2025 Wyoming Elk Draw/Questions

[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.

 

[wyosam]

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 like that the unit number is blocked out but not the other easy identifier. Sounds like you walked a bunch to places you wanted elk to be, not where they are.


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[wyosam]

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.

Your odds of success as a first time elk hunter aren’t great even in a really good unit. Look at successful percentage then cut it way down. Those numbers include locals that know the area and the elk that kill an elk (or 2-3) every year. Guided hunters drive the numbers up. Experienced elk hunters that haven’t hunted the area are somewhere in the middle generally. Just covering ground doesn’t mean success. At any given time, the majority of an area has no elk in it. Archery hunters have the benefit of sound to help locate, but during rifle seasons elk spend a bunch of time holed up in places that people aren’t. Doesn’t mean they are a horseback ride from the road, or require packing a long ways- they just have their spots. I killed multiple elk a year for a long time before I moved to AK, 99% solo without horses.


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[FAAFO]

Capabilities of hearing gun shots while driving around is superhuman powers. With such skills I would recommend listening for bulls peeing mid day. Get the wind right and sneak in there and kill them. I’m jealous, wish I could do the same.

 

[ThorM465]

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.

Honest question. When was the last time y'all asked yourselves should it be part of western hunting? With the money coming in from nonresident hunters you should be able to set up programs to remove the deadfall to some degree and bring in vegetation that would facilitate a better ecosystem with the goal of larger healthier herds.

 

[Mojave]

Honest question. When was the last time y'all asked yourselves should it be part of western hunting? With the money coming in from nonresident hunters you should be able to set up programs to remove the deadfall to some degree and bring in vegetation that would facilitate a better ecosystem with the goal of larger healthier herds.

Yes fire does that.

So does logging. The problem with logging is getting someone to go in there and do the work.

 

[ThorM465]

I like that the unit number is blocked out but not the other easy identifier. Sounds like you walked a bunch to places you wanted elk to be, not where they are.


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I don't like that people on this forum think they're entitled to control my information. I gathered this information the hard way, I earned it, and whether I want to share it or keep it to myself is my decision.

Your odds of success as a first time elk hunter aren’t great even in a really good unit. Look at successful percentage then cut it way down. Those numbers include locals that know the area and the elk that kill an elk (or 2-3) every year. Guided hunters drive the numbers up. Experienced elk hunters that haven’t hunted the area are somewhere in the middle generally. Just covering ground doesn’t mean success. At any given time, the majority of an area has no elk in it. Archery hunters have the benefit of sound to help locate, but during rifle seasons elk spend a bunch of time holed up in places that people aren’t. Doesn’t mean they are a horseback ride from the road, or require packing a long ways- they just have their spots. I killed multiple elk a year for a long time before I moved to AK, 99% solo without horses.


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I get that. My critiques on the unit isn't a result of us not filling a tag it was the absurd number of square miles we covered without seeing a single Elk. Spotting and dropping an animal is 2 different things. Statistically speaking per the square miles we covered, we should have at least spotted some if the herds were at a healthy population. The number of Moose and mule Deer we spotted validates my assumption, I think. I got within 20ft of a moose 4 times (technically 5, but it was a cow & calf). One bull I spent ~3 hrs tracking when I got within 20ft of it, because I was hoping it was going to be an Elk.

Capabilities of hearing gun shots while driving around is superhuman powers. With such skills I would recommend listening for bulls peeing mid day. Get the wind right and sneak in there and kill them. I’m jealous, wish I could do the same.

I assure you that's not true, unless we're assuming everyone is hunting suppressed now.

 

[ThorM465]

The Bull Moose I previously mentioned tracking.

 

[wyosam]

Honest question. When was the last time y'all asked yourselves should it be part of western hunting? With the money coming in from nonresident hunters you should be able to set up programs to remove the deadfall to some degree and bring in vegetation that would facilitate a better ecosystem with the goal of larger healthier herds.

No. That’s not how it works in the west. The more we screw with it, the worse it will get.


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[wyosam]

I don't like that people on this forum think they're entitled to control my information. I gathered this information the hard way, I earned it, and whether I want to share it or keep it to myself is my decision.



I get that. My critiques on the unit isn't a result of us not filling a tag it was the absurd number of square miles we covered without seeing a single Elk. Spotting and dropping an animal is 2 different things. Statistically speaking per the square miles we covered, we should have at least spotted some if the herds were at a healthy population. The number of Moose and mule Deer we spotted validates my assumption, I think. I got within 20ft of a moose 4 times (technically 5, but it was a cow & calf). One bull I spent ~3 hrs tracking when I got within 20ft of it, because I was hoping it was going to be an Elk.


I assure you that's not true, unless we're assuming everyone is hunting suppressed now.

Moose and mule deer aren’t elk. Elk care very little about statistics and how far you walked and drove around. There are a bunch of elk in that unit, but elk aren’t dispersed all over the place. Finding elk is generally the hard part, they aren’t terribly hard to get within rifle range of. The sound of a gunshot doesn’t travel as far as you think it does in the mountains, especially with just a little wind. To hear one while driving, it’s going to be very close.


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[wyosam]

The Bull Moose I previously mentioned tracking.
View attachment 784337

Yep, lots of people track moose thinking they are elk- they are widely distributed and spend a lot of time in places where tracks are easy to see. Definitely worth looking closely at hoof shape.


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[wyosam]

I don't like that people on this forum think they're entitled to control my information. I gathered this information the hard way, I earned it, and whether I want to share it or keep it to myself is my decision.



I get that. My critiques on the unit isn't a result of us not filling a tag it was the absurd number of square miles we covered without seeing a single Elk. Spotting and dropping an animal is 2 different things. Statistically speaking per the square miles we covered, we should have at least spotted some if the herds were at a healthy population. The number of Moose and mule Deer we spotted validates my assumption, I think. I got within 20ft of a moose 4 times (technically 5, but it was a cow & calf). One bull I spent ~3 hrs tracking when I got within 20ft of it, because I was hoping it was going to be an Elk.


I assure you that's not true, unless we're assuming everyone is hunting suppressed now.

Yep, you can do whatever the hell you want with it, I just thought it was funny that one was blocked out but not the other. Maybe the mods blocked the number and didn’t notice.


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[MTForester]

Honest question. When was the last time y'all asked yourselves should it be part of western hunting? With the money coming in from nonresident hunters you should be able to set up programs to remove the deadfall to some degree and bring in vegetation that would facilitate a better ecosystem with the goal of larger healthier herds.

Loads of elk in Area **, just like everywhere else around here. That herd unit is actually above objective.

The best advice anyone ever gave me when it comes to elk (as WyoSam already mentioned)
“Hunt where elk are, not where you want them to be”.

I guarantee you drove and walked past plenty of elk.

It’s a learning process, grab a cow tag and come back next year, you’ll figure it out.

 

[ThorM465]

Loads of elk in Area **, just like everywhere else around here. That herd unit is actually above objective.

The best advice anyone ever gave me when it comes to elk (as WyoSam already mentioned)
“Hunt where elk are, not where you want them to be”.

I guarantee you drove and walked past plenty of elk.

It’s a learning process, grab a cow tag and come back next year, you’ll figure it out.

I plan to and I appreciate that. If I could talk my hunting buddy into it I'd drive back out for the last week.

Next year I think we'll try a unit in the south region, preferably high desert.

 

[wytx]

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.

Ever been to the NE part of the state?

 

[Flyjunky]

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!

Good info

 

[wytx]

You want deadfall management, this is what it looks like, careful what you wish for.