Yellow Stone National Park...road trip..hunt?

[LI Outdoorsman]

I'm sure this has been explored here before...Recently some friends expressed interest in a road trip to Yellow Stone Park...their job leaves them spare time in March / April...of course I'm thinking TURKEY HUNTING !!!...anyone ever combine a turkey hunt / National Park road trip?
Not really looking to go with an outfitter unless they offer semi guided or DIY hunts.
Any info would be appreciated

[Marc]

Seems like either one of those activities would be time intensive...

I have a friend who guides for fly-fishing in the park and spent some time with him a couple years back.  Great trip, and nice to see some scenery while fishing...  No way was there time to hunt turkeys as well.

For me the trip was all about fishing, and although we did see some cool stuff, I did not do much sight-seeing.  I spent 5 days fishing with him, and I was glad I had someone so knowledgable to guide me...  We each fished on our own, but he sure knew where to fish and what flies to use...

[woodshopteacher]

Just an FYI but Yellowstone will be a frozen tundra in March and early April still most likely. Also so I'm pretty sure Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana's seasons don't start till mid April atleast. I was in Yellowstone once in mid may , none of the campgrounds were open yet. The lake was still froze over. There was still snow in parts of the park. Hit a nasty snow Strom crossing the big horns that trip!

[Mabren2]

Seems like either one of those activities would be time intensive...

I have a friend who guides for fly-fishing in the park and spent some time with him a couple years back.  Great trip, and nice to see some scenery while fishing...  No way was there time to hunt turkeys as well.

For me the trip was all about fishing, and although we did see some cool stuff, I did not do much sight-seeing.  I spent 5 days fishing with him, and I was glad I had someone so knowledgable to guide me...  We each fished on our own, but he sure knew where to fish and what flies to use...

Hey Marc, I'm headed that way in August and would be interested to know his name and contact info if he is still guiding. It will be my second trip, and didn't get to do any fishing the first time, but some of the guys that are going this time are also fisherman, so I'm looking forward to doing as much as I can this time around. We will actually be staying in Idaho about 15 mins from West Yellowstone. You can PM me if you like. Thanks!

[LI Outdoorsman]

I wasnt looking to hunt yellowstone area specificaly...Maybe I wasnt clear on the objective...We will probably be either driving directly from NY to Yellowstone or flying half way or so and renting a camper...surely there's got to be someone who's done this before and combined a little turkey hunting along the way.It would be more towards end of April where hopefully the weather is a little more conductive to good hunting.I've hunted Montana for spring turkey when the ground was covered in snow...doesnt stop the turkeys from being turkeys.

[honker22]

I would hit MO, KS, Nebraska if I were you... that is assuming you have unlimited vacation days.

[hobbes]

You can hunt the surrounding states.  It goes without saying that you can't hunt Yellowstone, so that's not what was being stated above,  but there won't be much to see in Yellowstone that time of year.  You can still see some of it but it will not be the Yellowstone trip that most folks think of.

[hobbes]

You may still be able to do snowmobile tours that time of year.

Also, if you aren't familiar with turkey hunting WY, MT, SD, ID be prepared for the possibility of snow during the early season.  You may have fantastic 35/75 degree nights to days, but you may have 15/35 degree days and a blizzard. 

Don't want to discourage you, but that is the reality of hunting in the NW.  Early season can be a great time to kill a bird, but you run the chance of hunting cold and snowy weather.  Just come prepared.

[Cove]

And hunting in the snows sux! 

But in all seriousness, what folks have stated is true. Lots of fun to be had, just cross your fingers for good weather but that's the case regardless of time and location.

You have wyoming, montana, south dakota, idaho, utah, nebraska. . . . all have great hunting, tons of public ground and available tags. With the freedom to alter your path, you can check the weather as your arrive to determine if one destination would be better than another.

[crappieangler]

Take 2.5 days to hunt turkeys and spend the half day to travel the rest of the way to Yellowstone and see what you can in a few days time. Last spring (2015) I hunted the Black Hills in SD and WY, and had a huge snow storm that dumped 2 ft of snow in early to mid may.  Doubt I could reproduce the results ever again, but was able to fill both tags in the weekend.  Went to Yellowstone two weeks later with the family and everything was coming to life, still a little snow in some spots but the weather was nice.  Considering WY only has 1 tag a person I'd like to think one or two of you could tag out, and still make it out to see some sights.  But Merriams are Merriams.....sometimes they'll give you more fits than any other subspecies.   

[TauntoHawk]

If it was me i would probably try and hit Nebraska opener on my way out and then come back and do Kansas on the return trip