RN Flatlander
New member
I finished my first western hunt about a week ago, which had good and bad moments. My cousin went on the hunt too, but he did not have a tag, he was just going for the experience. The scenery driving up the mountain the first day was awesome, but I did not expect it to be so cold in the middle of October in central Wyoming. We saw some does the day before opener and set up a truck camp on the mountain for the night. This was probably the dumbest thing we did the entire trip. The warmest it was that night was 1 degree, with a windchill way below that. We were also right around 9000 feet. After trying to sleep, we both could not control our breathing pattern after laying down for about an hour. We then moved into the cab of the truck and turned it on, which helped us get through the night. The next day started the hunt and made us realize the struggles of hunting a general rifle season, I think. There were constant 4x4s driving all over the mountain. My cousin and I hiked to some decent glassing spots, but mid day decided to move down to the south side of the mountain to see if that would be a better location for most of the hunt. It was much nicer on this side of the mountain, and we immediately saw a ton of deer, but no antlers. We were also shocked to see so many people driving right up to groups of deer to get a closer look, instead of observing from a distance and planing a stalk if able. Each day we would start in this area, glass from a great location, and observe about 30-40 deer, but no bucks. We would then go to other areas but always end up coming back to this spot due to the shear number of deer here. The amount of cattle grazing all over was insane also. Along with the cattle, the random fences that were on BLM land, I guess to help contain the cattle to certain areas, was unexpected as well. We ended the hunt without punching a tag but learning a lot. A lot of my gear was perfect for most of the trip. The main thing I would probably improve on, is purchasing a better pack, as mine was a cheap one that wasn't the most comfortable, but did the job.
After letting the hunt digest a little bit, I would love to go out west again soon. I feel like I have a better understanding of what I want out of a future western hunt now, and that is where I am going to look for suggestions from all of you. I would prefer not to freeze to death. The nights when it was in the upper 20s were fine, but the night when it was 1 degree, was stupid cold. I would be down for a bow hunt or a rifle hunt, since I primarily bow hunt here in Illinois. My biggest thing is wanting suggestions on where to go to avoid seeing so many people driving around. Every trail we considered hiking down, someone drove down the trail before we could even get to it. I know there are areas that have walk in only trails, which would be awesome. I just know when we were the first ones to hike out and start glassing for one of the mornings, and then we observe somebody drive down a trail about 30 minutes later and barely get out of the truck to shoot a deer about 100 yards away, it really pissed me off, because this was not the experience I wanted to have. Another huge plus to the trip would be having a stream or what not in the area to fish a little bit, just to break up the day. I was leaning towards another mule deer hunt, or possible elk hunt for the future. I'm all about affordable, DIY, and hopefully not a low draw odds trip, so that it can be taken within a couple years instead of in 10 years. If anyone on here has suggestions I would greatly appreciate it.
After letting the hunt digest a little bit, I would love to go out west again soon. I feel like I have a better understanding of what I want out of a future western hunt now, and that is where I am going to look for suggestions from all of you. I would prefer not to freeze to death. The nights when it was in the upper 20s were fine, but the night when it was 1 degree, was stupid cold. I would be down for a bow hunt or a rifle hunt, since I primarily bow hunt here in Illinois. My biggest thing is wanting suggestions on where to go to avoid seeing so many people driving around. Every trail we considered hiking down, someone drove down the trail before we could even get to it. I know there are areas that have walk in only trails, which would be awesome. I just know when we were the first ones to hike out and start glassing for one of the mornings, and then we observe somebody drive down a trail about 30 minutes later and barely get out of the truck to shoot a deer about 100 yards away, it really pissed me off, because this was not the experience I wanted to have. Another huge plus to the trip would be having a stream or what not in the area to fish a little bit, just to break up the day. I was leaning towards another mule deer hunt, or possible elk hunt for the future. I'm all about affordable, DIY, and hopefully not a low draw odds trip, so that it can be taken within a couple years instead of in 10 years. If anyone on here has suggestions I would greatly appreciate it.
