Well I had a plan

[cflong]

I had a plan to try to draw for an antelope this year and was asked by friends if him and his dad could apply as well. His dad has suffered a pretty bad round with colon cancer and his son wants to get him on a western hunt as soon as he can and thought the antelope would be easy. I have pref points and thought I had 6 (these were deer), but only have 4 antelope. My brother in law has the same as I do and we were hoping to get back in Unit 72 where we hunted a few years back.
I do not mind a bit to share points with my friends and his dad because I would really like to get them an opportunity at an animal, any animal. They are both avid hunters here in AR and spend some time in Illinois chasing whitetails as well. With the average we will now be trying to draw with less than points and not much looks favorable.
With our 8 points and 5 people looks like we only carry a minimal point of slightly over 1. I was looking at 72 since we have hunted it or one of the other midtier units bbut now cannot decide.
We need a place that is fairly easy to hunt, though his dad is very capable of walking but it also needs to be fairly close to a bathroom facilit in case he needs it. I have studied, read and am not coming up with an answers except for maybe 27 and it will be a tough draw. 36 and 103 are possibilities to draw but not sure on access.

I don't mind at all sharing my points with friends but I want to come out of it with at least an opportunity for them to get on an animal or two. Anybody willing to share an thoughts. I know it is late in the game, but this just came up as I was making my final plans.
Thanks,

Chuck

 

[Rich M]

All I can say is that I wish I had a few friends like you. Hope you can get it figured out.

 

[BuzzH]

If the goal is get the guy with cancer on a better hunt...drop the party size to 3 people total. Way more options at 2+ points.

 

[ScottR]

Your other option is to look into some of the private land options in the NE corner of the state. If your objective is to hunt, give them a good experience, then this may be the route to go. 100% or OTC tag options and the ability to keep your points while still enjoying a family hunt. The public land options are pretty limited there, however they can be had if you choose.

Then next year you have the ability to go hunt where you would like and still achieve a memorable hunt this year.

 

[480/277]

What Scott and Buzz said. Solid advise.

 

[cflong]

Well, still not sure. I really do not want to eliminate any from our party and I may check in to the NE corner after the draw for leftovers but I am not going to have time to completely research that area before the draw due to family obligations, etc. Another option - we have 12 deer points total and with that and the group we have going we should be able to draw 80/83 for mule deer or possibly 84 or 60. Any thoughts on those? Also looking at the option of an archery hunt in SD on public or an upland hunt in SD on public, which I have done the last 6-8 years or so with good success.

Thanks for the answers,

Chuck