Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 2020 Oct 4-12 Wyoming Park Boundary

Guys - I have an opportunity to jump on a 3rd season rifle park boundary pack in elk hunt. My preference would be an early September hunt but that is not in the cards.
Considering your experience during the various times would you jump in the 3rd season hunt or hold out for a 1st season hunt?
The outfitter is proven with a long history in the area.

I know the weather is not dependable and that is a big factor in hunt location. I currently have 5 Wyoming pref points

What are the dates? After the end of Oct, you can get into some really nasty weather in the high country. 'Not dependable' isn't what I'd call it.

If I'm remembering correctly, WY no longer has the Nov hunts in the units around the park , having gone instead to a 30 day October hunt.

Towards the end of Oct you can get significant migration out of the park if you get a bit lucky in the weather. Honestly though, wolves and bears are going to have a bigger impact on elk movement than the weather.

I had a unit 55 tag this year and chose to hunt the last 7 days of October and most of the time we were within 4 miles of the park boundary. We did get "lucky" in the weather in that it never got above 12*F in 7 days. We also saw at least one fresh wolf kill per day and more bears than I care to count, which kept the elk fairly high and avoiding the canyon bottoms like the plague.

Having said that though, we probably glassed over 500 elk, including at least 20 bulls 320+ in shooting range. We were hoping to find a 350+ bull, but didn't -- which I'm blaming the wolves mostly.

If sum, for a unit around the park I'd go as late as you can. You'll still get most of the resident bulls in place and might hit the jackpot on migration routes.

Hunt dates are October 4-12

we did converse with a couple residents who were hunting in the same canyons. they'd hunted the entire month of october holding out for a big one / waiting on the migration. both of them (and I) killed on the last day. having said that though, they'd been watching some of the same bulls all month.

Which unit are you looking at? Is the date range statutory or what the outfitter is offering within a 30 days season?

The tentative season dates will be out on Dec. 17 G&F told me.
Not sure what you mean by 3rd season as Wyoming does not divide up seasons as Colorado does.Each area or unit has it's own season unless a general area.

The outfitter's "3rd rifle" trip. They do 2 in September and 1 in October.

I have hunted that area, south of Yellowstone, twice. 2016 and 2019. Both times we were the last hunt starting mid Oct. 2016 we got into a heard migrating out of the park and I got a nice 6x6. This year circumstances arose that lead us to a hunt from the trailhead with the wife and I both getting bulls. My cousin and his wife road into the camp a few days later and hunted right on the park boarder. they saw numerous elk and bears. They got one really nice 6x6 and another one made it back into the park and they could not retrieve it. I would hunt the end of the season again if given the chance. The outfitter we used is booked until 2023 and I might be getting a little long in the tooth, 73, to do it again.