Misc Wyoming General Elk Unit questions

Hello. This fall will be my first time hunting elk in WY, on a general tag, pretty excited. I've been studying Insider, OnX, and Google Earth daily since the draw results. I have a few areas marked, but each one seems to have a slight draw back/concern. I was hoping I could bounce a few questions off you folks to help me narrow down my search. Non-resident planning to archery hunt middle of September.

The first area I was looking at is unit 67. I have to stay out of the wilderness. Other than the bears, my main concern is the lack of elk in the southern part of this unit in September due to the elk holding in the wilderness until maybe snow or weather pushes them down. Does anyone have any experience with this?

The second area in case we chose to avoid the bears are units 90/94. What concerns me here is we will be starting our hunt right about the same time as the rifle deer opener. It looks like a lot of country, but I've also read these rifle hunters will be out in full force regardless & I'm not sure what kind of effect that will have on the elk.

The third area if we choose to avoid bears and rifle hunters are units in the south, 9/10/13...west of Laramie. The main thing I read about with these units are a lot of elk, but a lot of hunters. My question is, what's the pressure like in September? It seems most comment on the pressure for rifle. But what kind of pressure does archery get & even then can you still escape the crowd.

Thanks in advance for any info you can provide. If you'd rather pm, feel free. Fun & frustrating all at the same time.

In regards to your concerns about 90/94, yes you will see a lot of rifle deer hunters. However, I have found this to be largely a non-issue for the archery elk hunt. Good luck wherever you end up hunting.

I've not hunted any of those units, but have been in general elk and deer areas twice while both were open for rifle. Opening weekend sees a lot of road traffic, after that it really thins out. I haven't bumped into another hunter away from the road, so in my limited experience I wouldn't let the deer rifle season dates be much of a factor in my decision making.

If you go to the Snowies I'll save you the hassle, there's no elk on sheep mountain. I haven't had much issue with other hunters during Sept. You'll see a few vehicles but I've never seen another hunter while in the field.

I have never hunted any of those areas, however, from my experience of hunting Wyoming for 20 years and archer hunting it the last 8 is that you will typically have fewer people to deal with. Sorry it isn't much help.

Thanks for the replies. I've been doing more looking in the Snowies & the Madres. Unless OnX marks every little trail, I'm not seeing hardly any areas with more than a mile between them. Anyone familiar with the Snowies and/or the Madres & have looked at these areas in OnX who can offer a bit of advice or tell me if I'm interpreting this correctly... for example, is OnX showing i these as roads, but they are really not passable. Just trying to figure out how to get a couple miles deep in these areas. Thanks

krojemann said:

Thanks for the replies. I've been doing more looking in the Snowies & the Madres. Unless OnX marks every little trail, I'm not seeing hardly any areas with more than a mile between them. Anyone familiar with the Snowies and/or the Madres & have looked at these areas in OnX who can offer a bit of advice or tell me if I'm interpreting this correctly... for example, is OnX showing i these as roads, but they are really not passable. Just trying to figure out how to get a couple miles deep in these areas. Thanks

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You need to search for the Motor vehicle usage maps MVUM from the national forest it will show you which roads are actually open. I hunted 13 last year and it was pretty busy near the roads. Pretty much every pull off big enough for a camper had one. Once a good ways off the road didn't run into to many people. It was just hard for me to make myself pull in beside a vehicle or camper and go in the same area.

There are elk on Sheep Mountain and it does get hunted.
You'll figure out not everyone hunts near their camp. Take yourself down one of the very rough roads and you'll likely not see as many vehicles but folks will walk in. The Snowies are not a get away type hunt but there are plenty of elk. Last fall our archery hunt had lots of folks along the road and we did not see anyone in the field . Farther from the Highway,130, the better for you.

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