A few newbie questions

[EastTNHunter]

I’m starting to research for a family pronghorn hunt for 2021 (likely). I’m really only considering WY from my limited research due to the large pronghorn population and lots of public land. Rifle only, would like to kill a buck (trophy consideration is not important, as I have no idea of how to even score the boogers) but would also be interested in getting a doe tag or two.

-I’m trying to figure out units, and from what I’ve read on here I should consider using goHunt. Can someone explain this website and when/how to use it? Costs, etc, would be helpful.

-I have purchased preference points this year for myself and my 12 year old daughter, but it won’t let me get points for my 9 year old. Why is there an age limit? I’d love to get my 9yo in on the action, as well. Do I have other options for this?

-I’ve really enjoyed reading the other posts about making the hunt a family affair, and I plan to check out other things about WY while there. Is there a particular region/area that would be more conducive to the mix of hunting and family entertainment/sightseeing?

-Are there better regions/areas for the non-camping family? My wife is not much of a camper, but we aren’t 100% sure that she would go on the trip. I’ve seen videos of Randy camping in some large public areas and hunting out of camp without moving his vehicle, and that would be ideal for me if my wife did not decide to come.

I’m more interested in the experience than the trophy value, but I would really want to have a reasonable expectation for one or more of us to bring home some meat. Eastern hunting is FAR different, so this all seems a little foreign to me. All help is much appreciated.

 

[wyoelkfan15]

Welcome to HT!

-Cant help you with GoHunt, I don't use it.

-Most states you cannot buy preference points until you can legally hunt. Most western states you can start hunting at 12 years old. Montana might be an exception?

-Most people come to Wyoming to see Yellowstone. If you planned your hunt for September you could still incorporate this into a trip.

-Wyoming is desolate, most major towns you drive an hour or two without seeing much infrastructure anywhere. That being said you can definitely hotel it up and still be successful. As an example, out of Casper you can access many units within an hour of town.

-Almost all units have trophy potential in WY. Also most units have a good likelihood of filling your tag with even moderate effort.

Hope it helps, good luck.

 

[bts09]

-I’m trying to figure out units, and from what I’ve read on here I should consider using goHunt. Can someone explain this website and when/how to use it? Costs, etc, would be helpful.

-I have purchased preference points this year for myself and my 12 year old daughter, but it won’t let me get points for my 9 year old. Why is there an age limit? I’d love to get my 9yo in on the action, as well. Do I have other options for this?

I can help a little with these two. GoHunt is a subscription service that does a lot of the legwork for you in terms of calculating draw odds, giving you some background of the units, etc. It's around $100 a year I think. If all you're looking to do is go antelope hunting in Wyoming, then in my opinion, save your money. Wyoming is probably the best state in terms of the amount of information they make easily available to you--you can look at the draw odds, look at each unit and see the public vs private land, etc, all for free. If I was just looking to hunt antelope in Wyoming, I could not justify the GoHunt fee.

For your purposes, look at the draw odds reports, figure out which ones you think you can safely draw on one point (if you're not going until 2021 I would buy another point for each of you next year, too), and then research those individual units on the Wyoming website in terms of access, region, etc.

As to the preference points, my suspicion is that, because 12 is the youngest age you can legally kill a trophy game animal in Wyoming, the State doesn't want people to get a head start on points by applying for the 12 years their kids are ineligible to actually kill something (zero to 11 years old). In other words, preference points are meant to "reward" or incentivize people who tried but were unsuccessful in drawing the tag they would have otherwise been able to fill. I'm not saying I agree with that logic or anything, but it's a plausible explanation.

 

[NEWHunter]

The kids need to be 11/12 to buy points. With your point totals you’ll likely have to hunt a unit in the eastern half of WY. Still within driving distance of a lot of cool stuff. I’m thinking of getting my little guy to the WY Dinosaur Center.

WY allows you to average points, so if your little one is 12 by hunting season in 2021, you could apply as a group with 1.33 point average. Pay up for the special tag - it should help open up options with more accessible public land.

Edit to Add: You’re thought to get doe tags is right on. They are relatively cheap and you can get two each. The doe tags are a random draw and some units with a lot of public access that would take years to draw buck tags in can be a very high percentage draw for the doe tags - maybe even “guaranteed.” Don’t get hung up on your buck and doe tags being in the same unit either. As long as they are close by you’ll be fine. Also, I believe they are buck/any antelope tags so if you aren’t finding the bucks you could fill the tag with a doe.

With buck/any tags and at least a doe tag or two, you should be able to bring something home if you can walk some and shoot.

The Hunt Planner on the WY fish and game website and this forum has the vast majority of the info you need. The county road and bridge website for verifying public access and OnX has the rest.

 

[antlerradar]

You could always hit Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills on the way out.
I would use the money it would cost for GoHunt and buy OnX Hunt instead.

 

[VikingsGuy]

You could always hit Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills on the way out.
I would use the money it would cost for GoHunt and buy OnX Hunt instead.

I agree, if you are hunting public land and only have $100 to spend on a software tool get OnX, but if you can budget for both, I would get both.

 

[EastTNHunter]

Great information everyone. Thank you! I was planning to get onX, and was leaning towards the Gillette or Casper areas due to them seeming to have some cool things to do. An hour drive from either one is no problem at all

 

[LopeHunter]

The kids need to be 11/12 to buy points. With your point totals you’ll likely have to hunt a unit in the eastern half of WY. Still within driving distance of a lot of cool stuff. I’m thinking of getting my little guy to the WY Dinosaur Center.

WY allows you to average points, so if your little one is 12 by hunting season in 2021, you could apply as a group with 1.33 point average. Pay up for the special tag - it should help open up options with more accessible public land.

A group of 3 applying with 1.33 points will have lots of options and the math is correct.

OP will be ahead of any applicant or group for the preference point bucket that is 1.32 or less for points. Look for a unit with 70% or better harvest as is helpful for the young hunters to get a shot opportunity and likely they do not care if is 12" or 16" horns or a doe. Might find a shed or two on the hikes. If the kids are having fun, even if is picking clumps of sage or looking for the neatest-looking rock, is sometimes more rewarding for them to do that for a few minutes even if the hunt gets sidetracked now and then. They are making memories. I would give my kids a gallon Ziploc and if it fits then they could pick up along the hike. Once the gallon Ziploc was getting full then they had to jettison something to add something. And, they had to carry the Ziploc. Seemed to work for us.

 

[AggieCowboy]

I also wouldn’t buy go hunt for this one hunt, but would consider onX a must for Wyoming. Look at the Wyoming hunt planner and play around with toprut. It gives you older data for free. You can plan a hunt on Wyoming’s game and fish website and still be very successful.

The further west you go the more public there is. Going east of Casper the public becomes more sparse. Don’t let this scare you though, there is still enough public to have a good hunt.

Good luck on your hunt! You’ll have a blast.

 

[88man]

I’m starting to research for a family pronghorn hunt for 2021 (likely). I’m really only considering WY from my limited research due to the large pronghorn population and lots of public land. Rifle only, would like to kill a buck (trophy consideration is not important, as I have no idea of how to even score the boogers) but would also be interested in getting a doe tag or two.

-I’m trying to figure out units, and from what I’ve read on here I should consider using goHunt. Can someone explain this website and when/how to use it? Costs, etc, would be helpful.

-I have purchased preference points this year for myself and my 12 year old daughter, but it won’t let me get points for my 9 year old. Why is there an age limit? I’d love to get my 9yo in on the action, as well. Do I have other options for this?

-I’ve really enjoyed reading the other posts about making the hunt a family affair, and I plan to check out other things about WY while there. Is there a particular region/area that would be more conducive to the mix of hunting and family entertainment/sightseeing?

-Are there better regions/areas for the non-camping family? My wife is not much of a camper, but we aren’t 100% sure that she would go on the trip. I’ve seen videos of Randy camping in some large public areas and hunting out of camp without moving his vehicle, and that would be ideal for me if my wife did not decide to come.

I’m more interested in the experience than the trophy value, but I would really want to have a reasonable expectation for one or more of us to bring home some meat. Eastern hunting is FAR different, so this all seems a little foreign to me. All help is much appreciated.

Lots to do. Pm me I'll share some places my friends and family like in WY & thoughts.

 

[EastTNHunter]

I wanted to restart this “zombie thread.” It looks like it will just be me and my 15 year olds daughter going this fall to WY. I can’t talk my homebody wife into making a trip that’s that long. We plan to hit Mt Rushmore, Crazyhorse, Spearfish Canyon, Devils Tower, and Yellowstone. And we just may have to stop at the Pizza Barn on the way through based on all if the HT recommendations.

As far as hunting goes, I may just get her a tag to simplify things and reduce costs a bit. I’ve done some research and was wondering if anyone was willing to discuss strategies via phone to make sure that I’m not crazy in my plans for getting her a tag with 2 points? If willing, send me a PM. I had received PMs from some people in the past, but can’t seem to get those to come up for me correctly right now.

 

[Blackcats06]

I wanted to restart this “zombie thread.” It looks like it will just be me and my 15 year olds daughter going this fall to WY. I can’t talk my homebody wife into making a trip that’s that long. We plan to hit Mt Rushmore, Crazyhorse, Spearfish Canyon, Devils Tower, and Yellowstone. And we just may have to stop at the Pizza Barn on the way through based on all if the HT recommendations.

As far as hunting goes, I may just get her a tag to simplify things and reduce costs a bit. I’ve done some research and was wondering if anyone was willing to discuss strategies via phone to make sure that I’m not crazy in my plans for getting her a tag with 2 points? If willing, send me a PM. I had received PMs from some people in the past, but can’t seem to get those to come up for me correctly right now.

With point creep you never really know whats gonna happen in the draw. Make the best guess at it that you can and hope for the best. If you have specific questions or areas PM me and I can look into what your'e thinking

 

[jnd1959]

You can add doe tags and improve her odds of drawing something. Just make sure not to check the box that says no doe tags if she doesn't draw a buck tag. you could put in for a doe tag as well. There pretty cheap. I know you originally wanted buck tags but I'd consider it.

 

[EastTNHunter]

You can add doe tags and improve her odds of drawing something. Just make sure not to check the box that says no doe tags if she doesn't draw a buck tag. you could put in for a doe tag as well. There pretty cheap. I know you originally wanted buck tags but I'd consider it.

I’m definitely thinking about doe tags. She’s shot several white tails before, and is looking forward to the experience. “Trophy” is in the eye of the beholder, and she doesn’t really care about inches of antler, just meat, hiking, and a new experience in a new place

 

[Paul from Colorado]

Get your daughter to the range as much as possible and be shooting out to 200 yards. Once she is confident in her skills get out of the way and get a second job so you can pay for her tags because you will be doing the trip again! My kids favorite hunt every year is antelope, it's the only time my wife will let the kids miss school.

 

[Seamaster]

Doe/fawn tags used to be easy to get, then were discussed on all of the internet hunting boards. You might want to take the time to look over the doe/fawn odds from 2020. It is very far from a sure thing anymore.

 

[EastTNHunter]

Get your daughter to the range as much as possible and be shooting out to 200 yards. Once she is confident in her skills get out of the way and get a second job so you can pay for her tags because you will be doing the trip again! My kids favorite hunt every year is antelope, it's the only time my wife will let the kids miss school.

Absolutely! She’s taken deer to 130 yards, but also fights buck fever. She’s actually a really good shot, and placed really high in competitive shooting when she did it. I’m the BB coach for our local 4H team, and we drill on the fundamentals; she placed first in state two years ago, and has placed top 10 over the past three years; nationally she has been in the top 20%... but that is different from practical field positions. We are working on that now, and have free roam of a shooting range that goes up to about 250yd. We will be hitting that often, practicing in sitting from knees and shooting sticks, and prone over a pack and without. We practice left handed and right handed. We’ll be prepared for shooting, but also know that there is no such thing as a sure thing.

And that is a great picture!!!