Six buddies and I just returned from a week long hunt in northeastern Wyoming.

We did the "poor boy", do it yourself, public land, unguided hunt. Had a ball, saw lots of game and four out of seven took decent bucks.
the other three hunters either missed shots or passed up small bucks, so we had 100% shooting opportunity.

Drove straight through both ways, camped in tents on public ground, cooked our own grub and generally had a ball. Licenses and stamps ran $200 each + about $350 each for gas, grub, etc.

This probably isn't the way to kill whoppers, but we are learning and our odds should get better after doing this a couple times.

There are literally millions of acres in the west that you, I and all other taxpayers own and are entitled to hunt on. It just takes a little planning, research and fortitude to pull it off.

Steiny, Glad to hear you had a good time. You are right about the amount Of land out there. I am of to wy next year for an elk hunt, the low doe kind as you have spoken. A freind goes every year and has really good luck.

JAG
(yep that one)

I did the Poorboy hunt last year for Elk in Utah it cost the 3 of us 600.00 for a 9 day hunt. With 2 of us taking 5x5 bull and the other one taking a 4x5 bull.We hunted on public land and camp just outside of the hut area. We are planning to do it next year as a smallier group.My uncle Bob died 2 months ago and we are still dealing with it. We are looking for a new member to hunt with an hope to get a group of about 6 of us. Sorry about the sad part just part of dealing with the loss.

Doc in Texas

steiny, I too did a do it yourselfer hunt this fall. The 13" antelope wasn't the biggest in the world but the satisfaction of doing it all yourslef can be a very rewarding experience. Watching some TV shows I feel that some of the guys are only shooting someone else has done the hunting for them (scouting, parenering game, etc.) I'm not against guided hunts but some of us can not afford it and recieve great satifaction in doing it on our own.

Steiny--what public land in NE Wyoming were you hunting--would it be the Thunder Basin Grassland, by chance? I was supposed to do an antelope hunt there earlier this month, but had to cancel at the last minute (I hated to waste the $ I'd spent for the buck tag I'd drawn, but couldn't avoid it). The other 5 guys went, and did pretty well, bagging 2 nice bucks and 4 does.

Poor boy hunts are the only kind I can afford. I'd love to do an elk hunt that way in a year or two, as part of someone's group that has done it before, and "knows the ropes"...

Crusador,you are welcome to come with us next year to hunt elk in Utah,it looks like it going to be a group of 3 of us and if you would like to come that would make the group 4 and that is a good number to hnut with. We hunt an area that is large on the southwestern part of the state and camp with in the area we hunt. as I stated if you would like to come E-mail and we can talk.

Doc in Texas

Crusader - Don't want to be nasty, but I sure aint gonna reveal a hunting spot on the internet.

Buy the maps, Wyoming has over 18 million acres of public land. Same stuff is available in at least a half dozen other western states too.

Doc and/or Steiny:

How did you recon these places without having been there before? (I'm presuming none of you had been there before, from the way your posts were written.) That is, once you arrived on "public land," how did you establish "Okay, let's hunt 'here?'" It just looked right? No one else was around? What?

Doc, what was the terrain like where you were hunting in Utah?

Thanks.

Russ

When we got there we talked to some of the locals,also talked to the ranger at the station.
I looked at topo maps of the areas that looked interesting.

Russ,as for the Utah hunt,it was at 5500 to 7000' rolling hills with broken treeline.

Doc in Texas

Thanks for the prompt reply and the information, Doc.

Russ

Russ -
Our strategy was pretty simple and stupid.
First we check with fish & game and see what areas have near 100% drawing success. If that same area also has a whole bunch of public (BLM, Nat Forest, State) land, then go for it.

Once we draw tags, we start doing some telephone work. Usually the area fish & game guys are pretty helpful about recommending areas. Detailed maps are also readily available.

It's that simple. Then just drive out there, have a look around and go for it. The more time you can spare, the better your odds will be. May even move camp after a couple days if things don't pan out.

If you can read and interpet the sometimes quite complicated regulations and read a map you'll be O.K. It gets easier every time.

Thanks, Steiny. If I'm going to wash out, I'd rather wash out at "public access" prices than at "outfitted" prices.

I appreciate the details, thank you.

Russ

I'm a guide in Wyo, and I don't care if ya hire an outfitter or not but here are some things to remember when choosing a draw area. If it has 100% success it is usually due to the fact there is ALOT fo private ground with little access!! Be careful you could draw a tag in an area that doesn't have any access.
Here's how to choose a draw area.
Call the BLM or State offices and buy the BLM/State land maps they are about $4-5 a piece. Get the maps that cover the areas you think you want to hunt. Tell them on the phone and they will know which ones you need. Call Game and Fish and ask for the Mule deer regulations. Get the regs and cross reference the areas with the BLM/State maps. The BLM/State maps have all the private land marked in white! This will help insure you don't get an area that has all private land ..

GOOD LUCK and have fun...

truth be told. There are 30"ers on public land you just need to know where to look....

Hey, THANKS, WyoWhisper!!! I'll do exactly what you said, thank you!

Russ

As a guy who has to drive trucks through Wyo I loathe having to go there. However as a hunter it is truly wonderfull Wyoming.

The best muley I ever saw in open country was in the snake river canyon. I was pulling a set of Rocky Mtn doubles, (48 ft trailer with a pup behind) across ice packed road with the river just below after midnight, when here comes this monster buck right in front of me. The road was so slippery that even the deer was slipping and sliding trying to get out of the way. I lightly tapped the brakes and even that made some wheels lock up but I managed to slow down enough to not kill it. The corner of my bumper bumped it it the butt so I got a pretty good look although it happened pretty quick. Anyway the rack on that boy strongly resembled that of a small BULL ELK!! What a beauty!!

I was glad to see it run up the hill in my rearview. I only wished I was hunting instead of working..

Steiny,
This deer was taken on a 1998 hunt in Wyoming. Public land and very little hunting pressure. It just takes a little initiative and using the resources that are available to anyone. We stayed in tents also and drove. Price was not much more than hunting at home.