wyoming cow hunt

[Zpd307]

thanks to brad, I am now taking my wife on her first elk hunt! we are leaving Monday night on Dec 5th and coming home on sunday the 11th. she will be using her .270 for the trip. she is excited I am getting some serious points for this excellent xmas gift

it is near the big horns but off of national forest. so we will be leap frogging around on blm and state land. from what has been posted on the inet on other sites, these elk will be hard to find or unhuntable since they would be on private.....

from what I seen on google earth, I have found a few spots that are huntable and as close to national forest as I can get. I know where the elk are nearby in the forest, we saw a bunch near there when I took her to a ranch out there 2 years ago and we pushed cattle up into the forest in early july. but..... with the warm weather and lack of snow I am wondering if they will even bother coming out of the n.f.

I have a call into the local warden to pick his brain on elk patterns and weather for the area during our time out there. I am just waiting patiently for a return call. if we have any substantial snow, I think that I am screwed as I don\'t think that I would be able to get anywhere near where I think that they are....

I have never hunted out west off of the forest and hunted elk this late before. I feel like I am going into this a little blind.....does anyone have any helpful hints for me

 

[cnelk]

Glad to hear it gonna happen for you!

I would look for areas that have some broken timber the elk bed in but isnt too far from private land.
Also look for deep draws, running east/west that the elk will get down in and out of the wind [yes it will be windy - its Wyoming ]

If you talk to the G&F guy, ask him where the elk migrate from or congregate to, and start out from there.

Glass, glass, glass!

Heck, try to get some rancher names. That time of year they may let you on and go get a cow


But...

A unit that has leftover tags, this time of year, is a concern... ask the G&F guy why there is leftovers

 

[Zpd307]

i agree brad, a unit with leftover tags can not be construed as a dream hunt. I am not going into this with high hopes, other than its another chance to get back to the mountains with a tag in hand. I wasn\'t so sure about it, until the wifes eyes widened and said yes! now that her vacation has been approved and so has mine, its go time!

on a side note, this will be the second time in 11 years that the wife and I have been away from the kids for more than a couple of hours! the first time was 2 years ago on that cattle ranch trip 2 years ago that I mentioned.... so this is a date hunt

I am planning on a lot of driving and glassing. but, some of the elkier looking stuff is far from a road and will take an actual hike to get in there and see if anything is there.... not to mention those deep draws that you are talking about! but I know how tenacious that I am, and I am going to just pack up and head in. I am going to learn just how tenacious my wife is although I mentioned staying in a motel in Kaycee, she quickly stated that we could tent it! and I don\'t own a wall tent :lol: she has listened to my elk stories for the last 5 years and still wants to go.... :upthumb:

and yes, I am wondering about the migration! I do wonder how many elk live outside of the national forest, on private land all year long.... or do they only move out when the weather gets crummy.

I am still waiting for a call back from the warden.....

there is elk in the unit. my buddy\'s friend out there has told me that! he has seen several wall hangers in this unit over the years!

 

[cohunter14]

and yes, I am wondering about the migration! I do wonder how many elk live outside of the national forest, on private land all year long.... or do they only move out when the weather gets crummy.

I am still waiting for a call back from the warden.....

there is elk in the unit. my buddy\'s friend out there has told me that! he has seen several wall hangers in this unit over the years!

Gary, in my experience elk typically do not stay in lowland private areas all year long unless they receive no pressure, in which case it can happen. Still pretty rare though. Now if the private land is up high, all bets are off.

And as far as getting a call back from the warden, there\'s a chance you might not hear back until after your hunt. This is their busy time of year where they are out in the field every day checking on hunters. Unless they have a break in the action, there isn\'t a lot of time for returning phone calls. Just want to give you a heads-up!

 

[iccyman001]

Good luck!

 

[WW]

To be honest, this is what I have seen over the years for December migration hunts. I would estimate 98% of the hunters get in their trucks and just drive the two-tracks. When they find elk they get out, set up the shooting sticks, and bang away. Probably not quite what you wanted to hear.

Snow is a major factor. Too much and you can\'t get around. Too little and the herds hang up in transition areas that you can\'t hunt. Be sure to bring your camera. If you hit the major migration just right, you will see herds of unbelievable numbers.

 

[bowhunter]

Good luck.. I will be looking forward to the stories.

I would try to find a plan B through Z spot. I would also try not to set up a big camp. Keep mobile. A mattress in the back of the truck and you wouldn\'t have to pitch a tent or worry about high winds.

 

[cnelk]

Gary

I had cow tags for that unit, I would looked into the area just north of Tisdale Mtn.
Plenty of BLM, surrounded by private, a riverbottom not too far away...

Ingredients that would definitely make me take a good look at it

I just dont know how the access is, looks like there are roads in the area

 

[razorback]

Best of luck on the hunt. Sounds like it will be a lot of fun.

 

[Zpd307]

Derek, I totally hear you on the warden issue. I bet they are busy right now, and they have a ton of territory to cover, with a lot of it being no cell reception. I have a friend whose a warden here in mn, so I know how it goes. I am still hoping that he calls me back though!

brad, I will check that out! it might be that I already have, but I haven\'t linked names to spots yet.....

bill, I can guarantee that this is whats going to happen. I don\'t plan on getting lucky and seeing anything remotely close to a road. there are some long chunks of public that look to hold elk and cant all be glassed from the road. as long as I can get to them in the truck, I plan on doing plenty of hiking in those areas. kim has ramped up her works outs, she plans to go wherever she needs to be able to go!
and talking about the snow..... I agree, I would love to have that perfect amount. and is causing the greatest amount of worry for me..... but, I can only do with what I have!

terry, I have a bunch of spots picked out already! I have them from the south border of the unit all the way to the north border! so there will be plenty of driving involved just heading to them all. with any luck we can get into them in one of the first few spots I have picked out...
the plan is to stay mobile. the small tent will keep us warm at night and we have a larger tent that sets up pretty quick, if we need to get out of the cold and wind for cooking and eating. we could also put the small tent inside the bigger one for better wind protection at night. or as you have said, sleep in the truck bed. the topper hasn\'t been taken off yet. I have a heater to warm things up while in the bigger one. that is of course, not barring any storms that might blow through. then its motel time
the weather out to nov 23rd seems to be pretty mild..... but things can change!. daily weather checks will be done up until we leave! it will also dictate which spots that I will hit first, due to being able to get there!

steve, these spur of the moments trips always seem to turn out to be a blast. I have no idea of what to expect, so I have no expectations

 

[Zpd307]

brad, found it. I am hunting the unit to the north. the unit that youre talking about also has tags left.

 

[Zpd307]

almost a week out before we leave!
new gear for the trip has arrived in the mail!
weather forecast is looking excellent! its going to cool down and the snow from earlier is almost gone, so we should be able to be very mobile!
the wife is pumped!!!!!
I just might have another story to tell....... again! who knew, 2 elk hunts in a year. I never would have guessed it, this early in life

 

[bnsafe]

cant wait to see lots of pics and hear the story, this seems awesome.

 

[Zpd307]

we made it back home! my wife coined this an epic hunt from the start, and it proved to be one, start to finish..... but no elk was harmed during the adventure!

 

[bnsafe]

glad ur back safe, nothin has to be harmed for a successful hunt. hope she wants to go back.

 

[cohunter14]

we made it back home! my wife coined this an epic hunt from the start, and it proved to be one, start to finish..... but no elk was harmed during the adventure!

We\'ll be waiting (somewhat patiently) for the full story Gary :wave:

 

[Zpd307]

so we left at around 8 pm after we both worked that day. we encountered a snow blown and iced over I-90 from Sturgis, sd all the way to buffalo, wy.... 40-60 mph :downthumb: we had a 35 mph headwind from the start..... 11 mpg was the best that we got, the truck was boosting 25-35 psi on flat ground :wtf:
this greeted us at the pass between sundance, wy and Gillette!
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it never got warmer than -12 until we reached buffalo. the lady at the gas station said that the elk were down low. so we decided to try and hit the lowland public that I had researched on. I knew going into this, that seeing elk let alone killing one was going to be a small miracle.
but I was back in the mtns and my wife was excited to be there and try!
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we were welcomed by a ton of goats and deer immediately!
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driving around in the low lands. as the morning progressed, the clouds moved in and it started to snow.

 

[Zpd307]

I found out in a hurry that the ranchers can close public roads and trespass anyone from using them..... so we couldn\'t even get to the public land.... some roads were blocked that didn\'t even have access to any public. I was getting very frustrated after having to turn around time and time again and go back the 10-15 miles that I had gone, only to find a blocked road.
so we went up the mtn and didn\'t cut any tracks..... it wasn\'t much of a mtn, the base was 5900, the pass was 8300 ft.
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we stopped for luch. it was cool, to be above the clouds and snow
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we followed fresh tire tracks on the way up, like mentioned earlier I bet that they were road hunting.

 

[Zpd307]

at lunch, we found all of our meat in the cooler was frozen. nothing like a frozen turkey burrito...... my teeth hurt eating it and it gave me a cold headache!
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kim was excited and had some fun climbing this old tree..... me, I was tired from driving all night :crazy:
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off we went, we were headed west to see if some others spots had access.... over the pass we go!

 

[Zpd307]

the tracks ended at a section of drifts covering the road. kim advised to turn around like the other truck did.... heck no! what male would take the easy route, especially since it would cost us several hours of driving to head back down and come back in from the other side..... she told me to atleast chain up...... heck no! the drifts weren\'t that deep and we had the down hill on our side!
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I gave the final test :lol:
oopsies....
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the right side of the road had washed out and was deeper with snow. after two failed shovel outs, I couldnt get the truck to turn out of the washout...
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it was 4 degrees out! that was the highest temp we saw all day....
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those v bar chains really grip and we crawled back out. I still wanted to go forward, since we were now chained up, but kim was having nothing of that :lol: she acted like we were going to die :roll: listen baby, we have a almost full tank of fuel, and plenty of food, and..... cell service!
so we turned back around..... and back down into the snow
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I got plenty of I told you so\'s :lol: but honey, now you know how to chain up tires