shifting gears... need WY advise

[Brad1974]

After my supposedly "sure thing" CO tag fell through, I've been looking for other options, and WY is a state I've been looking at. I do have one whole point there currently. I had hoped to go for an early September high country hunt, but I can't find much high elevation in WY that isn't wilderness area that I can't hunt without a guide. My question is, if my primary tactic is glassing, spot & stalk during the Early September time frame, is WY outside of wilderness areas going to be a realistic possibility? Is the terrain that is not above timberline still good for that style of hunting? I do have a few regions, and specific units, in mind, if anyone would care to discuss those with me through direct message. Any input from you guys with WY experience would be greatly appreciated.

 

[il_cop]

Assuming you're talking about mule deer....And assuming you have the points to draw...

Short answer is yes. There's plenty on non-wilderness high country you can hunt.

I can't speak to herd recovery and age class since 22-23

 

[Hoosker Doo]

There's a LOT of great country that's not wilderness. I've lived here my whole life and only hunted wilderness once or twice and that was for elk.

The herds are rebounding, but the challenge will be finding mature bucks then being the first ones to those bucks when the season opens.

 

[Amos Moses]

And one point is going to be quite challenging.

 

[Caseknife]

Yep, you will need probably 6 points at this point in time. In the future when you have acquired those 6 points, no telling how many will be needed to draw.

 

[Brad1974]

There's a LOT of great country that's not wilderness. I've lived here my whole life and only hunted wilderness once or twice and that was for elk.

The herds are rebounding, but the challenge will be finding mature bucks then being the first ones to those bucks when the season opens.

I have no doubt there's alot of great country, but is it great country for glassing to spot & stalk style hunting? Also, do the deer live in those areas during the early September time frame? High country, I expect them to be there, but in these other areas.. I have no idea. I have a few regions & specific units that I've been looking at, & would love to discuss them with you if you're willing through dm.

 

[Pafarm]

6 points to guarantee now, wyomings a state there’s always a chance to draw, so put your name in the hat.

 

[bakyrd831]

Hunted H last year and the winter kill was no joke of 22-23 high country was devoid of deer spent 10 days in that country and saw 2 mature deer

 

[Beagle001]

There are deer outside Wilderness. Definitely skip Labor Day Weekend though… those folks take their UTVing in the mountains seriously… I’m going to say we saw 200 utvs but in all honestly, it could have been double that. By Wednesday, things had settled down a bit and we started to find more deer.

 

[wytx]

Can you draw a Sept area with 1 PP?
And yes the bucks are up high then and glassable.
I know 1 region you could draw and it has no wilderness and is open country. Glassing is what we do to find bucks.

 

[Indian Summer]

The answer is yes. Plenty of non wilderness areas that are semi open with vantage points to glass from. Perfect for setting up with binos and a spotting scope. Spot and stalk hunting is my preferred method too and Wyoming is great for that… once you zero in on an area.

 

[BrownTroutGuy]

SW got hammered with the bad winter in 23. I think your issue will be getting a tag at this stage.

Confirming the above, plenty of glassable high country not in the wilderness areas.

 

[Brad1974]

The answer is yes. Plenty of non wilderness areas that are semi open with vantage points to glass from. Perfect for setting up with binos and a spotting scope. Spot and stalk hunting is my preferred method too and Wyoming is great for that… once you zero in on an area.

good to know. I definitely plan to use spot and stalk as my tactic. The unit I'm hoping draw has both higher elevation and desert. I've been pinning areas of interest in both types of terrain, but have been finding more spots I like in the high desert areas than in the mountains. I guess 8 days from now I'm going to know if I need to start forming a more concrete plan.

 

[Brad1974]

SW got hammered with the bad winter in 23. I think your issue will be getting a tag at this stage.

Confirming the above, plenty of glassable high country not in the wilderness areas.

Using the gohunt stats, it has shown a 100% chance of getting drawn with 1 point in the region I put in for. I think it was 89% with 0 points. So, yea, it's not a sought after unit by any means, but I personally would rather get a tag in a unit I can hunt more than once every 3 years.
The unit I put in for has a mix of high country mountain areas with and without wilderness, but also desert. I've been obsessively looking through the maps and have more spots in the desert than I have in the higher country. I haven't hunted desert before, but am pretty intrigued by the thought. I have 8 days until I know if I need to start getting my plans solidified.

 

[Macegl]

I don’t know Wyoming desert hunting, but in Utah desert hunting is an exercise in dedication and putting in years figuring out an area.

My tips may not be applicable to Wyoming, but here’s what I have learned. Don’t be discouraged by lack of deer it only takes one. When scouting look for sign during the middle of the day when things are shaded up and cover lots of country. Our deer travel a long way to water (often 2+ miles) and don’t go every day. By the same token, if there’s any ag fields in the area they will travel miles to and from an alfalfa field. If it’s corn I don’t worry about hunting it because they usually just live in it until it gets chopped.

It’s a different style of hunting, and a different kind of hard. But depending on the year, the quality of the few bucks that stay year round can be amazing.