wyoming antelope help

[50bowhunter]

I've been trying to plan a hunt for 2016 for 4 people and honestly I'm about sick of it. I have been trying to plan a combo hunt for antelope and mule deer but its seeming to be way too complicated for 4 people that have never hunted western game ( or haven't for 20 years) and trying to line everything seems to be almost impossible. I'm thinking to just do an antelope hunt and trying to get some doe tags to make our 25+ hour drive worth it. After way to many hours of studying, I have a basic understanding of units, drawing tags, and draw odd. I'm seeing a lot of areas that have 100% chance tags that have a good bit of BLM land, but where to start? Can anyone give me a few units to start looking at. I'm not looking for anyone honey hole, just a place to start. None of us are looking for a trophy and would be more than happy with a 12-13" buck to bring back home to Virginia.

 

[Work2hunt]

Truthfully every unit has a chance at a 12-13 in buck and does for extra meat. The 0 pp draws or left over tags are there for a reason. Public land can be hard to access. I would recommend that you narrow your search (the Eastmans MRS can help with that) and then check out some BLM maps, OnX maps, my topo.com or similar and see where the public land is and how easy it is to access.

I just hunted a left over tag unit with my wife and with 4 doe tags and filled them all this past October. The antelope are there you just will probably have to get more than 100 yds off the road to find them.

 

[50bowhunter]

Walking is no problem. Honestly I would prefer an area that was better suited for walking in than driving and glassing. I've never hunted the west and wouldn't feel like I've earned it if I shot something 300 yards from the truck.


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[bghunter]

Thank you, Work2hunt for great answer. We were hunting WY antelope first time this fall with my wife, purchased three OTC doe tags and were able to fill them within less than three days. Very fun hunt. Few more hints, practice long range quick shots and might be a good idea to purchase some cow or antelope decoy to cover yourself. The area we were hunting was pretty open and antelopes were very spooky. Get maps with walk-in areas from DFG and do not trespass.

 

[Eberle]

If you don't mind paying the special fee, my advice would be unit 7. Last year with 0 points in special draw it was 100% & regular was 18.3%. You could also get a Region B deer tag, last year with 0 points it was 76.9% draw. You could do this combo hunt, both have a October 1 opener. I have done this hunt many times with success, but it was over 10 years ago. Population is down for both animals, but extremely down for deer. You would have no problem harvesting 4 12-13" antelope. The mule deer would be a challenge but do able.

 

[Eberle]

Also Unit 7 & B is on the East side of the state. Will help a little with your drive. Figure out the best route to hit I-90 and drive across SD!

 

[50bowhunter]

If you don't mind paying the special fee, my advice would be unit 7. Last year with 0 points in special draw it was 100% & regular was 18.3%. You could also get a Region B deer tag, last year with 0 points it was 76.9% draw. You could do this combo hunt, both have a October 1 opener. I have done this hunt many times with success, but it was over 10 years ago. Population is down for both animals, but extremely down for deer. You would have no problem harvesting 4 12-13" antelope. The mule deer would be a challenge but do able.

How is the public access in B? I'm looking at the map and it doesn't look like much.


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[Hilltop]

50bowhunter, The reality is any area that you can draw with zero points will have significant access issues. That's the reason more people don't apply for them. Be prepared for a lot of watching nice bucks on the wrong side of the fence. That said, your hunt is doable but you will have to put in some work studying maps as well as on ground scouting- either before or during the hunt. I took my wife and son out three years ago to an area with very limited public land. My focus was on two accessible BLM squares so I made sure we were there first on opening day. All three of us shot decent bucks by noon. During our stalk on the last buck I can estimate 20 different road hunters went by trying to fill their tags the easy way. My best advice is be prepared for some adversity and be willing to work hard during the hunt.

 

[50bowhunter]

Thanks for the reply. Had I known how much of a task planning this hunt was going to be, I would have started with a fully guided hunt. As of right now I have a ranch reserved in area 29. I guess I will stick with that and hopefully we can kill 4 antelope in 2 days, and try to get mule deer tags somewhere.

One more question. When I look at the draw odds for the more expensive special tag for mule deer, it looks like it's 100% draw for all but 3 regions. Am I reading this correctly? I certainly don't mind paying the extra money considering I'm not likely to make this cross country trip again for a while.


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[Hilltop]

Most of the region permits can be drawn using the special draw. Keep in mind that there are limited quota areas contained in some of these regions that you could not hunt with the region general tag. If your antelope ranch is in the north part of area 29, you would need to have an area 10 tag. If not, it looks like it would be in area 14 where a region B tag would be good. Region B was about 50% in the regular drawing last year and 100% in the special. Area 10 required one preference point in the regular drawing or was 100% in the special.

It can be intimidating learning everything your first time but it does get easier and easier as you go forward. I think paying for private access is a great idea for your first trip out. If at all possible, you should try to arrange for a few extra days to scout other areas for the future. Good luck!

 

[Work2hunt]

50bowhunter,
Lots of good advice. Don't let it discourage you tho. I've been on a couple western hunts now and other than my elk hunts they have all been in different units for different species and I am looking at doing it again this year for mule deer. It can appear to be a very daunting task and trying to plan for two species can be that much harder. I might recommend that you pick a species as a primary and the other as a secondary. Focus on one and look at the other as a bonus. It might make it easier.

 

[50bowhunter]

Most of the region permits can be drawn using the special draw. Keep in mind that there are limited quota areas contained in some of these regions that you could not hunt with the region general tag. If your antelope ranch is in the north part of area 29, you would need to have an area 10 tag. If not, it looks like it would be in area 14 where a region B tag would be good. Region B was about 50% in the regular drawing last year and 100% in the special. Area 10 required one preference point in the regular drawing or was 100% in the special.

It can be intimidating learning everything your first time but it does get easier and easier as you go forward. I think paying for private access is a great idea for your first trip out. If at all possible, you should try to arrange for a few extra days to scout other areas for the future. Good luck!

It's very intimidating. This will likely be my only chance to hunt the west with my dad. He will be 63 and I have 2 young kids so I'm doing my best to make next year count. I truly appreciate all the advise. This is why I try to help people when I can for hunting and fishing because I feel like it usually comes back around.


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[Eberle]

How is the public access in B? I'm looking at the map and it doesn't look like much.

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Access in 7 & B is really good there is lots of public & WIHA. If you just want to feel your tag with a legal mule deer buck I think you could pull it off, if you hunt hard. Two days in 7 you should have antelope killed, if not the first day. Then if you spend 4-5 long days on mule deer. I think you could tag out, the mule deer will be a challenge. If you decide to go with 7 or B pm me and I'll give you more specific details about the areas.

 

[50bowhunter]

Access in 7 & B is really good there is lots of public & WIHA. If you just want to feel your tag with a legal mule deer buck I think you could pull it off, if you hunt hard. Two days in 7 you should have antelope killed, if not the first day. Then if you spend 4-5 long days on mule deer. I think you could tag out, the mule deer will be a challenge. If you decide to go with 7 or B pm me and I'll give you more specific details about the areas.

Thank you. I think that's what I'm going to go with I just need to decide if I'm going to do the private ranch or hunt public land for antelope


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[cntryep3614]

I'm certain of one thing...... Wyoming has goats!!! every zone not in Yellowstone!!!.... so focus more on your decent mule deer hunting grounds the goats will be there. and don't do all the footwork for the others have them check the graphs too, stay with something that has a ton of public access call landowners early for permission and if you have to----- put the money in for the special tag, the cost is worth it when you can draw a good zone!

 

[go_deep]

Unit 7 use to have 1200 buck antelope tags and a couple hundred doe tags, winter kill had taken that down to no doe tags and 350 buck tags. I work the northern rural area of region B a lot, at all different times of the year, you see a mule deer buck you'd better shoot it. The southern area may be different, but the northern area is pretty void of descent bucks till November when the rut brings them out of the hills.
Personally I'd look else where for a deer tag unless you get solid info on some deer in the southern part of B.

Good luck!

 

[50bowhunter]

I'm certain of one thing...... Wyoming has goats!!! every zone not in Yellowstone!!!.... so focus more on your decent mule deer hunting grounds the goats will be there. and don't do all the footwork for the others have them check the graphs too, stay with something that has a ton of public access call landowners early for permission and if you have to----- put the money in for the special tag, the cost is worth it when you can draw a good zone!

Oh I intend on passing the work on to the others. I'll do what I have to to put my pops on game, everyone else will be on their own.


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[Tim McCoy]

Thank you. I think that's what I'm going to go with I just need to decide if I'm going to do the private ranch or hunt public land for antelope


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I'd look hard at hunting the ranch. Odds are the ranch will be a better and less pressured option for you and your Dad. Not that you can't have a great hunt on public property, you can. I think the ranch option has a higher chance of being a great experience, especially if you have reliable info on number of hunters allowed there.

 

[50bowhunter]

I think I'll give the field office for B a call next week.

 

[Jlrineer1]

I am in the same boat as you. Planning a WY hunt is real confusing at times. We're coming from PA with 6 guys 2 trucks. I want to do a combo hunt and started by looking at outfitters, I can't justify paying $6k plus tags for a 5 day hunt. We've decided on trying to play the point system this year for antelope and hunting a leftover zone 16, 22, 23, or 17. We're going to do the special license for area C and just try to walk as much as we can. We have an enclosed trailer to stay in and one for our gear. This initial hunt is partly to see how much we like western hunting so we can start planning future hunts.

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