South Central Wyoming Rifle, Cow Elk Hunt

[pablodiablo]

Hi Hunt Talkers, hope everyone is well. I was fortunate to get myself a cow elk rifle tag for South Central Wyoming this coming fall.

However, this is the first time I've hunted a tag which has a relatively long season. I'm probably going to have 7-8 days total to scout and hunt. I'm deep in the planning phase but I'm trying to determine which 7-8 days I should head out there.

My questions for the experienced elk hunters or anyone who's hunted S Central WY:

-How would you go about determining the dates you'd hunt wihtin a relatively long hunting season if you were a non-resident? Part of me wants to be there to scout prior to the opener and be ready to hunt when the season opens, but part of me wonders if it's better to wait a few days and let the initial influx of hunters fade out, OR if the elk patterns themselves should make me think about going later than the 10-1 opener?

-Is it too early to be thinking about this question and potential dates or would you wait until later in summer/fall to see about weather patterns etc?

-Taking the unit-specificity out of the question, is there any advice anyone can share about how they start to choose hunt dates when the tag is for a longer time period?

Thanks to anyone for reading and offering advice, and if anyone wants to carry the conversation to a private message I am always thankful for any advice from people who have more hunting experience than I do.

 

[ShootsManyBullets]

Since you havent mentioned a unit the answers will be a little vague.

• Is there a concurrent deer hunt? Lots of tags? Might want to avoid them. Same with antelope
• Is there a bull hunt at the same time? Might want to let them clear out or you can go same time and use them for intel on your cow and vice versa
• Weather - it's Wyoming so the longer you wait the worse it will get
• Scouting - you'll probably spend more time looking for an elk than you will hunting elk so make sure you can get around
• Pressure will move them around. You may find them on public early and private later - fairly common occurrence

All in all I'd go early and avoid the blizzard that always shows up in early october when you're not prepared for it.

 

[Wy067]

PM sent.

 

[WildWill]

Since you havent mentioned a unit the answers will be a little vague.

• Is there a concurrent deer hunt? Lots of tags? Might want to avoid them. Same with antelope
• Is there a bull hunt at the same time? Might want to let them clear out or you can go same time and use them for intel on your cow and vice versa
• Weather - it's Wyoming so the longer you wait the worse it will get
• Scouting - you'll probably spend more time looking for an elk than you will hunting elk so make sure you can get around
• Pressure will move them around. You may find them on public early and private later - fairly common occurrence

All in all I'd go early and avoid the blizzard that always shows up in early october when you're not prepared for it.

All great advice. Without knowing the unit it's hard to determine what the best time would be. But with the limited info I would go with enough time to scout for 2 full days before the 10/1 opener then hunt for as long as I could. For me the earlier the better as mentioned the later you wait the greater the potential for nasty weather that could negatively impact your hunt. Then again depending on the unit nasty weather may push more elk in.

 

[pablodiablo]

Thanks for all the good input. I hadn’t considered some of these. This is unit 24 by the way.