Expert long distance scouting advice needed

[plentycoupe]

Hey all,

I will retire next spring and have to move on to find a grown up job! With this I am assuming I won't have the time off I need right away. So I am going to burn the 6 points I have for WY goats and have a great hunt this year.

Looking at the draw results I have a few options. I am leaning towards the 90 and 93 areas as they are closer to me.

My priorities are a great camping style hunting trip along with the opportunity for a nice goat. I have good optics and the necessary gear. I plan to spend a week there. I will be hunting solo and will probably bring my coyote gear as well.

Ok to my questions. How do you all long distance scout? I will not be able to go to the area before the season.
Besides google earth what maps/programs do you use? What are you looking for?
For antelope what are you looking for on Google earth?
How do I know if I can draw a doe tag as well?
What questions do you ask the biologist?

Enough for now as I don't mean to draw this out. I have a scatter brain sometimes so this long distance thing probably seems more difficult to me than it really is.

Thank you all.
Jason

 

[Maxhunter]

Get some maps see attached link. Are you hunting with a bow or gun? Antelope are pretty easy to hunt since they live in pretty open terrain and are very visible. On google earth look for water sources and places they can hide in like hilly terrain. Also look for places that don't have a lot of road access which can be tough since most areas have too many roads. If you can find a high point to use your optics you can spot them from quite a distance as long as the heat waves aren't bad. Also it's better to hunt a week after opener in my experience since most people will shoot the first thing they see.

http://diyhuntingmaps.com/p/wy-antelope-statewide-unit-map.html

 

[WapitiBob]

I use g e pro, add in earthpoint topo server then I add in the old onX plat4ge they used to sell. I combine that with the demand report and I'm good to go. Once I get down to a few units I go the county gis mapping web site and transfer county roads to google earth. I'll also send an email to the blm asking about roads they may have easements on. Toprut also has land ownership overlays on a unit basis for adding into google earth.

 

[Slugz]

PC,
I'd say pretty easy for WY antelope. Use the above mentioned tools plus Onyx maps + the WY walk in areas maps (online) I think you have to register for access also If I remember correct. Get there in time to give you a 3-4 days of scouting and getting to know the lay of your land. Letting your eyes do the walking is gonna be more key than anything else. MH said a really key thing also.....hunt after the first week.