WY mule deer plan... What would you do?

[elks96]

I am currently sitting at one under max for both elk and antelope. I have decided that I will continue building points on those hunts until I get a top unit. No big deal as I have ample elk opportunity in Colorado and left over lope/doe fawn lope tags in WY.

I however have 5 points for deer in WY. My wife has 3 points. Due to having a ton a of points for deer in Colorado we have not had much in the way of good deer hunting lately. That being said I am trying to figure out my mule deer strategy.

I have 2 options.

Continue to build points until my daughter is old enough to hunt then we would split points and go for the best tag we can get. That would give us an average of 4 points when she is old enough. My wife can do the same thing and split points with my son. When he is old enough they will have a 5 point average. During this time we can try for 2nd choice deer hunt and maybe get lucky by paying the special price. I have my odds figured out on a couple regions and it can happen if your lucky.

My other thought is to save the additional money for points and paying for the special and just go hunt as much as possible in the same region and units, getting to know it and the deer quality so that when my kids are old enough we have a chance at a great hunt in a lesser unit.

I am really leaning towards the second option. With my current points and point creep I do not feel like we will ever catch a top unit so I might as well just go for quantity.

What would you do? Is there another option we should consider? We hunt lopes and elk for the yummy meat, but deer tend to be our trophy hunts where we are most likely to eat tag soup....

 

[Dubbya]

LAST EDITED ON Mar-15-16 AT 09:17AM (MST)[p]

I think I would figure out what it is I'm looking for and what is ore important to me in the future. What are you wanting out of your points? Truth be told, there are really big deer in every until of the state, just more in certain places. Personally I love to hunt, I like the challenge of finding a deer I like in whatever units allow me to hunt the most. So, I would go with option 2 as well.

With that said, you do have enough points to draw a really good unit and start building points again.

 

[TOPGUN]

I wish I had all of your PPs because I'd have already used the elk PPs for a good hunt this year along with applying for antelope and deer with what you have. I really don't know where you think you'll go with all of them unless you plan on lowering your total by partying with family members like you mentioned. Being one point below max and seeing the trends should already have told you that you'll never draw the top several units. IMHO there are a lot of units out there for both species that you're missing while dreaming about just a few places. What happens if another bad winter hits and wipes out a big number of antelope and deer such that it takes years for them to recover while you sit back and get older? You also said elk and antelope are "yummy" eating and yet are building a ton of points. For what? Just a suggestion, but I'd be putting in for the special tag in Region G for your deer tag this year. The deer had a pretty easy winter and if they get any decent moisture for the first few months of the horn growing season it should be a great year to be out there. The same could be done by averaging your antelope PPs with your wife and not wasting any more money on PPs. There are so many good places to hunt all three species in Wyoming that I really can't understand why anyone would wait and build the number of PPs that some like yourself are doing. That's my thoughts and just some things you may not have thought much about, but just weather alone could ruin your plans for years to come if you just keep building PPs.

 

[Dubbya]

I'm also wondering what you are considering "top units" that you can't draw with one less than max?

 

[elks96]

Truth be told... I missed the first year of the points in WY. I regret that...

My dream was to hunt a particular unit for Elk, Deer and Antelope in the same years and same season. I have a certain unit that is decent for all 3 and my hope was when I retire in 15 years, I would just have a butt load of points and get my unit for all 3 in the same season with a goal of killing all 3 in one unit one season with a bow and having all 3 qualify for Pope and Young. Lopes and Elk. Sadly the unit I like best requires no deer points max lope points and does not even offer a Nonresident elk tag(very few elk, but every year I have found a monster bull in the unit). That is all I am going to post about the unit.

Truth is I have never even looked at Region G. I have spent my time in other areas. Despite that I have killed a 198 buck in WY and also got a small buck that did not score for crap but the biologist placed him at 14+ because his teeth were more wore that the 14 year old known deer samples.

Is region G really that much better? I will be a weekend warrior and the area we are looking at is pretty close to home...

 

[TOPGUN]

Region G right now IMHO is a good as you're ever going to get at the chance for a big buck like you want to hunt and besides the early bow season the rifle seasons last for 3 weeks. If you only have weekends to hunt I really don't know what to tell you because hunting for a good buck or bull is not a weekend project!

 

[elks96]

>Region G right now IMHO is
>a good as you're ever
>going to get at the
>chance for a big buck
>like you want to hunt
>and besides the early bow
>season the rifle seasons last
>for 3 weeks. If
>you only have weekends to
>hunt I really don't know
>what to tell you because
>hunting for a good buck
>or bull is not a
>weekend project!

Hehe... i am not so concerned about animal size but more about quality time with out having to work around atvs and a ton of other hunters. again pope and young qualifying animals are great but more about age an maturity.

As far as weekend warrior goes, I am pretty darn successful on my limited fall hunts. I will be sure to show my pics this fall.

I am pretty certAin I will burn my points on a easy to get unit we can hunt often and hope for the best!

 

[JakeSwensen]

I would go for option 2! I hunt as often as you can. [font face="verdana" color="green"]
Jake Swensen

 

[nontypical]

Right now, G is the best in Wyoming, IMO. There's a reason it's so popular. Unfortunately, that also leads to many more hunters; even in the backcountry. If you have plenty of hunting in Colorado and other states, option 2 is your best bet. Your family could get a couple of good quality deer hunts in while you wait for points to build on other species.