My two boys and I have cow elk muzzleloader tags for the West Daggett unit. We don't have bull tags. I have hunted the muzzleloader for bulls up around the Flaming Gorge this time of year and my experience has been that the elk are high and tight unless and until it snows. Just curious as to whether anyone has been up in that area and seen any cows in some of the lower areas. I scouted up there a few weeks ago and found a couple of good areas (even saw quite a few nice bulls) but that was before all the rifle hunts and I'm worried that they were pushed out. Just wondering if we should focus our efforts on some of the higher and denser areas or will be able to find them in the same spots. Not looking for anyone's spots, just whether anyone is seeing anything. (Although I might be willing to tell where we saw quite a few bulls before the rifle season.) PM is good.
ML cow
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I think I hunted the unit just south of you. I went up high yesterday morning and didn't see any sign at all, nothing! So I moved a little lower and started seeing more sign but I never did see anything to shoot at. None of the camps I saw had anything hanging. I didn't see one live animal until I got down into the foothills and then it was just a bunch of does and fawns. I even talked to a trucker that drives from Vernal over the top everyday and he said he hasn't seen anything up high, most of what he's seen was down lower towards Vernal. I've never hunted that area before so maybe I just don't know it well enough to hunt it right.
Dang! I was really hoping to get into something yesterday. I still have until Friday. I'm going to call the DWR in Vernal and see if they can give me any clues about where the Elk are now. I didn't have any time to scout this year, too many things going on in the Fall, and it's a 3+ hour drive to get there.
How'd you do?
Dang! I was really hoping to get into something yesterday. I still have until Friday. I'm going to call the DWR in Vernal and see if they can give me any clues about where the Elk are now. I didn't have any time to scout this year, too many things going on in the Fall, and it's a 3+ hour drive to get there.
How'd you do?
Some commitments arose and we got out late. Only hunted a day and a half, but didn't see any elk. We hunted some lower and mid elevation areas. I think these areas have just been hit too hard in the past two months. Talked to quite a few hunters coming out of that area and they had not done well either. I wish we would get some snow before the hunt ends, but looks like that won't happen.
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I called the DWR office in Vernal to see if they might have an idea of where the Elk are, but didn't get very far. No one in the office at that time had heard much. I may try calling again tomorrow.
I know it's a long shot because I wouldn't think that the DWR office would be expected to answer such questions, but I'm willing to give it a try. I just hate to take a day off work and drive 7 hours round trip just to be skunked again. Not that I don't love getting out and hunting but I'm getting desperate to put meat in the freezer and gas is expensive.
Have you heard anything?
On Saturday I saw one set of tracks, it was a small heard and they were heading down into a deep canyon. I was just hunting by myself and didn't want to try and haul and Elk out of the bottom of a deep canyon.
Dang it!
I really want to get some Elk meat! I didn't take a deer this year so the pressure is on.
I know it's a long shot because I wouldn't think that the DWR office would be expected to answer such questions, but I'm willing to give it a try. I just hate to take a day off work and drive 7 hours round trip just to be skunked again. Not that I don't love getting out and hunting but I'm getting desperate to put meat in the freezer and gas is expensive.
Have you heard anything?
On Saturday I saw one set of tracks, it was a small heard and they were heading down into a deep canyon. I was just hunting by myself and didn't want to try and haul and Elk out of the bottom of a deep canyon.
Dang it!
I really want to get some Elk meat! I didn't take a deer this year so the pressure is on.I've been contacting some of the people that I know up in the area and I'm not hearing anything encouraging. Most of the elk are way off the beaten path, still holed up from the pressure of the past couple of months. I talked to one person who said he has been seeing a few crossing the highway at night, moving from the high country to the lower areas around the Gorge. He thinks the elk are starting to move out from their dark hideaways, but their just trickling out. I'm like you, desperate to get meat in the freezer but not sure its worth the money to get back out there.
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No Soap!
I got a tip that there might be elk down in the ranch land near Jensen, so I drove down there on Thurs evening to look around and decided that I didn't want to hassle with trying to beg permission to hunt private property so I went back out on top.
Only was able to hunt Friday, only thing I saw all day was two coyotes after I walked out of camp. Saw a lot of fairly fresh sign. Tried two different areas, the second area was way out in the boonies. Same thing, lots of tracks, nothing live. Dang-It!
Maybe next year.
I got a tip that there might be elk down in the ranch land near Jensen, so I drove down there on Thurs evening to look around and decided that I didn't want to hassle with trying to beg permission to hunt private property so I went back out on top.
Only was able to hunt Friday, only thing I saw all day was two coyotes after I walked out of camp. Saw a lot of fairly fresh sign. Tried two different areas, the second area was way out in the boonies. Same thing, lots of tracks, nothing live. Dang-It!
Maybe next year.
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