anyone willing to help
Wyoming
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This is my second year elk hunting, last year I hunted Colorado and while I didn't kill I came close on a bull and passed on a cow. Well, this year I drew a Wyoming general tag and am considering the units around Jackson. Specifically unit 85,89,91 area. Anyone have any info on the area to share. Anything will be more than I have as I've never been there and I will be solo. Thanks.
Anything around the Jackson area means you're going to be into a lot of wolves and grizzly bears and going solo is not a good plan IMHO!
Thanks for the concern but im not going to be one to let an animal dictate my life. Sounds like an adventure to me and hopefully those reasons keep everyone else from going.
You asked for information and got it! ONE animal might not be a problem. However, when guys go in and scout and see a dozen grizzlies in a single drainage like there are in that country you're talking about going in alone, GOOD LUCK and hope for the best. Most recommend at least having a buddy when in a lot of those areas where the bears are in bigger numbers than the elk!
I say go for it. Hopefully you'll get someone with experience in those units to chime in. With a handle like Sasquatch, I wouldn't let a little bear bother me. But you do know you can't hunt big game in the wilderness areas alone as nonresident, right?
Yes, I do know that I cant hunt wilderness which the units just south of Jackson, where I am planning on going don't have any. I have the tag which cost me a lot so I will definitely be going for about 3 weeks so if no one offers help I am sure ill be able to find something eventually. As for the bears, I am not saying that they aren't anything to have a concern about. I am just saying that while they are a concern I am not going to allow that to be a reason I sit home and don't do what I want to do because of them and not having someone to go with. If I didn't go to things because no one wanted to go with me I think I would have to take up video games. Ppl wouldn't bat an eye at a visit to a dangerous such as Chicago or new Orleans where they shoot a few people every night but if it comes to a bear or a shark they OUT.
I like your attitude Sasquatch! I wish I could say I had the same attitude... but the grizzlies scare the hell out of me. I hunted the Gravellies in MT about 6 years ago. It was my first time hunting in grizzly country.
We couldn't understand why nobody was camping up on the mountain... lol. All the locals camped at the base and headed up on ATV's. Well, 2 archery hunters were mauled in the 12 days we were out hunting within a 10 mile radius of where we were hunting. Nobody was killed, but they got chewed up pretty good.
I talked to the bear biologist before we went out there, and they said there might be 1 or 2 grizzlies on the entire mountain range... Others (game wardens, etc.) told me there are more than that out there. Well, we found out there are quite a few more than that out there. And those aren't near the numbers you are going to deal with. I have to say it was a fun hunt, but it makes you feel a lot smaller when you are sleeping under the stars with grizzlies! It just wasn't as enjoyable as it could have been minus the bears. I haven't been back since then, and probably wont be back.
Good Luck and Be Safe!
Okay, I wasn't familiar with the elk unit numbers over there and have looked them up. I don't know about unit 85 that's up close to Jackson and over to the Idaho border. However, I just horseback hunted down in 89 and 90 for mulies the third week of September last year and there are very few, if any, grizzlies or wolves down in those units. All we saw was one huge black bear sow with twin cubs during our hunt and there are plenty of elk to go after. I would suggest that you look at hunting the area over east/se of Alpine in the Greys River Range That's where I shot my good mulie buck. It's huge, nasty country that you'll really need to be prepared for on a solo hunt like you're talking about doing, but that's where I would go if I were you. Water is scarce up high, so you'll need to figure on going low every day or two to replenish because staying hydrated is a key to staying healthy and having a good hunt. Good luck!
Thanks top gun, that is the exact same area I was looking at hunting. Off both sides of that mountain range that runs north/south. I'll be base camping by the truck and hunting out everyday but will be prepared to spike camp if I need to if I find elk that are hard to get to like that.
I would suggest that rather than going that route that you go up high and set up a camp for a day or two at a time and come back down for a night, as needed. We were on the horses before 4AM and rode 2-3 hours to be up high before daylight in order to glass. We found the buck I shot the day before and he got into the timber for the day before I could get set up for a comfortable shot. We camped on him the rest of the day hoping for a shot when he came out to feed, but he didn't come out during shooting hours. Since he was a real good one we were back even earlier and set up well before daylight the next morning. When it got light he was with his does feeding about 200 yards down below the ridge we were set up on and the rest is history. That may be the way you'll have to do things a day or two at a time because it takes so long to get up into the areas from the trail heads and that was on horses. Going on foot would probably take at least 4-6 hours. Just trying to give you a heads up on what that country is like. If you're prepared for weather and do it right, it will be a hunt you won't soon forget. Done wrong or not fully prepared it can eat your lunch or could even be a matter of life and death. We're going back on a 15 day horseback hunt this Fall in that same general area for a moose that my resident buddy should draw along with a deer tag that is OTC for him. I'm going along as extra eyes and help. We'll be there about 9/23-10/7 IF he draws his moose tag.
Top gun I'm sending a pm.
I haven't hunted that area in 4 years. But the kind of grizzly numbers these guys are talking about are usually associated with the Cody Side, 59, 60 those areas. Although the buddy I was hunting with at the time got charged by a black bear (with contact) the last night of the hunt :). But he was fine, his head lamp blinded the bear right before contact and they both just kind of tumbled and went their separate ways. We've done well everywhere around there from a half mile from a road, to 7 miles in. Just pick a spot and learn it and you'll do fine!
As has been indicated, grizzlies aren't real prominent in this area. The area of southwest Montana that was mentioned above probably has a fair bit more grizzlies as of late, in my opinion of course. Having said that, griz are trickling into this area and I haven't been there in a couple years. I need to look at the depredation reports to see if I can get a better feel for what's been going on there.
Wolves are probably on the upswing a bit, since they can no longer be legally hunted, but I'm sure there's still a bit of thinning going on.
There are elk in all the described units, just like in most of the rest of Wyoming. As with anywhere else, scout for fresh sign, glass, and listen to find them. Then go hunt them. There's definitely easier terrain to hunt them in, but there's also some that's harder. Feel free to PM with anything specific.
There are some great units south of there with no grizzlies and very few wolves, But if there are domestic sheep grazing the area the elk will be elsewhere. Farther from Jackson area less hunting pressure.