How to Hunt Wyoming This Year?

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DANRED

New Member
Jan 26, 2013
8
0
Greetings from Louisiana.

I am new to the forum and have found if very useful thus far.


I want to hunt Wyoming this year (rifle). I have no points. I don't really care about trophy quality, just looking for a fun hunt. That being said I would prefer a buck tag over doe tags.

Are there any decent units that have a good bit of public ground that I stand a chance of being succesful in a draw with no points? If not, what is my next best option - can I wait for leftover tags in a decent unit?

It's all really confusing to me. I'd like to give it a shot but could you some advice from some of you veterans.



Thanks,
Dan
 
K

Kevin W

Member
Jan 26, 2013
140
28
I am in the same boat as you Dan, zero points and the grand idea to try something new and hunt Wyoming Antelope. I have spent the last month searching the web and running through the "plan your hunt" tabs of the Wyoming Game and Fish site on a nightly basis. Clicking on "hunt area's" , "Draw odd's" , going through past unit draw odds, success rates, public land percentages and ease of access deemed yes or no by the Wyoming G&F all to figure out Choice 1, 2 and 3 on the application form. Pretty confusing for sure but reading many of the stories that the internet search engine brings up from first time Wyoming antelope hunters who wrote about their hunts from last year to two or even three years back all pieced together with what you can find on sites like this and the Wyoming G&F site you will figure it out. You can also find phone numbers on the Wyoming G&F site to call and talk to them direct, I have done that myself 3 or 4 times already. I think I have a good plan set up now and am just waiting for the application date to get a little closer before I fill it out and send in my monies. As much as I would like to answer your question; it would be extremely difficult to answer your question for you as there are so many variables. Once you get your research going the easier it all gets and if you run into a specific question about an aspect of the draw or a specific unit that you have your eye on write that question up and I am sure you will get some replies. Earlier this evening I asked a specific question about 4 units I had my eye on in a pm to one member here and he gave me some insight that was the key to figuring out what I needed to finally feel confident that the final three choices on my and my sons applications are the best for my situation and expectations. Kevin.
 
kentuckyhunter

kentuckyhunter

Member
Jan 7, 2013
129
0
central Kentucky
That was me last year. I did lots of reasearch that helped prepare me for my first trip out west. The most valuable things I learned

1. Have a gps with ownership card to you know where you are. This was critical because you will most likely be hunting small tracts of public land surrounded by private property that has no sings and fences that are not neccessarily along property lines.

2. If you are in an area that is easy to draw or has leftover tags most of the animals you see are likely in places you can't hunt.

3. Buy a preference point so your second trip will be even better when you have an idea of what to expect.

4. Wyoming web site is a great tool that will answer many questions, but nothing trumps first hand experience.
 
NDHunter

NDHunter

Veteran member
Feb 25, 2011
1,166
25
North Dakota
Kentucky hunter said it very well.

If you are willing to pay for a special license, you can get a decent unit. If I were you and wasn't willing to pay for the special license, I would just apply in a decent unit where you will have a decent chance of drawing a regular priced license in the random draw and hope you draw. Then if you don't, get your point and go there next year.
 
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DANRED

New Member
Jan 26, 2013
8
0
I think I would be willing to pay for a special license as long as I could draw a decent area.

Kentucky hunter, what kind of GPS do you have and how did you get an ownership card for it?

Kevin W, where do you find the public/private land percentages of the WY Fish and Wildlife site?
 
NDHunter

NDHunter

Veteran member
Feb 25, 2011
1,166
25
North Dakota
Danred, when I have some more time I'll send you a pm. We hunted a second choice unit last year and had a good hunt.

Anybody ever download the Cabelas recon hunt app and buy their public land map info for like $10? I have to assume it isn't that great but will probably download it just to try.

Most of us use huntinggpsmap.com land ownership chips.

Try and read a lot of the past threads on this issue. Wyoming antelope comes up a lot on here....
 
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lostriverproductions

Active Member
Dec 27, 2011
475
67
Goshen IN
NDHunter said:
Danred, when I have some more time I'll send you a pm. We hunted a second choice unit last year and had a good hunt.

Anybody ever download the Cabelas recon hunt app and buy their public land map info for like $10? I have to assume it isn't that great but will probably download it just to try.

Most of us use huntinggpsmap.com land ownership chips.

Try and read a lot of the past threads on this issue. Wyoming antelope comes up a lot on here....
Click to expand...
I down loaded it for my i phone. Its ok, I would say def worth the money. But in WY it defaults all units to elk units and cant be changed. One thing I noticed when doing some online scouting is the gps coordinate don't match up with google earth? Was going to send them a email about that.
 
kentuckyhunter

kentuckyhunter

Member
Jan 7, 2013
129
0
central Kentucky
Garmin etrex 20. huntinggpsmaps.com

I had never used gps before and was pleased. User friendly and batteries lasted very long time.

* Wy puts by units to indicated difficult public access was a good rule of thumb for the three units I was personally in. Sure you could still hunt in * units and probably be successful but options were limited.

By looking at drawing odds you can see where the demand is.
 
JEandAsGuide

JEandAsGuide

Active Member
Dec 11, 2012
475
1
Zachary, LA
I also have the cabelas recon app on my phone. Its very nice to use for states that have the same units for deer/elk/antelope but like lostriver said it only shows elk units in WY. I am also from LA and can't speak for the accuracy out west. Hopefully i will find out this fall in CO. i know it's very accurate for the WMA's i hunt here in LA
 
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