Wyoming Antelope Hunt Help?

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MuleyMadness
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Wyoming Antelope Hunt Help?

Post by MuleyMadness » Wed Feb 15, 2012 8:27 pm

Alright folks after reading Snake River Marksman's post on Wyoming I'd like to really give this a try either this year or next.

So here is my questions, never hunted Wyoming (know very little).

Should I try with my bow or go for Rifle first time out?
Anyone willing to narrow the units I should try for down for me. I'd be driving with a friend from So. Utah (up to 4 of us, possible only 2)

All those units, seems so daunting to a newb. :) Who has done this hunt and what can I expect?

I guess I'm needing someone to say...apply for this place or hunt with this landowner for a fee (I'm willing to pay some cash for access to land) for the chance at a decent goat if that's the best option. Or should I just DIY on public land? I'm not looking for a trophy, but not wanting to shoot a dink or doe either. Just a crack at a decent/good buck.

Anyone willing to narrow the search for me? PM me if you'd like.

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Re: Wyoming Antelope Hunt Help?

Post by dahlmer » Wed Feb 15, 2012 11:03 pm

I would definatley recommend going at it with your rifle the first time around. I hunted antelope for the first time a couple of years ago and it was a real challenge to get very close to them. They have incredible eyes. Do you have any points built up? We had 3 points for the unti we drew and while we didn't see a lot of really big buck, we saw a ton of antelope. We killed 3 in a day and a half of hunting. I'm not sure every unit would be like the one we drew, but the big challenge seems to be finding one you like and then getting close enough to get a good shot.

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Re: Wyoming Antelope Hunt Help?

Post by a_bow_nut » Thu Feb 16, 2012 1:04 am

I work with a guy that lives in Evanston and will ask him where he would put in for.

Are you wanting to hunt right away or willing to wait for one of the better units?

I do know that the further East you head the easier it get to get a tag but know nothing about the terain of the quality or numbers of animals.
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Re: Wyoming Antelope Hunt Help?

Post by Snake River Marksman » Thu Feb 16, 2012 9:36 am

Image
If one of your group is the kind of person that just seems to have a horseshoe stuck up their butt because their so lucky, make that person your "party leader" on the application and apply as a party. I'm not sure yet but I think the way wg&f does the party draw is: If the party leader draws the tag then the whole party draws the tag. Either that, or, they just assign the whole party one number and if the number is drawn then everyone in the party gets a tag.

Apply for a trophy unit as first choice and a guaranteed unit for second or third. If you don't draw the trophy unit you gain a preference point and you still get a tag in the guaranteed unit.

Last year 5 of us hunted a ranch near Kaycee in unit 113. The rancher charges $100 license. He has 50,000 acres and his land adjoins another 30,000 acres of landlocked BLM. For that hundred per license we were able to camp on his ranch, use his freezer out in the barn and use his calving barn to process our antelope out of the wind and rain. We were not the only hunters on the ranch at the time though. We hunted that unit because my buddy from PA had hunted there with his dad years ago, and the chances of drawing tags were very good. There are also several units near there that are guaranteed.

Relax!!!! The first time I hunted antelope, I was planning the trip for myself,a buddy from West Virginia and I was coming from Maryland. I was nervous as burn that we wouldn't have any antelope to hunt etc. We had no difficulty filling our tags and you won't either.

If your going to devote a fair amount of time to the hunt, you could try starting out with your bow and then switch to the rifle at the last minute.
Stupidity is expensive

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Re: Wyoming Antelope Hunt Help?

Post by solohunter » Mon Feb 27, 2012 7:28 pm

Last year was my first DIY hunt for antelope, I pulled area 7 my first choice, it had been hit be a hard winter kill and numbers were down, I scout/ hunted for four days, I saw goats every day. never pulled the trigger, I am reaplying this year in hopes of redeaming myself, hints are great bino,s, knee pads, bipod for rifle, lots of long range practice--> 300 min. optics of at least x14 GPS with a wyo chip, big cooler, plan for 75 to 25 degree weather!! and rain. I went alone, I do have a friend out there ( no tag) and we had a good time but didnt shoot anything, chances were there but nothing I wanted on the wall. Check the wyoming fish and game site for areas of easy public access if yu want or the link further down the page that lists the walk in & HAP areas, ya just gotta go do it,
I waited to long to try it, damaged ankle and leg slow me way down and keep me close to the roads unlike before 2009 :( :lame

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Re: Wyoming Antelope Hunt Help?

Post by MNbogboy » Thu Mar 01, 2012 9:04 pm

All of the above are great answers...It seems as where ever you go you will see lopes....Some big, but for the most part average, just like any other big game......We have hunted 27 twice, 29, 30, 21, 115 and 106....27 will most likely cost you a point but our biggest ones came from there (13 & 14+) and chance at a few more, took a heavy horned fighter(only 12")from 30 in 2007 after watching him fight with a taller slimmer buck for ten minutes.....Area 21 (south and west of Kaycee brought us two average bucks (12 & 13) on two consecutive rainy days with a total of two hours stalking for each one...These two bucks came after the season had been on for over a week and not a soul was around......29 has a million guys on the public land.....30 doesn't have much public land we actually got ours on an HMA....But we did see a dandy 15+ inch buck on public land twice after we had shot ours !.....115 will cost you 3 or 4 points for a buck tag...We had only doe tags but the area coincided with our deer zone (M) that year....We did, however, see a couple of real dandy buck lopes...Last year while mule deer hunting in E, I picked up a couple of doe tags for 106 in case the mule deer hunting got slow...It never did and we filled up the freezer with two nice bucks...We ate the two doe lope tags for lunch and headed home to the north land....We did see quite a bunch of lopes over the course of the week in both 106 and 68 but both of these units open in Sept and require several points also (3 or 4).....The best part of the lope hunt for me is the meat in the freezer...Even my wife likes antelope and she won't touch venison...go figure :)

You will have a great time where ever you choose to go...PM me for any specifics.....

Good luck on the draw,
Randy
WI Hunter Education Instructor since 1984.
Be safe and courteous and your luck will be great.

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Re: Wyoming Antelope Hunt Help?

Post by PLP » Sun Jul 08, 2012 4:19 pm

Snake River Marksman wrote:Image
If one of your group is the kind of person that just seems to have a horseshoe stuck up their butt because their so lucky, make that person your "party leader" on the application and apply as a party. I'm not sure yet but I think the way wg&f does the party draw is: If the party leader draws the tag then the whole party draws the tag. Either that, or, they just assign the whole party one number and if the number is drawn then everyone in the party gets a tag.

Apply for a trophy unit as first choice and a guaranteed unit for second or third. If you don't draw the trophy unit you gain a preference point and you still get a tag in the guaranteed unit.

Last year 5 of us hunted a ranch near Kaycee in unit 113. The rancher charges $100 license. He has 50,000 acres and his land adjoins another 30,000 acres of landlocked BLM. For that hundred per license we were able to camp on his ranch, use his freezer out in the barn and use his calving barn to process our antelope out of the wind and rain. We were not the only hunters on the ranch at the time though. We hunted that unit because my buddy from PA had hunted there with his dad years ago, and the chances of drawing tags were very good. There are also several units near there that are guaranteed.

Relax!!!! The first time I hunted antelope, I was planning the trip for myself,a buddy from West Virginia and I was coming from Maryland. I was nervous as burn that we wouldn't have any antelope to hunt etc. We had no difficulty filling our tags and you won't either.

If your going to devote a fair amount of time to the hunt, you could try starting out with your bow and then switch to the rifle at the last minute.
wow!!!..simply wow..

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Re: Wyoming Antelope Hunt Help?

Post by 9er » Sun Jul 08, 2012 10:44 pm

Muleymadness,

Did you get you a tag?
Watch your top knot!

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Re: Wyoming Antelope Hunt Help?

Post by brookshooks » Fri Jul 27, 2012 7:06 pm

area 23 and 17 has a lot of antelope. they are both limited quota tags but 23 usually doesnt sell out. not a ton of blm and state land but what is their is deffinatly quality.

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Re: Wyoming Antelope Hunt Help?

Post by Andyhunter » Tue Jul 31, 2012 8:47 pm

I Too am going out to Wyoming to hunt Antelope on a DIY hunt myself this year. I drew 2 doe and one buck antelope tag for are 047. There appears to have a lot of public land and hope to be able to fill some tags. Does anyone have any experience in that area? How about a camping area? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!

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