Wyoming Unit 7 Elk
 

Got a tag in Unit 7 for elk that is the good news.

Here is the bad news:
I had earlier set up a tresspass fee hunt if I drew the tag with Turtle Rock Ranch outside of Glenrock. I called them up after I drew and confirmed the dates and the rate with them, and had it all set up.

3 days later I got a call from them and they wanted to raise the rate 10 times what we had agreed upon. I told them that we had agreed on a rate, and I had requested vacation for the time we had agreed upon, but 10X the rate I could not do it, so they cancelled our hunt.

Pretty bad experience with them. Make sure you steer clear if you hunt this unit.

Also I am new to Wyoming and was wondering if anyone knows anything about this unit. I know it has big bulls, but lots of private land.

Unit 7 has produced some good bulls over the years. It is rough. The most important pieces of equipment you take with you may very well be your boots and pack. Over the years, WY G&F has increased the number of tags available though, and elk aren't stupid. As soon as the hunters show up, they head for places they're not getting shot at - often the private ground.

Private landowners aren't stupid, either. As long as there are people who will pay the 10x rate you were originally quoted, they're gong to charge it. While I am absolutely supportive of landowners controlling access to their land, the moment they lock out the hunters, they lock in the problems the "public's" game may wreak on their hay crops, etc. No hunting/Hunting for a fee = No assistance from G&F.

The solution? You shouldn't "feed the animals", don't "pay the landowners" either. That's what's caused most of the problem with private access out here. They've been "fed" and now they've gotten greedy beyond what most can reasonably pay.

Private access no longer the quick ticket to a big bull in area 7 (unless you have lots of money, which you apparently don't), you can still find elk there, you're just going to have to work a LOT harder for them. More tags = more pressure and competition. If you've not put boots on the ground, I'd pick up the topo maps for the area and pore over them and any satellite imagery you can pick up on the internet. The public access points are fewer than many other areas, so you'll need to come up with a plan. Compound things lately, the area has already experienced two significant fires this season, one of them (Russels Camp) is still burning.

I stopped hunting area 7 years ago. The Game Commission increased the number of tags to address the landowners' depredation complaints. Once there were more hunters and more pressure, the landowners responded by limiting hunter access, further compounding the depredation, causing more tags to be issued, more pressure, increased trespass fees, more tags to be issued, ... You get the idea of the cycle here. It's a screwed-up mess, and it's caused by the landowners and the people who took your slot when the ranch jacked up their fee. If I had the hunt in WRITING, I'd be inclined to take the ranch to court for breach of contract.

I hear there is a good mix of public/private, not sure if it is 50/50 or not, but also I hear those public access points get alot of attention as most of us can read a map and figure out where public access points are.

I'd make a lot of calls and maybe post on Craigslist possibly just looking to gain access to public ground through that of private ground, ie can I cross your property to hunt public land?

For a fee, you might. GONE are the days when extra hands at branding time and cruising fencelines during the summer gained you favor with private landowners. Today, money does the talking.

Oh, and let's not forget. There are LOTS of "outfitters" who've leased up the hunting rights on private ranches, one - to corner the hunting on that property, and two - to shut out people who'd pay a trespass fee to get to the public land on the other side, thus nearly ensuring them access to public land no one else can get into. Go in the long way from the public side, and you're likely to have an unfriendly encounter with the guys who who may have paid big money to get in from the easy side. Been there.

Everything you guys have stated is sure true. I just checked the G&F website and they issued 100 bull tags to NRs in the Regular PP draw alone. That is better than twice the tags in any other unit in the state from what I could see in looking over the stats. It's come to the point where you have to treat ranchers and outfitters as you would any other business dealing. Get stuff in writing because you can't go on word or a handshake any more and this is a good example. It's too bad you didn't have a signed contract before you drew for the tag and got screwed because now you have a lot of work to do to have a decent time of it on your hunt out there because of what others mentioned. It's too bad that other hunters are just as much to blame for paying the exorbitant prices, but I imagine or would hope that whoever takes your spot and pays 10X more than you were quoted has no idea of what happened to you.

Helicopter drop offs to public land ;)

Paying to cross private land might even be worth it.

All you can do is try your best, give it 100% and see what happens, don't get discouraged!

As to unit 7 and the rest of WY, part of me wishes they'd separate bow and gun tags, too many gun hunters kinda "wing it" during the bow season and only make more pressure during the bow season.

it's kinda nice to have the gun option if you strike out during bow season, but separating tags would increase tags, reduce pressure, win-win in my eyes, at east for the non-residents. I think much few non-residents would hunt both bow and gun seasons.

Call Game and Fish. They may have some info on hunter friendly land owners who aren't trying make the cost of a new truck on a hunt.

Thanks
 

Thanks for all the input. Next time I definately will get everything in writing. Live and learn I guess

Unit 7 Elk
 

I also have the unit 7 tag and have been talking to people for a couple months. We're thinking Cow Creek and trying to get in several miles off the trailhead. We'll probably take a couple horses for our gear. Will we need to take hay cubes or is there enough grass for the horses to get by on? Once we get set up we'll stake them out at camp and hunt on foot. Probably aiming at around the 15 Sept for a week. I hear the rifle hunt is crazy. Any suggestions?

I have only hunted elk in CO as a non resident, so no advice about your challenge, but I have made extensive use of a combination of topo maps of the area I've hunted in CO plus Google Earth.

Using GE, you can rotate the scenes, high oblique, low oblique, vertical, zoom in/out just like flying low level in a helicopter. It provides great perspective on the terrain.

Just a thought.