OTC Cow Elk Wyoming

[brant89]

Alright gents, I want to do an OTC cow elk hunt in Wyoming this year. I understand that all the units that are still available are limited access, but we are young and willing to hike. I've seen a few elk in unit 126 while mule deer hunting but was also eyeballing unit 33. Can elk be found on public late in the season in these units? Do any of you have other suggestions?

 

[wyosteve]

A lot depends on the weather, but typically late in the season the elk are down on private land.

 

[brant89]

A lot depends on the weather, but typically late in the season the elk are down on private land.

I figured it would be pretty weather dependent. We are currently considering Unit 33 in the first week of December. It looks like the only two access points are in the extreme north and south portions of the public land with 2-6 miles of hiking to really get into some decent territory. Are the elk usually out of that area by that time of year? Are those roads still accessible in December?

 

[Wyowind]

Unit 33 is one of the very few units in Wyoming with some left over elk tags right now. You could still get a tag to hunt there, which is amazing considering how fast tags sold out everywhere else in the state.

I have never hunted unit 33, but the fact that there are some leftover tags now might give you a clue that there are some issues with that area.

December dirt road and two track accessibility in WY is totally weather dependent. In a heavy snow year, you will have trouble. Is this going to be a heavy snow year? Who knows?

You might try calling WY Game and Fish in Casper for some better intel on that area.

Good Luck with your hunt wherever you go!

WyoWind

 

[brant89]

I backed out on the hunt. It appears that there's only one road in after September 1st and I don't want to take my chances on weather-dependent access. I think my buddy is still going to try it though. I might get an OTC bear tag for a unit that I plan on deer/elk hunting in the future and do some scouting in September.

 

[calling4life]

Maybe that's why people don't hunt it, can't you still hike in?

Means more miles on your feet, but seems like that wasn't an issue for you...

 

[brant89]

Maybe that's why people don't hunt it, can't you still hike in?

Means more miles on your feet, but seems like that wasn't an issue for you...

The road in question is 20+ miles from the main highway. If that road is impassable to a 4wd truck then the snow is probably more than 12" deep. There's a pretty big difference between 20 miles in 12+ inches of snow and your typical 5-6 mile hike into some untouched country. Thanks for trying to call me out though…

 

[Robert powell]

I don't really think so but goodluck !

 

[brant89]

For anyone interested, I went into the Bighorns with a different buddy for black bear and shot a bear our first morning, but was unable to recover it. I listened to what I would now consider poor advice on shot placement for black bears. My buddy connected on an average size sow the following day. After that we didn't see another bear the rest of the week. My original hunting partner did end up going on the Unit 33 cow/calf hunt the first week of December and they both tagged elk in their first day or two.

 

[cahunter805]

For anyone interested, I went into the Bighorns with a different buddy for black bear and shot a bear our first morning, but was unable to recover it. I listened to what I would now consider poor advice on shot placement for black bears. My buddy connected on an average size sow the following day. After that we didn't see another bear the rest of the week. My original hunting partner did end up going on the Unit 33 cow/calf hunt the first week of December and they both tagged elk in their first day or two.

Bummer on the bear but congrats to your buddies!
Just curious what was the poor advice on the shot placement?

 

[dfanonymous]

I backed out on the hunt. It appears that there's only one road in after September 1st and I don't want to take my chances on weather-dependent access. I think my buddy is still going to try it though. I might get an OTC bear tag for a unit that I plan on deer/elk hunting in the future and do some scouting in September.

Do you have or have access to a truck, a snowmobile and snow shoes?

Also do you have experience mountaineering? Because, there's no point in driving to your death if you can't live out of your pack in the snow.

 

[brant89]

Bummer on the bear but congrats to your buddies!
Just curious what was the poor advice on the shot placement?

I had heard by a couple high profile bear hunters to shoot them in the middle of the middle and that a shot too far back was better than too far forward on a bear. I put a 200gr ELDX in the middle of the bear about 2/3 up from the bottom (confirmed my my spotter) and rolled it, only to watch it recover itself and make it into some pretty thick cover with zero blood to follow. Next time I'll be smashing the shoulders like anything else. This was my first time pulling the trigger on a bear.

 

[brant89]

Do you have or have access to a truck, a snowmobile and snow shoes?

Also do you have experience mountaineering? Because, there's no point in driving to your death if you can't live out of your pack in the snow.

I have a truck, no snowmobile or snow shoes. We sorted it all out either way.