WY Antelope hunt picks

[Fish]

I have 3 points and I'm willing to burn them in the special draw. I'm thinking of units 74, 75 or 115. I've hunted 74 and 115 in the past. Hunted 74 in 11 and 115 in 2012. I'm looking for a goat that will break 80 inches and I'm willing to spend the time to do it.
I'd like to hear from people that hunted these units in the last few years to get their views on the trophy quality there.
Thank you

 

[kesand72]

3 of us hunted the western portion of 73 last year near 75 border. Took 3 nice mid to upper 70s goats.
Lots of public n lots of goats in the area...

 

[lostriverproductions]

PM sent

 

[Fink]

Fish, I hunted 75 last fall. I waited until early October to hunt, well after the opener, and I never saw another hunter in the entire unit. I hunted for 5 days, and ended up killing the second biggest buck I saw on the entire trip, he might be 70. The biggest buck I saw may have gone 75.. Maybe.
From a pressure standpoint, mid season, I give the unit an A+, you'll have thousands and thousands of acres all to yourself. But, if the big bucks are there, I didnt see them, and I hunted pretty darn hard.

 

[PlainsHunter]

I hunted 75 in 2013 and didn't see any monsters but did see quite a few decent bucks. People say that there are some really big ones in there, but I wasn't good enough to find them. Could have been a down year too, or I may have been in the wrong places.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Fish, I hunted 75 last fall. I waited until early October to hunt, well after the opener, and I never saw another hunter in the entire unit. I hunted for 5 days, and ended up killing the second biggest buck I saw on the entire trip, he might be 70. The biggest buck I saw may have gone 75.. Maybe.
From a pressure standpoint, mid season, I give the unit an A+, you'll have thousands and thousands of acres all to yourself. But, if the big bucks are there, I didnt see them, and I hunted pretty darn hard.

I've hunted a lot of different units for antelope since my first trip in 1980 and after the first week or so, hunting pressure is almost non existent. My first hunt in 1980 was in 75. Saw lots of animals, but being first timers, we shot smaller bucks.

 

[Fish]

Thanks guys for the feed back on my picks. I'm 65 yr old and want to burn my points before I get Too OLD but I could wait another year, just not 3 more. Looks like 4 points would be a bit better but not much.

With the above advice and a few PM's and some post on the WY site on antelope, I get the feeling that not many places have big bucks in them anymore. Is this an effect of the past drought and a few bad winters with the lack of spring rains? I don't have to shoot a 80 in + buck but I'd like to hunt a unit that has that potential.

Maybe I've just been lucky but my last 2 hunt produced a 79 7/8 and 76-77 inch bucks. On each of these hunts I saw bucks that were bigger.
Are the big bucks still there, but most don't put in the time to kill them. I know if I had put in the time and knew how to better judge them, my earlier hunts would have all produced mid 70's plus bucks.
I'm more confused now on were apply or should I just go to a prior area I hunted and hope to get lucky again?

 

[Umpqua Hunter]

Thanks guys for the feed back on my picks. I'm 65 yr old and want to burn my points before I get Too OLD but I could wait another year, just not 3 more. Looks like 4 points would be a bit better but not much.

With the above advice and a few PM's and some post on the WY site on antelope, I get the feeling that not many places have big bucks in them anymore. Is this an effect of the past drought and a few bad winters with the lack of spring rains? I don't have to shoot a 80 in + buck but I'd like to hunt a unit that has that potential.

Maybe I've just been lucky but my last 2 hunt produced a 79 7/8 and 76-77 inch bucks. On each of these hunts I saw bucks that were bigger.
Are the big bucks still there, but most don't put in the time to kill them. I know if I had put in the time and knew how to better judge them, my earlier hunts would have all produced mid 70's plus bucks.
I'm more confused now on were apply or should I just go to a prior area I hunted and hope to get lucky again?

If it were me, the experience gained in a good quality unit trumps finding that new unit with possibly bigger bucks. The last tag we drew was in a new highly touted unit. We had a terrible time locating big buck, and my wife shot one of the best we saw. We moved 20 miles and the quality was considerably better and I killed my buck there.

I am always impressed what PGS puts out for bucks. 81% success rate on B&C bucks and they hunt a myriad of different units in Wyoming.

http://www.pronghornguideservice.com/wyoming.html

 

[Fish]

Your probably right Umpqua, but the grass always looks greener in a new area across the road. I could be happy in either one of the previous areas I hunted although I really don't know them too well. I guess I have to hope this spring and past winter are good for horn growth and I don't suffer point creep.

 

[hoshour]

I talked to the biologist for 67, 74 who said he saw only one buck the whole last year, both in his travels and in check-ins, that would beat 75". I talked to a couple of really good antelope hunters who said they didn't anything pushing 80" in 75 last year either.

Sweetwater and Carbon Counties are just about the only counties in WY producing B&C bucks the last couple years. There have been a couple from other counties but that's it.

 

[shootbrownelk]

I talked to the biologist for 67, 74 who said he saw only one buck the whole last year, both in his travels and in check-ins, that would beat 75". I talked to a couple of really good antelope hunters who said they didn't anything pushing 80" in 75 last year either.

Sweetwater and Carbon Counties are just about the only counties in WY producing B&C bucks the last couple years. There have been a couple from other counties but that's it.

Mike Eastman and his wife have taken a couple of Goats in #75 that made book or close to it. That was some years ago, but they have a video of them taking them. I have just about all Gordon & Mikes early videos on Wyoming big game. Lots of useful info within.

 

[PlainsHunter]

This thread may make it easier to draw a tag in 74 or 75 by lowering the demand I like it!

 

[hoshour]

Mike Eastman and his wife have taken a couple of Goats in #75 that made book or close to it. That was some years ago, but they have a video of them taking them. I have just about all Gordon & Mikes early videos on Wyoming big game. Lots of useful info within.

Yes, historically those have been excellent units, they are just down in recent years. They will come back. Whether they do this year depends a lot on conditions. You can learn a lot from their videos, I agree.

 

[wister]

FYI I believe they are increasing type 1 tags in 75 by a hundred.

 

[HuskyMusky]

If you've hunted 74 and 115 already, I'd probably hunt one of those 2 again.
From my experience simply hunting the same unit a 2nd time is a huge advantage compared to the first time going unknown.

If you want an 80 plus, I think I'd want to scout pretty good 2-3 days before season and try to get it done day 1.

 

[Umpqua Hunter]

A very skillful antelope outfitter, on his own tag, killed an 82" buck in 75 in 2014. It was the best buck he found. With that said, antelope trophy quality peaks at 3-4 years of age, so things can change in hurry with tag numbers and good conditions.

 

[Fish]

Thanks guys for the all the advice. After 10 buck antelope hunts I should have just followed my instinct on what area I should pick instesd of putting my S-t out in the street. Got my mind made up and as we all know, you have no chance to draw a real good area as a second choice. Not ready for the NE corner units yet.

Now the hard part. Do I do a combo hunt with deer or wait another year to draw G? No a lot of good options with 4 deer points and buying any more at my age is a waste of money. I have to figure this out soon.
Hoping to draw a good area in the random draw for antelope of just buying doe tags and hunting an easy to draw deer region will be my new strategy after I burn my points.
Good luck to all in the draw.

 

[Bonecollector]

Fish,
I think doing a combo hunt will be tough as you will want to give an area such as G all your attention to turn up a good buck.
Now if you are retired and have days and weeks to spend hunting (be awesome by the way), then go for it.

 

[Fish]

Bone,

Not retired yet, maybe next year some time. Yes I know it takes a lot more time and effort and the need to stay focuses on both hunts. I have the time off if I need it unless I draw moose or goat here in WA.
With 4 deer points I doubt I can draw G even in the special draw. Still researching the deer areas I can draw.

 

[WY ME]

A very skillful antelope outfitter, on his own tag, killed an 82" buck in 75 in 2014. It was the best buck he found. With that said, antelope trophy quality peaks at 3-4 years of age, so things can change in hurry with tag numbers and good conditions.

I'm curious why you feel antelope peak at 3-4 years old. All my personal best antelope have been black faced 4 1/2+ year old bucks.