Wyoming DIY deer

[338 win mag]

Kinda looking mainly for deer, possibly antelope for a bonus. Looked into region Williams which I guess are many units 82, 100, and 131. Just don't know what to expect as far as hunting pressure. Don't mind walking a long distance but it's hard to out walk hunters on ATVs

 

[338 win mag]

If you haven't already, use the WYGF hunt planner map. It's tremendously helpful for assessing land ownership, draw odds, harvest info, hunter numbers etc. It's a great resource.

https://wgfd.wyo.gov/Hunting/Hunt-Planner/Deer-Hunting/Deer-Nonresident-Map/

I have looked on there. I also have looked at the go hunt insider as well as Eastmans MRS

 

[Steiny]

I probably hunted 10 times in region C. Always drew NR tags and always killed deer. Never killed any real monsters, but had a bunch of fun.
My preference is to hunt the last 5 days of season, rather than the first. Yes, many of the deer have been knocked off, but the hunters had cleared out and we had the country mostly to ourselves.

Guys that live in the west will say an area is crowded and there's not much public land in some areas, and compared to what some of them are used to, they are correct. However if you come from the east or mid-west where a 200 acre farm is a big patch and you have 15 hunters per square mile on opening day, you will very impressed with how much wide open, un-hunted space there is. Buy the maps and understand the regs and you will see that all of Wyoming has a sh!tload of public ground that is wide open and free for you to hunt on. Good luck !

 

[338 win mag]

I probably hunted 10 times in region C. Always drew NR tags and always killed deer. Never killed any real monsters, but had a bunch of fun.
My preference is to hunt the last 5 days of season, rather than the first. Yes, many of the deer have been knocked off, but the hunters had cleared out and we had the country mostly to ourselves.

Guys that live in the west will say an area is crowded and there's not much public land in some areas, and compared to what some of them are used to, they are correct. However if you come from the east or mid-west where a 200 acre farm is a big patch and you have 15 hunters per square mile on opening day, you will very impressed with how much wide open, un-hunted space there is. Buy the maps and understand the regs and you will see that all of Wyoming has a sh!tload of public ground that is wide open and free for you to hunt on. Good luck !

Thanks! I am looking at a couple of limited quota areas as a first choice and maybe a region W if that doesn't look promising. Even in the heavily hunted areas I've researched, harvest percentage doesn't look to bad. I'm sure a lot of the pressure is on opening day from the weekend warriors.

 

[wytex]

Your atv pressure will be on roads so just get away from them. Opening weekend is a toss-up, more pressure and first crack at the deer. I would come out during the week.

 

[JLDemo]

Another thing to remember when trying to choose what area in WYO is to look into the Access Yes program. Some areas have a ton of Hunter Management Areas that are often overlooked since they themselves require a separate draw in some cases, other cases it's open an open door. But for the most part, they're all easy draws if you do your homework. Along those same lines, look into the Landowner/Hunter assistance program, it's a list the state provides with names and numbers of landowners allowing hunters for several species. I've always put in for LQ areas, but just this past season I drove through Pinedale, WY twice and twice I locked up the brakes to check out muley bucks that would've dwarfed anything I saw on LQ areas. After a little research that entire region is General. I now question why the heck I have always put in for LQ areas!

 

[338 win mag]

Your atv pressure will be on roads so just get away from them. Opening weekend is a toss-up, more pressure and first crack at the deer. I would come out during the week.

Thanks. My plan was to use the trails to access the country only. Hunt in the remote areas between trails. I've been studying the unit I want to hunt on OnX Maps. Seems to be one to two mile areas between trails. Hopefully they will hold some deer

 

[338 win mag]

Another thing to remember when trying to choose what area in WYO is to look into the Access Yes program. Some areas have a ton of Hunter Management Areas that are often overlooked since they themselves require a separate draw in some cases, other cases it's open an open door. But for the most part, they're all easy draws if you do your homework. Along those same lines, look into the Landowner/Hunter assistance program, it's a list the state provides with names and numbers of landowners allowing hunters for several species. I've always put in for LQ areas, but just this past season I drove through Pinedale, WY twice and twice I locked up the brakes to check out muley bucks that would've dwarfed anything I saw on LQ areas. After a little research that entire region is General. I now question why the heck I have always put in for LQ areas!

Thanks! Both the LQ areas and general regions I've looked at both have some walk in acreage I believe. Still a little unsure of the first, second, and third choice strategy and which units can be anything other than first choice

 

[Millsworks]

I was scanning through the older posts and saw yours. Was curious if you decided on what for deer in Wy yet.
Have you put in for draw yet.
If not, I have studied Wy system and areas for a few years now. Lots of places to hunt with low or no points.
Some have not bad trophy chances for a guy that can back pack hunt and isn't afraid of the stuff bumping in the night.
My son and I drew elk tags in upper west part of what is region F deer area. After looking around and getting pm from a few good people we will be getting a deer tag if we can for that area. It is over 90% draw odds with zero points in reg. draw for few years now.
Don't know if this helps, but either way, good luck!

 

[icebreaker12]

I was scanning through the older posts and saw yours. Was curious if you decided on what for deer in Wy yet.
Have you put in for draw yet.
If not, I have studied Wy system and areas for a few years now. Lots of places to hunt with low or no points.
Some have not bad trophy chances for a guy that can back pack hunt and isn't afraid of the stuff bumping in the night.
My son and I drew elk tags in upper west part of what is region F deer area. After looking around and getting pm from a few good people we will be getting a deer tag if we can for that area. It is over 90% draw odds with zero points in reg. draw for few years now.
Don't know if this helps, but either way, good luck!

You had better check the proposed regs..... Lots of drops in the quotas in the western part of the state.

 

[Millsworks]

Haven't​ seen any changes proposed for 2017 in region F.
If you think you know something I don't, please share.
Haven't seen any proposed changes for any regional deer tag quota for 2017. Where did you see this on G and F site?

 

[npaden]

Page 6-19. Region F is going from 950 to 750 tags.

https://wgfd.wyo.gov/WGFD/media/content/April_CH-6_Draft-3-14-17-3.pdf

 

[Millsworks]

Thanks! Didn't realize it was out there yet. If it is approved as is seen it will affect some zero point applicants.
In 2016 660 tags were allocated for NR. Says 544 got a tag with no points in regular draw left 78 out of luck when you see 738 people applied as first choice total and 116 received with 1 point or more.
Still looking good to me though, just not as good as past.

 

[Millsworks]

Glad you posted the link also. I am not to swift on the web.
Took me along time to figure out what I have.
Looks like region G hopefully will not be as lucky, but a few less hunters there has been needed for a while now in my opinion. Will improve experience, I'll bet alot after opener anyway.
Thanks again!

 

[Mcseal2]

I hunted W last year with a friend. We took a couple decent bucks, but there was a lot of pressure I thought. We mainly hunted in 82 and it was rare to be somewhere we couldn't see or hear an ATV or truck. We explored a lot of the unit, spent 3 days scouting in August and hunted 5 days. I think they had around 3000 tags for that unit last year if I remember right, not 100% on that. I think most of the hunters are in 82. I would also go later in the season, we took our deer late. There are places in the National Forest you can get off roads but you will often see hunters on the ridges glassing down into the canyons even there. I saw they are putting a 4pt restriction in 82 which should help in the future.

 

[338 win mag]

I was scanning through the older posts and saw yours. Was curious if you decided on what for deer in Wy yet.
Have you put in for draw yet.
If not, I have studied Wy system and areas for a few years now. Lots of places to hunt with low or no points.
Some have not bad trophy chances for a guy that can back pack hunt and isn't afraid of the stuff bumping in the night.
My son and I drew elk tags in upper west part of what is region F deer area. After looking around and getting pm from a few good people we will be getting a deer tag if we can for that area. It is over 90% draw odds with zero points in reg. draw for few years now.
Don't know if this helps, but either way, good luck!

I've been absent from the forum due to a hectic schedule lately. We ended up applying for unit 80 spring creek for deer. Opted for the special draw to up the odds a little. Fingers crossed

 

[338 win mag]

I hunted W last year with a friend. We took a couple decent bucks, but there was a lot of pressure I thought. We mainly hunted in 82 and it was rare to be somewhere we couldn't see or hear an ATV or truck. We explored a lot of the unit, spent 3 days scouting in August and hunted 5 days. I think they had around 3000 tags for that unit last year if I remember right, not 100% on that. I think most of the hunters are in 82. I would also go later in the season, we took our deer late. There are places in the National Forest you can get off roads but you will often see hunters on the ridges glassing down into the canyons even there. I saw they are putting a 4pt restriction in 82 which should help in the future.

Thanks! Ended up going LQ in near by unit 80

 

[Hoffmann]

Thanks! Ended up going LQ in near by unit 80

I'm in the same draw Win Mag, I just went typical preference point though w/ zero points. Still 37% draw.
Let me know if you make it in, I would love to hear how your hunt goes. Good luck.

 

[338 win mag]

I'm in the same draw Win Mag, I just went typical preference point though w/ zero points. Still 37% draw.
Let me know if you make it in, I would love to hear how your hunt goes. Good luck.

Sure will! I hope the GoHunt odds are accurate because we should get out deer tags. Antelope on the other hand was only around 30% for unit 52. Good luck to you as well

 

[Mcseal2]

Thanks! Ended up going LQ in near by unit 80

Good luck, I put in for that one also. Might not draw with 0pts though.