Region Y question(s)

[GOSHENGRUNTER]

That's where we are planning to go this fall. Have some private in 21 antelope which has deer but not big ones. Antelope are priority but Itll be fun having a deer tag. We like to walk and plan to hike deep after the first day and camp as deep as we can for the remainder

 

[Jrod]

Hey goshengrunter, is that gonna be guided or a trespass fee for access. Just curious.

 

[GOSHENGRUNTER]

just a trespass fee.

 

[Musket Man]

Sounds like you guys had a great hunt JMBC! The weather was crazy last year. Only thing that saved me from getting stuck in that blizzard is it rained here and had to wait a few days to finish planting so I went a few days later then I was planning to. Did you guys hunt private or public in 21? My biggest concern on any hunt, especially a 2nd choice hunt is always access to public land.

 

[JMBC]

MM
DIY public, I'm poor! I only do DIY , much more satisfying and no one to blame but myself.
GG
Got your pm. Will reply when I can get on a computer instead of my phone. But a quick reply...if you have trespass fee, ease your mind. You will no problems.

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[AT Hiker]

Most of the antelope in 21 seemed concentrated on the east side of the unit, of course we did not venture into the Ed O Taylor because of the road conditions.

 

[Musket Man]

I dont have much money either and I hunt all DIY and mostly public land. I only had private to hunt because I kinda fell into it. I was scouting with a doe tag on a last minute decision and stopped at a ranch to verify blm/private lines and after talking for a while the owner offered to let me hunt and ended up inviting me to come back last year. Sadly the owner has passed away recently.

Thanks for the info on 21 AT! I have been looking at 20 also.

 

[Jrod]

How bad is the road to the ed taylor. Is it just muddy or like a jeep trail, rock crawling and such. I have 72 gmc suburban 4x4, my dad has a jeep and a quad. Will any of those be sufficient.

 

[Musket Man]

Not many guys these days would go from CA to WY in a 72 GMC, thats awesome!! I have a few old trucks myself! 54 willys pickup, 65 and 72 ford pickups, 67 and 69 chevy pickups. I have actually been considering getting a 72 or older suburban for hunting. I dont know that road but from my experiences in WY the gravel roads will usually stay passable but the dirt or 2 track roads will get muddy and impassable in a hurry if you get much rain of snow. I like to park my truck on gravel and use my ATV to go out from there or atleast get my truck out onto gravel if its looking like the weather is gonna change.

 

[4corn]

sounds like a bunch of us may be in the same areas. i too have been looking at Y for deer and researching 17,18,20,21, 23 for antelope. havent narrowed down the antelope yet. is there a place to find concentrations or do you go by hunter success rates to give an idea of numbers?

 

[Topgun 30-06]

sounds like a bunch of us may be in the same areas. i too have been looking at Y for deer and researching 17,18,20,21, 23 for antelope. havent narrowed down the antelope yet. is there a place to find concentrations or do you go by hunter success rates to give an idea of numbers?

***Go into the 2013 Regulations section on the G&F website and look at the number of tags issued in each unit, as well as the harvest stats to get an idea of herd density. You also really need to look at how much accessible public land there is in a unit. An example is unit 23 for antelope has a ton of buck and doe tags left over all the way through the season every year and a lot of animals are killed. However, there is not that much accessible public land and only one WIHA up in the nw part, so you have to really get out and walk a lot on the available land to fill your tags. A lot of guys just road hunt for antelope and then gripe when they don't fill a tag when they could have parked and walked over a hill or two and found animals that can't be seen from the road.

 

[AT Hiker]

The roads in the Ed O Taylor are basic 2-tracks, most vehicles can get to the Outlaw Cave area then after that its a lot of horse and UTV traffic.

I have never been on the southern portion of the Ed O Taylor, but the roads outside of it are pretty iffy too. A few wet creek crossings that require a high clearance 4x4 to cross. I chose not to cross one in my F-150 4x4 last year and had to circle back 8 miles. I might have been able to cross it, but if I got stuck or screwed up my truck I my hunt would have ended. We were looking for doe antelope, so it wasnt worth it to me.

 

[Musket Man]

IMO harvest stats in these units with limited access and public land can be misleading to a public land hunter because you dont know how many were harvested on private land. Those units will all have antelope in them but its hard to say how many there will be on public land you can access. These units are easy to draw because of the access issues and they are what they are. They can be decent hunts if you research the public land and access in them and dont mind getting out and walking.

 

[JMBC]

Jrod
What AT said on vehicle is spot on. I think if I go back I'll take my atv and just park the truck. I'd sure hate to pay the gas bill on your suburban!

What MM said on some of those units is definitely correct. Very deceiving on huntable public. The eastern part of 21 is definitely that way

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[Jrod]

I hope to put a new fuel injected small block in the suburban. If I can get 15mpg or so Ill be happy with that. It has a 4 speed in it but a 5 or 6 speed with overdrive would be ideal. I was figuring if I put 12-15k into the suburban it would not lose as much value as buying a newer model used pickup for the same amount of money.

 

[JMBC]

Jrod
I like that thought process. Nothing better than "old iron" anyway

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[Musket Man]

Adding a TBI fuel injection like a Holley Pro-jection to your older small block and an overdrive would help your mileage alot and save some money. Look at the ranger overdrive from advanced adapters or gear vendors overdrives. Way off topic from region Y but I like this stuff! lol

 

[4corn]

thanks for the info guys. topgun i have that report of tags available and hunter success, just didnt know if there was any better info out there. i was looking at that area in 23, but it appears like a small piece of land compared to other units i think i can draw with 0 points.

 

[AT Hiker]

IMO harvest stats in these units with limited access and public land can be misleading to a public land hunter because you dont know how many were harvested on private land. Those units will all have antelope in them but its hard to say how many there will be on public land you can access. These units are easy to draw because of the access issues and they are what they are. They can be decent hunts if you research the public land and access in them and dont mind getting out and walking.

Yep, hunted 23 a couple years ago. Knew what I was getting into but man it was tough, only found a dozen antelope to hunt on public land in that unit...hunting hard for 3 days too.

 

[Musket Man]

I think the antelope know where you can and cant hunt in that area! I have hunted pretty close to there and seen very few on public land too.