Wyoming September Archery

[Findog]

Hi all,

First off, I want to introduce myself. I’m new to Rokslide (FNG) and have never hunted out west for mule deer before. I’m from Southern Ohio and have cut my teeth on whitetails.

I am a state trooper in Ohio and I am starting a program to take members of our division that are struggling with on the job stress / critical incident recovery / and other stress related issues on annual out west hunting trip.

This program isn’t going to be geared around taking a 200”+ deer (though that would be cool). Really just targeting getting out west and taking in the country along with the chance of pursuing some mule deer bucks.

This trip is going be a 5 day hunt, all Public Land. Would like to backpack in and camp in the back country.

Me and the other program organizer were originally looking at Nebraska because it’s OTC so we wouldn’t need to worry about drawing. However, after researching on here, a majority of the folks were saying, if you’re going to go out to western Nebraska, it would be better to just cross into Wyoming.

And I’m not asking anyone to divulge their secret spots (trust me I know how sacred those can be). My question is, what regions and units should we focus on drawing where our draw odds are relatively high and we have the best chance to see some action in Early September. We’d be drawing as a party obviously.

Any input or advice would be very helpful. Thank you all for your time!

Respectfully,

Chris

 

[MBAO-millennialbyageonly]

Respectfully that is just too much for one question your talking about a half a dozen states and it would take someone a week to type out all the opportunities you have available. Advice would be to get GoHunt as it will enable you to research draw odds/deadlines by state. Then use the search feature because there are dozens of posts very similar to yours then narrow some things down and try asking specific questions that members in that area could potentially help you with.

 

[Findog]

Respectfully that is just too much for one question your talking about a half a dozen states and it would take someone a week to type out all the opportunities you have available. Advice would be to get GoHunt as it will enable you to research draw odds/deadlines by state. Then use the search feature because there are dozens of posts very similar to yours then narrow some things down and try asking specific questions that members in that area could potentially help you with.

I was specifically asking about Wyoming Archery in September

 

[MBAO-millennialbyageonly]

As you were unsure wether you wanted to go otc or draw I assumed you hadn’t narrowed down a state. Might want to look into draw odds before you settle on that. Good luck

 

[Tenstrike]

Thanks for your service and for your dedication to the cause you outlined, way to go. If I were you I would sign-up on one of the sources that have pooled the info for you, like Go Hunt or Tag Hub. I have not used Tag Hub so I can't comment on that service. I have used Go Hunt and find it invaluable for researching tag availability draw odds and they produce strategy articles that pretty much explain the entire application process. You mentioned Wyoming, you can draw some areas of Wyoming with little to no points if you simply want to hunt. Get on Go Hunt and start learning. Best wishes!

 

[Bull_n_heat]

I might throw out one of the Dakotas as and option for specifically bow hunting - most of both states are OTC archery I believe. In Wyoming, you draw a tag and then purchase an additional authorization to hunt the archery season. We have regions for Non-residents which makes things a little more complicated without some additional research on what you can/can't draw.

 

[Findog]

Thanks for your service and for your dedication to the cause you outlined, way to go. If I were you I would sign-up on one of the sources that have pooled the info for you, like Go Hunt or Tag Hub. I have not used Tag Hub so I can't comment on that service. I have used Go Hunt and find it invaluable for researching tag availability draw odds and they produce strategy articles that pretty much explain the entire application process. You mentioned Wyoming, you can draw some areas of Wyoming with little to no points if you simply want to hunt. Get on Go Hunt and start learning. Best wishes!

Thank you for that sir!

I did sign up for GoHunt and it’s definitely a great tool. I looked briefly at some of the high success rate draws with 0 points. It looked like Region A and Region B were pretty high success draws. Still searching though

 

[Findog]

I might throw out one of the Dakotas as and option for specifically bow hunting - most of both states are OTC archery I believe. In Wyoming, you draw a tag and then purchase an additional authorization to hunt the archery season. We have regions for Non-residents which makes things a little more complicated without some additional research on what you can/can't draw.

That’s absolutely a possibility. One of the reasons we were really looking at Wyoming was because it appears they allow crossbow hunting during archery? I along with the other organizer are compound bow hunters but we wanted to leave the option open for some of the other division members that may not be proficient with compounds. I’m pretty sure you need a special permit for Dakotas

 

[TSAMP]

Based on what your trying to do, id stick to OTC areas. It will just make life easier for your guests. You will likely end up with last minute opportunities for a guy/gal who needs to get away on short notice. Beings you yourself aren't comfortable with draw/points system it will make it that much more difficult for you to explain it to your colleagues.

 

[Findog]

Based on what your trying to do, id stick to OTC areas. It will just make life easier for your guests. You will likely end up with last minute opportunities for a guy/gal who needs to get away on short notice. Beings you yourself aren't comfortable with draw/points system it will make it that much more difficult for you to explain it to your colleagues.

Yeah I agree. That may be what we focus on. We are gonna try to get a group of 4 and hopefully know whose going by Jan/Feb

 

[Cahunter805]

If you do end up with a Region tag keep in mind it’s also good for rifle season.
Another hunt to look at would be antelope. Very fun hunt and lots of options in WY.

 

[Findog]

My buddy really wants to hunt antelope. I’ve wanted to chase Muleys for a while now. If it’s good for rifle too we probably will look into that. Thanks for the info!

 

[Bull_n_heat]

That’s absolutely a possibility. One of the reasons we were really looking at Wyoming was because it appears they allow crossbow hunting during archery? I along with the other organizer are compound bow hunters but we wanted to leave the option open for some of the other division members that may not be proficient with compounds. I’m pretty sure you need a special permit for Dakotas

Yeah you can hunt with a crossbow legally in Wyoming, but c'mon. If you're gonna hunt out of state, learn how to shoot a bow, or just stick to the rifle season.

 

[highfastflyer]

Region A in NE corner of Wyoming has plenty of deer, public land and antelope and quite easy to draw. The Black Hills NF has plenty of public land for hiking and backpacking in for a September hunt and a chance to harvest both muley or whitetail then drop down into the prairie and hunt antelope. Not as much public for antelope in NE corner but certainly enough if you have OnX maps or similar.

 

[Fordguy]

Negative comments about legal crossbow use always get my hackles up. I started out bow hunting as a teen with a 40 lb bear recurve. Took me a decade before I was willing to use a compound with sights and a release and then it was a 40 some inch axle to axle hoyt with 15% letoff. Still, it was much easier to become proficient with than a recurve. 10 years ago I bought a crossbow, hunted with and killed deer with it. There are plenty of situations that I've hunted in where a short, modern compound bow would be (and was) easier to use than a crossbow. Crossbow mobility is very limited unless the immediate area in front of you is open. Otherwise you risk hitting something with a limb when you shoot. It's possible that I'm the only person to feel this way, but I doubt it. I do tend to hunt in some brushy limb filled areas though.
Believe it or not, vertical bows have advantages over crossbows in a few areas.
Lighter weight
More maneuverable
More customizable/greater tunability
Arrow/broadhead selection (greater selection of spine, fletching and broadhead/tunability)
Arrow length adds weight and stability during flight
Take a look at the short bolts that crossbows shoot and what happens to them on long shots. By look I mean in depth physics, not just watch a video. you'll be surprised how much better that heavier, slower, arrow from a compound bow performs on game at longer distances (in most cases). I'm not saying there aren't exceptions to the rule, but many of the fast crossbows today are using very light total weights. For example- excalibur and their micro series- 350 grain total weight. Not that you can't go heavier but going heavy enough to improve penetration at longer distance slows everything down significantly and potentially adds accuracy challenges since the options for tuning a crossbow bolt are fewer.
Archery is archery. If it uses a string and limbs to propel an arrow, congratulations, you've just become an archer.
Personally, I'd rather see everyone go back to using recurves. I feel like archery has been so changed by technology that its a far cry from the primitive challenge that it once was. Since that's not going to happen, and recurve, compound, and crossbow are all legal gear (in more and more places), what kind of sense does it make for hunters to talk down about other legal hunters?
Stepping off the soap box now.
Apparently the quote that I attempted to attach didn't but it's not hard to find if you look for it.