folks,

a good friend of mine and i are planning an elk hunt in WY for '16. as a party, we will have 6 points each for the draw. we would like to have at least a few days during bow season, then rifle hunt if need be. this will be DIY, either truck camping or backpacking, whichever is needed.

we need a unit with enough public land that is not wilderness area where we can actually hunt; and would like decent trophy quality. when i started gathering points i always wanted unit 7, but with the amount of private land and now combining with my friend we do not have enough points for 7 i do not think. i live in denver, so pretty much the entire state is open for possibility.

neither of us has elk hunted in WY before. i have antelope hunted several times in elk unit 7, but that's the only place i have hunted in the state.

thank you for your help
cooper

Have you talked to a game and fish biologist?

Have you looked at what the quotas are for 2016?

Have you looked at the number of point holders for 2016?

I'll be hunting the area south of Dubois if I can get a tag, and the season works with antelope season for the Gas Hills. I have enough points that I should have a tag in the bag for the Gas Hills.

have not contacted a biologist yet. i want to try and narrow down at least the region of the state a little. i looked up the 2015 non-res quotas and areas that took between 4-7 points to draw and made a list. i have about 24 units to narrow down from. i can't seem to find '16 data on the wy website.

my next task is to search forums and articles to cross reference my list with what i can find, and also try to figure out which units offer a decent amount of public dirt, and more importantly, access.

the units are all over the state.
north and south of dubois have units i could probably draw, but also lots of wilderness requiring a guide, but they also seem to offer great trophy potential.

have the wolves had a tremendous impact in the greater yellowstone area for elk? i worked in ynp back in 01-02 when the wolves were getting started, i understand now the elk population has been decimated in the park. i haven't been back there in quite some time.

There is a huge banner on the front page of the G&F website that says "Hunt Planner". Click on "start here" on that banner and go from there. The revised way they did it this year has a lot of information along with an interactive map for each unit. Yes, the wolves have taken a huge toll throughout the Yellowstone ecosystem and the grizzly bear situation isn't helping either.

I had a really fun hunt in 124 a couple years ago ( WY elk in unit 124 http://forums.accuratereloadin...81004391#1781004391).

I had max points and applied alone so 124 would probably be just about as tough for you to draw as 7, but there was a TON of public land and while I didn't seen many elk the age structure is there to get a good bull.

Locals can comment better, but I've heard 100 is easier to draw and you still might take a decent bull.

Hope that helps.

quote:

Originally posted by Kyler Hamann:

Locals can comment better, but I've heard 100 is easier to draw and you still might take a decent bull.

I believe that 100 is currently a harder draw(I might be wrong). 100 has long been know as a great area to get a decent bull with very little effort. Some people around here seem to think that 100 is gaining on 124 regarding true trophy bulls due to there being too many tags in 124.

I killed a cow in 100 my second year here. I saw a half dozen dandy bulls in the day and a half that I hunted. This year I was out there during deer season and saw several good bulls.

Thanks guys,
I'm not sure we have the points to draw 100 or 124, but i will go back and check again how much it took to draw them last year.

quote:

Originally posted by cooperjd:
Thanks guys,
I'm not sure we have the points to draw 100 or 124, but i will go back and check again how much it took to draw them last year.

You'll need to look at other than unit 100 and 124, as they are about the two hardest units for a NR to draw. Last year 9PPs was max and 100 was only a 6.06% chance in the Regular draw and 10.42% in the higher priced Special Draw with max PPs. Unit 124 was only a 4.23% and 3.57% chance in those draws last year with max PPs, so even with max PPs it will be a long time before that top pool is even done and drops to the next lower one.