Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Wyoming in 2023

Gave my wife the warning order that I will retire in March 2023. Followed by honey-dos over the summer, then i intend to drive to Wyoming for a 60 day hunting and fishing trip. I will be solo unless my sons are able to join me for short amounts of time given their limited vacay. So appreciate any savvy advice on where and when in Wyoming for an out-of-stater. I am thinking September and October. I bow hunt and rifle hunt. All my hunting has been back east in Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia. I figure antelope, mule deer, and elk are the preferred species. I intend to arrive at 6'3" and 210 lb and able to hump a 40 lb ruck 7 miles a day in Appalachian mountain style terrain. I will live out of the truck and a three man four-season tent.

Enjoying the hunt is more important than scoring on game, but i would be lying if i said i don't care about punching the tags. I am not hunting for trophies. As a bowhunter, i have learned that any animal is a trophy. Cow tags fine by me.

thanks in advance for any savvy advice you can offer.

Just move there....you'll have time to get the "where to" part figured out.

That's what I'd do...;)

Go now, I work with a large number of retirees, not all the plans they have made come to fruition in retirement. Old age comes with a price, and with many blessings but betting on the future when it comes to health is not always the best idea. Enjoy it while you have it, not being cynical really just giving you my opinion based on experience. You will love the west, no reason to wait.

MM

First thing is start buying points for the appropriate species. Then when your ready you'll have some to work with.

Montana is a far better choice if you are planning a move.

LOL! Says the gentleman from WY!

As a 2014 retiree, I second the advice to go now. We are all iron men in the moment, but doesn’t take much to drag you down below what is required for such an adventure. Trust a fellow OF on that one. Happy Trails

Several have identified good questions/considerations. I'm not retirement age myself so I will leave that to them.

I do hunt Wyo but I'm really a fly fisherman. I fish mostly the North Platte in several sections but also the Powder and Wind some. I would also mention that Wyo G&F sponsors a Wyo Cutt Slam, if you catch all 4 native cutthroat trout species they'll send you a certificate. I suspect you don't really care about the certificate but the experience of traveling Wyo to catch the 4 types of cuts would be pretty great!

this is sound advice !

Yes, start accumulating PP for elk , antelope and deer.
60 days gives you time to hunt them all and have the meat processed and ready for the drive home.
Great fishing all over the state. You'll want to do some sage grouse hunting if possible also.

Dogger, if you can't follow Pat's advice then a great 2nd is what everyone else has said start by buying preference points. Wyoming really is a wonderful place and you will have a hunt of a lifetime for sure! You might want to decide on which animal will be at the top of your list - deer? Elk? Antelope? You can find some in the same area but maybe not all or not be able to draw. Antelope will be easiest to do followed by adding deer but you have plenty of time.

Me, I'm taking Scenars advice and when I retire in 2 years will either be a Wyoming resident or possibly be a neighbor of Scenars - we will see

Looking forward to it my friend...

not really....bob

Yeah...Montana is wayyyy too crowded...

Take a shotgun and do some bird hunting as well as big game.
Best advice so far is “ move there”.

Montana has it all from birds to big game.. Fishing bass to cuts.. If I could convince my wife, that is where I would be living tomorrow... Plus only 6 mths and you are a resident..

The state income tax not an issue?

No sales tax is another benefit.. It does have income tax, but things I buy there are 1/3 to half the price in Wy. We go there to shop at least once a mth. in the winter and when we are traveling in the summer..

Still got your house plans and the lot picked out for ya... be good to see ya here more. Remember steak on me this time 😎 and yes, ya get the good buddy builder discount !

Honestly if you are taking the first legal animal you see and you're a good hunter, which I'll assume you are, I can't imagine it taking more than a week or ten days to fill those three tags. That's even assuming you truck around to a few units and move pretty casually. I'd encourage you to milk the tags for some adventure and be picky, but that's just an opinion. Also you should move to MT, you've seen the caliber of critters Pat shoots. I hear they're behind every bush up there