Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting WY 95?

Howdy all,

anyone ever hunted the non-wilderness side of Wyoming Bull Elk Unit 95? I've got the points to draw, but haven't had a chance to scout it out in person yet.

I'm curious to know what quantity and quality of elk you've seen in there on both the archery and rifle seasons. PM me if you'd prefer.

Thanks,

Jon

Good place to keep your eyes open for the ol' grizzled bear. I've spent a lot of time working in that unit, PM on the way.

SnowyMountaineer, thanks for the quick reply, the PM and the grizz map! I didn't realize the bears were so prevalent in there!

I replied to you PM. Thanks again.

I'd love to hear how guys do during the archery season in here. Much bugling the last 2 weeks of September? I love the stick and string!

Jon

Years ago, that's where F&G put problem bears they had picked up.
Sort a like the Australia for captured pirates.....

That's funny! I spent some time around Duboise and a guy told me the same thing. There were not supposed to be any grizzlies around there at the time but I was assured that there were and they were problem bears before they arrived. Go figure..

Wyogal your information is incorrect. Grizzly bears have never been relocated to the Upper Green/HA 95.

I do so apologize if that information is indeed false. I believe I was told that information many years ago, by someone who had run sheep or some livestock up near there, and I took it as true. And,actually there was an article in the newspaper as well, that addressed this stockman's problems with a grazing lease or summer pasture up near there.

They do not relocate them to a lot of areas, They just seem to show up their....... How many do you think they can dump on South Fork Road before it becomes a super large problem on South Fork Rd. When I worked in the Tetons on the main road , the Bear traps would go past everyday. Redistributing bad bears. The guy driving the truck told us they took them where ever they could. And no they tend not to tell any where problem bears are put. Mainly because they rarely stay were they are dropped off long.

SnowyMountaineer, PM sent.

Regardless of where, actually, a problem bear is dumped, it often remains a problem. There is a lot of trading between different locations, and the relocation sites are not normally named precisely. While they may not have been relocated specifically or intentionally to the Upper Green, Wyogal is correct in that the area clustered with the yellow dots has seen plenty of bear relocations. Bears once dropped off will usually move, and a bear dumped in one spot will normally move. In one case, a fiend who had to shoot a griz in self defense on Togwotee Pass near lost lake learned it had been relocated from Cody area to Grassy Lake (between Grand Teton and Yellowstone Parks). That bear was probably still traveling, looking for home.

A bear technically dumped in or near Union Pass in 68, 69, or 83 does not have far to go before it is killing livestock in 95. And a decade ago, there was a bear killing livestock up there. A few years back, when we hunted the Union Pass end of 95 ourselves, we had reports of a griz that was giving hunters a few miles from us a problem in their camps. We did not have a problem, but that bear was not far from us - just an evening's stroll away.

The bottom line, copple2, is that if you will hunt anywhere in that whole general area you need to keep a scrupulously clean camp, and you should stay very aware of your surroundings while hunting. There are even areas in the habitat that you would be wise to avoid entering, especially alone. In the snow it is common to cross grizzly tracks, which speaks volumes about what you can't see on dry ground.

C2, I have hunted area 83 every year for nearly 20 years, and camp and ride there and what is area 95.
They are still running cattle on 95 in the summer, so the bear issue probably is not too bad. We certainly have never had a problem.
Take Jaguars advice and you should be OK;)

Welcome to deer hunting coastal Alaska.

Been there too, MuskegMan, looking for Sitka blacktails, but not in the snow, so the tracks were not so obvious. The scenario in that photo does look very familiar though. Our bears are smaller, somewhat.

I found a probable source for the map provided earlier, as well as some mention of grizzlies and livestock conflicts in the Upper Green and Union Pass - recent ones. If they are being reported in mainstream news they are not subtle. I guess there has been a resurgence.

Some versions of the conflict map are found here:
Grizzly Bear Research Roundup
by Cat Urbigkit, Pinedale Online!
November 26, 2014

http://www.pinedaleonline.com/news/2014/11/GrizzlyBearResearchR.htm

An interesting report referenced in the Pinedale Online article is here:

https://wgfd.wyo.gov/web2011/Departments/Wildlife/pdfs/JCR_GRIZZLY_20130006218.pdf

Though the map that started this conversation is not in this report, it is apparently related to it.

Conflict References in news shown below.

Livestock, grizzlies clash on Union Pass
Jackson Hole News & Guide - Mon Oct 14, 2013.

Famous Teton grizzly killed in area known as a hotbed for conflicts

Grizzly bear and livestock run-ins are spiking in the Upper Green River drainage, already the most conflict-prone area in the entire Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

Read more at:
http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/news/...0d2efd5-1093-51b2-bd7e-7d06942a1728.html

Grizzly bear problems continue in the Upper Green
Jackson Hole News & Guide - Posted: Wednesday, September 3, 2014

One bear relocated, one killed in past week.

http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/news/...ac15880-8f9a-56f9-be10-c6ad4cfc94bd.html

Grizzly bear-human conflicts rise in Wyoming in 2014
Billings Gazette

Read more: http://billingsgazette.com/news/sta...a10-ab7c-88eb48531eb0.html#ixzz3T0exz42r

If anyone is interested in actual numbers and reports on grizzly bear captures, relocations, conflicts etc. in Wyoming you can look here:

https://wgfd.wyo.gov/web2011/wildlife-1000674.aspx

IMHO the true dangers of hunting in 95 are based upon your proximity to the river road and the countless mobs of "true sportsmen" trolling up and down the corridor, waiting to shoot into herds of running elk as they make a mad dash across the river and the open sage brush flats.

To the OP, you likely know if you drew a 95 tag by now. If you have questions on particulars send me a pm. Lots of elk, and lots of opportunity for anyone willing to get off their side by side walk for a bit.

Not to start an arguement but that is the States number on bear captures, While working in Teton park all the bears I saw were in USFWs trucks and were headed south out of the parks. I wonder how many the feds move in Yellowstone and Teton and if that number is reflected in the WGF numbers. I saw two boars and a sow with three cubs in one day headed south out of Teton...... and seen lots more trailer traps then these numbers would indicate??????????

YNP and GTNP are administered and governed by the National Park Service (federal). The Wyoming Game and Fish is a State agency (State). Game and Fish doesn't manage bears in National Parks, therefore the State's numbers don't reflect what the
feds are doing inside the park. I put the link to the state's numbers as this was a post about elk hunting on lands which the WGFD manages wildlife (including grizzly bears). Except under rare exceptions the parks and the states don't swap or take bears from one another. If you want to argue that than have fun arguing with yourself. I'm just not that big into arguing conspiracy theories.

Here are numbers for the entire Yellowstone area:

http://www.nrmsc.usgs.gov/files/norock/products/IGBST/2013report.pdf

Start looking about page 5.

You must have great eyesight as I have a hell of a time seeing through a solid metal trap to tell what's inside of it. All I can tell is if it has a bear in it or not (tarp on the door or no tarp). Those guys (I know a few of them) do a lot of running in the spring, summer, and fall and they usually have a trap on the back. P.S. they move a few black bears around too and some folks have a tough time telling the difference.

Have to agree there are plenty of motorized vehicles on the roads, especially up in Union Pass; have not been in the lower part of the area during the bull season but believe it. But there are plenty of places you can walk, and where you will be alone as long as there is no old closed road into the spot. There is often considerable abuse of road closures in a lot of areas, which is very discouraging and seriously annoying for a foot hunter, especially so for a foot hunter walking on artificial joints. Not that I hate ATVs, I have one and use it, but park mine at the trailheads or roadsides where I cut tracks, then walk. It just riles me greatly when I cross ATV tracks way back in, in areas of closed roads and trails – or worse no trails, where I have just spent considerable effort to walk in. Disheartening. And these are always people half my age or even much younger who apparently can’t un-weld their butt and dismount their motorized steed.

Thanks for the pointer to the additional WGFD reports, had not yet had time to follow the thread from that map all the way back. Interesting “banner”map on the WGFD site. Good thing they have that disclaimer about the possibility of bears outside the mapped area. Especially so when you see that the National Parks report has a map showing three 2013 human caused grizzly mortalities outside that distribution shaded area. No one seems to want to count the bears found at the south end of the Southern Winds (read South Pass), or other "outlying" areas in the state. If you don't count them they don't exist. Either way, though these reports do tell quite a story of bears known, tracked, managed (removed), or relocated in the Yellowstone Ecosystem. Combined they show a lot of griz, and anyone who has done big game counts has an idea how many out there you miss any given census.

With the parks numbers added to the states numbers that is a pretty good number of bear trappings.
When I was working in grand tetons we were surveying in the middle of the road and I was about 5 feet from all passing traffic in both directions. The traps have openings in them enuff to see in. And yes I can tell the difference between a black bear and a grizzly.
Thank you for the park link as it very informative.