General C or B?

[rcleofly]

My buddy and I have a point burning a hole in our pocket for WY. With our dates we have available both general tags C and B work for us. We are so on the fence about what unit to apply for. If you were us what would you go for?

 

[WCB]

Personally have hunted both of those units one of them last year (C)...I would by another point and wait. If there is anything near the drought they had this past year be lucky anything survives. talked to 1 resident that hunts C every year and he said it was the worst he had ever seen it.

Now if you can get a ditch tag for the HWY you could get a pretty good one and or permission on a pivot field you could probably just take a knife and get one. I found some good sheds and did see two 140-150 bucks that I passed early in the hunt but also spent 3 days and never saw a deer...old sign and perfect country but the drought had every deer pushed to pivot fields or along the river it seemed.

 

[rcleofly]

Personally have hunted both of those units one of them last year (C)...I would by another point and wait. If there is anything near the drought they had this past year be lucky anything survives. talked to 1 resident that hunts C every year and he said it was the worst he had ever seen it.

Now if you can get a ditch tag for the HWY you could get a pretty good one and or permission on a pivot field you could probably just take a knife and get one. I found some good sheds and did see two 140-150 bucks that I passed early in the hunt but also spent 3 days and never saw a deer...old sign and perfect country but the drought had every deer pushed to pivot fields or along the river it seemed.

I appreciate you taking the time to share your insight. This type of information can be pivotal on making a decision on what hunts to go after. Thank you!

 

[eaglemountainman]

Personally have hunted both of those units one of them last year (C)...I would by another point and wait. If there is anything near the drought they had this past year be lucky anything survives. talked to 1 resident that hunts C every year and he said it was the worst he had ever seen it.

Now if you can get a ditch tag for the HWY you could get a pretty good one and or permission on a pivot field you could probably just take a knife and get one. I found some good sheds and did see two 140-150 bucks that I passed early in the hunt but also spent 3 days and never saw a deer...old sign and perfect country but the drought had every deer pushed to pivot fields or along the river it seemed.

I had the same experience last year in General B. Between late winter/early spring storms the last few years, the prolonged drought and outbreaks of EHD, the mulies took a pretty good beating.

I truly love hunting that area every year but decided to pass this year (maybe the next few), and set up a blacktail hunt instead.

Sorry I can't give you better news.

 

[Bull_n_heat]

If mediocrity is what you crave, you really can't go wrong with either! But on all seriousness, if you just want to go hunting, pick one and have a ball. It's cool country, definitely will be something different for you, and if this drought keeps up, it'll be a wash for quality (unless you know somebody that knows somebody).

 

[DunnCoHunter]

I will echo what the others have said. I’ve hunted region B for 3 years now. Been getting tougher every year. Talked to a warden last year mid season and he basically said unless you have access to private, it’s going to be extremely hard to kill a buck. We are most likely not going back this year. I would recommend saving the point, but if you have more specific questions shoot me a PM.


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[rcleofly]

We are probably as easy going as a couple guys can get. We are sitting on 1 pronghorn point and 1 mule deer point each. Last year we hunted pronghorn so this year we are like Muleys it is. We’d rather go for the adventure instead of sitting on points.
C general has some interesting access. We found one spot where a 12 mile hike would definitely probably get you out and away. We’d have to carry more water than I enjoy lol. And a few other accessible spots with decent size tracts of public land that would keep us busy for a week. We had a day to burn last year so spent a day in B general scouting on our way home from Antelope area 26 and learned of some decent spots with good access.
It’s so hard to decide where to go. I think we are leaning toward C. We do have one road we aren’t sure if we can use for access or not. I called the county and didn’t get a 100% straight answer lol. I’ll have to make a few more calls. We are planning to arrive the evening of 9/30 and heading home the evening of 10/8, midday of the 9th at the latest so we will have a decent amount of time.

 

[WCB]

We are probably as easy going as a couple guys can get. We are sitting on 1 pronghorn point and 1 mule deer point each. Last year we hunted pronghorn so this year we are like Muleys it is. We’d rather go for the adventure instead of sitting on points.
C general has some interesting access. We found one spot where a 12 mile hike would definitely probably get you out and away. We’d have to carry more water than I enjoy lol. And a few other accessible spots with decent size tracts of public land that would keep us busy for a week. We had a day to burn last year so spent a day in B general scouting on our way home from Antelope area 26 and learned of some decent spots with good access.
It’s so hard to decide where to go. I think we are leaning toward C. We do have one road we aren’t sure if we can use for access or not. I called the county and didn’t get a 100% straight answer lol. I’ll have to make a few more calls. We are planning to arrive the evening of 9/30 and heading home the evening of 10/8, midday of the 9th at the latest so we will have a decent amount of time.

I would personally go later than opening after talking to a couple of the locals. I also am pretty sure I know the area you are thinking of hiking into and maybe you have been there but the terrain is a bit rougher than it looks on google earth and ONX 12miles is not 12 miles if you know what I mean. If you would like to PM me I can give you some other general information that might help.

 

[Clark33]

I've hunter Region C with my dad since I could remember. Lots of private, public land that has access is hit pretty hard but you can still find deer. Like it was mentioned earlier bad winters and drought can really affect the hunting. One year it will be very slim pickings, the next year they will have a mild winter with a wet spring and you'll notice it.

Used to be basically guarantee draw every year, the last few years that has changed. If going for deer I'd suggest putting in for antelope as well. Good draw odds and they are abundant.

 

[manitou1]

I have a "hole" in "C" that used to produce nice bucks for me. I never saw a shooter this past season there... and then only saw one small buck in that spot. Matter-of-fact, we never saw a shooter anywhere in C until nearly a month after the season ended. My goal is 180", but we never saw over 130" on public... and only 2-3 of those!
Drought, over grazing (significant), and some EHD has taken a toll.
I do not know about B, but many areas of the Eastern half of the state were really poor this past season. I live in C and hunted much of it every day. I should have thrown in the towel and moved elsewhere. I will be traveling a bit this year.
Hopefully we can get some moisture this year but at this time it is looking very grim.

 

[WCB]

I have a "hole" in "C" that used to produce nice bucks for me. I never saw a shooter this past season there... and then only saw one small buck in that spot. Matter-of-fact, we never saw a shooter anywhere in C until nearly a month after the season ended. My goal is 180", but we never saw over 130" on public... and only 2-3 of those!
Drought, over grazing (significant), and some EHD has taken a toll.
I do not know about B, but many areas of the Eastern half of the state were really poor this past season. I live in C and hunted much of it every day. I should have thrown in the towel and moved elsewhere. I will be traveling a bit this year.
Hopefully we can get some moisture this year but at this time it is looking very grim.

I obviously picked the worst year to try a new unit with the drought and man it was odd covering beautiful Mule Deer country and seeing nothing but year old deer and elk sign. A lot of the country looks like it should hold big deer and it was just void of deer...but then see 40 or more does while glassing and not even see a buck anywhere was the other frustrating part. Found a few good water holes in the middle of nowhere and saw nobody within miles but tons of does and fawns hitting them but zero bucks.

 

[eaglemountainman]

I obviously picked the worst year to try a new unit with the drought and man it was odd covering beautiful Mule Deer country and seeing nothing but year old deer and elk sign. A lot of the country looks like it should hold big deer and it was just void of deer...but then see 40 or more does while glassing and not even see a buck anywhere was the other frustrating part. Found a few good water holes in the middle of nowhere and saw nobody within miles but tons of does and fawns hitting them but zero bucks.

It's tough enough on those mature old bucks to survive a normal winter, after depleting themselves so thoroughly during the rut, with almost no fat and energy reserves to get them through. Add to that, severe late winter/early spring storms multiple years in a row, and the mortality rate on those old boys goes way up.

The reason you see high numbers of does and dink bucks, is because they put on and kept their fat reserves through the fall and winter, and didn't lose it all running around like a two peckered billy goat during the rut.

 

[Pancake]

I'm in the same boat. I'm actually hoping to get super lucky in the random and draw a Wyoming general elk tag, but my current backup plan is either B or C for mule deer (and maybe antelope) because the season dates work the best with my schedule. It sounds like it might be tough out there given the drought and EHD.

On the plus side, the application deadline is still a long ways away. Maybe it'll be a wetter spring and conditions will turn around. Also means there's a lot of time to continue researching other areas and states.

 

[eaglemountainman]

I'm in the same boat. I'm actually hoping to get super lucky in the random and draw a Wyoming general elk tag, but my current backup plan is either B or C for mule deer (and maybe antelope) because the season dates work the best with my schedule. It sounds like it might be tough out there given the drought and EHD.

On the plus side, the application deadline is still a long ways away. Maybe it'll be a wetter spring and conditions will turn around. Also means there's a lot of time to continue researching other areas and states.

It's going to take a heck of a lot more than one favorable spring.

Mature bucks take years to become mature.

 

[Pancake]

It's going to take a heck of a lot more than one favorable spring.

Mature bucks take years to become mature.

Oh, definitely! I probably should've explained my goal. I'm just looking to get out, explore some new land with my dad, and hopefully come home with a couple bucks of any age class. I love mature deer as much as the next guy and I'll do whatever I can to find them, but overall we're quantity over quality guys. We hunted South Dakota a couple years ago, and we came home with two forkies and had the time of our lives. If we can't turn up any 4.5+ deer, we'll be more than happy to go younger. All we really want is adventure and full freezers.

 

[DunnCoHunter]

I think if a full freezer is your goal, you might look into another area with higher deer population. Or maybe either sex tags. Everyone says it’s all about the adventure, but the adventure is a lot better if you are seeing deer haha. My dad hunted 6 days in region B putting on a lot of miles per day and never saw a buck. His second year in a row not seeing any horns. I got lucky and found one group of bucks, my brother saw only one forky buck on private.


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[Pancake]

I think if a full freezer is your goal, you might look into another area with higher deer population. Or maybe either sex tags. Everyone says it’s all about the adventure, but the adventure is a lot better if you are seeing deer haha. My dad hunted 6 days in region B putting on a lot of miles per day and never saw a buck. His second year in a row not seeing any horns. I got lucky and found one group of bucks, my brother saw only one forky buck on private.


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I appreciate the information! That says a lot if the three of you are seeing basically nothing. Did you travel throughout the whole region, or did you mostly concentrate in individual areas? I know there are probably a thousand people watching this thread with the same questions as I have, so I don't want any specifics, but would you say you maybe spent more time in the north, south, east, or west?

Or if I can reach the 10 post minimum, could I send you a PM?

 

[DunnCoHunter]

I appreciate the information! That says a lot if the three of you are seeing basically nothing. Did you travel throughout the whole region, or did you mostly concentrate in individual areas? I know there are probably a thousand people watching this thread with the same questions as I have, so I don't want any specifics, but would you say you maybe spent more time in the north, south, east, or west?

Or if I can reach the 10 post minimum, could I send you a PM?

We have traveled around a decent amount. I also talked to a few other guys from Rokslide who hunted there last year. Feel free to pm me if you want.


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[manitou1]

I think if a full freezer is your goal, you might look into another area with higher deer population. Or maybe either sex tags. Everyone says it’s all about the adventure, but the adventure is a lot better if you are seeing deer haha. My dad hunted 6 days in region B putting on a lot of miles per day and never saw a buck. His second year in a row not seeing any horns. I got lucky and found one group of bucks, my brother saw only one forky buck on private.


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If filling your freezer is your goal, shoot a doe and let the bucks grow.

 

[Ruthunter691]

Personally have hunted both of those units one of them last year (C)...I would by another point and wait. If there is anything near the drought they had this past year be lucky anything survives. talked to 1 resident that hunts C every year and he said it was the worst he had ever seen it.

Now if you can get a ditch tag for the HWY you could get a pretty good one and or permission on a pivot field you could probably just take a knife and get one. I found some good sheds and did see two 140-150 bucks that I passed early in the hunt but also spent 3 days and never saw a deer...old sign and perfect country but the drought had every deer pushed to pivot fields or along the river it seemed.