Wyoming High Country Archery Mule Deer

[Blake Hunter]

My partner Cameron and I are looking very seriously at heading into Wyoming next year. We both have 3 points for Deer, and are wanting to do a Timberline type hunt in the early season and do a film. I'm wanting to do a GoHunt membership to find out our draw odds in what areas and so forth. How much accessible land is there around or above Timberline? I know a lot of it in the Tetons is wilderness it looks like to me. He has been hunting backcountry in New Mexico for some years, but I have been gathering gear and acquiring points for a few years. I'm transitioning from whitetail hunting and finally found a buddy who wants to hunt backcountry as much as I do which is hard to come by in Texas. Also what temps can I expect in early September at those elevations? Will the Kelvin Lite be a heavy enough puffy?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JWP58]

You can access past draw info from WY g&f's website.

 

[Blake Hunter]

You can access past draw info from WY g&f's website.

Right. I just like all the additional info you can gather from GoHunt as well. Public Land percentage, and so forth. Makes things fairly easy to narrow down areas.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[realunlucky]

He was going to save a few bucks. Look up units you can draw with three points. Check to see if they offer the above the tree line hunt your after. Imo these hunts are what most everyone is saving deer points for in Wyoming. These are typically general season tags for residents so just expect some company. Gohunt might not make sense if you only have a few points for a couple species but it's your money.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[Blake Hunter]

He was going to save a few bucks. Look up units you can draw with three points. Check to see if they offer the above the tree line hunt your after. Imo these hunts are what most everyone is saving deer points for in Wyoming. These are typically general season tags for residents so just expect some company. Gohunt might not make sense if you only have a few points for a couple species but it's your money.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

From what I am seeing I can draw a lot of areas with 3 points, but almost everything above Timberline is Wilderness, so that pretty much rules a lot of it out if not all of it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[maninthemaze]

Toprut.com has a lot of the same info.....for free.

Just my 2 cents and worth the price charged.

 

[wyo_gasman]

Wyoming Mule Deer Hunting, Draw Odds Results and Harvest Data - Toprut.com

 

[Blake Hunter]

My hunting partner and I both have 3 points (next year makes 4) for Deer and Elk in Wyoming. I have 3 points for Deer/Elk in Colorado as well. Cameron is going to put in for a point for his first time in Colorado this upcoming year. So it's looking like our best option is going to be to continue to build points in Wyo for Deer to hunt Area G, and we can hunt Elk in Wyo this year with our 3 points. We can scratch our High Country bug in Colorado in 2019 where we should have plenty of options above Timberline with his 1 point.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[WesternBounty]

My hunting partner and I both have 3 points (next year makes 4) for Deer and Elk in Wyoming. I have 3 points for Deer/Elk in Colorado as well. Cameron is going to put in for a point for his first time in Colorado this upcoming year. So it's looking like our best option is going to be to continue to build points in Wyo for Deer to hunt Area G, and we can hunt Elk in Wyo this year with our 3 points. We can scratch our High Country bug in Colorado in 2019 where we should have plenty of options above Timberline with his 1 point.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just keep in mind, in Wyoming any "Wilderness Area" for big game you have to have a outfitter guide or a resident guide. Wasn't sure if you knew that and just wanted to let you know.

 

[Blake Hunter]

Just keep in mind, in Wyoming any "Wilderness Area" for big game you have to have a outfitter guide or a resident guide. Wasn't sure if you knew that and just wanted to let you know.

Yes I'm aware. Thank you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[maninthemaze]

A quick way to see how much "wilderness" is in Wyoming is this map.

Wilderness.net - U.S. National Wilderness Preservation System Map

Me and my brother are in the beginning stages of planning an archery elk hunt. Looking at Wyoming, Montana or Colorado so I know your frustrations.


Just my 2 cents and worth the price charged.

 

[wyo2track]

My hunting partner and I both have 3 points (next year makes 4) for Deer and Elk in Wyoming. I have 3 points for Deer/Elk in Colorado as well. Cameron is going to put in for a point for his first time in Colorado this upcoming year. So it's looking like our best option is going to be to continue to build points in Wyo for Deer to hunt Area G, and we can hunt Elk in Wyo this year with our 3 points. We can scratch our High Country bug in Colorado in 2019 where we should have plenty of options above Timberline with his 1 point.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If your heart is set on western Wyoming, with your 3 points you guys can probably pull a region H permit. Region H has the most wilderness, which you'd have to go guided, but there are plenty of areas that are above timberline and out of the wilderness for the DIY hunter which actually hold more deer than the wilderness areas. If your really set on region G your gonna need 6-7 pts or possibly more in the next few years. Beware however in 3 years finding some nicer bucks is going to be very difficult as we'll be hitting that generation gap from last years brutal winter and low fawn recruitment this spring. Good luck.

 

[Blake Hunter]

If your heart is set on western Wyoming, with your 3 points you guys can probably pull a region H permit. Region H has the most wilderness, which you'd have to go guided, but there are plenty of areas that are above timberline and out of the wilderness for the DIY hunter which actually hold more deer than the wilderness areas. If your really set on region G your gonna need 6-7 pts or possibly more in the next few years. Beware however in 3 years finding some nicer bucks is going to be very difficult as we'll be hitting that generation gap from last years brutal winter and low fawn recruitment this spring. Good luck.

What were the winters like 4-5 years ago? Is there still a decent number of deer in H? I've heard conflicting stories. Getting a guide is pretty much out of the question. Pretty much like everyone else I'm wanting to go as far away from any roads as possible. It's not that I'm set on G. I'm set on an above Timberline hunt, and it just seems there are more options in Colorado. So I can just continue to build points for Deer in Wyoming, burn my Elk points this upcoming year, then scratch my Timberline fix the following year in Colorado. Then maybe I can draw whatever I want in Wyoming, and possibly afford a guide. That's just my thoughts as of right now based on what I've heard/found.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[wyo2track]

What were the winters like 4-5 years ago? Is there still a decent number of deer in H? I've heard conflicting stories. Getting a guide is pretty much out of the question. Pretty much like everyone else I'm wanting to go as far away from any roads as possible. It's not that I'm set on G. I'm set on an above Timberline hunt, and it just seems there are more options in Colorado. So I can just continue to build points for Deer in Wyoming, burn my Elk points this upcoming year, then scratch my Timberline fix the following year in Colorado. Then maybe I can draw whatever I want in Wyoming, and possibly afford a guide. That's just my thoughts as of right now based on what I've heard/found.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If your looking for vast amounts of country above timberline than Colorado will be your choice. Sounds like you have a good plan in place. "Above timberline" in both regions G & H are going to be the tops of ridges & alpine basin bowls with scrub pine that lead off to timber that could be on the edge of heavy timber or 400 yards away. I've hunted Region H now for 35 years and this year was the spottiest when it came to finding deer I have seen in a long, long time. I remember the brutal winter from 1992-93 and our deer herds were finally getting back to near what the fall of 1992 resembled in 2016. Some areas I hunted this year held groups (2-4) of smaller bucks, but other areas where it was typical to see 30-50 deer a day, we were only seeing 4-8 per day. The bucks are now down in the low country finishing up the rut, and to be honest, there are hardly any 1 1/2 year old deer. So my advise to anyone wanting to hunt western Wyoming deer, especially Region H, if you're looking for a large, mature deer, the next 2-3 years is the time to do so, or you should just keep accumulating points. Good luck with your future hunts.

 

[Blake Hunter]

If your looking for vast amounts of country above timberline than Colorado will be your choice. Sounds like you have a good plan in place. "Above timberline" in both regions G & H are going to be the tops of ridges & alpine basin bowls with scrub pine that lead off to timber that could be on the edge of heavy timber or 400 yards away. I've hunted Region H now for 35 years and this year was the spottiest when it came to finding deer I have seen in a long, long time. I remember the brutal winter from 1992-93 and our deer herds were finally getting back to near what the fall of 1992 resembled in 2016. Some areas I hunted this year held groups (2-4) of smaller bucks, but other areas where it was typical to see 30-50 deer a day, we were only seeing 4-8 per day. The bucks are now down in the low country finishing up the rut, and to be honest, there are hardly any 1 1/2 year old deer. So my advise to anyone wanting to hunt western Wyoming deer, especially Region H, if you're looking for a large, mature deer, the next 2-3 years is the time to do so, or you should just keep accumulating points. Good luck with your future hunts.

Thanks for the advice! Looks like we are going to continue to build points for Deer, and try our hand at bugling bulls. Now the research starts over! We should be able to draw decent tags with 3 points I would think.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MNTNHUNTER284]

It can be T-shirt weather or snowing in the high country in September, research layering systems that have been laid out on the internet, there is tons of information to help you get what you need to be comfortable with the temperature swings. Also If you have not read them yet, I would read David longs book "Public Land Muleys" and Robbie Denning's book "Hunting Big Bucks". They both have a ton of information not only on mule deer habits but also the back country and good things to be aware of for safety in the high country.

My own personal advice is, and as lame as it sounds, take safety seriously back there. The mountains are one hell of an unforgiving place when an emergency happens.

 

[Blake Hunter]

It can be T-shirt weather or snowing in the high country in September, research layering systems that have been laid out on the internet, there is tons of information to help you get what you need to be comfortable with the temperature swings. Also If you have not read them yet, I would read David longs book "Public Land Muleys" and Robbie Denning's book "Hunting Big Bucks". They both have a ton of information not only on mule deer habits but also the back country and good things to be aware of for safety in the high country.

My own personal advice is, and as lame as it sounds, take safety seriously back there. The mountains are one hell of an unforgiving place when an emergency happens.

I think I have my layering system where I want it for early season (until someone tells me differently).

Base Layers: Sitka Core Merino
Pants: Sitka Mountain Pants
Insulating Tops: Core Lightweight Hoody, Core Midweight Zip-T, Mountain Jacket
Puffys: Sitka Kelvin Lite Hoody (might be replaced by Kifaru Parka) & Kelvin Lite Pants
Socks: Darn Tough Full Cushion Hunter
Gloves: First Lite Fingerless Merino
Beanie: Sitka Merino
Rain Gear: Cabelas Space Rain Gear
Boots: TBD Still Testing



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[flinginairos]

In for more info. I have enough points for G and I am in the planning stages now. Good info on here for sure!