WY Mule Deer Hunt

Tactical .20

Tactical .20

New member
I just bought a WY archery deer license. It will be my first deer hunt in 22 yrs. I will be hunting on a ranch that has not been hunted for 8 yrs or so, should be a good one somewhere there! It would be cool to get a nice dark racked one!
Been 5 yrs since I have been to WY, I am pumped, I miss it a lot.
 
That is great to hear, maybe more rain is better for racks. I always wanted a large, heavy, dark rack. I went to WY 10 times to trap in fall, nov-dec, one time, nineth trip, in all those trips I saw a trophy mulie. I saw 3 off the highway in a space of about 25 miles, within a half hour of this ranch. They all 3 looked like a man holding his arms up, big heavy and dark brown racks, real nice. It was snowing so hard and heavy I didn't want to trap that day, so I went to town for supplies.
Going to areaY. What town are you near dogwhckr? SO if I don't fill the tag with a bow, I can come back in Oct. and use a rifle,right?
 
We are in area F, bighorn basin, west of the bighorn mountains. the only area I am familiar with that has an Oct 15th start date is 165 and that is limited quota.

We live between Greybull and Cody.

IF you have a general license for area F? Then, sure, come on ahead. As it is now we have 5 friends and family for this year already and one more won't hurt. Rifle starts Nov 01, Not sure about bow/crossbow - haven't looked at that.
 
I trapped coyote and a cat near Shell one yr, I'll have to check the rules when they send them. The guy I know thought it was ok to use license for rifle in Oct. No more money for another area, prices are high for me, I'm going here cause I used to trap for this guy, and he hasn't allowed hunting for 8 yrs or so. I can stay at his ranch or down the road at some cabin rentals. Appreciate the offer though, maybe in the future.
 
I'll need it! LOL I am first going to the Bighorns with JW to watch him fill his elk tag. I wanted to learn more about elk hunting, since I saw so many on tv taken with a bow. Never been hunting in the mountains for big game and staying in a Wall tent.
I hunted coyote in the summer for the rancher, they were killing lambs, but stayed in a pickup camper. Howled out of the door first morning, coyote answered less than 1/4 mile away, snuck down the edge of the trees a couple hundred yards, called her in and killed her there, that was cool, and fun!!
 
After being in a drought for more than a decade we have strung together three really good winters and very wet springs. That certainly does contribute to healthy and extra large antlers and horns because the nutrition value of the feed is so much better during the critical development stage. Good luck on your hunt. You should see some toads in an area that hasnt been hunted for a while. Lots of management bucks since the herd hasnt been managed but there should also be some bruisers.
 
He got the area wrong, I went by what he said when I bought my license online, I won't be hunting on the plains where I used to trap. I will be hunting in the mountains where he is camped for elk hunting. Oh, well, he said there are bigger deer up there! I always wanted to hunt high elevation deer anyway. I will hunt an Ibex on the plains, maybe I'll scout for next yr, there. It will be fun!
I didn't realize the dark racks get dark from rubbing trees? I thought it was the water or age of the deer!lol They will be in velvet at that time, never hunted a velvet deer before.
 
Originally Posted By: dog1whckrThose mountain deer do tend to be larger then the flat landers - on the average. Go get 'em TAC......

Not sure I agree 100%. There is no doubt that Wyoming and the entire Rocky Mountain chain has some tremendous alpine bucks. There are some true monsters in the Greys River Drainage and other remote alpine regions in Wyoming.

That being said, one would be making a huge mistake overlooking the sage brush, grass land and transition zones that make up the larger portion of Wyoming when seeking out a trophy Mule Deer. Its been my experience that, on average, the larger racked deer tend to come from these areas and not the alpine regions. Again dont get me wrong, alpine bucks living in remote regions can reach a ripe old age and have a better chance of reaching maturity. But, the populations of deer are not as numerous in the high mountain areas and there are some smart old bucks living in the flat lands that die of old age. I have seen some true monster Mulies taken from the flats.
 
No arguement there HPD. The word I get here is if you want that real wall hanger? You will head to the high country. With that said? I've got pictures(this years) of some truly monster bucks in the flat land sage brush. The only problem is, is that I cannot disclose their location for fear of being hunted down myself for doing so...
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The 3 hogs I saw that one snowy day, were in the flatland, less than an hour from Gillette. It will be different trying to judge the thickness of the rack with velvet on. If I don't connect in Sept, I may be back in Oct.
 
Tac, these guys are flat lander bucks; still in velvet as you can see. Pay particular attention to the one in the center looking directly at the camera. Because of his mass and spread its difficult to see the thickness of the bases - unless you had him stretched out on the ground right in front of you.
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It looks thick down low, but hard for me to see what it is like on top of the rack. I have a good scoring shed from one side, from the ranch I used to trap. Tall back fork, decent front one. JW said it would score good if complete.
 
More important look for the depths of the forks both front and back. If the forks are deep and well defined dont worry about mass. If his forks are deep, the mass you need will be there because he is probably a mature buck. Younger bucks will tend to have a crab claw front, back or both. Best to let young crab claw bucks go because they can sometimes be tomorrows monster. Trust me, You will know a big buck when you see it regardless of velvet or not and there will be no doubt he is a shooter.

Below are examples of "flatland" bucks that should leave no doubt or even a split second of hesitation. All of the below are mature "shooter" bucks.

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Milesbuck.jpg


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Looks like a few good deer there HPD.

IF we get any of those similar to yours? We will post them here later..

I have my eye on a couple; one of which is nothing but a forkhorn, but, oh what a forkhorn he is!!!

But then, my wife has a cow elk tag and we are headed to the foothills for that, smack dab in the middle of a lot of real nice mule deer as well. Earlier I mentioned that area 165 was the only one I was aware of in region F that started Oct. 15th? Wrong!! The foothills of the bighorns where we are going after the elk starts the same date.

We may double up and get her cow and a couple of bucks at the same time. Leaving the others here for other hunters, friends and family.


Good hunting this year TAC and HPD.
 
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