NJheadhunter71

That is what I told my buddy that is going with me. Long walks in the hills and long drives going back to town, only to have to get up and drive back and do it all over again. I opted to drive out there with the camper (the kind that fits in the bed)in the back of the diesel and park and get out and hunt. I also told him I should bring my tent and gearcause ifwecome across a good stretch of area and don't have the time to walk back to the truckwe could just stay the night and hunt that arearight from sun up. He thinks I'm nuts for wanting to hunt this way. I think you beat yourself up with all the driving back and forth. What do you guys think is the best way to hunt the area? We were looking at hunting the basin and not going to high up but walking a good bit. He has never hunted outWest and I am trying toschool him on it but he isn'tgetting it. Do you think we are better getting intoareas with meadows and tree lines or hunting the more open areas? I have hunted inMedicine Bow and we didn't see much until we got tothe valleys withwater and vegetation.I don't want to sound to much of a green horn but the more I get advice from guys that have hunted that area the better i feel about going on the hunt. We were also thing of bring the quad for game retrieval only, good idea or bad?Is it mostly local road huntingthe BLM roads? RURU12, how did you hunt out there and where did you stay? Did you camp?

wyotimberghost

Too early to tell. We have yet to get hit by the spring stoms, and consequently it is way too early to tell how vegetation at each elevation is going to respond. In the end, forage and hunting pressure are the trure deciding factors. Personally, I like to get away from the crowds.

See above response. There is no such thing as a stupid question. Bringing a quad for game retieval is fine, assuming you use it responsibly. Many of the locals who don't have the motivation/capability to hunt off road will be frequenting the BLM and forest service roads in addition to the lazy non-residents. Only luck will net you a trophy if you are road hunting.
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RandyA

The deer, as in all mountain areas, can be found high and low. But best concentrations are near hay fields down low, near water, and where they browse and eat.Some deer never leave the high country, I have flwon with the G&F and seendeer still at 9,000feet in December indeep snow. I think it how the deer are brought up.Tensleep has motels and so does shell or Greybull. Might save you some driving. Camp a night or two then go to town to clean up and realx. It can be grueling, the driving, walking, driving. Do a little camp, just a tent and good pad and sleeping bag. You will enjoy it. Did you apply for a point last year? Might be hard to draw if not. Those that applied last yearare one point up on you.

Find a high spot, with lots of open ground and sit on your butt and glass, glass, and glass some more.

Good Luck!

NJheadhunter71

Randy, I did not apply for a point last year. I hope our odds will be better with applying for the special license. It was 100% in 06 with the special region R.That was good advice you mentioned about staying in the field for a couple of days then heading back out to a town to relax.Have you ever hunted the Red Gulch/Alkali area? I have read the byway runs through it and was thinking of hunting closer to the mountains but accessingthat area from the road. Hopefully there will be enough BLM land that we have access to go in that way. I guess I won't know squat until I get the maps. I was also thinking ofgetting into town a day early to drive the area and get anidea on the lay of the land.I wonder if there are areas out there where ranchers graze the animals in BLMmedows/fields that aren't right off the road?Something that takes a little walking to get to. Also, are there a good population of Whitetails out there? I am not really into baggingone being I can hunt them here in NJ but I would takeone ifI was lucky enough and itwas big boy.Do the BLM or quadmaps show BLM grazing/farming fields? Do they list the longitude and latitude on them? On another note......and I know you guys that live out there see it everyday but your state isa very beautiful place.When I talk to people from out there I find that allot of peopleweren't originally from Wyoming but moved there because of the hunting.

wyomingtrapper

I hunted the south west end above the Worland/Tensleep area for four years. There were deer at all elevations. If you have the skill and disposition to hunt the badlands down low (I didn't), there are some big bucks. My observation during both the bowhunt and later hunting elk with the rifle (up high)is that very few people go off the roads in that area. I've been out of that area for 9 years and a lot can change over that period of time...

wyotimberghost

The BLM issues grazing permits for entire sections of lands in all terrains. It's not uncommon to run into cattle quite a ways off the main road in the free range areas. To my knowledge, there are no BLM fields. Whitetails here are more common in lower riparian areas where land in predominately private. Also, whitetail numbers are a lot stronger on the Sheridan/ Buffalo side. They're like dogs over there. Both USGS quad maps and BLM maps have latitude/longitue marked.