Unit 38 Antelope Wyoming?

[chasingcoues]

My fellow hunters,

This my first post for Eastmans!

I was recently drawn for Antelope in unit 38, I am a non-resident from Arizona and this will be our first time hunting Wyoming. We had a rancher that was going to allow us to hunt on his land, the arrangement fell through due to some personal issues he is dealing with. I am now in scramble mode trying to find a rancher/private land for us to come hunt on. Unfortunately living in AZ, I don't have the luxury of talking to local folks to try and arrange something. Any help or guidance would be EXTREMELY appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[Hilltop]

chasingcoues,

Thanks for joining. Please go over to the new members section and introduce yourself. I grew up in Laramie and have some good information for you if your interested. Take a look at my profile photos- all 3 antelope were taken in the newly reformed area 38 on public land opening day. After your introduction, send me a PM and I'll give you a hand.

 

[Umpqua Hunter]

My fellow hunters,

This my first post for Eastmans!

I was recently drawn for Antelope in unit 38, I am a non-resident from Arizona and this will be our first time hunting Wyoming. We had a rancher that was going to allow us to hunt on his land, the arrangement fell through due to some personal issues he is dealing with. I am now in scramble mode trying to find a rancher/private land for us to come hunt on. Unfortunately living in AZ, I don't have the luxury of talking to local folks to try and arrange something. Any help or guidance would be EXTREMELY appreciated!

Thanks!

I'd call the warden for that unit. They are usually pretty on top of who will grant access.

 

[chasingcoues]

Yeah I did, they gave me a list of 5 ranchers, one disconnected line and four that were either booked or furious from all the calls they have been getting! Lol. So that was a bust, still trying all angles.

 

[Cobbhunts]

I'll be honest about 38 and the phone calls. I first started looking at that unit when they merged it all together thinking that I may get lucky and draw it as a 2nd choice. I started calling back in December and most of them were already booked then. I had a bigger list than 5 though. And a few were pissy for sure. I ended up using my points on the unit I wanted and didn't even put a 2nd choice. I ordered all of the maps for unit 38 and the surrounding areas from the BLM office. The public land is sparse, but its there according to the BLM maps .Some of it may be blocked by gates from my research however. I still think you will have a great hunt. Just buy the gps landowner chip if you haven't already. And talk to Hilltop above, he's offering some advice and I'd take it if in were you. Good luck man.

 

[chasingcoues]

I noticed there is chunks of BLM all over, is it typically hard to get to these parts with your vehicle?

 

[Musket Man]

It all depends if there is a public road going to them. many smaller roads are closed where they cross private land and its really hard to tell until you get there unless you know someone like Hilltop that knows the area.

 

[HiMtnHnter]

I noticed there is chunks of BLM all over, is it typically hard to get to these parts with your vehicle?

A vast majority of BLM/State land is going to be inaccessible to public hunters as the sections must have a public road slicing through them as noted above. There are very few public roads leading into the interior of 38. Some of the roads may look like main roads on a map, when in fact they are private roads.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

A vast majority of BLM/State land is going to be inaccessible to public hunters as the sections must have a public road slicing through them as noted above. There are very few public roads leading into the interior of 38. Some of the roads may look like main roads on a map, when in fact they are private roads.

This is exactly what a lot of newbie hunters find out when they get out to Wyoming and other western states on a first hunt. The reason they redid the units and made that entire area all into unit 38 is because there is almost no acccessible public ground and the G&F is somewhat relying on the individual ranchers to do the game management in that area. From what I've heard through the grapevine, if it works out they may do that with more antelope units where it's predominantly private land. I'm a little on the negative side of doing that, but we'll have to wait and see what happens.

 

[Hilltop]

This is exactly what a lot of newbie hunters find out when they get out to Wyoming and other western states on a first hunt. The reason they redid the units and made that entire area all into unit 38 is because there is almost no acccessible public ground and the G&F is somewhat relying on the individual ranchers to do the game management in that area. From what I've heard through the grapevine, if it works out they may do that with more antelope units where it's predominantly private land. I'm a little on the negative side of doing that, but we'll have to wait and see what happens.

I agree Top Gun. It also turned an easy to get tag with left overs every year into a tag you had to draw. To me this means that more hunters will be concentrated on what little public is available. Drawing an HMA tag is may be important now.

 

[HiMtnHnter]

I agree Top Gun. It also turned an easy to get tag with left overs every year into a tag you had to draw. To me this means that more hunters will be concentrated on what little public is available. Drawing an HMA tag is may be important now.

Combining areas is a bad move by the G&F. It will inevitably funnel more hunters into what little publically accessible land is available in the larger area. The public areas will get shot up quick.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

Combining areas is a bad move by the G&F. It will inevitably funnel more hunters into what little publically accessible land is available in the larger area. The public areas will get shot up quick.

That is probably true and was my main concern when I found out what G&F was doing. I guess they figure that there isn't enough public ground in 38 after they combined the units and that it won't take long for people to figure out that a decent hunt will only be had by getting onto a ranch. That would help the ranchers, but it will also cause a lot of average Joes that can't afford that to either quit hunting or have a lousy hunt on what little public land they can access legally.

 

[chasingcoues]

You boys are making me nervous! Tell me if I am wrong though, when I look at a BLM land for the newly constructed Unit 38, I see block areas of public land right off some main highways. Can I not just park the truck, get out and hunt these areas? I understand that some of the public areas are landlocked by all private land, but there does seem to be some opportunities to hunt public land off some of the main highways.

 

[Hilltop]

Yes, those are the ones I hunted last year. We found driveways to park so we were not just sitting on the side of the highway. What the boys are discussing is that there may be more people hunting those spots this year... hope not.

 

[chasingcoues]

I can't tell you guys how helpful y'all have been! I plan on de boning the meat and packing it in a cooler, checking it in on the plane and bringing it home. However, I can't have any ice or dry ice in the cooler when I get it on the plane. Do you guys have any good tips on keeping the meet frozen/cold enough for travel?

 

[Hilltop]

I can't tell you guys how helpful y'all have been! I plan on de boning the meat and packing it in a cooler, checking it in on the plane and bringing it home. However, I can't have any ice or dry ice in the cooler when I get it on the plane. Do you guys have any good tips on keeping the meet frozen/cold enough for travel?

If you can freeze it before flying it would be best. Once frozen, wrap packages in newspaper and pack tightly in a cooler that can be tapped shut and sealed. Hopefully security doen't cut it open to inspect. It will stay frozen like this for a day or two. Your other option is to have it processed in Laramie and then shipped back... guessing it would cost you a pretty penny in shipping but processing is cheap out there. I do all my own so I don't have anyone to recommend there. I would call around to hotels until you find one willing to let you use their freezer to freeze your meat.

I'm sure there are others that fly with meat that can offer you better advice...

 

[Cobbhunts]

I talked to a processor near Wheatland last year just to get an idea of how it would work logistically if we were to fly. They told me that they would process our meat and have it packed into our coolers, wrapped, in time for our flight departure. At which point we would check them as extra luggage. I'm sure that would be over $100 per cooler. But still probably cheaper than shipping.

 

[chasingcoues]

Well, I received my BLM maps this week, does the whole 52 mile stretch of HWY 34 hold Antelope? I notice there are some terrain changes as you head further from the 287.

 

[ssliger]

Most of it does, the parts that hold the least is through Sybille canyon.

 

[ew2642]

Me and a buddy made our 1st trip to WY 3 years ago and hunted Unit 39. Which I'm guessing is now part of the newly formed Unit 38. We found a decent size chunk of BLM, camped out, filled all 5 tags, and were gone in less than 3 days. It was a blast. Just bought another pref pt. Hoping to get back to WY in a few years.