Utah antelope

[zacii]

I put in for antelope in the Pine Valley unit. Honestly, I was just shooting for a point, but I drew out.

I've checked out nearly every thread in the antelope section. Can you guys point me toward any other resources?

I'm a serious novice; been unsuccessful at 6 or 7 deer hunts in the last 20 years. A limited entry antelope hunt has me a little intimidated.

 

[Tim McCoy]

Get a good map of the unit, one that will show property ownership and at least 1/100,000 scale, can go with more detail if desired. I find the BLM surface mgmt maps at 1/100,000 very useful and affordable.

http://www.plicmapcenter.org/view.php?st=UT&ag=BLM&typ=Hunting

Then give the biologist a call, they will tell you several areas to focus on. You may get some good pointers from members, but finding Antelope is fairly easy. They are very civilized, meaning they are pretty much out all day, they will bed, but are easy to find with a little moving and glassing. If you are rifle hunting, you should get one without much hassle. If bow hunting, you may need a blind set up on water, or some serious stalking skills possibly aided by a decoy. They are a very fun critter to hunt.

 

[Musket Man]

I dont know anything about that area but I would expect there would be alot of similarities to my Nevada antelope hunt last year. Scouting will be VERY helpful! If you can get up there for a few days before your hunt it will really help you narrow down areas to hunt. There wont be antelope everywhere like Wyoming, they will be in pockets here and there and you will need to find these areas. Finding water will be very helpful but I did find antelope several miles from water and other areas with good water and no antelope. If there are wild horses in the area I noticed the more horses there were, the less antelope I saw. Antelope dont seem to mind the horses and I saw them both in the same areas alot of times but there seems to be a point where there are tomany horses in the area and the antelope move out. Antelope can also be in some very 'nontraditional' terrain. Its pretty neat seeing antelope way up high in the mountains. Take a good spotting scope and find some high places and do alot of glassing and you should find antelope and have a fun hunt! I hope some of that is helpful. Good Luck!!!!

 

[Umpqua Hunter]

I don't know that area specifically, but have briefly looked at it in the past. From Hunter's Trailhead (I believe the owner is from Utah) they have Pine Valley rated as follows:

Overall: 3 out of 5
Trophy Potential: 4 out of 8
Land Ownership: 6 out of 10

Hunter success for the rifle hunt

2007: 100%
2008: 100%
2009: 88.9%
2010: 80.0%
2011: 91.3%
2012: 100%
2013: 95.7%
2014: 100%

The number of applications for the non-resident rifle hunt has been trending strongly downward since 2011.

For residents it is the easiest rifle antelope tag to draw in the state of Utah.

My "guess" from looking at this (not knowing the unit at all) is that there may be private land access issues that have to be worked through.

 

[zacii]

I've got a co-worker that has agreed to go with me on the hunt.

He is familiar with the area, and has access to his in-laws land there. He helped his dad take a buck there just within the last few years.

Super excited to go on some scouting trips this summer that will include some jackalope hunting to get some practice in

 

[zacii]

Yesterday was the first day that I was able to get out and scout.

My truck needed new tires and it took 2 months to come up with the money. Haven't been scouting; haven't been shooting

I drove for 10 hours around the northern border of the unit, where I had seen antelope in the past.

Didn't see anything. Kinda bummed. Next weekend is a long holiday weekend. Hopefully, I can find them.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

 

[Extractor]

If they're not where you looked then they're somewhere else. Don't get down so fast, persevere, keep on scouting, look where you haven't been. Check for sign around water sources. Find a high vantage point and scout with glass. Good luck.

 

[480/277]

Scouting is like learning from people. Everyone can teach you something. Some teach you how do do something and some how not.
Some scouting trips show you where to hunt and some where not.

You are waaaay ahead of the guy that gets no days to scout.