DIY Deer/Antelope Wyoming

[ageewhy]

Hello fellow sportsman:

First post, but been sifting through the threads the past week or so, lots of valuable info here! I'm hoping to get some feedback from folks who have planned or are familiar with public hunting in Wyoming for deer and antelope. I have been on the phone with Wyoming Game and Fish a few times, and have a solid understanding of their interactive website (map) and the various harvest/drawing reports.

What I am mainly looking for some guidance on is this: Im trying to plan a hunt for me, my father and a family friend. Three experienced eastern whitetail hunters, with ZERO preference points. We'd like to cut our teeth on an antelope hunt, but because Wyoming is worlds away (driving from Florida) we are inclined to try for deer as well (Mule deer would be awesome!).

We prefer a DIY style hunt on public land, not interested in outfitters, not really interested in paying a trespass fee with so much vast public land available (although, I can be persuaded on this if its reasonable). Were not trophy hunters, but not strict meat hunters either. Just want to experience a solid western hunt and appreciate the chance at a nice animal.

Here is my plan, would love some feedback!

1.) Since we want to hunt this year, I am forced to only look at areas with 100% non resident draw success for both antelope and deer. I can do this by printing the Drawing odds report for each species and crossing off those I dont have any chances at.

2.) Verify those areas that are left have public land that is accessible; atleast initially based on the *Areas with difficult public access. If not, cross any of those off the list as well.

3.) Hope that with what is left, I can find an overlapping Antelope area and Deer unit or Region, that also have overlapping seasons and half decent harvest data. (For example, we will only have about ~7 hunting days- I dont think driving across the state to a new area is feasible?)

4.) From that short list, then call the local biologist or game warden to get some feedback on the local deer herd or hunting outlook. (I know some areas are heavily affected by disease, previous harvest, weather, etc).

5.) Order the BLM maps to verify access and land ownership, come up with a plan, etc.

6.) Cross fingers and apply.


Am I missing anything? Or better yet am I wasting my time? I don't mind doing the work (in fact I enjoy this part!) but sometimes local knowledge or experience can save a lot of heartbreak...

As an example, I am looking at Antelope Unit 30, and Region J for Deer. Both appear 100% draw odds with zero pref, and both show some antelope harvest and deer harvest, both have HMA's, and it appears there is some season overlap.- I haven't dove in the details yet to determine realistic access, amenities, etc but this is the SORT of idea I am looking for...

Sorry for the long post!

(Happy to answer any questions folks may have about hunting in Florida! Especially for Gators or Osceola's!)

 

[roknHS]

I don't think you have the draw odds figured out yet. If you are working with regular antelope tags you don't have 100% in unit 30 with 0 points.
You might pull it off with special tags but be advised, it is a poor public access unit as designated by Wyo. Game Dept. Last year the application period was extended by a month. The extra time allowed a bunch more hunters to apply and the draw dynamics in most every antelope unit changed for the worse. Point creep, fewer left over tags and what used to be a sure thing with 0 points now requires a point or 2 or 3.
The areas you can draw with 0 points are mostly in the North East section of the state and all have public access problems. It can be done but, you'll need to spend some time studying maps, roads, public land and WIA's.

 

[ageewhy]

I don't think you have the draw odds figured out yet. If you are working with regular antelope tags you don't have 100% in unit 30 with 0 points.
You might pull it off with special tags but be advised, it is a poor public access unit as designated by Wyo. Game Dept. Last year the application period was extended by a month. The extra time allowed a bunch more hunters to apply and the draw dynamics in most every antelope unit changed for the worse. Point creep, fewer left over tags and what used to be a sure thing with 0 points now requires a point or 2 or 3.
The areas you can draw with 0 points are mostly in the North East section of the state and all have public access problems. It can be done but, you'll need to spend some time studying maps, roads, public land and WIA's.

I stand corrected! See what happens when I stare at the computer screen too long? Looks like its 77% with 0 preference points. Thank you for pointing that out!

As a quick follow up: What is the difference between a WIA and HMA?

 

[Tim McCoy]

Depending on where in WY you choose for antelope, you might consider deer in MT, if the time/distance and cost work. Most years lately MT has left over deer tags, for about 600 a pop.

 

[go_deep]

I stand corrected! See what happens when I stare at the computer screen too long? Looks like its 77% with 0 preference points. Thank you for pointing that out!

As a quick follow up: What is the difference between a WIA and HMA?

WIA is open to anyone to hunt, WHMA you have to draw an access permit to hunt (hunting pressure is more limited on the WHMA). We hunt a lot of WIA, and find a fair amount of goats.

 

[Hilltop]

ageewhy- There are a lot of people searching for the same thing you are. It can be done but it will not be easy. Any area in Wyoming with good public land access, and a good antelope population, will require preference points to draw. The demand is simply higher than what is available. If you are set on hunting this year for both species, I recommend looking into trespass hunts for the antelope in an easy to draw area and then hunting deer on the National forest. If you secure permission on a decent antelope ranch, you can easily fill your tags in a day or two leaving several days to focus on the more challenging public land deer hunt. The Montana idea is a decent thought as well for your deer hunt.

 

[ageewhy]

ageewhy- There are a lot of people searching for the same thing you are. It can be done but it will not be easy. Any area in Wyoming with good public land access, and a good antelope population, will require preference points to draw. The demand is simply higher than what is available. If you are set on hunting this year for both species, I recommend looking into trespass hunts for the antelope in an easy to draw area and then hunting deer on the National forest. If you secure permission on a decent antelope ranch, you can easily fill your tags in a day or two leaving several days to focus on the more challenging public land deer hunt. The Montana idea is a decent thought as well for your deer hunt.

Thanks Hilltop- I am beginning to see how tough it is to line up so many variables. When you say hunt deer in the National Forest, which one are you referring to? And Montana does sound pretty awesome...only problem is that their season does not come in until Oct 22nd...and we're hoping for early October to hunt antelope and deer. Thanks again.

 

[marshmstr]

Unfortunately, With 0 points for both species, you may need to look into trespass fees if your itching to go ASAP...


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[Hilltop]

Thanks Hilltop- I am beginning to see how tough it is to line up so many variables. When you say hunt deer in the National Forest, which one are you referring to? And Montana does sound pretty awesome...only problem is that their season does not come in until Oct 22nd...and we're hoping for early October to hunt antelope and deer. Thanks again.

ageewhy, I hate to recommend anything specific for deer. Most of the easy to draw areas, with good public access, are that way for a reason- the hunting is either poor to mediocre, or the terrain is very difficult to navigate. You can kill deer in most of these areas but not as easily or as big in general. I save preference points to hunt every few years in better areas. Montana has better deer opportunities for someone with zero points. I really think this is due to the high priced tag limiting hunter numbers.

 

[Work2hunt]

I understand wanting to hunt more than one species when you are travelling such a long distance. But, I would recommend prioritizing one species over another. In the units you will be looking at public access will be limited. A successful hunt can be had (as I did last fall on a left-over antelope doe tag) but some time needs to be given to focus on the area. Most likely your antelope area will be a little different then your mule deer area. I might recommend trying to find doe tags so that way horn/antler size does not become an issue. Trying to hunt multi-species on a week type trip can be very difficult with limited knowledge of the area.

 

[480/277]

Asking way too much with way too little.
Concentrate on one or the other and I'd say lopes.
Or pony up and pay tresspass ( if you can find now) or outfitter

 

[hoshour]

Look in the WY deer and antelope Members Research Section (shameless plug) in a recent Eastmans' magazine and you will find the info you need on what units take 0 points to draw and what the public land % is, etc. You'll also find what units can be drawn as a 2nd choice.

I agree that you will probably want to hunt two different areas for the two species. An antelope hunt doesn't normally take more than 2-3 days, especially if you get there a day ahead to scope it out. Then you can slide on over to the other unit for deer.

 

[shootbrownelk]

Concentrate on one species. Try do deer and antelope on your first Wyoming hunt will almost always guarantee you'll not do justice to either. JMO, but I see NR's do this every year out here and most come away disappointed. Do an antelope hunt first and concentrate on that animal. Get to learn the country. And try for deer on a later hunt. But preference points for deer this year in July.

 

[RICMIC]

Here's my suggestion, and what has worked for me..
1. Buy points in the states and for the species that you are interested in hunting in the future.
2. This year (before May 31st) apply for two doe antelope tags in a WY unit with sufficient numbers and access. You can apply for two, and they are cheap. After the draw, you can buy two leftovers if there are any. Beware of those hard to access areas. In some units, you can hunt doe antelope from Sept. 1 thru October, and you can go before the buck season starts or after the buck rush is over. You can do this every year until you can draw a buck or elk tag somewhere.
3. When you have a couple deer points, you can draw early season General deer and then spend a couple days hunting antelope does on the way home in a unit that you are now familiar with.
4. When you have the points for an antelope buck tag in "your" unit, then do that hunt while you are building points for your next deer hunt.

I have only played the point game in CO and WY, and have been able to hunt antelope, deer, and/or elk every year for the last ten years. There was a learning curve, but have been 100% successful for the last seven years.

 

[ageewhy]

Thanks everyone for the feedback so far- I certainly don't want to bite off more than I can chew or give too little justice/effort by hunting two species instead of concentrating on just one. Antelope was and is our first priority, as I have read its a great 'beginner' hunt to introduce people out west. However, we are die hard deer hunters so having a deer tag sounds very appealing.

I should mention: The plan as it stands now is for my father and friend to drive up with our gear...I will fly into an airport nearby or on the way and get picked up. I'll have 7 days to hunt, but aside from getting dropped back off at the airport, my dad and friend can continue hunting as long as they want (both are retired, thats why they are taking their time and driving).

So they will have much more time to dedicate and allocate toward another species...whereas I will be much more limited on my time.

I do appreciate everyones responses so far. I spent quite a bit of time on the phone today with a GIS specialist out of Casper trying to interpret the maps and which roads are actually public vs private. And just ordered a Wyoming Gazetteer.

 

[JEandAsGuide]

You can definitely make the combo deer/antelope hunt your first time to WY and be successful with a little work. As long as your arent looking for huge bucks. It would help if you had a day or 2 more to work with. The first thing you need to do is learn exactly how the WY draw works. I learned from the Eastmans MRS, reading old posts on this forum and help from the guys here. Then have some type of state wide map, app on your phone, or GPS chip that overlays all public lands BLM, National Forest and state. The GPS chip is a MUST during the hunt. This will allow you to figure out the best unit choice that fits what you want to do. It's seems overwhelming but worth the effort. I spent many hours at night and on weekends planning our first trip 3 years ago. I do agree that with 0 antelope points you will have to either enter the special(more expensive tag) draw and get lucky or buy a leftover and pay a trespass fee. You could draw a general deer tag with plenty public land to hunt with no points if you don't mind getting away from the truck. The special draw for deer would also get you an ok hunt where a first time mule deer hunter could find some bucks if spending a couple extra hundred bucks for the tag isn't a problem.

5 of us the first year we went all took a buck antelope and a buck mule deer. Nothing to write home about but we had a blast on a hunt some of us thought was never possible. We did have 1 antelope point and drew an "ok" unit with some public land. The deer tags were leftovers.

The next year 3 of us had the same results with both the deer and antelope tags bought as leftovers. We did have to pay a trespass fee for the leftover antelope hunt.

You can do it but it's going to take a lot of research to get started.

 

[50bowhunter]

I'm in the same boat as you this year. My dad and I are planning a trip for goats and deer. What we finally settled on was a two day trespass hunt for antelope in unit 29, and we put in for the special deer tag in region C. Both draws had 100% success last year, the two areas are close together and the seasons overlap. We are planning to have 5 1/2 days to mule deer hunt and then finish with 2 days of goats.


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[racksackssales]

While deer property can be hard to access and stories have surfaced of some Wyoming ranchers running hunters off public land, when it comes to antelope the story is quite the opposite.

 

[ageewhy]

How do folks normally retrieve their game when hunting public land antelope? I've read a lot about 4 wheelers, but I am unclear on if they can be used and where... we wont have one anyway but just curious if I should expect someone to zip by me on a quad after I've hiked in 3 miles...?

Aside from dragging it out, What about game carts? We use these a lot where I hunt...normally take it in with me the first morning and stash it somewhere in my hunting area. Or do folks butcher their animal on the spot and pack it out?

Thanks!

 

[JEandAsGuide]

We always quartered and packed ours if we were too far from the truck to just gut and drag.