Wyoming Mule Deer Limited Draw Units for 2016

[Hunteastwest]

Hello Eastmans community. This is my first thread on the forum. Looking forward to contributing to others as well as learning.

BLUF: I am a Non-Resident hunter with 4 mule deer preference points and 6 elk preference points. I am trying to make the decision on which species to hunt next year, however I'm leaning more towards mule deer with a rifle.

I'm looking for a DIY trip with probably 1 or 2 friends that also have points for deer. I've been to Colorado chasing elk numerous times, but I've never hunted mule deer. If Wyoming had a Type 9 tag for mule deer I think I'd been looking at that for a hunt, but it doesn't seem to be an option. My trip will be limited to a 7 day hunt, but I am willing to hunt hard.

The things I'm looking at for a quality mule deer hunt are as follows:

1. Lots of public land and access
2. Limited hunting pressure (the less competition the better)
3. Solid deer herd numbers
4. Good number representative mule deer bucks (I'm not expecting to bag a 170-inch buck)
5. A good solid DIY Wyoming experience to cut my mule deer teeth on.

So that being said, I'm looking at all the limited draw units such as unit 78, 81, 84, and other in the Medicine Bow National Forest Area. I'd like to steer clear of Wilderness Areas as I don't want to go with an outfitter for this trip. I've also looked hard into Region G, but I'm a little worried about the hunters/sq. mile ratio. It seems that the hunting pressure in Region G might be fairly high.

Can anyone give me a little insight about the units/Region above? I'm just looking at the high level details right now. Just to be clear: I'm not searching for anyones honey hole spot and love doing my own homework on a hunt as it make the experience much more enjoyable. I'm more used to Colorado's system, which I understand well, but Wyoming's limited draw system is a little confusing.

Any help on Mule Deer units/tags/info is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

~ Hunteastwest from PA

 

[RICMIC]

Welcome to the forum HuntEW. First off, if you are not a subscriber to Eastman's journals, I suggest you do so. It looks like there is a link for that at the fop of this forum page. You will have to subscribe to both magazines to get all the MRS info. The MRS for WY deer & antelope will be the Apr./May issue, to be delivered around Apr. 1, and you now have until May 31 to get your apps in. Before that, you can do a lot of research on the WY state Game & Fish website. Just google WY game & fish and scroll down to the site. Hunting, draw odds or statistics, and look at how many points it took to draw the different units. When you find a unit that you can draw with 4 points, then check the prior years to see what the point creep might be. For instance, G took a major jump the last couple years, and 4 would not likely get you a tag unless you applied for the "special" draw. H required less that 2 points, and the creep has been slow. Remember, that in WY, you average the points of a "group" if you chose to apply that way. Especially after you have made a hunt out west and done well, you may have lots of guys with no points who want to go along. It is also helpful to have a map of the game units in hand when you are doing your research. That can keep you busy for a long time, and you may be able to be more specific on a few hunt areas.

 

[Hunteastwest]

RICMIC, thanks for the info. I just re-newed my subscription and upgraded to the electronic version as well this year. I'm excited to get the expanded MRS for long night time reads when doing my hunt planning.

I actually was just on WY G&F website, they have lots of good info there. I also downloaded the regs and tag allotments for both elk and deer from 2015, so I'm going to look harder there as well. I also just checked my points standing and I have 7 elk points and 5 deer points, so if point creep isn't terrible for 2016 I should be sitting ok.

The point creep is becoming an issue across many of the western states. It's bad in CO where it is becoming increasingly difficult to draw limited draw elk tags and deer tags are even harder in the trophy areas. Thanks for the reply!

 

[HiMtnHnter]

Hello Eastmans community. This is my first thread on the forum. Looking forward to contributing to others as well as learning.

BLUF: I am a Non-Resident hunter with 4 mule deer preference points and 6 elk preference points. I am trying to make the decision on which species to hunt next year, however I'm leaning more towards mule deer with a rifle.

I'm looking for a DIY trip with probably 1 or 2 friends that also have points for deer. I've been to Colorado chasing elk numerous times, but I've never hunted mule deer. If Wyoming had a Type 9 tag for mule deer I think I'd been looking at that for a hunt, but it doesn't seem to be an option. My trip will be limited to a 7 day hunt, but I am willing to hunt hard.

The things I'm looking at for a quality mule deer hunt are as follows:

1. Lots of public land and access
2. Limited hunting pressure (the less competition the better)
3. Solid deer herd numbers
4. Good number representative mule deer bucks (I'm not expecting to bag a 170-inch buck)
5. A good solid DIY Wyoming experience to cut my mule deer teeth on.

So that being said, I'm looking at all the limited draw units such as unit 78, 81, 84, and other in the Medicine Bow National Forest Area. I'd like to steer clear of Wilderness Areas as I don't want to go with an outfitter for this trip. I've also looked hard into Region G, but I'm a little worried about the hunters/sq. mile ratio. It seems that the hunting pressure in Region G might be fairly high.

Can anyone give me a little insight about the units/Region above? I'm just looking at the high level details right now. Just to be clear: I'm not searching for anyones honey hole spot and love doing my own homework on a hunt as it make the experience much more enjoyable. I'm more used to Colorado's system, which I understand well, but Wyoming's limited draw system is a little confusing.

Any help on Mule Deer units/tags/info is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

~ Hunteastwest from PA

Based on the areas and criteria you mentioned, you can cross 84 off your list. 78 and 81 produce nice deer, but the hunting for mature bucks is tough. The Oct 1 time frame is a tough time to locate bucks. I would plan lots of time to scout/hunt to find one if those mature deer.

IMO, 4 points is not worth much in WY.

 

[laxwyo]

A lot of your requirements are attainable except for hunting pressure one. You're not getting away from anyone anymore..

Most areas/regions are a circus on opening day, even during a weekday.

I think for the best hunting experience, I'd hunt region G during the the third week. Most people are gone from this area and have moved on to areas with October 1st opening dates

 

[Hunteastwest]

Hey all, thanks for the continued information. This is very helpful. Based on the feedback I'm getting it looks like I'll be looking harder at 78 or Region G.

Good thing is I have several months to do homework prior to the draw. Thanks again!


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[mntnguide]

Not to sure you can draw Region G with 4 points anymore unless you go special...so might want to take a better look at the draw statistics for non-res that can be accessed on WY game and fish website

 

[ScottR]

5 was required for special this year


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[laxwyo]

Based on how many hunters I see, the wy G&F must give 10,000 tags for region g

 

[BOHNTR]

What's the best archery hunt for someone with max points?

 

[Hilltop]

Hunteastwest- I wouldn't cash that many points in on 78. The Snowy Range deer herd is coming back but it's not a great LQ hunt yet. On top of the herd number concerns, a good portion of the mature bucks will be in wilderness until decent snow fall comes in. In your shoes I would honestly shift to elk. Your deer points aren't enough to draw the great hunts out there. Just my 2 cents. Good luck.

 

[Hunteastwest]

Hilltop, great advice. Thanks for the honest opinion. I need to have a talk with my hunting partners to make a decision soon if we applying for elk (next month). It's hard to believe the draw is almost here already! Thanks again!


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[libidilatimmy]

If you were willing to pony up the cash for the special draw, you could draw most of the general deer regions as a second choice and keep your points. This way you could gain some experience while still banking points, but whether these hunts are worth the price tag associated is something you can only decide for yourself. I'm in agreement with Hilltop that the Snowy Range units would probably be a waste of your points given the current situations.

 

[shootbrownelk]

I was in the Snowies for 10 days hunting for my cow Moose. And in those 10 days I saw about 25-30 head of Mule deer. And exactly ONE decent buck...and he was no giant. The deer situation looks poor indeed.

 

[JPSeveland]

78 is a good tag but a very hard area to hunt. Most of the success here for the big bucks is during the archery season. The october 1st starts rifle season and can be extrememly difficult to find those big bucks. In my opinion i would lean more toards Region G and H for general. October is a very tuff month to hunt mule deer in my opinion. exspecially in the first week of the month. I do have a family friend that hunts 78 regularly during archery and has shot some giant deer. This year he shot a 9x8 that went 210.

 

[Hilltop]

JPS, I view 78 differently. I grew up in Laramie and have hunted and guided in 78 since 1989. I think it is a very challenging archery hunt as there isn't a lot of open terrain for glassing. Hunting timber bucks with a bow is very challenging. While some may have success I would be surprised if there was much success for archery in the area. That may be very different for those that live there and know the area very well but for an outsider coming in blind I think it would be a very frustrating hunt.