Wyoming Unit 75 Antelope?

[cgeminski]

Has anyone here ever hunted Wyoming unit 75? My buddy and I are planning a rifle hunt in this area and thinking of going the first week of October. A few details about our hunt... We are flying into Denver and driving up to WY. I have been on western dirt roads after rain and its like driving on grease. As we will be renting a truck, we need to find somewhere to buy chains after we arrive and figure out what size tires we have... any ideas?

We are planning on staying in Thermopolis (biggest town that is close with places to stay) and will be driving out to the hunt areas every day. Are there a decent amount of county roads that intersect the unit?

This will be our first goat hunt, but not my first western hunt (mule deer junkie). I know not to shoot the first bucks we see, what size horns can we expect in this area? We will be in the area for 6 days so we will not be rushed, once we tag out we are heading to Yellowstone.

Did anyone use a decent meat processor or taxidermist in the area they wouldn't mind sharing?

Any other critters in the area to have fun with once we tag out? Coyotes? Prairie Dogs? Upland Birds?

If you have any other advice for two guys planning a trip like this, it's always appreciated. Shoot straight!

 

[mcseal2]

I have hunted it but stayed in Shoshoni. It doesn't have much for restaurants but we made do with meat we brought, cans from home and the gas station, and a crock pot in the hotel. We had a camp grill we used on the flatbed of the truck some too, but we mostly wanted something hot and quick we could eat at the end of the day before sleeping. Can't help on whats in Thermopolis and we took care of our own meat, quartered it and hauled it home in big coolers. We got dry ice in Riverton for the coolers.

Four of us went and we all got goats in the 72-79" range. We saw a few bigger but not in stalkable areas and we probably weren't patient enough. It was the first or second goat hunt for all of us. My wife took the smallest a heart shaped buck she liked the look of and that we thought we could get her a good shot at. They ended up moving and she took her buck on the longest shot of the trip, 337yds. I had her use my rifle she is comfortable with and dialed the range for her. The unit has plenty of roads to get you where you need to go, maybe to many!

This probably would fit better in the Wyoming section of the forum, and some research there will show several threads about 75 you can learn from.

Good luck on the hunt.

 

[Manualman]

You probably can get tire chains at Walmart or any decent parts store. I'll be hunting 73 in October

 

[cgeminski]

MCSEAL.... thanks for the reply. Do you remember where you got the dry ice in Riverton?

 

[Cobbhunts]

I bought dry ice in Worland, and used a processor there as well. We hunted unit 73, but deer hunted in region M....hence why we ended up in Worland. We drove back through Shoshoni and through the southern border of 75. Largest goat we seen was in unit 75 on our drive back. He was about 50 yards off the main road and a booner no doubt about it.

One word of caution. We originally had a similar plan of flying into Denver and renting a truck. Several phone calls later we scrapped the plan because the rental companies said no chains, and no towing. I had arranged a small trailer rental and wall tent rental, along with an ATV. So the no towing and no chains killed that idea. Also, even though we were in the neighboring unit 73, we were over an hour and a half from the nearest fuel station from our camp site. If you are planning on staying in a hotel, just be prepared to get up super early if you plan to get deep into the unit. Good luck, you should see about 25 metric tons of goats. They were everywhere.

 

[Cobbhunts]

Oh, and we hunted like October 11th time frame I believe. Only seen one other hunter that was a local. Great guy.

 

[Umpqua Hunter]

Here are a few suggestions from our time in Thermopolis last fall:

We ate at The Front Porch restaurant in Thermopolis. They had one of the best burgers I have ever had and excellent lemonade. My burger had Swiss, mushroom, bacon with grilled onions on a sourdough bun (yes I do keep notes on my phone when we find a good spot!).

Make sure you hit the hot spring pools in Thermopolis. We went to Hellies Tepee pools. There is also Star Plunge.

The Bighorn River there in Thermopolis is very good fishing.

Riverton is only one hour from Thermopolis. Riverton will have anything you need as well as dry ice.

We had our animals processed in Riverton at Paul Kearl Meat Cutting (307) 851-8254. He cut up my son's elk. He has a very nice shot and did a very good job. He wraps in butcher paper.

Your timing is perfect. When we hunt antelope in early Wyoming we usually have the place to ourselves with plenty of antelope to chase.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

I've hunted 75 quite a few times, but it has been about 20 years. There used to be a motel in Shoshoni. We camped out and used to get a shower there. Hunting the first week of October, you will not have much competition. We used a processor in Riverton, I believe the same one Umpqua used.

Good luck....

 

[tiremaniskool]

I'm in the same boat. My family and me are staying in Shoshoni at the little motel there. We plan on cooking are own food there. Heard there is a lot to do around the area after we tag out. We also plan on going to the Tetons and hiking while our meat is being processed.

 

[hoshour]

Tetons are definitely worth hiking. You may want to wear some orange.

Think about going to Yellowstone if you haven't been or haven't been there outside of the summer season. The tourist level drops off dramatically after Labor Day. Some things in the park close then, and most facilities will be when you're going, but I prefer going times other than summer. In summer, it's like going to Disneyland - the mass of humanity clogs the roads and parking lots and I think ruins the experience. Geysers and mud pools work year-round and much of the wildlife will stick around into the fall.

 

[cgeminski]

Thanks for all your advice everyone. I plan on staying in Thermopolis, more options than Shoshoni. If we tag out, we are going to hit Jackson Hole, the Tetons and Yellowstone. For those that are going, remember when hiking that you are in GRIZZLY COUNTRY.

 

[mcseal2]

MCSEAL.... thanks for the reply. Do you remember where you got the dry ice in Riverton?

At the grocery store, can't remember the name. Thermopolis might have it too. Thermopolis can be a pretty good drive though each day depending on where in the unit you hunt. It's a beautiful drive but when hunting you wont be driving it in the daylight anyway.

 

[cgeminski]

Thanks... I just found out that Walmart in Caspar sells dry ice right near the registers, so I will probably pick it up there on my drive up from Denver. I know that Thermopolis is on the NW corner of this unit and it will take an hour or more to get to the far east side. We dont mind getting up early to get where we are going to hunt.

 

[NE69]

Safeway in Casper has dry ice. Really close to the Sportsmans Warehouse too. Sportsmans is a must last minute stop. Check out the pics at the entrance.

 

[tiremaniskool]

You shouldn't have any issues getting your antelope we tagged out opening morning lots of speed goats to go around. Around Lysite had a bunch. Good luck. We went to the Parks and had a blast after hunt. If you want lodging book now before you get there.

 

[ElkTrout]

Took this one over the weekend! Lots of antelope! We saw some good bucks but nothing huge. I scouted a few times over the summer and never found anything huge. Mine gross scored at 72" and my buddy took one that was 76". We also were checked by the game warden over the weekend. She said the same thing, a lot of good bucks but nothing overly big. I guess the drought from a couple years ago had a impact. None the less, we had a great hunt and a great time! You should have a good hunt! Best of luck!


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[Vikingload]

Congrats!! That's a beautiful buck and glad you had a great time!


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[hunter25]

Nice buck!

I haven't made it up there for a couple of years now.

How many points did it take you for that unit?

 

[mcseal2]

We were there in 2012 and found a similar situation, took 4 bucks between 72 and 79". Fun hunt but didn't shoot any giants. We spent 8 days hunting and scouting I think. Drought was a factor then and mass was down.

 

[mcseal2]

We were there in 2012 and found a similar situation, took 4 bucks between 72 and 79". Fun hunt but didn't shoot any giants. We spent 8 days hunting and scouting I think. Drought was a factor then and mass was down. Mine was the exception with good cutters and mass but only 14".