Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting WY elk: Here's the plan

My son and I drew a general license. I'm in pretty decent shape for 54 years old and he's in great shape. We're really just looking for chance at a decent bull. Our plan is to take the wives out in May or June and do a little scouting and shed hunting. We're kind of leaning towards the South central part of the state. Units 9, 10, 12, 13, 15 and 110. We thought we could be there for the opening day of archery (Sept. 1) and hunt a few days, then come back for a few more days around the 3rd week of Sept. If unsuccessful with a bow, we would come back in late Sept. and do an archery/rifle hunt. Maybe spend a week or so.
Questions:
Will we see a lot of other hunters during archery?
Can we pack in a couple miles and bivy on public ground?
Is there ample access to the public ground?
We were able to overlay the units, wilderness areas and public land maps onto google earth, but I want to make sure the public land is accessible.
I realize we cannot hunt wilderness areas without a guide. That's OK.
Any help out there?
Thanks

B, congrats on getting the tag.

Can't speak to the units specifically for bowhunting, but at least you should not have grizzlies. I have known people bowhunting in the general area who have had good action. At least you should not call in a griz.

As far as camping on public land, you can camp on National Forest and BLM. You are not usually restricted to just campgrounds except in very heavily used areas. Dispersed camping is allowed, so a spike camp packed in is fine. You cannot camp on State Land, though you can hunt on it.

I would suggest getting a National Forest map and studying the access, trailheads, and campgrounds. The maps are well worth having in hand. If you will be out to look around stop at the Medicine Bow Forest Service office in Laramie, WY get a map and talk to people about access. (Bring a little fishing gear and buy a short-term license.)

You can look at the map at the link below.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/recreation/map/vis_maps/mbr/med-bow-nf-east/

This map might be a good place to start looking at where you can get in and what you can access. Once you start narrowing it down, get topo maps to look at the terrain. If you have GPS, you can get state-specific topos that you will appreciate having later.

Good luck.

Blaino - I have not hunted that area, but I have visited it a time or two for summer expeditions. It is a very nice area, and quite popular in the summer.

The areas that you mention have some good paved roads through them as well as many small Forest Service roads. Access to this area should be very easy for you, although some of the FS roads may be closed off. No problem with access for the public. And as Jaguar pointed out, finding a place to camp should not be a problem.

Also as pointed out by Jaguar, you will not have any issues with grizzlies nor wolves. Calling in a grizzly while elk hunting is a genuine possible problem in western WY. That also means that food storage will be less of an issue for you in the Snowies.

I know of a number of WY elk hunters who have shifted out of western WY because of problems with the bears. Some of those are bowhunters who have started hunting the areas that you are talking about, and they seem to be finding some decent opportunities to take elk in the Snowy Range area.

General elk areas in WY see quite a bit of hunting traffic and pressure, but less so in archery season. Expect to have some company there with the easy access and proximity to Colorado.

If you come earlier in the summer to scout things out, you will have a better idea of what the country looks like. That is a great idea and I strongly recommend it.

Despite grizzlies and wolves, western WY (Shoshone and Bridger-Teton NF) remains a popular place to chase elk. There are a number of areas there where your general tag would work. Western WY is very nice country, and there is more of it, but it does come with some issues.

The Bighorn Mts are also very popular in the northern central part of WY, but there are only a couple of units where you could use your general license. The Bighorns are a good place to find a good elk however, and do not have grizzlies. They may have some wolves by now, but probably not very many.

The issue with wolves is more about predation upon the elk herds than any personal safety concerns.

WyoM70

Blaino - watch to see how WY fares with spring snowstorms before deciding when to come out. In many places in western WY, May is too early to get very far into a lot of the mountains. June might be OK in the Snowy Range, but I have seen a lot of FS roads still snowed shut on Memorial Day. You might check with the local Forest Service office in Laramie to find out the condition of roads before making any firm plans.

WyoM70

10 will be a circus if you find yourself anywhere near Fallen Pines road. Good elk hunting in this unit if you can get away from there, I highly suggest a Garmin GPS and Wyoming Hunt Maps. Backpack into some areas near area 11 and you will find some fun elk hunting. Just make sure where you are at. Rock Creek noel (?) will have you away from the majority of people and into elk.

110 is a good spot if you can enter wilderness to get away from the jokers. Some good bulls can be had in the unit but the people drive me nuts. Grew up in that unit, went elsewhere twenty years ago and never looked back.

Agree with WyoM70.... May is way too early. Unless you like snow.

Good spots in 10 will be under snow until July 4th or later.

Thanks for all the advise guys. I truly appreciate it.
We haven't ruled out the NW units. If we go that route we'll just hire a guide.
We haven't ruled out 36 and 37 in the bighorns yet either. It looks like those areas have fewer roads, but according to the WGaF stats have quite a few hunters. I just don't want to get in the middle of a circus. If I'm not mistaken, archery doesn't open in 36, 37 until the 15th of Sept. That might be our "plan B".
Plan "A" is still looking like unit 12 and 13.
My son and I both have a Garmin Rhino. Still need to get the WY chip. Awesome piece of equipment!
My Dad took me deer/elk hunting in CO for the first time in 1976. I was 15. My son started tagging along in 1995. He was 10. We've had some great times and some great hunts over the years, but never done a hunt with just me and him. When you hunt with a group of 4-8 guys, it's a lot of fun, but it seems like you're always altering your hunting style to accommodate the other hunters. Not this time.
Again, thanks for the advice.

Bighorns are beyond beautiful. Lots of bulls and frustrating truck sized boulder fields.
NW Wyoming has its own charm.
Congrats on the tag. Have fun.

During archery season you have a snowball's chance in the Big Horns. I have a couple friends go over there for archery when they can, and they have a blast. By rifle season, a lot of the elk have left for private land, and trying to find stragglers is pretty frustrating. Maybe if you really knew the area it would be different.

A NW guided, horse-supported hunt would be hard to beat. A bonus would be learning something about elk from guys who make a living knowing about elk. A good outfitter;s camp is a comfortable base to work from. There is a lot to be said about comfortable camp that allows you to rest up of an evening after a hard day on the mountain. You can keep going longer, at a higher intensity.

Wyoelk, you have a way with words!!

WyoM70

New plan. We were able to get a hunt with Trophy Mountain Outfitters. He had a group of 4 who had a reservation and didn't draw a tag. Sept 15-22 archery. Does anyone know the best place to buy a nice pair of wooly chaps? I don't want to look like a city boy.
Seriously though, we are pretty pumped.

We will expect a full report and photos!

Get in shape, the horses won't be doing all the walking.

I grew up hunting the Sierra Madres. Lots of good areas for elk. Weather tends to dictate everything. The Green Ridge/Pop Springs area on the north side of Deep Creek was a good transition area, especially after good snowfall. Not sure what access looks like after the white arrows took over, but I'm pretty sure you have to hike/pack back into Pop Springs. You used to be able to 4-wheel back there. We also spent a lot of time up on Blackhall in those old clear-cut areas on the East side. Look for saddles to hunt as elk move from canyon to canyon. There's lots of elk in there, you just have to get away from the roads. The nice thing about Blackhall is there are lots of old logging roads that are closed, but offer an easy hike to get back deeper. It is a much easier pack out as well.

Good luck Blaino on your hunt with Trophy Mountain. I don't know anything about them, but I'm sure you'll have a good trip.