Cow elk hunt/scouting for Mulies in Region W

[Nate K]

Hello all,

My brother-in-law and I are planning to head to Wyoming next fall (2017) for our first western hunt. We are both in our twenties and capable of putting in the miles on foot. We are currently planning on targeting cow elk for the first trip to get a hunt under our belts while doing a little bit of scouting for a mule deer hunt the next year (2018). Currently we are looking at hunting unit 124-4 for elk and hunting mule deer in 100 or 82 the next year. I have read that region W mule deer get pounded pretty hard by road hunters but I figured we would try to get an idea of were to start looking for a buck during/after our cow elk hunt and then head back the next year and spend more time behind the binos than the windshield. Most of my hunting experience so far has been stand hunting whitetails in Tennessee so if you guys have any books etc to recommend that I could use to beef up on desert/western hunting for elk and mule deer I would really appreciate it.

The reason we have picked the units we did are decent success and lower pressure on the elk (hopefully we can find them) and a chance to draw the deer tag with one or two points each. We aren't super picky about trophy quality of the bucks but I would personally really like to harvest at least a 3 year old. We also don't want to have to put together backpack outfits for high country hunts our first time out!

I'm not looking for gps coordinates of elk and mule deer herds (feel free to send them if you have them) but more general information on what to look for in the type of country we will be hunting to lead us to elk/deer. If you think we are making a big mistake with our unit selection feel free to chime in, I promise you won't hurt my feelings!

Thanks in advance guys!

 

[Manualman]

Are you talking bow or gun hunt? Area100 only has a 5 day gun season with a general tag so it may be a zoo. 124-4 is a full price tag so I wouldn't want to use my points for a first choice. You can hunt doe antelope in a bunch of areas and scout for deer while your hunting.

 

[Nate K]

Definitely taking rifles the first few trips. How can I tell if it is a full price tag or the reduced price cow tag?

We have talked about doe antelope bit would prefer to hunt elk or mule deer. It just looked to me like with 0 to 1 points cow elk would be our highest percentage option of the two.

 

[Nate K]

I see the full price now. Overlooked that somehow.

 

[wy-tex]

The type 6 tags are the reduced price tags.

 

[Nate K]

Thanks for the heads up guys! Looks like its back to the drawing board for us.

 

[brianboh]

I would not burn points on a cow. Might as well get a general tag and have the option at a bull or cow. JMO

 

[Nate K]

I agree. If we are paying the full price we might as well hunt somewhere we can shoot bulls if we get the chance. It's looking like we may be better off hunting mule deer first from a success rate stand point. We will be buying our first priority points this summer so whatever we hunt next year will have to be something we can draw with 1 point each or no points at all. I would like to work up a system where I could hunt mule deer every 2 years and elk every 4 or 5 years. We originally wanted to start with a pronghorn hunt but it looks like they are almost harder to draw than good deer units! The trip will end up costing around $900-$1,000 apiece (mostly fuel and tags) which really is a deterrent to just hunting does. At least a cow elk would put a decent amount of meat in the freezer.

 

[brianboh]

should not be a problem hunting elk every other year and deer every year to every other year

 

[Nate K]

We had looked at hunting mule deer in region R since we could draw with 1 point and the success rate is fairly decent for a high draw odds unit. I'll have to go back and look it over again. Probably be hunting the BLM land just west of the bighorns in several of the drainages and canyons that lead up to the mountains themselves. Maybe unit 41 or 47. I believe they had a late October season that would allow us a day or two of scouting before season opened.

 

[mcseal2]

For your books question I have read all the Eastmans books and considered them money well spent. Other mule deer books that I felt were helpful were Robby Denning's Hunting Big Mule Deer and How to Find Giant Bucks by Kirt Darner. Darner has had his issues with the law and apparently the truth, but I picked his book up at a used book place and found it informative and easy to read. Elk hunting I haven't read up on nearly as much.

 

[brianboh]

We had looked at hunting mule deer in region R since we could draw with 1 point and the success rate is fairly decent for a high draw odds unit. I'll have to go back and look it over again. Probably be hunting the BLM land just west of the bighorns in several of the drainages and canyons that lead up to the mountains themselves. Maybe unit 41 or 47. I believe they had a late October season that would allow us a day or two of scouting before season opened.

Now I work just at the base of the bighorns. I see very few deer. I have not been around the caynons that lead into the mountains but I think I would hit the other side of the basin. Yellowstone side. My buddy drew f with 0 points.

 

[Manualman]

I have a couple ideas for you. Pm sent