Would you burn 6 points on a Wyoming general tag?

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RidgeRebel

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My brother and I both have 6 points for elk in Wyoming. We started out trying to get a general tag, but we were unsuccessful even with two points, so not knowing a lot about Wyoming we thought we would build points for a couple more years in hopes of getting a decent tag. Now after doing a considerable amount of research, I cannot find a limited unit we can draw that does not have grim reports of hunter disappointment. Looking at the odds from 2017 the outlook is even worse in regard to point creep, so now we are seriously considering burning the points for a general tag. My brother and I would be happy with any 6 point bull in regard to expectations. I was hoping for some opinions of those who have hunted Wyoming. Thanks
Bob
 
What does grim reports of hunter disappointment mean? A not enough 350+ bulls around every rock? Elk too far from the truck? Most everything I'm reading is that 6ish points puts you in some great units over the already great elk hunting in Wyoming.
 
me speaking selfishly... DO IT! Less in the pool for me loL!

But seriously, don't waste 6pts on a gen tag that can be drawn with <1 pt in the special... do your research and you won't be disappointed.

And PS, I tell everyone I didn't see anything when they ask about my spots haha there will always be more negative reviews than positive.
 
Most reports consist of all the elk on private land or in wilderness areas where NR hunters can't go or in timber so thick a mouse couldn't sneak through. I have hunted elk many times in tough conditions, but doing internet searches on the units that seem good there are always people saying there are general units better than the limited units I can draw. We are willing to get away from roads, but we would prefer a unit that offers some spot and stalk opportunity. Also if I shot a 300 class 6 point I would be happy as a clown. I was considering Unit 19 late, 108, or 11. If anyone has a suggestion, I would appreciate it. We put in for 120 this year with 5 points with gohunt giving 100% odd but didn't draw. No the odds for 120 show we need 8 points. Thanks for the responses fellas.
 
There's some really good hunting in General areas, but with six points you can get yourself into some really decent areas up north. If you're really concerned with quality, keep your points and go for a reduced price cow calf tag and hunt the area you're interested in if you draw. If it seems like a place that fits your fancy, then cash in the points on a type 1 tag, if not then you can continue collecting points and hunt a cow/calf in another area until you find a place that is worthy of your wait. I think at this point, you're better off holding onto those points.
 
Also we we in the special draw last year and are willing to pay the special draw price.
 
You can hunt wilderness areas with a resident guide, it costs the resident nothing. You don't need a paid guide nor an outfitter to go into those areas.
 
You could draw the limited quota units in the wind rivers with 6 points. If I were a NR, that's where I'd go. The trophy quality is not great but the area is awesome and the elk are plentiful, even outside of the wilderness area.
 
If you didn't draw a GEN tag with 2 points, you should have checked your paper work. A NR has been able to draw a regular price GEN tag with 2 points since they started the draw.


6 points each or 6 points total with both of you combined?
 
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I may be remembering wrong, but I thought it was our third year applying and were unsuccessful. Either way we should have just kept with general tags because that was our plan to hunt every other year or so up there. That why we want to burn our points, so we can hopefully get on track to do that.
 
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Another potential option would be to find 2-3 buddies who have no points but want to hunt elk. You could apply as a party and all get general tags (because your and your brother's points would be averaged for the group). That gives you more people to enjoy the hunt and split travel expenses with.
 
JLDemo said:
There's some really good hunting in General areas, but with six points you can get yourself into some really decent areas up north. If you're really concerned with quality, keep your points and go for a reduced price cow calf tag and hunt the area you're interested in if you draw. If it seems like a place that fits your fancy, then cash in the points on a type 1 tag, if not then you can continue collecting points and hunt a cow/calf in another area until you find a place that is worthy of your wait. I think at this point, you're better off holding onto those points.
Click to expand...
This ^^^^^^^^
 
Thanks for all the advice. Another question, is it worth putting in for a unit that jumped in points needed this year in hopes that it was a one time spike? Unit 120 looked like a good choice for us this year and the odds showed 100% with 5 points in the special draw, but it jumped to needing 8 points.
 
I was getting those numbers off gohunt. I looked at the WYGF site and it shows 7 points was 100% this year. What does it mean with the <7 then 7 categories? Looks like 2016 odds for 120 were 33% with 5 points, gohunt gave us 100% odds but they said it has to do with adding in the random odds. I don't know how the numbers work I guess that's why I used gohunt.
 
Because Wyoming averages points to 5 decimal places, creating a report nightmare with all the point levels possible thru party apps, they format their reports to only show the point pools where tags were drawn, combining those below, and set their reports to whole numbers (7), less than but not equal to (<7) or, less than or equal to (<=7).

In my opinion, you'll get the best odds for WY by looking at the Dept Demand Reports and taking into account the number of apps in your point pool as well as the number of apps above you if they didn't draw all of those. The odds sites are good, especially GoHunt and TopRut as they use the actual applicant databases but realize they are the actual odds for the previous year; extrapolation to the next year requires the remaining point pool numbers. Even at that we have to assume the tag quota stays the same and the guys that applied for our hunt will continue and nobody else will jump in with the same or more points.
 
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I would NOT spend those points on unit 120.You'd do better in 38 or 39.I believe point creep was due to license increase coming for 2018
 
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