2010 DIY Whitetail Hunt

[sfcsmith12]

I am trying to put together a DIY hunt for 2010 in Wyoming or Montana for myself and some buddies. From what I have been reading, we have a better chance of drawing in Wyoming. I have a few questions that I really would appreciate some input on.

We are from Alabama and some of us, me included, are "grandfathered" on the hunter education for our state. I know that Wyoming requires it for people born after 1966. My question is; do you have to send proof of the course with tag applications or do you just have to have it on you when you are hunting. My problem is that we are currently in Afghanistan and I will not be back in the states before the application deadline.

What are some regions/areas we should look at. We would obviously like to take a big bruiser, but are mainly looking for the expierence of hunting out west. A couple of us are planning on putting in for both deer and antelope tags, so areas with both animals would be great.

Any input / advise would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Bucnutz.wis]

sfcsmith12,

Sorry I can't help you with your questions on these states, but Thank You for your service !!

 

[sfcsmith12]

Thanks buc.

 

[SWWA_Ben]

I know I've had to enter my hunter education number to apply for a few different states and when buying an otc tag in montana a few years back they needed to enter it before giving me my tag. But other than that I believe it's recorded by them and once the tags are issued there is no need to carry proof on you.

 

[mhungerford]

sfcsmith 12
you are not required to produce your hunters ed. card or number when you submit the app for big game and if you are grandfathered in you should not have to produce it if you are checked by a game warden. as for area to hunt deer, there are some great areas up north around gillette also around cody and powell. what is nice for non residents is you can apply for a region and its encompass a number of areas. as for myself if you want to shot a monster i would put in for area 78 type 1 i took a 200 1/8 monster this year in that area also area 102 type 1 is a great area have seen some 220+ monsters come from that area. the wyoming range in the western part of the state is know for some absolute monsters and that is a general tag i think and those are unlimited so you all would draw, but check into it to be sure. as for antelope i dont know what area to tell you i hunt area 44 and 45 around laramie and have good luck but it is mostly private and hard to get on. area 43 is a good one as well my buddy has taken a 76+inch buck every year for the last 5 years out there. as for land to hunt if you and your friends are military i would be more then happy to get you on some land around Laramie to hunt antelope you guys do so much it would be nice to be able to give something back to our military guys. hope this helps if you want some more info let me know and i will see if i can help out (also are you bow or gun hunting)

 

[mdunc8]

I'm relatively new to hunting in Montana, but the only thing I've had to show is a previous archery license. They require an archery class here unless you've archery hunted in another state. I haven't had to show a hunter education card.
From what I understand, drawing for deer is pretty tough for nonresidents. However, the tag is good for both mulies and whitetails. I think, but I might be wrong, you have a better chance of drawing if you put in the for the deer/elk combo tag, but it costs quite a bit more. There's plenty of block management to find whitetails. Region 7 is your best bet for both antelope and whities. Drawing for an antelope out there is the closest thing to a guarantee that we have. I work in the eastern part of the state, but haven't hunted much out there. From what I've seen so far, there's more than enough land and animals for everyone. Access along the rivers is a little tougher, but it can be done. Check out the Powder and Tongue river valleys.

 

[sfcsmith12]

Thanks guys. That's what we are looking for. We are looking a bunch of different options and hopefully will have a good plan together by mid January so we can get our applications in on time. Thanks again for all your input.