Wyoming
Wyoming Has Plenty Of Elk, But Hunters Aren’t Finding Them This Year
Wyoming has no shortage of elk, and many of the state’s herds are as big as they’ve ever been, but finding them has been supremely challenging for hunters this year.
Massive wildfires that burned more than 850,000 acres struck prime elk habitat in some parts of the state, such as in the Bighorn Mountains above Dayton.
Elk were pushed down out of the mountains there and into mostly privately owned lowlands much earlier than usual, which ruined hunting seasons in that region.
And hunting was less than ideal in much of the rest of the state as well.
“It seems like across the board, everybody had a little harder time hunting elk this year,” Cade Cole, and avid backcountry elk hunter and hunting guide from the Dubois area, told Cowboy State Daily.
There’s still some opportunity for elk hunters who haven’t yet filled their freezers, as some late-season hunts run through the end of December.
Fires Push Hunters Around
Even in areas where the elk herds weren’t directly hit by the fires, there was still a ripple effect. Hunters who had their chances ruined in the burn areas piled into areas in the other parts of Wyoming, upping the competition there.
“The fire that was going on west of Dubois, that really took a lot of the land that people were hunting away,” said Cole, who runs 3C Outfitting. “So there was a lot of hunters hunting in areas where they don’t normally go.
“I think there was increased hunter competition and a lot of hunter displacement, because they weren’t able to hunt where they normally hunt.”
Pat Ginder, owner of At Ease Hunting, offers guided hunts across central Wyoming, from Casper to Rawlins.
He told Cowboy State Daily that he didn’t see an uptick in elk hunters in that region.
That’s likely because the elk hunt areas his company guides in are limited quota. That means hunters must apply ahead of time to draw elk tags that are limited in number and specific to those areas.
He did, however, see a noticeable jump in the number of deer hunters this fall. Many of the deer hunt areas in that region are for general tags, which may be bought over the counter.
He thinks many of the newcomers out after deer might have been displaced from their usual hunting spots by the fires.
Hot Weather Didn’t Help Either
On top of the fires, it was also an usually hot, dry fall, Cole said. That could have thrown off the timing of the elk rut, or mating season.
Archery hunters in particular count on using calls to lure in bull elk during the rut.
Elk are “always on the move” anyway, and the hot, dry conditions could have changed the patterns of their movement, he said.
That could explain why some hunters weren’t seeing elk in areas where they had consistently found herds in the past, Cole said.
Scouting Pays Off
Ginder said he had a good year in central Wyoming, with numerous clients happy with filling elk tags. He credits that to thorough scouting of his hunt areas during the summer, well before the season opened.
Elk move in patterns, but those patterns can change because of a variety of factors, including weather, the availability of forage and water, and pressure from hunters, he said.
Herds also are led by wise, older cow elk.
“The lead cow is always going to take her herd where she feels it is safe,” he said.
Elk patterns changed this year because of a confluence of factors, Ginder said. There was the devastating winter of 2022-2023, during which many big game animals froze or starved to death.
That was followed by the relatively mild winter of 2023-2024, but then a drought came on the heels of that, Ginder said.
Factoring all of that in, scouting this summer wasn’t so much about spotting elk as it was a matter of gauging the quality of the habitat, he said.
“It’s not just electronic (checking online maps). It’s about getting out there and finding where there’s still water, where there’s still feed, and the places off the beaten path where there will be fewer people,” he said.
Competition Won’t Ease Up
Across much of Wyoming, and particularly in the eastern part of the state, elk herds continue to thrive. Some herd units remain well above population objectives set by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.
But regardless of what Mother Nature does in terms of fires and weather, the competition among hunters will likely keep increasing too, Cole said.
“It seems almost like elk hunting has become a popular fad. I think there’s a lot of non-residents coming in, and a lot of residents who might not have been interested in it before, but have taken a greater interest in it,” he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
CASPER, Wyo. — High school athletics in Wyoming could see some drastic changes in the coming years following legislative changes to the state’s education budget, the Wyoming High School Activities Association recently announced in a statement.
According to the WHSAA, Wyoming school districts are facing a projected $3.9 million shortfall in activities funding, forcing officials to consider significant cuts to high school sports and extracurricular programs.
The WHSAA shared details regarding a new “silo” funding model implemented by the Legislature, stating that the recalibrated block grant model reduced funding for student activities and extra-duty responsibilities from $46.3 million to $42.4 million, an approximately 8.4% decrease statewide.
WHSAA Commissioner Trevor Wilson said the restructuring also restricts district access to an additional $76.2 million in previously flexible funding.
“A significant portion of the [April 28 WHSAA Board of Directors] meeting was dedicated to discussing the projected funding shortfall,” Wilson wrote.
The WHSAA is weighing several strategies to address rising costs with fewer resources. Proposed changes include eliminating regional tournaments and reducing the number of teams qualifying for state events from eight to four; limiting wrestling to two classes and restricting track and field state participants to the top 16 marks; making cuts to soccer, indoor track and field, Nordic and Alpine skiing, swimming and diving, spring golf and tennis; and reducing in-person speech and debate events by half and centrally locating All-State Music events to minimize travel. The board also recommended increasing gate admission or implementing student participation fees to offset costs.
While the WHSAA release states that no plans have been finalized and the various changes are currently just possibilities, Natrona County School District 1 Board of Trustees member Mary Schmidt criticized the WHSAA’s handling of the news at Monday’s board meeting.
“I take some issues with this, [including] the sheer fact that we as Board of Trustees members have not talked about that at all,” Schmidt said. “It is not our intent and it has not been brought to us to cut our athletics or activities budget for the upcoming school year. … I take issue with them picking sports and getting the community upset and ginning them up to be upset that this is all going to be cut when that hasn’t been discussed.”
Later in the meeting, Superintendent Angela Hensley clarified that Natrona County School District 1’s athletics and activities budget saw a reduction of roughly $550,000 in the coming year’s budget, but said the local school district does not plan to cut any sports.
“Thank you, Trustee Schmidt, for saying this, because I think people are wondering — we are not planning to cut athletics and activities for next year,” Hensley said. “We do have to take a look at our entire budget as we have talked about, as we learn more about these new rules that come in.”
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Republished with permission from Wyoming News Now, a TV news outlet covering the Cheyenne and Casper areas.
Cheyenne City Council has introduced a temporary moratorium, or pause, on new data center construction.
“The end goal is to actually have regulations in place, to have really heavy public involvement with this with data centers,” said Councilman Mark Moody.
The proposed ordinance is not a permanent ban on data centers and would not affect data centers currently under construction.
Councilman Moody says this is a bipartisan issue.
“I just want to make this clear, I’m not against data centers. We do need them from a national security perspective,” he said.
He said there needs to be more public input and regulations regarding data centers in Cheyenne.
The ordinance would require city staff to study data center impacts such as electricity usage, electricity tariffs, closed-loop cooling systems, groundwater impacts, agricultural impacts, and land value.
Cheyenne LEADS, the economic development corporation for Cheyenne and Laramie County, reported in November 2025 that there are 12 operational data centers in Wyoming, five under construction and plans for 43 data centers announced across the state.
“There needs to be more public input with this, and also to see how many we can sustain here in this community, cause there are talks of 43, and then another day 70. How many can we sustain here?” said Councilman Moody.
The proposed moratorium will now go to the Public Services Committee on Monday, May 18 at noon in the Municipal Building.
Sheridan will play in the North Regional Tournament at Gillette, while the South Regional Tournament will be played at Rock Springs.
North Regional Tournament at Gillette:
Checking record vs. highest team in the quadrant not involved in the tie, Thunder Basin gets the #1 Northeast seed over Campbell County, because the Lady Bolts went 3-1 vs. Sheridan, whereas the Lady Camels went 2-2.
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 NE) Thunder Basin vs. (#4 NW) Jackson – 11am
(#2 NW) Natrona County vs. (#3 NE) Sheridan – 11am
(#2 NE) Campbell County vs. (#3 NW) Kelly Walsh – 1pm
(#1 NW) Cody vs. (#4 NE) Worland – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Thunder Basin/Jackson winner vs. Natrona County/Sheridan winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh winner vs. Cody/Worland winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Thunder Basin/Jackson loser vs. Natrona County/Sheridan loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh loser vs. Cody/Worland loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
South Regional Tournament at Rock Springs:
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 SW) Laramie vs. (#4 SE) Torrington – 11am
(#2 SE) Cheyenne East vs. (#3 SW) Green River – 11am
(#2 SW) Rock Springs vs. (#3 SE) Wheatland – 1pm
(#1 SE) Cheyenne Central vs. (#4 SW) Cheyenne South – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Laramie/Torrington winner vs. Cheyenne East/Green River winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Rock Springs/Wheatland winner vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Laramie/Torrington loser vs. Cheyenne East/Green River loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Rock Springs/Wheatland loser vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
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