2016 Wyoming Antelope Prep

[Popper25**]

Fellow hunters,

I am attempting to get some advice and insight regarding Wy antelope. I have accumulated 7 PP and want to plan a DIY hunt in 2016. This will be my first time hunting WY, and I plan to take my son on his first ever hunt. We are both excited. I have looked at a ton of online info, but much of it is all over the board.

I plan to go on WY game and fish to look at draw odds to evaluate my chances of drawing, but I was hopeing to get some feedback from those of you who may have hunted WY in 2015 to get an idea on what units show promise. I want to hunt public ground and would like the opportunity to harvest a 70+/- buck. If my expectations are to high..let me know.

I appreciate any helpful info. Goodluck to all this upcoming draw season.

 

[go_deep]

You can shoot a 70'+ buck in every unit in Wyoming, no joke. Now that said that's a descent goat and would be a great one for a first one.
Figure out what kind of hunt you want first, motel and hunt from the truck, or sleep in a tent, and hike your butt off. Those answers will lead you to what unit you should apply for.

Good luck!

 

[Hilltop]

Welcome to the forum. I agree with go_deep's comments above. With 7 points you can draw some great areas with a ton of public land. Does your son have points as well or will you be splitting your points?

 

[Popper25**]

Guys, Thanks for the quick response. My son is just coming for the experience. He just turned 9 and enjoys hunting/hanging with dad. We are perfectly comfortable tent hunting and hiking. In fact, would probably prefer it.

 

[go_deep]

Units 52 and 75 would be guaranteed draws, and personally think your goal of 70" would be easy to achieve in either. 52 would be first choice just because your surrounded by mountains and the views are great. 75 is just flat out loaded with goats, and plain and simple it is easy to kill a 70"+ there.

Good luck!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Sent you a pm


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Musket Man]

I dont think you could go wrong with any hunt that took 6-7 points to draw last year. Any hunt that takes that many points will have good public access. If this winter is somewhat mild I think there will be some very good antelope hunting next year!

 

[Umpqua Hunter]

I'd be more concerned about not hitting a 70" antelope with your truck on the road in a unit that takes 7 points to draw. Just kidding...sort of.

You should see hundreds of antelope and have multiple chances a day at bucks in that class. My best advice is don't shoot for a day or two and get an idea of the quality of bucks you are looking at.

You will have a great hunt, nothing more fun than antelope hunting.

P.S. You will have a LOT more fun if you wait until after the second weekend of the season. There will still be PLENTY PLENTY PLENTY of antelope (including top quality bucks), they will be calm and you should have the area to yourself as most hunters are transitioning to deer.

 

[RICMIC]

I just did my first WY antelope hunt this year (with 6 pts.) Pay attention Popper 25. When Umpqua Hunter speaks, people listen. Welcome back UH.

 

[Umpqua Hunter]

I just did my first WY antelope hunt this year (with 6 pts.) Pay attention Popper 25. When Umpqua Hunter speaks, people listen. Welcome back UH.

Thanks a bunch RICMIC..that is very kind of you.

Hopefully I'll have a bit more time to be on here through the winter months. Last spring we finally found some North Umpqua river property after 7 years of looking (steelhead/salmon here I come) and there has been a lot of work there. it's tough keeping two places up!

 

[cntryep3614]

Literally don't take your ammo out the first day. There are sooooo many bucks out there your gonna want to find something that separates yours from the others. You can shoot a great buck in almost any zone with zero or 1 point so by having 7 make sure you get what you've been waiting for. Also great hunt to take kids on due to the incredible amounts of antelope you will see.

 

[11C50]

There is an awful lot of great advice in this thread, especially to be patient, and to figure out how to field judge the buck. Don't judge them head on or from the rear, they look bigger that way than they may actually be. Tough to get a good idea on cutter length that way. Also here are some lessons learned from my first goat hunt last year. I bought a 16x48 power spotting scope last year, really should have gone with the 60 power for goats. Weight is much less an issue chasing goats than elk in the mountains. Also I would recommend a Harris bipod, my shooting sticks were pretty much worthless after belly crawling through blonde grass for over 200 yards. There may not be much cover to hide behind in goat country other than a sage brush bush.

 

[BKHunter]

Hello All,

Not to highjack the OP's thread, but I am looking in WY for a goat hunt as well in 2016. Issue is I only have 1 point and this is my first time hunting out west. Would like to have a DIY tent hunt and am not looking for a monster, but mainly out there to learn and enjoy the experience. Bringing home meat would be ideal but like I said it does not have to be from a trophy animal. Filling my tag alone I would count as a successful hunt. If anyone can recommend some units to look at it would be appreciated as I am mainly looking for public land access where I can camp. Thanks all.

BK

 

[go_deep]

Hello All,

Not to highjack the OP's thread, but I am looking in WY for a goat hunt as well in 2016. Issue is I only have 1 point and this is my first time hunting out west. Would like to have a DIY tent hunt and am not looking for a monster, but mainly out there to learn and enjoy the experience. Bringing home meat would be ideal but like I said it does not have to be from a trophy animal. Filling my tag alone I would count as a successful hunt. If anyone can recommend some units to look at it would be appreciated as I am mainly looking for public land access where I can camp. Thanks all.

BK

Really can't think of a way to say this without sounding mean, and it's really not what I'm trying to do, but don't hijack the thread and go start your own thread. Much easier being your not in the same boat with points, so the areas your looking at are extremely different.

 

[480/277]

I bought a 16x48 power spotting scope last year, really should have gone with the 60 power for goats. Weight is much less an issue chasing goats than elk in the mountains.

In my experience anything over 48x power you loose due to heat waves. Even when it's cool out. YMMV

 

[11C50]

In my experience anything over 48x power you loose due to heat waves. Even when it's cool out. YMMV

You know, you bring up a very valid point. I hunted the very last days of the season and the temps had cooled a lot, so heat waves were not an issue for me, but I can certainly see your point earlier on.

 

[Dakota Kid]

I would raise your expectations to maybe high 70's otherwise you will be tagged out first morning. Also you should check out Eastmans book about judging antelope as they are not easy to score on the hoof. Mass & prong length!!!! You will have a blast and see new animals everywhere you go!

 

[ShepDog]

Good optics is key. I was taught at a young age to look for the prong. If the prong is above the ear when the ear is straight up, he is worth taking a closer look. Generally speaking that would get you over the 14" horn length. Depends on how hard core you are I guess.
Patience has been mentioned several times here and that should tell you something for sure. Patience is the hardest part. You will see lots of bucks in the 13-14" range. DONT SHOOT!!! You will find a better buck around the next draw.

 

[PlainsHunter]

With 7 points you should be able to draw a really good unit. Like the other guys said don't shoot a 70" buck because you can probably find one in the mid 70" or larger if you can judge them. I drew a really good unit a couple of years back and shot a buck that was 71" because I didn't know how to judge them. I was filming a bunch of them during my hunt and after driving home and looking at my video I realized I had filmed and passed at least 2 bucks that were quite a bit bigger than what I ended up shooting.

 

[Popper25**]

Thanks for the advice. I just picked up a copy of the book and it does have some valuable info.