2025 Wyoming Elk Draw/Questions

[Mojave]

There are scrub oak areas in Wyoming, not tons, but more than you might think.

What? Where is this. I have never seen any oak anything in Wyoming.

I lived in Wyoming for 18 years mostly until joined the Navy.

I have hunted in Wyoming dozens of times all over the state.

Never seen anything like that. Learn something new everyday.

 

[go_deep]

What? Where is this. I have never seen any oak anything in Wyoming.

I lived in Wyoming for 18 years mostly until joined the Navy.

I have hunted in Wyoming dozens of times all over the state.

Never seen anything like that. Learn something new everyday.

I'll send you a pm

 

[cataylor4]

I took my son on a Wyoming Wilderness hunt on the border of Yellowstone (guided horseback, remote camp) when he was 12 on a right of passage (first big game) elk hunt with his grandpa. It was extremely physical, we saw 25 Grizz (probably some repeats), it snowed, rained, we heard wolves howling in the distance, and it's still one of our most treasured memories. Obviously, be safe, and find a hunt that suits you, train for it, and embrace the challenge. You and your son will never forget it.

It seems most of your other questions were answered. There are lots of options on the West for Elk/Mule Deer hunts. I like to focus on one or the other, but that's personal preference.

 

[Blackcats06]

I wouldn't listen to all theses guys Just got done with a general west tag We killed two good bulls and the third guy can't shoot If you want more info dm me

 

[FAAFO]

I wouldn't listen to all theses guys Just got done with a general west tag We killed two good bulls and the third guy can't shoot If you want more info dm me

Oh come on! The one guy starts 90% of his posts with “my friend hunts…”.

 

[ThorM465]

Just finished hunting Unit ** where we came up empty. Unless you're a world class endurance athlete, have horses, or use an outfitter you can forget about this unit. It's an extremely dense and rugged unit with far to many hunters for to few elk. Covered over 50 miles on boots with regular ascents to 9k+ ft and 10k+ feet a couple of times. Over 1k miles road hunting. All that and didn't see the first living elk in this unit. We saw enough signs to know they were there, but the closest we came was seeing the rack from 2 bulls that had just been packed out. We saw ~15 moose and dozens of mullies, just no Elk.

I was astonished at how little wildlife we saw in most of the bridger national forest. If it was managed properly it would be teaming with wildlife. The only thing more astounding was the amount of dead-fall. The amount of dead-fall has to be a significant contributor to the struggling ecosystem. Something desperately needs to be done about cleaning up this mess, so we can get the undergrowth necessary for the wildlife to thrive.

 

[LongWayAround]

@ThorM465

Have you successfully hunted elk before?

 

[Blackcats06]

Just finished hunting Unit ** where we came up empty. Unless you're a world class endurance athlete, have horses, or use an outfitter you can forget about this unit. It's an extremely dense and rugged unit with far to many hunters for to few elk. Covered over 50 miles on boots with regular ascents to 9k+ ft and 10k+ feet a couple of times. Over 1k miles road hunting. All that and didn't see the first living elk in this unit. We saw enough signs to know they were there, but the closest we came was seeing the rack from 2 bulls that had just been packed out. We saw ~15 moose and dozens of mullies, just no Elk.

I was astonished at how little wildlife we saw in most of the bridger national forest. If it was managed properly it would be teaming with wildlife. The only thing more astounding was the amount of dead-fall. The amount of dead-fall has to be a significant contributor to the struggling ecosystem. Something desperately needs to be done about cleaning up this mess, so we can get the undergrowth necessary for the wildlife to thrive.

I was also in the Bridget national forest and had none of those issues you brought up Where are you from? Most people from the eastern US don't understand the lack of wildlife compared to the amount of land What I saw was about right

 

[Mojave]

Most people from the eastern US don't understand the lack of wildlife compared to the amount of land What I saw was about right

This is an absolute.

Wyoming is trending down, but about 90,000 total big game animals were taken in Wyoming in 2017. That is spread between elk, moose, mule deer, whitetails, and pronghorns.

Wisconsin killed 336000 deer the same year. There are not 300,000 of anything in Wyoming.

 

[shootnrun]

This is an absolute.

Wyoming is trending down, but about 90,000 total big game animals were taken in Wyoming in 2017. That is spread between elk, moose, mule deer, whitetails, and pronghorns.

Wisconsin killed 336000 deer the same year. There are not 300,000 of anything in Wyoming.

Hunters, maybe. At least where we hunt. Went 2/4 in our group. But what we used to have to ourselves is now so covered up with dudes it's unreal.. That being said, I could see the highway from where I killed my bull, pack was maybe 1/2 mile. Little pocket dudes drove by all day.

Back on track for the OP.. We've hunted WY 3 times. All the questions you asked can be answered doing some research on your end with the search bar and listening to a couple podcasts. No one is going to tell you where to go. Every unit in WY has elk in it in my experience. They are also full of dudes and likely grizz unless you're away from the West and NW edges. You can't go wrong if you do research and prepare. But don't expect to hear bulls bugling at your truck door popping shut. We do 10-15 miles a day @ 7-10k ft and we've never tagged out our whole party.

 

[FAAFO]

A couple tips for your WY research for elk if applying for a general tag:

1). Units with long season dates for bulls typically mean more difficult access. Doesn’t necessarily mean more elk ( a lot of these areas open in sept for rifle)

2). Units with 15ish day seasons ( example Oct 15 to 31) have easier access thus such a short season.

3). Units with short seasons above sometimes only have a 10 day any elk regulation. Then it switches to anterless only. These areas are prone to high harvest especially after a good snow. These area’s typically have lots of roads thus making access easier. If you can’t kill an elk in these units there’s no hope for you. You should of went LQ

Be realistic on your experience to tackle a WY general tag. Hit it hard during the week while resident Randy is at work. Weekends try to be in places elk will get pushed to due to pressure. If it’s going to snow be in a place to cover ground. Road hunting can work or at least help you find WHERE the elk are.

Good luck!

 

[ThorM465]

@ThorM465

Have you successfully hunted elk before?

No I haven't, this was my first trip.

One point I should of added was how few gun shots we heard. Not that we're going to hear every gun shot within a 10 mile radius, but if it was just our shortcomings as hunters we would of heard people around us firing at Elk. Between the 21st and the 25th we didn't hear a single gun shot and we spent 2 of those days road hunting all over the unit.

 

[ThorM465]

** is crawling with elk. Pretty much a weekend grocery run if you’re a resident. Lots of additional cow tags too because of how many elk there are in XX. Bummer you didn’t get one, as a NR it’s likely a 6 point unit now.

We had some locals tell us exactly this and tell us that it was just a weird year. I believe there is a lot of truth to this. However, it should be noted that we were told this from locals who had also been hunting for an elk in that unit for over a week. We talked to several people in the area and our story wasn't unique this year.

I was also in the Bridget national forest and had none of those issues you brought up Where are you from? Most people from the eastern US don't understand the lack of wildlife compared to the amount of land What I saw was about right

North Alabama. I often wondered if that wasn't the case as we were hunting lands void of wildlife. I'm currently pondering the question which one is normal, do we have an usual level of wildlife per sq mile in the southeast or is there something seriously wrong with the ecosystem in that area?

 

[Sccritterkiller]

OP order up the regs book from WY...or print it out...Put in on the back of your shitter...read some of it every morning...once you understand the regs you can start looking at JCRs, ect.

 

[LongWayAround]

We had some locals tell us exactly this and tell us that it was just a weird year. I believe there is a lot of truth to this. However, it should be noted that we were told this from locals who had also been hunting for an elk in that unit for over a week. We talked to several people in the area and our story wasn't unique this year.

Every good old boy says it's a weird year when they can't shoot one from the road.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

North Alabama. I often wondered if that wasn't the case as we were hunting lands void of wildlife. I'm currently pondering the question which one is normal, do we have an usual level of wildlife per sq mile in the southeast or is there something seriously wrong with the ecosystem in that area?

You need to look at total mass not animal numbers....here we have all kinds 75-100 lbs does....7 or 8 of those probably eat the same amount as 1 cow elk.

 

[Mr.Ktm]

Look into epic outdoors or huntin fool magizine. Lots of good info on there once you sign up

 

[ThorM465]

Dumb question but how do you hear gun shots if you’re road hunting?

Yes the majority of that unit is void of elk. I hope you didn’t spend any time on the eastern half.

How would we not hear it? We were scouting not hot rodding or rocking out. I should have specified 1 of those days was spent in a UTV.

No we didn't. I never considered that they would be so difficult to find on the west side with all of the "great" spots I had e scouted on onX/GoHunt. We did spend a little time in some BLM in the central section.

You need to look at total mass not animal numbers....here we have all kinds 75-100 lbs does....7 or 8 of those probably eat the same amount as 1 cow elk.

That's probably true. They also have 100x the land mass to forage compared to what our deer have. At least they would if they would do something about all of the deadfall.

 

[Mojave]

How would we not hear it? We were scouting not hot rodding or rocking out. I should have specified 1 of those days was spent in a UTV.

No we didn't. I never considered that they would be so difficult to find on the west side with all of the "great" spots I had e scouted on onX/GoHunt. We did spend a little time in some BLM in the central section.


That's probably true. They also have 100x the land mass to forage compared to what our deer have. At least they would if they would do something about all of the deadfall.

The deadfall will get taken care of on the next burn. We don't sit around crying about deadfall, it is part of western hunting.

We have low quality food sources, zero mast or fruit like acorns or persimmons, grain crops are pretty uncommon in Wyoming. The majority of the agriculture is alfalfa (which is great) but lots of issues with food quality. We have ok minerals, but nothing like what Arizona and Utah have for wildlife.

We also have a lot of totally worthless creosote, Russian olive and cottonwood.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

At least they would if they would do something about all of the deadfall.

It will burn in the next fire...I already know a few units where there will be less dead fall next year.