First post. Went to Wyoming Sept. 2011. First non-guided antelope hunt ever. Three of us "Iowans" had 2 points, paid for special draw, and drew 63 after much research. Hunted first 3 days of season. mid Sept.
Do not take this wrong - we had a great time, we all got buck antelope (small to medium), learned a lot, no regrets....but just have some questions - things just did not seem to add up to expectations based on Eastmans MRS info. We are having pow-wow soon to make future plans and need some guidance.
3 basic questions. Where were all the hunters? Where were all the antelope? Were there really some big bucks there? With 500 tags as I recall and 1st day of season, we expected to work for place to camp and compete for antelope. We were the only hunters camping on public land for miles around, period. We hunted large central area with many miles of public land and no danger of straying on private. In fact, we never saw another group camping anywhere, except on private. Great, but does not make sense. All those tags have to get used, were they mostly on the 15% of unit in private land? Or do they hunt later in season? We heard exactly 4 shots opening day, saw 3 rigs drive through on a main two-track. That was it for 3 days. We loved the solitude, absolutely, but seemed oddly silent.
We were just not seeing bucks of any size, and not many numbers at all. Maybe saw 4-6 bucks per day. Arrived 2 days ahead to scout, worked hard daylight to dark, spotted, stalked, crawled - but I will tell you we had to work hard for three small to mediocre bucks and were glad to get them. We saw one large buck on private land. I will admit there were more antelope on the 15% private land, and some bigger bucks. Were the bucks on the public land, and we did not know how to hunt them? Hey, we were rookies I admit. Just seeking some insight.
Thanks much.
Do not take this wrong - we had a great time, we all got buck antelope (small to medium), learned a lot, no regrets....but just have some questions - things just did not seem to add up to expectations based on Eastmans MRS info. We are having pow-wow soon to make future plans and need some guidance.
3 basic questions. Where were all the hunters? Where were all the antelope? Were there really some big bucks there? With 500 tags as I recall and 1st day of season, we expected to work for place to camp and compete for antelope. We were the only hunters camping on public land for miles around, period. We hunted large central area with many miles of public land and no danger of straying on private. In fact, we never saw another group camping anywhere, except on private. Great, but does not make sense. All those tags have to get used, were they mostly on the 15% of unit in private land? Or do they hunt later in season? We heard exactly 4 shots opening day, saw 3 rigs drive through on a main two-track. That was it for 3 days. We loved the solitude, absolutely, but seemed oddly silent.
We were just not seeing bucks of any size, and not many numbers at all. Maybe saw 4-6 bucks per day. Arrived 2 days ahead to scout, worked hard daylight to dark, spotted, stalked, crawled - but I will tell you we had to work hard for three small to mediocre bucks and were glad to get them. We saw one large buck on private land. I will admit there were more antelope on the 15% private land, and some bigger bucks. Were the bucks on the public land, and we did not know how to hunt them? Hey, we were rookies I admit. Just seeking some insight.
Thanks much.