Deer, Elk, Antelope Same Unit….

[SagebrushSlayer]

I will be a WY resident this year and have been researching a ton of options for all 3 species.

My thought for a strategy is to apply for all 3 in the same area. I’d apply and hope for one of the 3 tags to hunt, but wondered if anyone has drawn all 3 in the same year? I would apply over 3 years to accomplish drawing and hunting all 3 animals. I know drawing luck in making that happen would be incredible hard. My thought is to only apply for tags with >10% odds. Mathematically I should apply for 33% or higher, but that doesn’t seem realistic.

Has anyone hunted for all 3 species in the same area even if it’s taken longer than 3 years? My idea is that when hunting I would be scouting for the other two if I only draw 1 tag each year.

In Idaho, I still have a goal and will be trying throughout my life, to see how many units I can shoot a 4x4 Mule Deer in, whether it’s OTC or a controlled hunt. OTC is where I will be focusing while I wait to draw a bighorn sheep tag.

 

[Bob-WY]

As a WY resident you can get general deer and general elk every year. Antelope is draw and no general option. At least where I hunt the general deer is good everywhere I go. I got my archery mulie last year while elk hunting. If you are OK with doe antelope you should be able to hunt all 3 every year

 

[Wildabeest]

Just be aware that WY has different unit numbers for each species. Unit 102, for example, is in completely different parts of the state for each species. So if you’re trying to stay in the same area/unit, don’t go by the unit numbers.

Where I’m at it’s 102 for elk, 135 for deer and 93 for pronghorn. As @Bob-WY points out, those elk and deer units are general OTC tags for residents whereas pronghorn is random draw with 20-30% odds. Some of the resident OTC units in WY take 8+ points for NR to draw, so don’t think that just because it’s OTC it’s not good hunting.

 

[WYelker]

Pick the best draws for each animal. There are not very many units that are great draws for all 3…. I can only think of a handful of areas that I would want to try and hunt all 3 on a draw. Now there are some good option for the general tags, but why waste draws? I can think of units that are good for 2 of 3. I know some places where it would be killer to have lope and elk, or deer and lope. But not many that I would want to draw deer, elk and lope in the same year on the same ground!


Pick a good elk draw. Pick a good deer draw and pick a good lope draw and go hunt what you draw.

 

[SagebrushSlayer]

Thanks for the info guys.

I plan on hunting OTC for deer and elk if I don’t draw LQ tags. With mule deer on the decline, I don’t plan on hunting mule deer doe. I will try and get WT doe tags for hunting.

With what I’ve found so far it looks like I can hold 3 different tags for deer and elk. I’m not sure on antelope. I’ll do the research on what areas for each species are above carrying capacity. Based on the last couple winters I’m sure deer and antelope will only have limited areas that might be at max carrying capacity or overpopulated.

I do have 4 hunters in the house, so we definitely couldn’t eat 4 of each species per person each year. We have been averaging eating 2-3 deer, an antelope, and an elk every year. I will put my daughters in for hard to draw tags, while the wife and I will put in for 1st choice tags we can hopefully draw every 1-3 years. We are used to hunting on OTC tags and enjoy the success we seem to have. Draw odds seem a lot better for residents in WY, than we are used to.

I did have a list of each species and the options for each one of us. I’ll probably go that route Putting in for draws. If any of you guys that are residents wouldn’t mind sending me a DM, I’d like to see how my list sounds.

 

[Bob-WY]

Where do you live in WY?

 

[2rocky]

I did a Antelope and Deer hunt in 2014. There was 80 miles between my deer and pronghorn. Mainly this is due to the Migratory Nature of Western Wyoming animals. The Pronghorn summer on the Winter range for deer.

If you are looking at Central or Eastern Wyoming you will not have this big disparity since there is not the Elevation differentials like Western WY.

 

[SagebrushSlayer]

Where do you live in WY?

DM sent