Wyoming deer 125

Morelk · Jun 15, 2022

Drew this tag random and also had this tag in 2018. Couldn't resist shooting a decent 4 pt then. Thankful to have a 2nd opportunity and should be able to hunt most of the season this year. I've heard the deer herd in this area has not done well since I was last there? Statistics show a harvest success decline from 69% to 47% and hunter days up from 7 to 13. Seems like a tough one as far as mule deer rifle rut hunting goes? I would appreciate any observations, experience or thoughts on this hunt. Thanks!

Wyohunter1 · Jun 15, 2022

I hunted it with a friend last year 7 days. I have nothing good to say about it. Few small bucks around, low deer density for sure.

Morelk · Jun 15, 2022

Wyohunter1 said:
I hunted it with a friend last year 7 days. I have nothing good to say about it. Few small bucks around, low deer density for sure.

Thanks - seemed to be a genetic issue of lots of at least 2-3 year old forks that I saw running does. Wondering if those don't get shot and therefore pass along their genes more often. Did your friend end up taking a buck or just eat the tag in frustration?

Wyohunter1 · Jun 16, 2022

He never filled the tag. Seen more wild horses than buck deer.

dwalton · Jun 16, 2022

Any whitetails along the river bottoms in 125?

MuskegMan · Jun 16, 2022

Hunted it 9 years ago. Applied this year w/ 8 NR points in the special - thought it was a slam dunk, but alas. These are great rut date (Nov. 1 - 15) and I certainly saw lots of horny/stupid bucks the last few days - i.e. Nov 14 & 15. All the good ones I saw were in the Gooseberry Cr. area. Shot a 4x3 on the last hour of the last day in a walk-in area. Nothing special mind you. Saw one real nice buck prolly in the 175" range.

Morelk · Jul 18, 2022

I spoke to the Biologist in Worland last week. Very nice & helpful guy, but pretty bummed out about the deer herd in his region and 125 in particular. He confirmed deer numbers are lower than ever and said hunters last year were very disappointed. I'm still looking forward to it, but setting expectations accordingly.

Bookhead · Jul 18, 2022

Morelk said:
I spoke to the Biologist in Worland last week. Very nice & helpful guy, but pretty bummed out about the deer herd in his region and 125 in particular. He confirmed deer numbers are lower than ever and said hunters last year were very disappointed. I'm still looking forward to it, but setting expectations accordingly.

Well that's good then maybe he should of said something when they made late season mule deer tags in his region this year In areas that previously weren't. Also left whitetail tag quotas the same and most of them died from EHD in his region last year too. I was up there.

jm77 · Jul 19, 2022

Bookhead said:
Well that's good then maybe he should of said something when they made late season mule deer tags in his region this year In areas that previously weren't. Also left whitetail tag quotas the same and most of them died from EHD in his region last year too. I was up there.

They also have doe mule deer seasons in that region.

SS! · Jul 19, 2022

Morelk said:
I spoke to the Biologist in Worland last week. Very nice & helpful guy, but pretty bummed out about the deer herd in his region and 125 in particular. He confirmed deer numbers are lower than ever and said hunters last year were very disappointed. I'm still looking forward to it, but setting expectations accordingly.

Did you tell the biologist the MFF is on it!

Morelk · Nov 16, 2022

This is a tough hunt and you won't see a lot of deer on public. Deer populations are still declining and I even noticed the numbers & quality were less for the deer on private property compared to my 2018 trip. Some of the days I hiked all day and didn't find a single deer track while trying to find the small pockets of deer. Found this deer after 9 hours of hiking through some desolate stuff. Anybody thinking of spending 11+ points should probably look elsewhere.

Zeke · Nov 16, 2022

Sounds like a tough hunt that you were able to make the most out of it.
That buck looks great especially based on what you're saying about the declining hunt area population.

Zeke

twdjr · Nov 16, 2022

Morelk said:
This is a tough hunt and you won't see a lot of deer on public. Deer populations are still declining and I even noticed the numbers & quality were less for the deer on private property compared to my 2018 trip. Some of the days I hiked all day and didn't find a single deer track while trying to find the small pockets of deer. Found this deer after 9 hours of hiking through some desolate stuff. Anybody thinking of spending 11+ points should probably look elsewhere.

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Congrats!