WY questions

[backpacker]

Just had a few general questions for folks familiar with WY. As far as elk units, which ones are considered to be in Teton National Park (I know 79 is one) and I would guess success would be best achieved with an outfitter or horses as the country is probably pretty rough, right? Also what type of hunt the units usually are (early, late migration, both) and the quality of the animals available which I'd guess would be pretty good. I'm just curious so I can look up last yrs odds/# of tags, etc. I'd imagine the odds aren't very good, but I'm not really sure which units are top quality elk units in WY and have always thought a hunt in the Tetons would be fun.
Also, how do they distibute bear tags? Is it through a draw or OTC? I didn't see them listed under the F & G section for NR tags. Just wondering if people usually pick one up to have when they go deer/elk hunting in case the opportunity arises or specifically hunty for 'em. I'm kind of looking just for the opportunity to hunt spring bears as the west side of WY is somewhat close to home but the F&G harvest stats for the yr 2006 looked fairly horrible as there were really no units that jumped out at me for the amount of time hunters spent afield.
Thanks for any info provided!

 

[cqh1]

The Grand Teton Park hunts are 75 and 79 but they are not located in the Teton Range. The Teton range is unit 73. Unit 72 is also in the park, but it is closed this year. Unit 77 is on the National Elk Refuge. There are several special regulations that must be observed while hunting in these units. See "Section 6" of the following link for the regulations.

http://gf.state.wy.us/admin/regulations/chapter7/Ch7Elk.htm

Seems too complicated for me. I've never hunted the areas but believe there are better places to hunt with a general license. Also, most of the elk that migrate from Yellowstone to the elk refuge have been severely impacted by wolves. I don't think the success over the last four years has been too high. Take a look at units 70 and 71, for example. Used to be two of the best areas. The number of bulls killed last year is almost half of what they used to be. Units 70 and 71 are in the wilderness northeast of Grand Teton Park and border Yellowstone and would best be hunted with an outfitter. The seasons run until November 15.

The bear licenses are sold over the counter. Units are open until the female quota is reached.

http://gf.state.wy.us/admin/regulations/chapter3/ch3.htm

 

[backpacker]

LAST EDITED ON Feb-09-08 AT 03:19PM (MST)[p]Thanks. Good to know.

 

[rumproast]

Giving good info to our non-res friends, Cody.
Looks like we finally got someone to cover that neighbourhood of my state with some accuracy.

Rump

 

[HunterScout]

The 79 park permits are dependent on the migration unless you are there for opening day as there are resident elk in this area of the park. However they get shot up pretty bad during the first couple of days and head elsewhere. There are roads into these areas as they are right off the highway.

Some of the areas are Antelope Flats, Blacktail Butte, Uhl Hill and what we call the Elk Ranch.

For big bulls your better off hunting later and timing your hunt with snow and the migration. The G & F has a migration hotline you can call during this time. It's pretty much hit or miss when hunting the migration.

As for the bear hunting, the quota is usually filled by that time in those areas. The G & F also has a hotline to call for closed bear areas.