NR Mule deerMax Pts. time to draw

[Bruce]

Any thoughts on burning points this year in one of the top tier muley units. Just wondering if anyone drew out last season and how the hunt went. With no other for sure hunts in any other states Im gonna throw my name in the hat. PM'S are appreciated too.
Thanks

 

[30Hart]

Region G is the best unit in the state for trophy mule deer. No limited entry deer unit in Wyoming is worth max points. You'd be better off burning the points and hunting G every 4-5 years instead of waiting 20+ years for one limited entry tag that may only get you a 150-170 deer.

 

[Dakota Kid]

Bruce, I am in the same boat trying to figure out what to do with my max points. I have been hearing the same things from others that 30Hart is saying. I am not sure what to do?????

 

[JPSeveland]

As far as a LQ tag for wyoming the better deer area would be 87 ferris mountains but they changed the dates on this hunt to the last part of october instead of the first 15 days of november. G is a great unit but a general tag for us residents it took 8 pp last year to draw and had a ton of hunters in this unit. If you dont mind presure and have some time to scout i would look at G. The other option i would consider is 105,106,109- Crandell-sunlight area its alate tag first 15 days ove november and and only has 50 totsl tags and there are some brutes in this country.

 

[Dark Mavis]

I second what JPSeveland says. I saw some VERY nice Mulies in that part of the world last year. 105,106,109

 

[Umpqua Hunter]

Unless you are itching to hunt WY for deer more frequently, if I had max points I would sit on them and wait for the quality in some of the best units to turn around.

 

[libidilatimmy]

Unless you are itching to hunt WY for deer more frequently, if I had max points I would sit on them and wait for the quality in some of the best units to turn around.

This is pretty good advice. Something to think about with Region G is that there are typically 2500 +/- residents that will hunt the two areas, which aren't very big in size. People like to claim that area 7 elk is a zoo, but, in my opinion for what it's worth, Region G is worse by a large margin. Statistically speaking, G holds right around a 40% success rate on "any buck". If you want to kill 170"+ deer, your best chances from the standpoint of not having local knowledge of any particular are to wait for a LQ area to rebound a bit. My advice to you would be to start tracking the trend of where residents apply for the hard to draw areas. We don't have points and invested income to think about so it's purely a game of chance from year to year.

 

[Sundowners@5?]

In the same boat with max points! My problem, gas gauge edging toward empty. Threw my hat in the ring this year for elk with max points on a unit that didn't require them. Next year it will be deer although max point holder's list isn't being depleted very quickly! Agree with UH's suggestion, but time doesn't stand still for us old dudes?

 

[HiMtnHnter]

In the same boat with max points! My problem, gas gauge edging toward empty. Threw my hat in the ring this year for elk with max points on a unit that didn't require them. Next year it will be deer although max point holder's list isn't being depleted very quickly! Agree with UH's suggestion, but time doesn't stand still for us old dudes?

Depends on what your expectations are. A good point was made above about general being a zoo. Part of saving points, at least for a lot of people, is knocking off numbers of hunters, and not just about trophy size. I doubt that waiting will increase your odds at a trophy in any LQ area by much. Odds are another monster winter will blast through before trophy quality improves considerably. Personally, I'd rather have less competition, hunt some great country, and have the chance to kill a good mature buck than fight crowds. To be honest, the few LQ areas in Wyoming are not worth it from a max pp standpoint on trophy quality alone. Consider the total experience. I say blow them points and have fun.

 

[mnhoundman]

Depends on what your expectations are. A good point was made above about general being a zoo. Part of saving points, at least for a lot of people, is knocking off numbers of hunters, and not just about trophy size. I doubt that waiting will increase your odds at a trophy in any LQ area by much. Odds are another monster winter will blast through before trophy quality improves considerably. Personally, I'd rather have less competition, hunt some great country, and have the chance to kill a good mature buck than fight crowds. To be honest, the few LQ areas in Wyoming are not worth it from a max pp standpoint on trophy quality alone. Consider the total experience. I say blow them points and have fun.

Agee 100%, 10 yrs roll by and you could still be waiting. By the time the numbers get back up a bad winter can roll through and be back to bad deer numbers. I would say giver!!
I was in the same boat a couple years ago with only three points though, couldn't wait any longer so I used them on a unit that took less points to draw, but how long can you wait is the question. I couldn't wait!!!

 

[Umpqua Hunter]

Here is the logic for waiting. You will NEVER be in the top point pool in your lifetime ever again. There are units in WY you will only feasibly draw with max points. There are units in CO you can draw with a handful of points that are better than pretty much any limited entry unit in WY right now. If you just want opportunity with nice bucks, you can do that in Montana every year.

To summarize: If you want to hunt WY more frequently....burn them. If you want a top end trophy hunt...wait for things to turn around.

For deer, I have 2 sons with max points and 1 with max-1 in WY and they are waiting.

 

[HiMtnHnter]

"If you want a top end trophy hunt...wait for things to turn around."

This is just not a reasonable expectation for Wyoming. The idea that "things will turn around" is not a reasonable expectation either. Anyone with max pp in Wyoming ought to reflect on why they are in the pp game in the first place, and what a reasonable expectation for a top tier area would be. In my opinion, without a great deal of hard work and luck, a really big buck is a TALL order in any of the "max pp areas", and next to impossible in most of them. This was the case many years ago when pp started, and it remains the case now. It seems to me an unrealistic amount of pressure for the hunter who spends max pp in Wyoming to expect to even see a gagger deer, let alone shoot one. There are but one or two areas in the max pool that even have the ability to consistently produce a few deer in the "really big" category in the first place. The others are just like lots of other areas where trophy potential is mediocre at best, they just take a lot of points. Max pp in Wyoming is a bunch of Kool-aid fellas . . .

 

[Umpqua Hunter]

"If you want a top end trophy hunt...wait for things to turn around."

This is just not a reasonable expectation for Wyoming. The idea that "things will turn around" is not a reasonable expectation either. Anyone with max pp in Wyoming ought to reflect on why they are in the pp game in the first place, and what a reasonable expectation for a top tier area would be. In my opinion, without a great deal of hard work and luck, a really big buck is a TALL order in any of the "max pp areas", and next to impossible in most of them. This was the case many years ago when pp started, and it remains the case now. It seems to me an unrealistic amount of pressure for the hunter who spends max pp in Wyoming to expect to even see a gagger deer, let alone shoot one. There are but one or two areas in the max pool that even have the ability to consistently produce a few deer in the "really big" category in the first place. The others are just like lots of other areas where trophy potential is mediocre at best, they just take a lot of points. Max pp in Wyoming is a bunch of Kool-aid fellas . . .

I realize trophy size may be the discrepancy in this discussion. A Wyoming limited entry unit is certainly not going to consistently produce bucks of the caliber of the AZ Strip or Henry Mountains or the top CO units. However having a solid opportunity at a 180 to 190 class buck I do believe is realistic if one is patient in choosing the timing and the unit. For us that is worth the $30 or so a year to stay at the head of the line

The WY deer tag I burned max points on, I missed by one year. It had heavy winter kill the prior winter and I just didn't do my last minute homework, lesson learned. None of the magazines were covering the unit. The biologist said "it will be like Christmas", that I would sift through numerous quality bucks. The local that got me on to that unit, described his friend's prior year's hunt and it was a dream hunt for most guys. Another local I met l who had a commissioner tag and had hunted it with a friend the prior year and the buck they killed would be worth the wait. This was a very easy area to hunt. I have a friend who hunted it last fall and it is definitely on the way to recovery. Although I missed it by one season, I did kill my second best buck.

My son drew a top Wyoming limited entry unit when he was 14. Being a young guy he couldn't keep his finger off the trigger more than a few hours. I've since been following bucks in the unit and it is about a year or two away from being a unit I would definitely put him in for again with max points.

My point is simply the OP wants to hunt deer, there are other places, easy to draw that you can hunt for a nice four point. You have max points once. Once you burn them your options for WY deer get VERY limited. Waiting should help get him on that next class of buck.

 

[HiMtnHnter]

I think we are giving the OP some things to ponder, which I suppose is good before one blows max pp. Its good to have differing perspectives. . .

With regard to the last point about not many options without a lot of pp, I would say the opposite. There are so few LQ areas, and PAINFULLY few GOOD LQ areas, that options are actually many more after you realize that pp are just not what their cracked up to be . . .