Wyoming Unit 7 Elk

[BBHunter6]

I drew Unit 7 Bull Elk Tag in Wyoming for this 2014 season. I've done a little research, and I've had family hunt there in the past. I'm just wondering if some of you who have been on the unit before, had any tips or advice they would be willing to share, or at least what to expect. I realize there is a lot of private land, but I do not plan on hunting any of it, nor do I plan on paying for private access. And also, what size of bull is realistic to harvest during the archery hunt? Is there a lot of water?... etc I will be hunting it during the archery hunt the whole month of September. Any advice/tips/information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!

I Live For This

 

[godeep]

Instead of hunting the whole month of September spend some of that time scouting.

 

[TOPGUN]

>Instead of hunting the whole month
>of September spend some of
>that time scouting.


***Why in the world would you tell a guy to scout when the hunting season is open? Scouting is normally done before a season if you have a tag, not when you can actually be in the unit hunting like he plans on. He'll essentially be doing both at the same time and I guess you could also say he's scouting in September while he's hunting if he plans on going back for the rifle hunt if he doesn't tag out with his bow.

 

[godeep]

Topgun I meant to take some time like a month before to scout not leave your bow in the truck and scout. If I had a month straight to hunt I wouldn't be worried about asking for help if you couldn't get it done in that amount of time on your own me telling you where to go isn't the missing key to your success

 

[BBHunter6]

godeep - Take time during the hunt to scout? haha Scouting is the most important part of any hunt and I already have a couple scouting trips planned this summer..(before my hunt starts.) I personally see nothing wrong with asking for advice from fellow hunters. And Finding out about the unit I am hunting is really the first step to getting a jump start on my scouting. I'm not "worried" about asking for advice because I don't think that I can get it done this September. I just know that the more information I know, the quicker I can sliver my bull I'm not concerned about specific areas to hunt, in fact, I never even asked that. Like my original post stated, I'm wanting to know what to expect, is there water, general size of the bulls in the unit... etc Thanks for the advice though

I Live For This

 

[godeep]

Tell me which comment I said to"Take time during the hunt to scout" and since unit 7 I'd my backyard I'll give you GPS coordinates to fill your tag if you can show me were I said that. What I meant and clarified before you posted was to take a scouting trip. You didn't include that in yourfirst post and I'm not a mind reader to know that was you're plan.

 

[BBHunter6]

godeep - Your first comment. And I obviously wasn't the only one who thought that was what you meant. I guess we're not mind readers either I had no intention of making you upset, and I now understand what you meant by your comment. And once again, I wasn't asking for a specific place to hunt, I was just hoping for any advice/tips/information about the unit, or what to expect... not for someone to tell me to go scouting, and argue with me for asking some simple general questions.

I Live For This

 

[godeep]

Your not a mind reader or a reader cause I posted the second time explaining myself and you still made the that comment almost 6 hours after my post. If you didn't want to make anyone mad than you should have actually read what was written in front of you first before posting. Good luck, and hope you have a fun hunt.

 

[OldJake]

Tag Envy....

 

[darter]

Go deep I understood what you meant , it wasn't that that hard to understand.

 

[Whiterock]

From my limited years of elk hunting,I have found the scouting is more valuable than the actual hunt.

 

[gil_wy]

Make sure you have a plan B... and C,D,E, F, etc... You can still have a chance at a good bull in Unit 7 but the hunting pressure is significant to say the least (I'm talking about archery season, rifle season is an absolute zoo)... You can backpack in 4-5 miles and find yourself surrounded by archery hunters. 1750 bull tags and 4000 cow tags on the limited public ground makes things tough. I live right next to Unit 7 so I spend weeks up there in the summer... I killed my bull last year in a place that was my 7th or 8th option due to pressure. The pressure will frustrate you for sure and don't assume the big chunks of public are the place to be because you will have lots of company. Make sure you have lots of options because 7 isn't what it used to be...

 

[COLOelkman]

I did a lot of research a few years ago for a friend that drew that tag. Not sure if you bowhunt but if you do, I would certainly get the extra bow tag. I'd also suggest looking into a landowner fee as we found a few that had good property for a very reasonable fee. You can get names from the G&F. Also check with the Regional Biologist for general areas as they were somewhat helpful. From what I found, it is almost essential to have a landowner property once the rifle season starts as the animals know where it's safe and will move out of the public areas onto less pressured private. This is exactly what we found! Check out the Walk-In areas as well. Also check into the other areas you can apply for after you've drawn the tag. I don't recall the specific name of this type of drawing but there is no extra cost to you and would just give you another option plus escape some of the crowds that you will run into. Considering this is not an easy tag to draw, looking into your options and doing the research is important. If you want specific landowners names, PM me.

 

[TOPGUN]

>I did a lot of research
>a few years ago for
>a friend that drew that
>tag. Not sure if
>you bowhunt but if you
>do, I would certainly get
>the extra bow tag.
>I'd also suggest looking into
>a landowner fee as we
>found a few that had
>good property for a very
>reasonable fee. You can
>get names from the G&F.
> Also check with the
>Regional Biologist for general areas
>as they were somewhat helpful.
>From what I found, it
>is almost essential to have
>a landowner property once the
>rifle season starts as the
>animals know where it's safe
>and will move out of
>the public areas onto less
>pressured private. This is
>exactly what we found!
>Check out the Walk-In areas
>as well. Also check
>into the other areas you
>can apply for after you've
>drawn the tag. I
>don't recall the specific name
>of this type of drawing
>but there is no extra
>cost to you and would
>just give you another option
>plus escape some of the
>crowds that you will run
>into. Considering this is
>not an easy tag to
>draw, looking into your options
>and doing the research is
>important. If you want specific
>landowners names, PM me.


***The other area you are talking about is called a HMA for Hunter Management Area. Just out of curiousity, what kind of access fees are you calling reasonable? I don't put in for elk, but am wondering in case that question comes up in the future on here and it probably will.

 

[COLOelkman]

My buddy paid $250 and the LO did not limit the number of hunters. (This was maybe 4-5 yrs ago) We paid him the last weekend of bow season. At the time he bought, I think he had maybe 10-12 others that had paid. One other owner charged around $600 but had a limit of 3 hunters. The place we hunted had tons of sign but we ended up hunting late in the season and were by ourselves but didn't see too many elk as they'd mostly migrated to another huge private property with limited hunting ($$$$). So I think had we gone early we'd have seen more animals.

 

[Whiterock]

I am going to unit 7 for cow elk and I found the rancher's to be very friendly and more than happy to let me hunt for a cow for little or no fee.
I am also applying for a region J deer tag as long as I am going to be out there for a few days , might as well have a deer tag in my pocket.
already applied for my antelope.

Get the landowner list from the Laramie office and start calling.Don't wait to long.
They sent my list to me thru my Email,got it that same day.