Wyoming desert deer

[Oregon1234]

How is the deer hunting in wyomings desert units? I am interested in 94 mostly because it is a unit I can draw easily and I would think that with such a short season (6 days I believe) some bucks would be making it to maturity. Unfortunately it seems like its very hard to get away from a road but I'm sure there are spots with limited pressure. Any advice woud be welcome. Thanks!

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[Chesterwyo]

There are some giant bucks living in the desert in Wyoming. There’s also some very old bucks that don’t grow to be giant, but are in every way a trophy of a lifetime. (Someone posted one here a couple months ago) I think people make a far bigger deal about road density than it really is. I’ve said it a thousand times, deer don’t wear pedometers. They don’t GAF about how far they are away from the road. They look for the things that make them feel safe and satisfy their needs for feed and water. Sometimes that’s ten miles from the road. Sometimes it’s a quarter mile. As to how the hunting is, it’s damn difficult. The density is low, and the season is short. But it’s some of the most rewarding buck hunting there is when you’re able to put it all together.

 

[highfastflyer]

Region L is what you are referring to and it has some other areas you could try as Plan B or C. Area 94 has some spots which can get you away from roads and out of the swarms of Atv traffic. The drought has made those units very depressed so the conservative short season and a 3 point APR are in place and a few big bruisers come out of there every year, many are discovered by local antelope hunters who go back again.

 

[HalfAce]

DONT! Dont do it! Save yourself the time, money and frustration. Stay away. ?

General season desert deer hunts that are a true desert hunt have few deer. If you are okay with not having to see a deer every day, then that hunt could be for you. When you do find a deer it may be a doe. When you do find a buck, then like Chester said, there’s a better chance that it’s not a genetic monster.

The few bucks that are out there will live in a hole on a brushy side hill or burrow out a deep bed in a tall sage flat. The old ones are mostly nocturnal. In October without snow and cold, you can expect the deer to be out about an hour and half a day, the old bucks less. Don’t fall in love with an area, burn a lot of fuel and be in position at both grey periods of the day. Walking sage flats during the day is mostly just a workout, but you never know?? The spot a buck will pick almost seems random; atleast I haven’t figured out a real pattern more then what I’ve mentioned. If a guy hunts them like they do a high deer density area with a lot of topography, you won’t find much success.

An old desert buck is probably the hardest buck of all to kill. I’ve been made a fool a number of times. Sure does feel rewarding finding one though, and even more so if you make it happen. ?

 

[Stillwater165]

The reply’s above pretty much sum it up ! There’s no doubt there’s still some dang big bucks in the desert country but , they are few and far between. A couple years ago we met a fellow hunter , he was hunting deer and we were hunting goats. We were on day four and the only deer we saw were tucked up near town on a ranch with a creek bed running through it. The deer hunter happened to want to go the same direction we were so we decided to go together. A mile or so in we filled our last goat tag , he shook our hands and pressed on in deeper. Later that night we received a text from that man stating it turned out to be a great day for both of us. Then the pictures came in of a 29 inch heavy , deep forked 4 pt that was probably pushing 190. That buck came out of the most nothing ground I’ve ever hunted , I still can’t believe it ! Just goes to show , there still there ....... somewhere !

 

[elks96]

I have spent my last 15 years dedicated to hunting desert mule deer. With only 1 exception, the only way I have killed a big buck is by having 30+ days total into my hunts. As mentioned they are very few and far between and it takes a lot to find anything impressive. like I said every bigger buck I have taken from the desert has had over 30 days with only 1 exception. Many times I will catch a glimpse of a buck in June and it will take me 20 days to find that same buck again. My 3 biggest bucks were killed on day 36 in the unit, day 42 and the one was killed on 57 that year. With very few exceptions 90% of the days never turned up a decent buck at all. And I would say close to 70% of days never turned up a buck. with 30% of the days spent not seeing a deer at all. It is exceptionally hard to turn up consistent good bucks in country that simply does not have many if any deer at all.

As mentioned the season dates and antler point restrictions are all about sparsity, simply put any longer of a season and what few deer are there would really get hammered. Also the early seasons help as well.

I will argue about the ATVs and roads. During the season the roads and ATVs are a massive problem. In most of the desert there is hardly any place where you can't take a new ATV they will run every ridge top, every bottom. You will find places on the maps and satellite photos that have no trails. You will park and start in a 1/2 hour before daylight only to have someone drive across country into the area. I see it happen every year. They go bombing through and anything decent is ran hard trying to escape or shot. The more ATVs the fewer deer that make it. the more ATVs the further the animals move and the harder it is to find them again. I have had many bucks completely disappear from their locations 2-3 days before the rifle hunt because everyone comes out early to scout and the atv pressure from that pushes em far off their normal paths... Unless you see them leave they are really hard to find again.