A seasoned Wyoming high country hunter said it was so scorching in the Wind River Range he passed up shooting elk because he feared the meat would spoil and was worried about his pack goats overheating.
Vance McGahey archery hunted the last week of September and then switched to rifle during the first week of October, frequently at altitudes of 10,500 feet or more.
He was hunting primarily for elk but also for black bear and deer. He logged 38 miles of hiking in the first three days, in temperatures that soared to nearly 80 degrees, even well above timberline.
“My legs feel like Jell-O, and I’m seriously considering investing in stocks for Tylenol,” he told Cowboy State Daily after returning home from his hunt empty-handed.
Other hunters reported similar experiences, as summer-like weather kept a grip across much of Wyoming, even as archery hunting seasons are winding down and rifle seasons begin opening across the state.
The good news for hunters is that winter-like weather is finally expected to hit as early as the end of this week in parts of Wyoming. Highs are expected to dip into the 50s by late next week.
‘Still Sweating Profusely’
“The weather has just been crazy since the end of last year,” said McGahey, who lives outside of Kemmerer and has hunted in the Wind River Range for years.
It’s been unusually warm and dry for much of that period, and that seems to have forced game animals to change their ways, he said.
Elk especially seemed to be sticking to gnarly spots near or above timberline, McGahey said.
During his hunt, temperatures swung wildly, from nearly freezing at night to the high 70s during the day.
That required packing more clothing “for all of the different layering,” he said.
During the heat of the day, “I was down to just a thin camo shirt with a hood, and I was still sweating profusely,” he said.
Exhausted Goats
The wickedly dry vegetation wasn’t helping, either.
“Every footstep was producing noise, so it was hard to try moving in on elk without alerting them to your presence,” he said.
He had shot opportunities for elk but passed them up. It would have been about a nine-mile pack out to his vehicle.
“I just didn’t think it would be ethical to shoot an elk up there, where there’s a good chance the meat would have spoiled in the heat before I could pack it all back out,” he said.
McGahey uses pack goats, which he says bond to him “like puppy dogs.”
Coming back down out of the mountains, he was concerned about the heat getting to them, and so he was glad they weren’t having to bear the extra weight of game meat.
“I had to stop about every three-quarters of a mile and let them rest and cool off,” he said. “Where there was a stream, I let them get drinks.”
Slow Hunting Across State
During the hunt, he noted that the elk were holed up in rocks or thick timber in places that were so nasty, “I couldn’t have even gotten my goats in there” had he killed an elk.
McGahey said there were a few mule deer here and there, but no bucks big enough to shoot.
He buys a deer tag every year but said he hasn’t shot a deer in several years. The herds are still recovering from the brutal 2022-23 winter.
McGahey is one of the founding members of the Wyoming Range Hunting & Fishing Expo, a wildlife conservation group inspired largely by concern over mule deer and pronghorn herds hit hard during that winter.
As for black bears, McGahey said that part of the Wind River range is thick with them, and they were active. However, the only bears he saw within rifle range were females with cubs.
He said other hunters in the area were reporting a similar lack of success.
One exception was a hunter he recalled being named Jill, who was with her husband, packing out the antlers of a gigantic bull elk.
Sunburns In Wyoming Range
About the same time that McGahey was sweating it out in the Wind River mountains, Zachary Key of La Barge was on a mule deer hunt in the nearby Wyoming Range.
Those mountains were also ridiculously hot, he told Cowboy State Daily.
“The whole way in, it was testing your mettle,” he said. “My skin was burning and my lips were chapped.”
The deer were holed up in the thickest woods, Key said.
“Deer tend to timber up this time of year anyway, but the high temperatures certainly weren’t helping with that,” he said.
The deer numbers in the Wyoming Range are better than they were right after the 2022-23 winterkill, but they’re still down, Key said.
“I was seeing about 35 deer a day. In years past, I was used to seeing about 60 deer a day up there,” he said.
Like McGahey, Key returned with an empty meat pack.
“I saw three nice bucks. They were solid deer, but they just needed another year before I would take them,” he said.
Frustrated Hunters In Snowies
Julie Mccallister of Rock River loves hunting black bears in the Snowy Range.
She didn’t get a bear during the fall season. Her area shut down usually early this year, on Sept. 10, after the mortality limit for sows (females) was met, with four killed.
That could have been because the bears are unusually active as they seek food in the hot, dry conditions, she said.
She said she was recently in the Snowies, visiting with Wyoming Game and Fish personnel and some elk hunters.
“The hunters were expressing frustration over not finding any elk,” she said.
Hot weather is likely to blame, she said.
“I told the hunters to go way up high and try to find water sources that might draw elk,” she said.
Though she specializes in bear hunting, Mccallister plans to hunt elk, but not until it cools off significantly, “even if that means waiting until the last day of the season.”
Meat Full Of Adrenaline
Noted Wyoming outdoorsman Paul Ulrich said he’s also waiting for the weather to cool before he starts hunting in earnest.
Extremely hot weather can be dangerous, particularly if hunters don’t stay hydrated at high altitude.
He also worries about game animals “getting run ragged” in the heat and the meat getting pumped full of adrenaline.
He plans on hunting in the Wyoming Range.
“I’m praying for cooler weather and, hopefully, a little snow,” he said.
Frank Bilek of Buffalo told Cowboy State Daily that he’s tried some early-season hunting, but the way the weather has been, he might wait “until December” for late-season hunts.
“It (the heat) has taken a toll on my body,” he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
