Hunting in Wyoming

[Wyoming53]

Let's hear your favorite spots. What do you hunt for, where, how difficult/easy is it to get what you want? How's the access?

Let's hear your favorite hunting stories.

[Wyody]

Truth is, I usually dropped down into Utah to hunt - why mess up our own backyard, eh?
However, I rode as a spotter/guide up the backside of the Tetons ... actually up the Snake River/Absarokas with views of the Tetons - and the elk hunting there is fantastic! As are hunts for Bighorn Sheep, Mountain Goats and Bear!
A lot of folks down in the SW corner of the state fare well up BlackFork, behind Mountain View and Ft. Bridger on the north-slope of the Uinta Mtns.

[Wyoming53]

Originally Posted by Wyody

Truth is, I usually dropped down into Utah to hunt - why mess up our own backyard, eh?
However, I rode as a spotter/guide up the backside of the Tetons ... actually up the Snake River/Absarokas with views of the Tetons - and the elk hunting there is fantastic! As are hunts for Bighorn Sheep, Mountain Goats and Bear!
A lot of folks down in the SW corner of the state fare well up BlackFork, behind Mountain View and Ft. Bridger on the north-slope of the Uinta Mtns.

I put in for my Big Horn sheep tag year after year. I finally got it. Course, I was in my 3rd week of boot camp in San Diego. Couldn't use it. haha

That is some beautiful country that you are talking about.

[Wyoming53]

I guess hunting this year is going to be nice. I'll be the only hunter and possibly you might get bored and want to come back and guide. That will make two of us in the entire mountains.

[NHYRNUT]

Originally Posted by Wyody

Truth is, I usually dropped down into Utah to hunt - why mess up our own backyard, eh?
However, I rode as a spotter/guide up the backside of the Tetons ... actually up the Snake River/Absarokas with views of the Tetons - and the elk hunting there is fantastic! As are hunts for Bighorn Sheep, Mountain Goats and Bear!
A lot of folks down in the SW corner of the state fare well up BlackFork, behind Mountain View and Ft. Bridger on the north-slope of the Uinta Mtns.

ELK you can hunt elk? I want a tag. Elk and cougar without dogs are my dream hunts. Well I want the cougar with my bow. The elk with my 270. I have a 30-06 for the karaboo hunt I will be going on someday as well.

[Wyody]

Originally Posted by NHYRNUT

ELK you can hunt elk? I want a tag. Elk and cougar without dogs are my dream hunts. Well I want the cougar with my bow. The elk with my 270. I have a 30-06 for the karaboo hunt I will be going on someday as well.

Gad, I don't know for sure - 53 will know probably - but I doubt that you even need a tag for a cougar/puma/mountain lion! Anything that can gobble our children and wives are usually considered pests.
You can get Elk tags. I'm not an avid hunter so my knowledge of the particulars may be inaccurate - usually involves a draw/lottery ... and usually folks will give me enough elk for a while - my favorite is the liver - so dense, so tasty!!
A small family can survive pretty well on three deer a winter ... and that's about how many that inadvertantly strolled right in front of my long-arm while I was merely target practicing.
There are several outfitters in the Jackson Wyoming (commonly referred to as Jackson Hole) area that might be able to arrange a trip for you but I don't have a name at the ready. Take a look online and see what you come up with ... or, better yet, make friends with Wyoming53 and he can take you up his side of the mountain!

[Wyody]

Originally Posted by Wyoming53

I guess hunting this year is going to be nice. I'll be the only hunter and possibly you might get bored and want to come back and guide. That will make two of us in the entire mountains.

Well, if'n you gots a 4-wheeler, I'll consider it. Too hard to pack them puppies out on myback or horseback!

[Wyoming53]

Originally Posted by Wyody

Well, if'n you gots a 4-wheeler, I'll consider it. Too hard to pack them puppies out on myback or horseback!

Elk camp usually has 5 or 6 four-wheelers. We hunt up by Bear Lodge in area 38. Try and get our deer at the same time. Mostly Muley's up there. Outsiders have to be careful of altitude sickness, course you know all about that.

I've actually quartered them in the field and packed out a quarter at a time. Not my favorite thing to do. haha

[Wyoming53]

Originally Posted by NHYRNUT

ELK you can hunt elk? I want a tag. Elk and cougar without dogs are my dream hunts. Well I want the cougar with my bow. The elk with my 270. I have a 30-06 for the karaboo hunt I will be going on someday as well.

Take a look here.

http://gf.state.wy.us/admin/regulations/index.asp#

Look around on that sight and you can find price of tags and what not.

Cougar, you can shoot anytime if you are in fear of being attacked. Not just pop them off whenever you want. haha

I have a lifetime hunting, fishing, small game, game bird license and Conservation Tag. So I try to get out as much as I can.

[NHYRNUT]

wow Bison will set a non resident back some lol. Damn tourist.

[Wyoming53]

Originally Posted by NHYRNUT

wow Bison will set a non resident back some lol. Damn tourist.

When I joined the Military, I was a Wyoming Resident. The nearest recruiter, back then, was Rapid City South Dakota. So I drove down there and joined, not knowing what it would do to me.

18 years later, I got out of the military in Feb. I came back to Wyoming and found that I wasn't a resident. When I explained to them that I was a Wyoming Resident when I enlisted, why not now? They said, "Because, you enlisted in South Dakota. You changed your residency." So I had to wait for one year. Course that was Feb to Feb. hunting season is over by then so I had to wait til the following fall. The following fall, I had 22 critters in my walk in cooler. I had to make up for lost ground. For the next several years, all my kids ever ate was venison. Got to the point where they didn't like beef. Now I have two daughters that go Elk hunting, Deer hunting, and Antelope hunting. One of them hunts rabbits almost every weekend. She also enjoys pheasant hunting.

I've tried talking both of them into hunting bear or cougars. They won't go. hahaha And what's funny, is the areas they hunt are filled with both, they've just not seen any.

[Wyoming53]

You know how people are always talking about the Illusive Antelope? They say that you have to be real sneaky, you have to wear camoflage, you have to make sure you are down wind. Use every bit of cover you can find. Some times it takes hours to work yourself close enough to get a shot.

Or, you can drive up in your pickup truck on the second day of season and smack em with a stick.

[Wyoming53]

Th coyotes have been well regulated and as a result, the turkey and pheasant population last fall was up from previous years.

this picture is a bunch of wild turkeys, during season.

[NHYRNUT]

we have alot of turky here as well. But cougars are officially non residents. lol But ya they get spotted now and then. VT for years didn't admit they where there. But last year 1 was hit and killed by a car. Now they say it was a stray from canada. lol ya just 1 made it down. I was at my uncles in VT and while we where in the back yard it got eirly quiet about 10:30 at night. The cows turkey and dogs all got quiet at once. The lab even scrouched on the ground an whined for a second before it going silent. All of a sudden a coydog shot right by us at full speed within 20 ft. Unheard of for coydogs, it didn't even acknowledge us. About 2 min later I heard the cougar growl. Never forget it. I have only heard 1 twice. 1 time in washington state, and that 1 was looking at me and my dad. and this time. I didn't see it but when my uncle saw my reaction he asked what the hell was that. when I told him he thought I was nuts. But he couldn't exsplain the coydog or the animals reaction. the following morning he found a calf torn up bad. the warden told him it was a cyote. 2 years later the cougar was hit and killed on the road 8 miles from his house. when there is 1 there is more.

[Curious George]

Wears a good spot for hunting Deer or elk an what are the ins an outs for out of states residents license fees an such . My son is thinking of hunting out there or Montana .

[Wyoming53]

Hunting in Wyoming is outstanding. Although I hear a lot about Montana, I've never hunted up there.

Here's the website for all the technical info (non-resident tags and all the regulations)

http://gf.state.wy.us/admin/regulations/index.asp#

Tell him to get set up and then he can go after this. Just took this today and never even left town. About 1.3 miles from my house. My daughter is out of town so I was going over to water her dogs. I was on my 4 wheeler and I always carry my digital camera.

Originally Posted by Curious George

Wears a good spot for hunting Deer or elk an what are the ins an outs for out of states residents license fees an such . My son is thinking of hunting out there or Montana .

Sheridan and Buffalo are excellent spots. Course, Just about every place in the state is good. Elk tend to hang with the mountainous regions but tend to wander down on the rolling hills if the snow pushes them off the top.

Deer are just about anywhere. Just East of Sheridan, a boone and crocket record muley was taken just east of town a few miles.

I usually hunt are 38 for Elk. I also try and draw my deer tag for the same area so I can take either or both while up there.

We camp in straight wall tents. We have 2 of them we set up. 14' by 28'. One has chimneys at both ends. We set up a camp stove on one end and a cook stove at the other end and then a couple of picknic tables in the middle. The other tent is set up as sleeping quarters and has a single stove in the middle.

We take our 4 wheelers with blades and clear out were we park and a large spot for camp. So we're not wading around in snow making trips to the outhouse (dome tent with a porta podi) and back. We're actually about 6 miles back off the highway on a two track road. Nice easy area for hiking. It's up about 9000-10000 feet in elevation. But it's pretty gentle hiking in that area. Kind of rolling hills.

If you hunted the other end of Black Mountain road, and you shot and elk and he slid down to the bottom. It would take you a week to pack him out. It's pretty rough.

We hunt North of Burgess Junction. And Burgess Junction is almost straight west of Sheridan.

Don't plan on being in that area, during that part of the season, with a car. Need the clearence of a pickup and if your 2 wheel drive, bring chains. We have in the past, gotten 20-24 inches of snow during the night while were asleep. haha I drive a 4 wheel drive truck, with locked posi on both ends. 3208 Cat diesel wedged under the hood. Steel flatbed. And she holds 146 gallons of fuel. So I don't have much problems. She weighs about 8500 lbs empty. Some 12.5 wide, 35 inch tall BFG, All Terraine TA's and I usually get to where I want to go.

[Curious George]

Sounds like you must of started out with one of them 2 ton 4 wheel drive trucks .
35” tire that’s about the size height wise of a semi . you would have some pretty good ground clearance. Them 3208’s are a little spendy to rebuild compared to a 6 but they made allot of them . how many miles to the gallon do you get with that .last year me an the son went out to Hayden lake Id an back to Missoula in my Kenworth to pick up a lowboy trailer I bought an we put on 100 gal to get back to ND so about 1580 mi on 200
Gal of fuel , witch isn’t great mileage but it’s a semi . so what do you get, you must run for a couple months. 12.5 wide seems a little wide though . do you do any mudding with that thing , it sounds like it would go through allot.

[Wyoming53]

Originally Posted by Curious George

Sounds like you must of started out with one of them 2 ton 4 wheel drive trucks .
35” tire that’s about the size height wise of a semi . you would have some pretty good ground clearance. Them 3208’s are a little spendy to rebuild compared to a 6 but they made allot of them . how many miles to the gallon do you get with that .last year me an the son went out to Hayden lake Id an back to Missoula in my Kenworth to pick up a lowboy trailer I bought an we put on 100 gal to get back to ND so about 1580 mi on 200
Gal of fuel , witch isn’t great mileage but it’s a semi . so what do you get, you must run for a couple months. 12.5 wide seems a little wide though . do you do any mudding with that thing , it sounds like it would go through allot.

Nope. F-250 Ford. Only I changed out the frame and suspension. You know how those trucks had negative arch leaf springs on the front? I put 8 positive arch springs on each side. Also triple shocked it all the way around. She's only got 310,000 miles on her so she's still purring like a kitty. No pun intended. doesn't burn a drop of oil. She's getting a little old. I ordered that truck in 1984. It was the first 1985 to hit the dealer. I ordered it with that engine in it. Then I went to work on it and 3 months later she was rolling down the road.

Now remember, in 1985, the US speed limit was 55. So I figured out tire size and ordered it geared lower due to the tires. So, now I had a truck that was optimum at 55 mph. Today, if I drive it 55, I'll get 21 and 22 mpg. But if I run 75 (speed limit here) I only get about 13 mpg.

She's 22 years old and has a little serfice rust but she's a good old truck.



Front leafs.


Oh, by the way. that truck on the other side is the same make and model. 1985 F-250. Only no modifications and also it's gas.

[Curious George]

I didn’t know you could get a cat, never the less a 3208 from factory, I thought they had international .you must have a Allison if it’s automatic . there is no shortage of power for what you would tow with it . 310,000 is just getting broke in my kenworth has 725,000 an is good for about 100 to 150 more before a rebuild . my governor kicks in I can only hit 78 mph. Nice ground clearance , is that factory reared it looks a little bigger then what a ¾ ton would have in 85. Paint her up an your good to go another 20 years .

[Wyoming53]

Originally Posted by Curious George

I didn’t know you could get a cat, never the less a 3208 from factory, I thought they had international .you must have a Allison if it’s automatic . there is no shortage of power for what you would tow with it . 310,000 is just getting broke in my kenworth has 725,000 an is good for about 100 to 150 more before a rebuild . my governor kicks in I can only hit 78 mph. Nice ground clearance , is that factory reared it looks a little bigger then what a ¾ ton would have in 85. Paint her up an your good to go another 20 years .

Normally comes with Dana 44's. Those are Dana 70's. When I ordered, I went in with a list of everything I wanted. Every time he bauked, I'd just stand up and say, "Maybe Chevy can build it." He'd get back on the phone and call St. Louis and pretty soon he'd write it down. I ordered it in January and it took them til October to get it.

The one problem is all I could get at that time was a 4 speed Borge Warnner T-19. Good tranny but would like more gears.

Last year I pulled my 5th wheel up from Texas. Kinda pulled hard coming out of Casper. People don't understand there a 18 mile incline. Finally got her up to about 60 and then she pulled fine. Run 75 all the rest of the way to Sheridan. Piney Creek and Meade creek hills between Sheridan and Buffalo never even got me out of 4th gear.

Got home, next day I took it down to the feed store. Pulled on there and dropped my trailer. No wonder it pulled hard. 27,500 pounds behind that pickup.

[Curious George]

What the heck, my kenworth an 50 ton lowboy only way 34000 . you must of forgot to dump the crapper.

[Wyody]

I sent the pics of the Elk and Antelope to my friend who is moving from FL to LaBarge, WY.
He says dinner is served almost as soon as he can reload ... heehee ... wait 'til that Cherokee sets to packing that Elk!!
And I really doubt that he has ever prepped goat-stew (pronghorn) - ah, 53, there is the dream .... and then ... the reality.
Y'know, it almost surprised me but some of the biggest mulies I've seen in the Rockies were near LaBarge - think they came down out of the Absarokas. I nailed one once in my 30' straight-truck ... or rather, it nailed me - had to run almost 100 yards out of it's way to hit the front of the truck. While I went to call the ranger after being sure it was dead, it got up and ran away - I mean far away - out of sight away - unhurt!!!!!

[Wyoming53]

Everybody says I'm strange because I like goat the best. But I have a walk in cooler and let them hang for 10 days before I cut them up. No gameyness taste.

I'm kind of concerned, that Elk is in our Park here in town. There's two bulls and two cows. And then theres 4 buffalo. When I went over to feed the dogs at my daughters house, I noticed about 10-12 buzzards circling over the ravine where they're at. Something down there has attracted them. Hope it's not like 2 years ago. For some reason, one of the buffalo freaked and killed our big bull elk. Hope the same thing hasn't happened.

When I got home, I gave the parks dep a call. Course it being sunday, I got an answering machine. I have to run over in a bit to take care of the dogs again, I'll stop in the park. They have a concession stand that opens at noon. Hopefully they'll know how to get ahold of somebody to check it.

[Wyody]

Down in Evanston, they keep 8/9 adults at all times and the cows calve every year.
They also keep two Bull Elk (massive) in the same park - The Bear River State Park.
They are kept in separate pastures and the Bison have a low-voltage electric fence keeping them away from the real fence - they had to do the 'lectric one 'cause people kept getting too friendly and one of the bulls just wasn't that "emotionally available" for the humanoids ... or their dogs.
I would suggest separate pastures for the lunch-units.
Hope they is all okay.

[Wyoming53]

Originally Posted by Wyody

Down in Evanston, they keep 8/9 adults at all times and the cows calve every year.
They also keep two Bull Elk (massive) in the same park - The Bear River State Park.
They are kept in separate pastures and the Bison have a low-voltage electric fence keeping them away from the real fence - they had to do the 'lectric one 'cause people kept getting too friendly and one of the bulls just wasn't that "emotionally available" for the humanoids ... or their dogs.
I would suggest separate pastures for the lunch-units.
Hope they is all okay.

Yup. Buzzards were watching something else. Thank God. Critters are fine. Except for that experience, they've kept pretty good. About 20 years and only the one expierence. I figure that's ok.

Here's another one for you Wyody. Makes you wonder. Neck shot? Behind the ear? Lower neck? Heart shot? haha

[Wyody]

Well, I don't know how you folks up there in the civilized part of Wyoming do it - but over in the outback, I use two methods.
One would be to take several steps to my left and pump a massive right behind that shoulder-blade (heart-shot) aiming for the bucket-sized bullet to come straight out the front of the chest.
My special method is to walk straight toward the Elk - fearless, without noise - and hold up an 8x10 glossy of my ex. BOOM! SPLAT! Tongue on the ground sandwich.
Then, there's always the California method - All Rocky Mountain hunters know of the California method as practiced by the millions and millions of Californians who come out with their shiny new Caboy Boots and their equally shiny elephant-guns: That method, for the uninitiate, is to first ask somebody to hold your cup of beer mixed with Evian and then start firing at anything anyplace remotely near the Elk - ripping large chunks of the Earth, the bush, the tree, the truck, the farmhouse down the road, the schoolbus out there that looks like a junker (but really houses 3 and 4 renegades) and blowing everything away until only the Elk is left standing ... then (the smart ones anyway), handing off their rifle to someone who is actually from the Rocky Mountains so that maybe they can get an Elk-burger for dinner before they go back to Cafilonia - while the rest of us Rocky Mtnrs are just tuning up on the Liver to both enjoy and show respect for the animal ... and of course using our fancy new cell-phones to call 911 to come help those folks that were in the bus.

[Wyoming53]

Blue Grouse season started today. Gotta figure out where to hunt. Lately, everytime I've seen any, they were on private land.

This year, the Game and Fish is going to come out with a new map. In the past, they have been scarce and ill defined. This year, they're not only going to show BLM or State land, but they have visited all the ranches and have found out who is going to allow walk in traffic. These ranches will also be on the map.

A few years back, Wyoming went to a three part tag. One part, you have to put on the animal. The second part, you have to send in to the Game and Fish. The third part, you give to the land owner. At the end of hunting season, he turns in the part 3's that have been given to him and the game and fish will pay him for the number of tags he allowed on his property.

This system cost a raise in the price of tags, but is well worth it. The ranchers that have prohibited hunting on their land, are now starting to open up their property to hunters.

[Wyoming53]

Tomorrow starts Elk Season. We're headed up on top. Hell, in Wyoming it's a national holiday. Really. The coal mines have a day off on Monday. Can't be working on the opening day!