Drew Antelope in WY - First Time

[wjohnson1983]

So I was lucky enough to draw an any antelope tag in unit 25 and a doe tag in unit 61.

As the title says, this will be my first time antelope hunting in WY, so what are the tips and tricks of the trade?

I've noticed a lot of places a recommendation is to have a land owner chip in your GPS. I have a pn40. How do I go about getting land ownership information on it?

Thank you,

Will

 

[Manualman]

go look at onxmaps and figure out what works for you. I have a chip but my friend has the app.

 

[wjohnson1983]

Thanks! Looks like onxmaps is only for Garmin GPS, but the app looks interesting.

 

[jtm307]

Look over every ridge and into every draw. For every antelope you see as you're driving around, there are three you don't see.

 

[cntryep3614]

don't fear Wyoming is almost a sure thing for your antelope. scout for 2 days before your hunt. look over lots of bucks. then its just about using the territory to gain ground on them. Those Onxmaps are the cats ass. get one and pair it into a gps. you wont have to worry about screwing up.

 

[chow hound]

You should buy a paper map also. Much easier to develop a strategy looking at the whole unit than trying to look at little gps screen. I use Mytopo.com game unit maps.

 

[wjohnson1983]

I put a check in the mail this morning to purchase the BLM Surface maps for the two units we'll be hunting. I'll take a look at the Mytopo.com maps also.

I have the pn40 and have an older version of TopoUSA. I may look into updating it also. I really haven't used the pn40 since moving back to AL from AK.

 

[wjohnson1983]

Looks like the Mytopo is the same as the BLM map? It just pulls it into one map instead of multiple maps?

On the mytopo map, if a road is showing on the map, does that guarantee the road is public? Even on the 4 wheel dr recommended roads.

Looks like on the maps I have seen there is some pink DoD land in unit 25. Is this accessible to travel through with a CAC card? What about hunting on DoD?

 

[Murdy]

Trying to figure out which roads are public is really difficult. Just because it's on a map doesn't mean it's public. Do some map scouting, call local law enforcement, game wardens, blm offices, and see if they can give you some concrete info. You may be able to find some info on county government websites as well.

 

[wjohnson1983]

From what I have read on the Fish & Game website, camping is allowed on BLM land for 14 days.

My friend has a popup camper. Should we pull this along or use tents? Also do you typically camp at a campground area and leave from there every morning, or camp on the BLM land close to where you want to hunt? I can see advantages/disadvantages to both ways.

 

[AT Hiker]

Welcome to the site, you will find it very useful and fun. Especially after you get done with your Antelope hunt and back home dreaming of the West again.

I usually find the best camping area close to the general area I want to hunt. Some days you might literally hunt from your camp and others you might travel 50 miles away, just depends on the animals and how much you plan to drive. Keep gas in mind as well, very few service stations so plan accordingly.

As for roads, good luck with that. That was the hardest part for me when I first started hunting WY.

 

[chow hound]

Yes, Mytopo is same as BLM map but pulls it into one big map and it is a tear proof type paper. I also like to make the scale UTM so the blocks are 1000 meters rather than degrees. Makes understanding distances easier. Basically, assume any road that doesn't have a number on it is private. Vast majority of roads will be private. BLM dirt roads that you can legally drive on through private will have a number.

 

[Triple BB]

Usually 25 has quite a few left over tags. Mostly because there's little to no access. The few places a guy can access gets loaded up with local hunters. Go over by Bairoil and you should be able to shoot a doe in less than 5 minutes...

 

[maninthemaze]

Good luck!! I'll be hunting in unit 21 again this year. As far as roads go. If it is a county maintained road, you can legally cross private property on it. If it is a two track road, like most of the dotted line roads on those BLM maps, you cannot legally cross private property on it. This is where the GPS hunt maps come in handy.

 

[480/277]

IIRC my wife and I hunted 25 on a ranch. There was not a lot of public. There were a lot of antelope

 

[cntryep3614]

I took my camper for antelope season last year. I found a fly fishing campground on the Northern Edge of my zone.

It was great having fresh water, showers and sewage hookups also made some great friends there of the evening.

 

[maine canoe guide]

Hi I'm new to this forum. I hunted in this area last year but I stayed at a ranch and hired a guide the whole works. There were pronghorns everywhere. We spent a day and a half just glassing. It's not easy telling an ok buck from a nice one; an inch is a big deal. I finally shot one 14.25 inches with a really nice heart shaped curve. It's big country out there.

 

[wjohnson1983]

I'd rather not do a guide, but if you don't mind me asking, who did you use and how much was it?

Someone above said if it was dotted on a BLM map it's a two-track and private. Are some of the two-tracks not public BLM tracks?

 

[mallardsx2]

Is there a set of maps that show legal roads in Wyoming?

 

[highplainsdrifter]

From what I have read on the Fish & Game website, camping is allowed on BLM land for 14 days.

My friend has a popup camper. Should we pull this along or use tents? Also do you typically camp at a campground area and leave from there every morning, or camp on the BLM land close to where you want to hunt? I can see advantages/disadvantages to both ways.

I tend to avoid campgrounds. They can be noisy. I like to camp on BLM land close to where I hunt. Beware of the wind. It can get bad. Pick a spot to camp in a low area where there is some protection from the wind.