WY Deer Unit vs. Region strategy?

So the Mrs. and I thought we were a slam dunk for deer tags. The unit we chose was a LE unit. We had one more point than it took last year and some people even drew last year with 2 points less than us. So, ya, I thought we were a lock. I bought the maps, and did quite a bit of research already on that unit. Well, today I found out that we actually did not draw and it took a full point more than what we had. Cuss! Evidently a lot of people decided it would be a good unit, or a lot of people decided to burn their points and get out of the game which is what I was trying to do. Our second choice what the region that the LE unit is in. We drew that region.

So here's my question,... How does a NR study and scout an entire deer region that he has never been to? I am planning to drive through there in the next 2 months and spend a day or 2 driving back roads and getting a feel for the area at least. We will be hunting the second week of the deer season to try to avoid some of the hunters. The bad news is of course that we can't hunt the LE unit within the region that we thought we would be hunting. So really there's no sense in scouting it other than to look it over for my daughters or wife to hopefully draw it in the future. So if you have a whole region to scout, would you just start at one end and drive through all of the units within that region and see what terrain you like the best? Or what areas have the most public land? Of course those areas are going to get hammered the most during that first week I would guess. I know public land is more limited in this part of eastern WY. Or would you just wait until it's hunting time and start driving and glassing and hiking and glassing, and spend the week on the move until you find some deer that are interesting enough? While antelope hunting in the past in WY we have found many animals in the small one mile by one mile sections of public land found on our OnX chip. Does this technique work for mule deer also? I'm guessing not as well since the mule deer aren't generally on their feet all day long like the antelope are. Totally Baffled at how to approach this! thanks for any advice!

I know I am not in WY, but a guy can run into a similar problem in some areas in NV. We have some areas that are quite large, and made up of several units. Each unit may hold different densities of deer, or be transition areas, summer range, or winter range. Depending on the year and weather, the deer population can change in some of those units rather quickly. I have a tag for an area that I know well and plan to scout. I am picking two pretty specific spots to scout and will likely narrow that down and hunt one spot for the first part of my season.

I would do a lot of e scouting with Google Earth and scour the harvest stats. I would also like to see information on herd health, and access problems. If I were going into an area mostly blind like that, I think I would want to just cover a lot of country on the first trip and look for good habitat and sign, then concentrate on one or two spots as the hunt neared. I think a lot of people try to cover too much country and waste a lot of time while hunting.

Good thoughts, thank you. My wheels are turning. I probably need to study each unit in the region as if I just had that unit tag. Maybe concentrate on half of the region instead of looking at the whole thing. Gotta stay positive, something will jump out at me in time. Any thoughts on deer hunting the second week instead of the first? That's what we have done with antelope and it's been best for us. We aren't run and gun go like hell people, and don't want to feel like we have to hustle over every hill to beat someone to a spot. I guess some good bucks will be shot off and others educated, but oh well.

Talk with the biologist to narrow down areas that hold more or better deer. Then look at tag numbers and hunter success for that area.
You can do quite a bit form home then take a trip out to look it over.

If you are looking for a better than average buck deer, IMHO the later you hunt the better if the season lasts to the end of October. We start seeing the better bucks every year the last few days of October as compared to the opening week as they start coming out during hunting hours to check on any does that might be coming into estrus early since the mulie rut really gets going well after most seasons are over. I'm not going to hunt any area other than where I have been every year since 1999, so if you want to PM me with the Region you drew maybe I can help you some before you even get out there to start looking around.

Last year I started with looking at Harvest stats for each unit within the region. I then looked at google earth and onxmaps to determine what looked like good areas. You will be supised by how many areas this will eliminate. If your tag is for Region C, let me know. You helped me with my first antelope hunt and haven't had a chance to return the favor.

1. Look at season dates and what works with your schedule.
2. Determine if parts of the region are transitional range or winter range.
3. Determine access.
4. Decide what parts appeal the most to you.
5. Pick at least 3-4 different options/backup plans.

Region???

good luck to all
the dog

One thing I have done in the past is look at outfitters in the region/area you are wanting to hunt to get an idea what's around. If they kill big deer look around their ranch for accessible land to hunt.

Don't always assume that a unit that takes more points to draw is better. I know NR"s who burned max elk points last year with nothing to show, and old timers who are successful nearly every year on general tags. I personally believe I do better hunting the same areas year after year. One option to consider is hunting other species in the unit you prefer in years you can't draw the tag you want. Things like WT, antelope, doe, or cow tags can be another way to really get to know a unit between mule deer tags.

The deer in the general unit will be more pressured but will utilize the habitat similarly as the deer in the LE would, the difference being hunting pressure and timing, as the LE units are usually later than the general units. I would try to narrow down to the units that have similar terrain and habitat features to the LE you were hoping for

Bigjav said:

The deer in the general unit will be more pressured but will utilize the habitat similarly as the deer in the LE would, the difference being hunting pressure

Click to expand...

No....

LE tags here are not truely what everyone thinks they are in my opinion for DEER(elk different story). In this state there are only 3 or 4 LE tags that i would rather hold than a resident general. The region tags for you give you more flexabilty and LE areas always seen like every tag holder is there every day and are crowded. On my general i probably average 1-2 deer hunters seen a week and i hunt every day, maybe few elk hunters lower but thats it. If your seeing what you think is to many people your doing it wrong and as far as deer habits there still feeding and ya there little more scared after elk hunters bump them but not worth worring about. You will be just fine on your general if you work for it and in long run better off cause you might find spot you can hunt every year. Step 1 in scouting talk to few guys who know the region you got, take them at 80% of there word...lol. then get after your own escouting, make your trip in person and have 3/4 spots to look at then decide how and sometimes more importantly when to hunt it. Good luck