Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Wyoming archery 67 8 9

I drew a limited quota archery tag for unit 67, 68, and 69 units. 69 is off limits since I’m a non resident and it s a wilderness area. Other than the large population of bears in the area what should I know about this area? How are elk numbers?

Elk numbers are good. The East Fork area has been good or the Burroughs Creek area, but that may all go out the window.
If you know elk, you know the weather is going to be a big factor. Hope for early snow to drive them down. A lot of very steep country. Hope you are in shape.

And yes the bears can be a problem. Practice the gutless method and be darn careful going back in for 2nd 3rd etc...trips on a kill. East Fork especially.

Thank you sir. I’m working on getting in shape.

I get 3 weeks off. Should I go out there from August 31 to the 21st or should I go out from September 7 to the 25th?

7th-25th. 14th to the 5th would be even better if possible

7th to the 25th for sure. If you can go a week later that'd be even better. I've hunted that tag a fair amount. They'll start talking pretty regularly around the 15th or so and go into early October.

Duplicate post.

As mentioned, plenty of bears.....hungry bears! I highly recommend pepper spray “and” a large bore (.429 and up) high horsepower revolver! Good Luck on your hunt.....a really nice area to hunt. And....if your interested in Indian artifacts, there is a lot of stuff to be seen in that area! memtb

thanks for the info fellows. In the past i've had really good luck hunting elk from the 10th throught the 15th of september. Have any of you noticed this as well?

That timeframe can certainly be productive, but IME the rut usually isn't really going hard yet. You can usually still find some talking bulls, but they are a little fewer and further between. Often times I have better luck cow calling earlier in the rut.

I would agree with all that has been posted so far in the way of advice. There is a big difference between areas 67 and 68. Area 68 is much smaller, and is much more accessible with a vehicle. Area 67 is rather large and takes in a lot of very different country. There are grizzly bears, wolves, and elk in both areas.

The OP did not indicate how he/she plans on hunting. But from the comment about area 69, it appears that hiring an outfitter is not the plan.

That being said, getting way back into the East Fork would really require horses for a reasonable hunt that did not require killing yourself just getting in and out of there. Horses make the grizzly problem a bit more manageable and provide some greater safety.

And a hunting partner would be a great plan as well. Even if the partner just provided backup support.

If you are planning on calling elk, using either a cow call or a bugle, be very aware that you have the possibility of calling in a grizzly. Have a plan to deal with that before it happens.

And carry the bear spray where you can reach it immediately.

Good Luck! - WyoM70

"I highly recommend pepper spray “and” a large bore (.429 and up) high horsepower revolver!"

Personally I totally agree with the above comment from memtb!!

Each person is different and you need to decide for yourself what works for you.

Earlier this year in the East Fork area, a young man was able to kill an attacking grizzly by shooting it with a handgun while the bear was working him over. He killed the grizzly, although he was badly hurt, but as far as I know he survived. It was a desperate struggle but the handgun made all the difference!

WyoM70

Thanks fellows ...

I have a friend going with me on this hunt since we both have the same tag. Both of us have bear spray

We plan on camping at the truck and walking in although both of us have the equipment to pack in if need be.

I have a 5 inch 357 and a 45 caliber 1911 that I could bring.

I do plan on doing a bunch of calling with reeds and a tube.

Better than nutt’n....but, save some weight and just bring the spray! memtb

i also have my eye on a springfield armory xd in 10mm with a 5 inch pipe on it.

Unit 68. Take the trail commonly called the ‘bachelors creek trail’ up over the pass and then sorta head west kinda towards the lake. That’s a very moist area and there’s a large number of waterholes and mud pits Along the mountain side the bulls like. You will see bears, I try to not walk in the dark but you can make that hike from the forest service road up the trail in about 1.5 hours. I’ve gotten several bulls in this area but don’t hunt that area anymore. I still visit it during the summer and still see the same amount of elk sign I’ve seen in the past. There are still good numbers of elk there.

There is a decent sized portion of unit 69 that is not wilderness, and it has bulls in it. You will see bulls there in Sept if you are careful and don’t move around too much.

In unit 67 I’d get in the area north of Ramshorn and the area commonly known ask ‘The breaks’. It’s great rutting area for elk. There’s also good archery hunting on the South side of Kent mountain the first couple days of the season.

Thanks guys!