2014 Elk with 5pts

[norcalhntr]

First time poster but been an Eastman subscriber for 5+ years and have been collecting elk(5) and deer(8) points for a while. I would like to come and have the chance to see some bulls, have great experience in Wyoming and potentially harvest a 300" bull. However, it seems 5 points is kind of in "no mans land" as far as Blue and Green chip areas. I would like a DIY hunt in non-wilderness area with sufficient public land hunt. It seems after combing over areas and draw odds from 2013 that unit 38,40 or 41 would work. I really cant afford to come back twice to utilize then archery/rifle for 41 and 38/40 is either archery or rifle. I am leaning heavy towards rifle and was wondering if anybody had any advise or experience in any of the aforementioned units?
Thanks in advance for any insight.

 

[norcalhntr]

Just realized my message is kind of weird. Anybody think burning 5 pts on area 38 rifle is crazy when all it takes is approx. 3 pts?

 

[ssliger]

I don't know anything about area 38, but there is a bunch of info on here for that area. Just do a search. It should get you pointed in the right direction.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

It will take more than 3 PPs for any of those this year for a 100% chance in the regular draw with the PP creep and the fact that more people may apply if they find out that there is a bill being introduced in the Legislature for a 10% across the board fee increase that, if passed, would take effect in the 2015 season. As mentioned, there is already a discussion on unit 38 and a couple people that can give you advice on it. I'm partial to 41 since I hunt that side of the mountain. Unit 41 can be hunted on the Type 1 license with a bow from 9/15-9/30 while units 38 and 40 can only be hunted with a rifle on the Type 1 license. All three have an archery only A/O tag good the entire month of September, so you might want to think about that, although I didn't check to see how many PPs those tags require. I'm partial to the September bow hunt when the bulls are bugling and it's much easier to find them and the weather is a lot better!

 

[kiddwinner]

I did 41 last year, I hope you like crowds... easy access with ~1025 tags = People EVERYWHERE... PM me, Ive also hunted 40 type 9 and 38 type 9...

 

[Topgun 30-06]

I did 41 last year, I hope you like crowds... easy access with ~1025 tags = People EVERYWHERE... PM me, Ive also hunted 40 type 9 and 38 type 9...

***How did you get the 1025 total? According to the Final Regulations published on the G&F website there were 375 Type 1 and 400 Type 4 cow/calf tags isued for the October rifle season. Even that is a lot of people if all are in the field at one time and why I prefer to hunt the bow seasons and fall back on the rifle as a last resort.

 

[Elkoholic307]

Plus 150 Type 6 licenses and who knows how many general deer hunters...

 

[WapitiBob]

Buy a cow tag and learn the unit then if it's decent come back and burn the points on a bull tag.

 

[ssliger]

Buy a cow tag and learn the unit then if it's decent come back and burn the points on a bull tag.

This should be the advice given to all newcomers. There is nothing better on deciding where to burn points than boots on the ground.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

This should be the advice given to all newcomers. There is nothing better on deciding where to burn points than boots on the ground.

***Definitely great advice!!! Yes, I did miss the fact that the Type 6 tags were also good for that time period if not filled earlier. Also, with the addition of deer hunters like 307 mentioned, I would imagine it would seem like several thousand were there!

 

[kiddwinner]

topgun-(type 1 - 375) (type 4 - 400) (type 6 - 150) (type 9 - 125) total is 1050, sorry I was a little low on the count, but with deer hunters, friends just riding along... I would say yes thousands of people.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

topgun-(type 1 - 375) (type 4 - 400) (type 6 - 150) (type 9 - 125) total is 1050, sorry I was a little low on the count, but with deer hunters, friends just riding along... I would say yes thousands of people.

***You can't really count the Type 9 tag holders because their hunt is in September. However, when you count the number of deer hunters out for their hunt that last half of October, there would easily be over 1000 and that's on the very low end.

 

[ILbowhunter17]

Seems like to me 38 is talked about a lot so I would say look elsewhere!!

 

[Umpqua Hunter]

The fact is with less than max points, your choices for a quality elk tag drop off dramatically. With 5 points the choices become very limited if you want a guaranteed tag and that will be true for a long while because the max pool is a long ways from drawing out.

 

[Musket Man]

Do all the Big Horn units get alot of pressure? I have been looking at 38 and 40 but from what I have learned on this thread and the MRS rating 38 D for hunting pressure it has me somewhat concerned. I am interested in these units because they are not real hard to draw and I could most likely draw 40 next year but would rather wait and build more points then go on a hunt with orange behind every tree.

 

[Umpqua Hunter]

Do all the Big Horn units get alot of pressure? I have been looking at 38 and 40 but from what I have learned on this thread and the MRS rating 38 D for hunting pressure it has me somewhat concerned. I am interested in these units because they are not real hard to draw and I could most likely draw 40 next year but would rather wait and build more points then go on a hunt with orange behind every tree.

I know nothing more about 38 than what I have been told from others, but I have heard the rifle hunt can be sensitive to snow, and if it snows the elk will bail off into the adjacent unit.

 

[kiddwinner]

I grew up in the big horns and have hunted them my entire life. Yes, I feel 38/41 are heavily pressured for all seasons but than you have some archery only seasons like in area 40 and 39 that only have 75 and 50 tags. Access is so good in the big horns, you can almost drive anywhere you need to go... but with any area, you start loosing people after you get a few miles back.

 

[Musket Man]

Thanks for the info! I would be hunting rifle season. Looking at the map 40 has quite alot of blm in it and I was wondering if there are elk on it too or if they are mostly on the FS land and all the hunters will be on the FS land too? Hopefully when I go antelope hunting this year I can leave a few days early and do some scouting for elk!

 

[Elkoholic307]

They (the elk) can be but more often than not they'll be on National Forest, as will the majority of the other elk hunters. There will still be plenty of hunters down low on BLM but they will be looking for deer. There will also be quite a few deer hunters up high on Forest, which seems to be the main cause for the circus-like hunting conditions. The last two years of hunting elk in 40 I stopped to talk to many other hunters. Most of them were out for deer, which was surprising to me.

 

[d.kerri]

Buy a cow tag and learn the unit then if it's decent come back and burn the points on a bull tag.

This is brilliant advice. Thanks for sharing-