wyoming mule deer
02-28-2006, 07:02 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Central Wisc.
Posts: 653
wyoming mule deer
my grandpa and i are planning on going on a rifle muley hunt ing wyoming this fall. it will be nonguided. we want to go to general region A or C. we hunted C last year and I saw a 27" buck opening day on blm land but it was too far. we hunted near the powder river on a wia and blm land. I was wondering what would be a better area as far as seeing deer on public land. my grandpa wants to hunt the bighorn mountains in region C and i would like to try the black hills nat forest in region A. what are the pros and cons of these areas as far as animals, hunting pressure, etc? thanks
03-12-2006, 08:46 AM
#3
Fork Horn
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: usa
Posts: 464
RE: wyoming mule deer
pros and cons of each
black hills-
pros-
1. you will fill your tag, lots of deer
2.lots of public land, easy access
3. a FEW bigguns
4. additional doe tags are EASY to fill there.
5. rifle season is in november. sometimes it catches the rut.
cons
1. overhunted, at least near anything that resembles a road
2. few trophies
3. all roads seem like highways with roadhunters everywhere.
bighorns
1. trophy caliber bucks. there not everywhere, but theres plenty to go round.
2. lots of public land, some is fairly easy access. the bighorns are nearly all road accessable.
3. deer numbers in general are pretty good.
4. the scenery!!!
cons.
1. anything near a road gets hit hard, ya gotta work for em.
2. lots of deer, but you wont see half as many as you will in the black hills.
3. snow can be a problem
either could be just the ticket or not what your looking for. if you and grandpa dont mind a more physical hunt, and have some experience hunting muleys and know how to find em, the bighorns are probably for you.
if you are sorta new to this, or not in the best of shape, you WILL fill your tags in the black hills, and there are some nice bucks there, but the hunter numbers keep a lot of em from getting to trophy size.
ask anything i can help ya with, ill give her a shot.
black hills-
pros-
1. you will fill your tag, lots of deer
2.lots of public land, easy access
3. a FEW bigguns
4. additional doe tags are EASY to fill there.
5. rifle season is in november. sometimes it catches the rut.
cons
1. overhunted, at least near anything that resembles a road
2. few trophies
3. all roads seem like highways with roadhunters everywhere.
bighorns
1. trophy caliber bucks. there not everywhere, but theres plenty to go round.
2. lots of public land, some is fairly easy access. the bighorns are nearly all road accessable.
3. deer numbers in general are pretty good.
4. the scenery!!!
cons.
1. anything near a road gets hit hard, ya gotta work for em.
2. lots of deer, but you wont see half as many as you will in the black hills.
3. snow can be a problem
either could be just the ticket or not what your looking for. if you and grandpa dont mind a more physical hunt, and have some experience hunting muleys and know how to find em, the bighorns are probably for you.
if you are sorta new to this, or not in the best of shape, you WILL fill your tags in the black hills, and there are some nice bucks there, but the hunter numbers keep a lot of em from getting to trophy size.
ask anything i can help ya with, ill give her a shot.
03-12-2006, 01:51 PM
#5
Fork Horn
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: usa
Posts: 464
RE: wyoming mule deer
lots of whitetails. youll see more of them inthe black hills than muleys. both are everywhere though.
for whitetails, i dont konw average, but around here a 140 buck is damn big. we see bigger, but that would be on the big side of it. lots of bucks in the 115-125 range .
for muleys, we arent a trophy area for them at all here. id say the average 4 by 4 would be between 20 and 24 inches outside spread. again no monster, but respectable. of course there are some good ones too.
the biggest problem here isnt genetics, its that a lot of deer get shot young. too many people here shoot that spike and forkie regularly. too bad.
here is a pic of my 2 best black hills muleys.
for whitetails, i dont konw average, but around here a 140 buck is damn big. we see bigger, but that would be on the big side of it. lots of bucks in the 115-125 range .
for muleys, we arent a trophy area for them at all here. id say the average 4 by 4 would be between 20 and 24 inches outside spread. again no monster, but respectable. of course there are some good ones too.
the biggest problem here isnt genetics, its that a lot of deer get shot young. too many people here shoot that spike and forkie regularly. too bad.
here is a pic of my 2 best black hills muleys.
03-12-2006, 02:42 PM
#6
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Central Wisc.
Posts: 653
RE: wyoming mule deer
when we hunted C west just west of the powder river, we didnt see many deer, i think because of all the people. do you know of any state land thatthe publiccan hunt in region C or A that we wont see many people? are the walk in areas any good in region A? what is the best part of the black hills NF the best for mulies? thanks
03-12-2006, 07:36 PM
#7
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: WYO
Posts: 2,298
RE: wyoming mule deer
I prefter the Big Horns personally, but they are teeming with road hunters, so if you go there be sure to get off the beaten path a bit to give yourself a chance at getting a decent deer. There are big deer everywhere in Wyoming. It's just a matter of putting in the time and effort to find them or getting lucky and running across one of them. My buddy tagged a really nice whitetail in the Black Hills last year, and I also saw many 4x4 and 5x5 mulies in the Big Horns while I was archery hunting for elk the year before last. So either place is a safe bet. Just make your decision based upon how far you want to drive, the kind of land you want to hunt, and if you still can't decide just flip a coin.
03-12-2006, 08:49 PM
#8
Fork Horn
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: usa
Posts: 464
RE: wyoming mule deer
everything wyotimberghost said, but one more thing....
how old and in how good of shape is your grandpa in. way easier physically in the black hills.
if you are both up to it physically, and have some muley savvy, the bighorns would be great, but remember in rifle season, especially if theres snow, look more toward the face than way high, they migrate, and get on to private land down low, so ya gotta be in their area of travel. if its warm, there will still be deer high, but again, get away from the roads.
let your optics do a lot of the walking.
never hunted the black hills areas labeled as "walk ins" but i look at everywhere as a walk in. just get away from the roads, and the number of hunters magically disappears.....
for muleys in the hills, man its tough to say any one place. i have seen too many nice bucks all over to tell one. the area around the small towns of osage, upton and sundance have lots of muleys for sure, but lots of private land too. maybe try giving some land owners a call, all they can say is no. have heard good things about the bear lodge area north of sundance, but have never hunted there myself, so cant help ya with that one.
one thing for sure, you better hurry, apps are due in cheyenne for out of staters on the 15th!
how old and in how good of shape is your grandpa in. way easier physically in the black hills.
if you are both up to it physically, and have some muley savvy, the bighorns would be great, but remember in rifle season, especially if theres snow, look more toward the face than way high, they migrate, and get on to private land down low, so ya gotta be in their area of travel. if its warm, there will still be deer high, but again, get away from the roads.
let your optics do a lot of the walking.
never hunted the black hills areas labeled as "walk ins" but i look at everywhere as a walk in. just get away from the roads, and the number of hunters magically disappears.....
for muleys in the hills, man its tough to say any one place. i have seen too many nice bucks all over to tell one. the area around the small towns of osage, upton and sundance have lots of muleys for sure, but lots of private land too. maybe try giving some land owners a call, all they can say is no. have heard good things about the bear lodge area north of sundance, but have never hunted there myself, so cant help ya with that one.
one thing for sure, you better hurry, apps are due in cheyenne for out of staters on the 15th!
03-14-2006, 05:11 AM
#9
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Central Wisc.
Posts: 653
RE: wyoming mule deer
huntn muleys, do you know of any public land for muleys in A? what about the parts of the thunder basin national grassland near osage and upton or the black hills national forest around moskee? do you know much about deer numberson thebig sectionof blm land where I90 crossesthe powder river in region C? I see that A and C are 100% but we arent going to make the deadline so we are going to have to apply for leftovers in july. thanks
03-14-2006, 10:00 AM
#10
Fork Horn
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: usa
Posts: 464
RE: wyoming mule deer
the region c powder river area i have never hunted, but driving to the mountains to hunt i have nearly hit enough big muleys there to know it cant be all bad!!
that blm outsida osage and upton can be good, but you will see hunters.
the moskee area, theres lots of public land there, and lots of deer, but remember lots of whitetails too. basically, there a lot of deer everywhere in this area, but the main thing to remember is big muleys are where ya find em.
get landowner maps for weston and crook counties (newcastle and sundance) and look em over hard. lots and lots of smaller public spots, often times just a section or 2 that are somewhat overlooked, and just might hold that muley your after.
i grew up in osage, and i can assure you that there are plenty of muleys in the whole osage/upton/sundance "triangle", the trick is just finding em. again, call a couple landowners too, ya might get lucky.
that blm outsida osage and upton can be good, but you will see hunters.
the moskee area, theres lots of public land there, and lots of deer, but remember lots of whitetails too. basically, there a lot of deer everywhere in this area, but the main thing to remember is big muleys are where ya find em.
get landowner maps for weston and crook counties (newcastle and sundance) and look em over hard. lots and lots of smaller public spots, often times just a section or 2 that are somewhat overlooked, and just might hold that muley your after.
i grew up in osage, and i can assure you that there are plenty of muleys in the whole osage/upton/sundance "triangle", the trick is just finding em. again, call a couple landowners too, ya might get lucky.