Hey everybody. Just moved to Douglas from Riverton. Where are some good areas to fish around town and also look at deer on the winter range. Thanks for the info.
Douglas Area
- Thread starter muleymaniac
- Start date
Topgun 30-06
Banned
Good question, as I wasn't aware that there would even be any winter range in that part of the state.
Againstthewind
Very Active Member
I saw quite a few deer down between Bill and Wright in the grasslands today (I guess up at Bill for you Douglas guys). One pretty decent buck. There is a pretty cool resident elk herd by the Rochelle Hills area/Cheyenne River road out of Bill also. For fishing, there are a few access areas on Esterbrook road for fishing on the Platte. They are right outside of town. I guess towards Casper is some pretty good fishing on the reservoirs Pathfinder, Alcova, etc. I haven't checked the ice report down there, but the river is pretty fun this time of year. There are a lot of access areas by Casper, too. Glendo and Geurnsey Res. are pretty close to Douglas if you go South. Some good walleye fishing for this area in those places.
Topgun 30-06
Banned
Yep, that elk herd is in an area of Wyoming that you would never figure on. I hunted deer down near there off that road in 2010 and saw that unit 113 on the elk map the G&F has on the website.
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shootbrownelk
Veteran member
TopGun, any public land around there? Never hunted the area, passed through a couple of times. From what I've heard, the deer/antelope hunting has been adversely affected because of all the oil field traffic and workers. No facts to back that up, just the scuttlebutt I hear from guys who work in and around Douglas.
Topgun 30-06
Banned
I misstated the unit number for elk up there in the other post and made a correction. It is unit 113, not 2. 2 is up w/nw of Gillette north of I-90. I was near the Rochelle Hills where that elk herd is on a Region B deer tag I had and the other guy had an antelope tag for unit 27. That is way north of Douglas and there was very little oil/gas activity up there, but there is at least one big mine (Antelope) up that way. There is plenty of public land to do a good antelope hunt in 27, but I would never go back there again for deer. I didn't see 1/2 dozen in over a week that I was there and I believe they even made that particular unit a point restriction for bucks and it has to be very bad before the G&F does that.
Againstthewind
Very Active Member
I just saw that the deer unit 10 (antelope 27) was made a limited quota for 2015. You are right Topgun, it was a point restriction area with only like a five day season for a couple of years. There is quite a bit activity around Douglas. I am not sure what the rig count is at, but I don't see how the animals wouldn't be affected by all the well pads, traffic, and ponds going in. The Fortification Area (Elk 2) is kindof similar in that its a herd kindof in the middle of the desert. There have been a lot of poaching deals in the news for this area. The o and g guys I deal with are pretty decent, plus its one of the hands that feeds me. A lot of times the gas wells will try and keep in front of the mines. They will drill and try get all of the gas and oil out before the mines come in, so they work the same leases sometimes. The coal mines from Bill to north of Gillette are an almost unbroken line of mines along that seam that is easiest to get to. Not sure why I thought all that was pertinent, but maybe it goes to the public land question. There is a lot of private, or land taken up by mines and energy activity in general.
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HiMtnHnter
Active Member
Topgun 30-06
Banned
Againstthewind---Too bad that unit 10 area is so bad for deer that they now had to do that. It really sucked in 2010 and it must really be bad for them to do that now. IMHO point restrictions are not worth it and now making 10 into a LQ unit only reinforces my thoughts on that.
shootbrownelk
Veteran member
I have read in lots of magazines that point restrictions don't work. And according to Wy G&F, the inadvertent shooting of illegal bucks, and subsequent wanton waste goes up dramatically. I don't know why they implement it. There are areas with lots of older bucks that are, and will never be anything but fork horns or 3 points, the genetics for poor antler development in the area.
laxwyo
Very Active Member
Point restrictions do work to an extent. You can only do 4pt or better for a few years and SW Wyoming they moved it to 3pt or better after a couple of years . This should help the genetics. I've heard nothing but good things from where they've done it. Every forkie horn in the county gets shot in these desert units. Good to see a better buck/doe ratio
dukeball33
New Member
- Sep 10, 2014
- 19
- 0
I think point restrictions can be a good thing if implemented properly... I have seen it work in a general (resident) area. I'm not sure if the unit allows doe harvesting for those that want the meat but in my opinion a dry doe is a much better option overall than a small buck.