Ok...so i do have a question

cking13

Active Member
May 20, 2017
249
175
VA
I'm heading to Wyoming this fall to chase my first antelope. I have 0 pp built up and just applied for the regular tag with a unit that I should have a 50% chance of drawing as my second choice and a 100% chance for my third choice. Now, driving from Virginia to Wyoming, a ton of new gear (not antelope specific, but stuff I bought for this trip that I can use for future trips too), and the week vacation that ill be using, would it be worth it to spend the couple of hundred dollars more for the "special" tag and get a better unit or would you guys just try your hand at the 100% unit and do the hiking and save the money and build points? Also, looking at the drawing odds underneath "non-resident special preference points" lets say it says with one point you have a 100% chance of drawing. Does the special tag give you that one point? Or is that a point you have saved up on top of the special tag?
 

fackelberry

Active Member
Aug 27, 2013
276
4
Wyoming
You will only get a point AFTER you put in and failed to draw the tag. Or have bought a point last year which you say you havn't. So you would be entering the draw with 0 points this year, if you don't draw, you will have 1 point towards next years draw. If i was a first timer coming to Wyoming for antelope, i would try and get an easy area to hunt, learn alot about antelope hunting and have a good time while still killing a decent antelope, and build a point towards a better unit in the future when you have more experience and knowledge of antelope and how to hunt them effectively! You will learn alot your first year chasing antelope, make alot of mistakes, alot of i shoulda did this or i shoulda did that. Plus you will be a better judge of them after looking at alot your first year. I cringe at some of the bucks people take in a trophy unit their very first time they hunt antelope. If they would just wait or pass a few more up they would usually get a much bigger antelope! But if that is what makes them happy that is fine also, i know a trophy to one hunter isn't the same to another. As long as they have a good time and enjoy the experience, really doesn't matter what other people think!
 

cking13

Active Member
May 20, 2017
249
175
VA
Thanks for the advice man. I think i'm just gonna go with the guaranteed unit and save the money. I was just a little confused on if the special tag gave you a point to use in this years drawing. Looks like there's only a couple of units where it would've made a difference anyways. Ill definitely have to brush up on my field judging over the summer. Thanks again!
 

JimP

Administrator
Mar 28, 2016
7,070
8,347
70
Gypsum, Co
You also need to do your homework on the unit that you can draw. I know that a lot of those kind of units here in Colorado are mostly private with zero or very little access where the only ones that draw are those in the family or already have access. They also have the majority of their tags left over after the draw.

Sometimes a unit with those kinds of draw odds isn't the one to try for.
 

cking13

Active Member
May 20, 2017
249
175
VA
The unit that ill most likely get does have difficult access, but studying maps and talking to the game warden I have a few access points to the large chunks. The warden says most guys don't want to get more than a half a mile from the truck and that the numbers should be pretty good in the area. Now I understand hes a state employee and may just want the revenue from me, but he seemed like a pretty straight up guy on the phone. But then again, I don't know him from adam.
 

JimP

Administrator
Mar 28, 2016
7,070
8,347
70
Gypsum, Co
I'd look at the draw odds report and see if they list the number of applicants and the number of tags. That might tell you a lot.
 

cking13

Active Member
May 20, 2017
249
175
VA
100 percent drew last year with 0 points, and success rate was 92 percent. Ill take those odds.
 

JimP

Administrator
Mar 28, 2016
7,070
8,347
70
Gypsum, Co
That isn't what I mean. Take a look at the number of tags offered and the number of tags left over after the draw. There can be 1000 tags offered with only 100 hunters and those hunters draw odds will be 100%, with there being 900 tags left over.

Like I said there is usually a reason if there are a lot of left over tags.
 

cking13

Active Member
May 20, 2017
249
175
VA
Oh I gotcha, looks like there were 75 left over tags last season for the unit. My guess if because people have to walk.
 

hoshour

Veteran member
It may not be just a matter of walking, though the warden is right - most people drive around the unit looking for antelope and don't do much walking other than stalking one they've seen from the road. Other reasons there is low demand for a unit are a lack of trophy size antelope, a low public land percentage or a checkerboard pattern of private and BLM land.

They won't let you step across a corner on the checkerboard, so even though more public land is adjacent, you have to drive to the next block of public land. Since a road doesn't go through all the blocks of BLM, some are just unhuntable and that makes for a much lower percentage of actually huntable public land and more concentrated pressure. Unit 56 is a good example.
 

cking13

Active Member
May 20, 2017
249
175
VA
I understand what yall are saying about the checkerboard land and not having access. Ive done the research on the unit I plan on hunting both by map and through the warden and biologist. Now the unit I plan on hunting only has two access points to the large tracts of public land with limited roads running through it. I will have to do some hiking to get away from a road and get to some lopes, which doesn't bother me. I do have access to it though. As far as a trophy size antelope, well im not to worried about that. A 13 or 14 incher would make me more than happy for a first antelope. Now don't get me wrong, id be pretty disappointed if I wasnt able to wrap my hands around some horn, but I understand that's the risk im taking by coming out there to hunt public land with limited access. I like to think im a pretty decent outdoorsman, and ive heard that anyone whos a decent hunter shouldn't have a problem bagging one. Now of course everything on the internet isn't true, and ive been humbled more times than I care to admit by an animal.
 

kesand72

Active Member
May 5, 2013
373
8
Joliet, Il
I would absolutely recommend the special tag and the research to determine the best unit you can draw with it to give yourself the best chance of having an awesome hunt with alot of goats and the most public ground possible. When you factor in the lost wages, or burned vacation time, the gas, motels, time away from family, etc, the special tag price is a drop in the bucket. Save, scrimp, sacrifice, have a fantastic hunt that will be in your memory bank forever, and enjoy the he!! out of it.
You won't regret it. Best advice i have....
 

cking13

Active Member
May 20, 2017
249
175
VA
Well I tried to change my app to a special tag but since ive already submitted it, it looks like id have to withdraw it and submit a new one at the full price and would get a partial refund on the first app after the drawing. Looks like ill just stick with my original choices and research as much as possible and hope for the best. Worst case scenario is I spend 6 days exploring Wyoming and having a great time while learning.
 

go_deep

Veteran member
Nov 30, 2014
2,650
1,982
Wyoming
I hunt a difficult access area every year. Last year in 3 days we filled 3 buck tags, 2 doe tags, 1 mule deer tag (All of our tags). My friend had a activity app on his phone, we walked just shy of 17 miles, and went up and down the equivalent of 159 flights of stairs. We got 2 Antelope at less than a mile from the truck, the rest were 1.1-1.8 miles the way the crow flies to the truck. In the last 5 seasons hunting there, the only time I see other hunters is when I'm by the road. If you put some real effort into your hunt, you'll do just fine.

Good luck, and God bless.
 

RICMIC

Veteran member
Feb 21, 2012
1,966
1,706
Two Harbors, Minnesota
I burned my antelope buck points a couple years ago on a unit that now takes 6 pts. I went again last year with a friend and we just had doe tags and had a great time. I used by side-by side Ranger to access the back country with my handicapped partner, and after leaving the main road never saw anyone else. We got on a number of bucks that would meet your criteria, and the solo ones were actually easier to get close to than a group of does and bucks. My most enjoyable part was filling both my doe tags by making a 2 mile walk from camp, where I had to make a big loop around a young buck to come up on a herd that turned up being 30 yards onto private land. On my way back I got my 2 does, and had to come back in to pack them out the next morning. On that walk I probably saw 40 lopers that I got within 200 yds. of, a half dozen mule deer, a couple coyotes, hundreds of prarrie dogs, and NO people. So, plan for packing out the buck by boning it out if necessary, and don't shoot the first buck you see.
 

Horsenhike

Very Active Member
Nov 11, 2015
668
0
Eastern SD
What will happen if I want to withdraw my application?

A: Any sportsperson may withdraw their application online before the withdrawal deadline. You would click on “View Previously Submitted Applications” and then click the “Modify” button and select the application to withdraw. If you withdraw your application, you will not earn a preference point for the current year and a refund will be issued to the credit card used to submit the application, less any applicable fees after the drawing is conducted.

So I wonder how much the fees are that they keep, and what exactly they mean by not earning a preference point? My wife may change her app from regular to special for deer.

Sorry for the hijack. I think with your attitude you will have a great trip cking13.
 

troybackman

Active Member
Apr 17, 2015
226
149
Mn
hey Cking. plus 1 on the special tag advice. You can get into some top notch units with 0 points and a special tag.