inches on back tines in August.
 
Out of the dozen bucks i put eyes on, 1 or 2 might be in trouble if i see them during the hunt.
I have no basis for judging this year from previous (my first time scouting this unit), but I was excited to see so many quality deer roaming the hills. If this is below average, I sure missed out...
 
I have a general elk tag. I could help clear the elk out of the basin to make room for the deer for you. Would you mind sharing where those elk were haha ;)
 
Maybe I jinxed myself !?!? My last two scouting trips haven't been too good. I've been seeing yearling bucks, but the numbers aren't too impressive. Not sure what others are seeing, but in my last 5 days of scouting, I've looked at only 40 bucks. I had been thinking buck numbers were down 25-30% from last year, but now I'm wondering if it could be closer to 40-50%. More time in the hills will tell a better story.
 
I’m hearing the same thing. Not looking good. I have a G tag and now wishing i didn’t and could somehow get my points back
 
Spent a couple days last week glassing some old spots. Saw bucks and even a decent sized bachelor group with some potential. Numbers seemed down and deer weren't in the old hangouts.
 
Back from scouting my usual honey holes. I always like the second week of August because the deer are very visible. I hunt in several different units that are in nonresident region H. I have over 15 years in these spots and take at least 1 good scouting trip a year. What I found was worse than expected. In total 5 1/2 days of hard backcountry glassing produced just 16 total bucks. Last year’s trip in same areas produced 78 bucks. The good news was I found two quality bucks to go after. The bad news was I didn’t see a single 1.5 year old buck. From my observations most of what was left are 3 year olds with very few older. I think people will still get a few good deer the next 3 years and then we will fall off a cliff for a while. I went to 3 different areas and there were stark differences. One area had 11 bucks where the second had 4 and the final spot had just two. This leads me to believe some people will have vastly different experiences. I think game and fish estimates seem about right. Worst numbers I have personally recorded in these spots. Habitat looks great for what’s left and the deer looked fat and happy.
 
Could be 16 or 17. The site counts were my best guess that i wrote down behind the glass. When I got home I looked at the pics on the big screen and I may have counted the same buck twice. I am not sure because the deer was in two different basins over several days and I only got a good pick of one side as it went into the trees on the second encounter. So I am 50/50 on whether my 11 is a 10 or not. So we will call it 16.5 to make nobody happy. Haha! Either way I think the bigger issue is that each of those areas would normally be north of 20 for unique bucks. Instead all three areas combined produced less than 20. I guess will see what the season brings. Good luck all!
 

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