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Wyoming unit 38 or 45,46 type 9 Elk ?

For those of you have hunted these units (archery) or are familiar with these Bighorn units which would you choose ? My brother and I have max points and stand a reasonable chance of drawing these units . We are not looking for " The 370 Bull " . Close encounters with mature Bulls will do just fine. Of equal importance is room to roam without private land conflicts or hoards of hunters and 4 wheelers ! Unit 38 appears larger in terms of huntable area in addition to offering the entire month of Sept. for only Type 9 tags.

We are both in the 4th quarter of our hunting lives but still capable of getting it done in the steep and deep dark timber .

Any thoughts that will assist us in our decision will be greatly appreciated

Best of luck to everyone this fall !

Larry Thompson

well, id take area 38 over the others any day. good access all around, lots of elk, some big ones. great area.

I used to hunt 38 exclusively but there are a lot of hunters. There are also lots of elk. Access is good but you can also bivy out in many places if you want. Best of luck.

Hunt 38 when ever I get lucky enough to draw. As Ron said there are lots of hunters there, but plenty of elk and a few big bulls. I do know a little about area 45 and that area has some big bulls in it, but has private land. My opinion would be to go with 38, lots of access and elk.

One other area to not overlook is 39. I know it does not look like much on a map but it has some great elk. I helped some guys in there last year with one of them taking a good bull and the other passing on several. Weather is a big factor with 38 as if you gets lots of snow it will move the elk and many will move out of 38 into 39.

Stryker, sent you a PM

Thanks

I am trying to make the same decision. I have 3 points so I have a really good chance to draw in any of those areas. I have heard 45 and 38 are both good. I am not really interested in shooting the biggest bull in the county. I would shoot anything but a spike probably since I only have a week to hunt.

I would be interested in any info you exchange as part of this thread. I have to apply by this weekend. Yikes!

Really appreciate it.

I did a little research and found the drawing odds for resident and non-resident. I rounded them. This is based on 3 points (2009) for a Nres and then the straight res. 38 still has 18 hunters ahead of me that will have 4 points this year while I have 3 points. Nothing for certain in 38. 41/42 seems a sure draw. 45 looks like I could draw. Then ofcourse I have to hope my resident friend draws too. This is so nerve racking! I am assuming the same hunters will apply for the same areas which has a +- of who knows!

area nr% r% 38 50 39 41/42 100 65 45 90 42

You definitely want to go with unit 38 when you are comparing those two. It is a lot better unit with elk every where and the beauty is unmatched any where. If you get the 38 tag you will have the hunt of your life, and for sure have multiple chances on bulls.

Guys, I "accidentally" drew a unit 38 elk license.....type 1. I was looking at the 2010 nonresident application instructions and nowhere did it say that you can't hunt archery on a type 1 license in that unit. I hunt archery antelope on a type 1 license every year.

I had applied for the type 9 unit 38 license before, but I saw that the type 1 odds were better so I figured I could still buy my archery permit and hunt the archery season too. I thought the type 9 license was an archery ONLY license to keep rifle hunting pressure down. So I blew it, due to poor info from the WDFG.

Anyhow, can a guy still bowhunt on a type 1 license in the rifle season? I figure there may still be some bulls ready to come in to some cow calling and I would rather archery hunt than rifle hunt. As I understand it, I would only have to wear one item of blaze orange.

I have also applied for elk in MT, UT, and CO....and maybe NM. If I don't draw MT, I will apply in NV too. ;-)

Laszlo,

Yes you can still use archery equipment during the rifle season. There will be a LOT of guys wearing pumpkin suits though! My brother-in-law did the same thing one year and still was into bulls. You can make it happen.

Laszlo,

You can hunt with archery equipment during rifle season (October 15 thru November 4), but you will need to wear orange. And if you can find a way to get an elk during rifle season with a bow in this area, you have to be one luck son of a gun, there are all kinds of hunters... both deer and elk hunters running around. If youdo use a bow during this season it will be a heck of a challenge for you, good luck to you.

You can not use a type 1 license during the type 9 season Sept. 1 thru Sept. 30. type 1 license is only valid during the rifle season and the type 9 license is only valid during the archery season.

Laszlo,

If you would have looked in the special archery section of the regs you would have noticed that there was no special archery season for Unit 38. To me, that is not the fault of the G&F. I'll admit that the regs aren't always as user friendly as they could be, but to blame the G&F for your oversight doesn't seem right. Good luck hunting this season however you choose to hunt.

38 is big and if the weather is warm the hunting can be good. BUT you will find a lot of midwesterners in that area as well. It can turn into a tent/camper/ATV city if you hit the wrong week. If the weather goes wrong you will get a week of sight-seeing in. 38 is the east side of the range and when the snow blows it really plugs up the roads in that unit. 39 has very few tages but some great spot and stalk hunting, and yes the elk do drop out threw 39 if the snows come, or at least some of the herd goes that way. Most people look past 37 because it's really hard to spot and stalk that zone. But there is a good elk population in there and some reel good bull's if you can find them with all the dark timber. They are in there forsure just finding them is the hardest part. Very different hunting in the zones; 38,39 are great for spotnstalk, but you might have other hunters on the same elk, and 37 is a big zone with ALMOST NO spotnstalk but less chance of being snowed out, and less chance of running after the elk trying to get in befor the others. You choose what fits you the best and good luck. Got friends that have lived there thier whole lives, and they take me up in those zones all the time fishing and hunting, and we get to pick up some great elk sheds out of both areas. They have some good bull's in there.

Rossi, please take a look at the nonresident booklet linked below and tell me where it says anything about not being able to use an archery permit in unit 38. Here's exactly what it says under archery on page 10:

http://gf.state.wy.us/downloads/pdf/10AppBooklet/10NRALL.pdf

"c. Archery. Type 9 licenses refer to Archery Only licenses. Special Archery Seasons for Antelope normally open either August 15th or September 1st and close when the regular (rifle) season opens. Archers shall possess a Limited Quota Antelope license in addition to an Archery license in order to hunt Antelope during any Special Archery Season. Special Archery Seasons for Deer normally open September 1st or September 15th and close when regular (rifle) seasons open. Archers shall possess a General Deer license or a Limited Quota Deer license in addition to an Archery license in order to hunt Deer during any Special Archery Season. Special Archery Seasons for Elk normally open September 1st and close when regular (rifle) seasons open. Archers shall possess a General Elk license or a Limited Quota Elk license in addition to an Archery license in order to hunt Elk during any Special Archery Season. Archers with Limited Quota Type 9 Elk licenses are not required to obtain an Archery license in addition to the Type 9 license. Special Archery Seasons are established for nearly all Big Game hunt areas by the Commission. Season dates are not available at press time, but most open September 1. Some archery seasons for Antelope open on August 15. Information on these seasons will be available on or about May 5. Hunters holding General or Limited Quota hunting licenses may hunt with bow and arrow or crossbow during Special Archery Seasons if they first obtain an Archery license. Only one Archery license is required for a Big Game and Trophy Game species. This license qualifies the holder to hunt Big Game and Trophy Game during Special Archery Seasons in areas for which they also have a valid hunting license. Archery licenses are available at License Selling Agents statewide. Do not purchase an Archery license until you have received notification of drawing results. Some Big Game hunt areas offer hunting licenses for Archery Only. These licenses are designated as Type 9 licenses in the Hunting Season Tables. Type 9 Elk licenses are often available as Leftover icenses. Holders of Type 9 licenses are not required to obtain an Archery license in addition to the Limited Quota Archery Only license, but are restricted to hunting only in the area(s) and during the season specified for that license type. Persons hunting with archery equipment during regular firearms seasons need not obtain an Archery license. When hunting Deer, Antelope, Bighorn Sheep, Mountain Goat, Mountain Lion or Black Bear, the archer must be equipped with a bow of not less than 40 pounds of draw weight or possessing the ability to cast a hunting arrow of 400 grain weight at least 160 yards. When hunting Elk, Moose or Wild Bison the hunter must be equipped with a bow of not less than 50 pounds draw weight or possessing the ability to cast an arrow of 500 grain weight at least 160 yards. The crossbow hunter must be equipped with a crossbow of not less than 90 pounds draw weight which has a minimum draw length of 14 inches from front of bow to back of string in the cocked position and a positive safety mechanism. Crossbow bolts must be at least 16 inches long. The broadhead of arrows or bolts shall be of sharp steel with a minimum cutting width of one inch. Archery equipment may be used to take Wild Bison only on lands off the National Elk Refuge."

Note that it says "Special Archery Seasons are established for nearly all Big Game hunt areas by the Commission. Season dates are not available at press time, but most open September 1."

But NOWHERE can I find what "nearly all" means. When I asked the WDGF about this they told me I needed to look at LAST YEAR'S regulations to determine what units this applies in. WHY IN THE HECK would I think to look at 2009 regulations? WHY should I have to? If they want you to do that they should say it explicitly in the 2010 application book. imo.

This trips up people every year. Area 38,39 and 40 on the Bighorns don't allow type 1 hunters to cross over. There are now 4 or 5 areas in the Cody region that don't allow you to cross over as well so more confusion will certainly come up on those as well.

Lonebull, I don't know why it's so hard for them to STATE that restriction in the application booklet so it's PERFECTLY CLEAR. If it's been a problem in the past, why haven't they learned? Whenever I talk to the WDFG I feel like I'm talking to people totally out of touch with hunters.

I apply in 7 states for 27 different tags, and I have found Wyomings regs to be among the hardest to understand. I can't even figure out how you can hunt the deer rut with a bow.

Keep in mind that nonresidents have to apply by January 31st for some stupid reason. This is even BEFORE they have the regulations out. How can you ask people to apply before the regs are even out?

The Wyoming Game and Fish is out of touch with hunters and especially BOW HUNTERS!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wish I could offer more advise or give an excuse but I can't and I won't for their lack of knowledge. As far as hunting deer during the rut all I can say is that you will have to wade in with all the rifle hunters, put some orange on and hunt because there aren't any special archery hunts during the rut.

Lazslo,

You're right the application booklet is very unclear. I was referring to the regulations which show the areas that can be hunted during the Special Archery Season, but as you noted come out after the application deadline. Therefore, you have to look at last year's regs and assume that they won't change this year. I agree they should state to check last year's regs for exceptions to the Special Archery Seasons.

My friend hunted that area 2 years ago during the archery season and chased a monster bull around for most of the season. As skinnyfrog mentioned, my friend lost a few days on the end of the season because weather closed roads to many of the best areas. But there are some good bulls in the area.

And that's the problem. Unless you have been schooled and know there are 2 places you need to look, you can easily miss important information.

"38 still has 18 hunters ahead of me that will have 4 points this year while I have 3 points. Nothing for certain in 38."

Ya you can say that again. Actually it's 22 min. ahead of you. I have 3 buddies + me with max points that have been waiting to apply for 38-t9. Been trying to convince them to leave behind one friend who missed one year. His odds are like 1% and he'd ruin our 25% chance. May be others like us just been applying for points. Anyway I produced enough statistical proof to spur them to apply in 2011, so we are. Finally. Why throw away $50 each year?

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