First Timers- Wyoming

[cwitherow]

Hello everyone,

New here. Me and a friend are looking to go on our first antelope hunt next fall. We have been hunting whitetail in MN our whole lives, and are looking for our next adventure. We are looking to camp so it seems like BLM land is the way to go. We have been looking at maps, unit statistics, and reading forums. We have narrowed our search to a few units on the eastern side (17,19,22, and 24), mostly due to draw odds for non-res. We will be able to head out and scout a bit in the spring/summer, but are hoping to get as much information prior to then as possible. Any advice/info you can provide on these areas (public/blm access points, etc) or just antelope hunting advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

 

[NoWiser]

If you buy a point yet this fall you can score a unit with more access than most of those. Either way you'll see and kill goats if you hunt smart. Scouting probably isn't necessary and the money for a trip would probably be more well spent on a special license to combine with your 1 point which could get you into the next tier of units.

 

[dannyb278]

If you buy a point yet this fall you can score a unit with more access than most of those. Either way you'll see and kill goats if you hunt smart. Scouting probably isn't necessary and the money for a trip would probably be more well spent on a special license to combine with your 1 point which could get you into the next tier of units.

This...I would definately get online SOON and buy a preference point before the window closes. From one Minnesota guy to another, I would advise staying away from 24. There appears to be a lot more public than there actually is. We hunted there our first year on left over tags. About 95% of the public land was either not suitable pronghorn habitat, under mining extraction or land locked. We pretty much spent our entire week driving between a WIA and a piece or two of state and blm.....If you do go to that unit however, let me know and I would be happy to give some info.

If you get your point now, I would suggest applying for eastern units that pretty much guarantee a tag with 1 point and have a few thousand acres of WIA enrolled. They are easily reachable within a one day drive from MN. We just got back from a week in a eastern unit. Left MN at 7 am and got to our unit in time to do some scouting.

 

[50bowhunter]

These guys pretty much nailed it. Lots of good units available with 1 point in the regular and special draw. I just got back from a unit that was drawn with 1 point in the special and saw tons of goats and had all the public land I could ever need.

 

[Cheese Curd]

There are a lot better units in eastern WY than 17, 19, 22, and 24 for 0 or 1 point. You can pretty much buy tags in those units you listed as left overs and there is a reason for that - there's not much public access and/or the accessible areas are not good antelope habitat. You can kill an antelope in any of those units but I would look elsewhere.

IMO you could skip the scouting trip, pay the $30 to buy a PP this year, and then use the remainder of the money for the scouting trip to buy the special tag or pay a trespass fee (but neither of those are really necessary since there is plenty of public land and WIAs in other units for you to have a good hunt).

Get some BLM maps, OnXMaps chip, check out walk in areas and hunter management areas on the Wyoming website, look at Google Earth, etc. Get Mike Eastman's antelope book. You will need to do some homework but IMO that's part of the fun of planning a hunt.

 

[Crawfish-MI]

Note that the quota for unit 24 type 1 tags was drastically reduced for 2017, so past draw odds may not resemble 2017 or future results.

 

[Bydand]

I agree with everything that's already been stated. Also, one of the things that makes antelope hunting fun is the number of animals you can see from a very long distance (miles), and then going after them. In my opinion, you want to look for a unit that has huge swaths of unbroken public land. You'll be frustrated if you're seeing animals that are moving between public/private all day. I also prefer fewer roads since a lot of folks will be cruising the roads trying to spot antelope and shooting from (near) the road. Also, keep in mind that you can generally camp on BLM land, but you cannot camp on State land in Wyoming. You can probably pack an antelope out in one trip, so don't be afraid of an area where you have to walk several miles to get into where you actually want to hunt. Scouting trip probably isn't necessary, but Wyoming is just about the best place to be in the summer, so I certainly wouldn't discourage you from coming out.

No matter what else you end up doing, have a plan to get your meat cooled off quickly. Antelope is some of the best meat out there, but it's easy to ruin.

 

[efw]

Others have nailed it. There is no doubt I’d buy a point and OnXMaps and study draw odds for 17 and maybe even go in for special draw.

A point makes a huge difference and those units you mentioned are for those who don’t have points or screw up their application.

 

[cwitherow]

Thank you all for your responses. With one point, which areas should be be looking at? Is there a resource that we can see which units take that 1 point to get a tag? In MN, we don't have preference points so I don't understand how this all works. I don't quite understand these special tags either. Is there a link that can help me understand it better?

 

[Seamaster]

Thank you all for your responses. With one point, which areas should be be looking at? Is there a resource that we can see which units take that 1 point to get a tag? In MN, we don't have preference points so I don't understand how this all works. I don't quite understand these special tags either. Is there a link that can help me understand it better?

This is a link to the previous draw odds: https://wgfd.wyo.gov/Hunting/Drawing-Odds

Applicants with a higher amount of preference points are generally chosen before those with a lesser amount of points. Guys with one point draw tags before guys with zero points. This is very important. You can buy a point for $30 each that can be used in 2018 and beyond, but you only have until the end of October to do it.

Special draw tags are twice the price of regular tags and will probably give you better odds of drawing a unit.

 

[VikingsGuy]

Thank you all for your responses. With one point, which areas should be be looking at? Is there a resource that we can see which units take that 1 point to get a tag? In MN, we don't have preference points so I don't understand how this all works. I don't quite understand these special tags either. Is there a link that can help me understand it better?

This video is a good start - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVIhSwSuDpA

 

[Flatrock]

All good advice so far. The one thing I would add that I think is extremely important when researching units is to go to the county website and find the map that shows the county roads. That way you will know which public land is accessible. 5,000 acres of public land does you no good if you can't access it. Like others mentioned, those units you listed have very little public land that you can access and unless you have an inside scoop on them, those units mostly suck. Buy a point this year and you'll have way better options for next year.

It can be and IS overwhelming when trying to learn all this stuff. Just buy your points before the end of the month and then you will have all winter to learn and research everything.

 

[Iowa Hunter]

Don't overlook putting in for doe tags and learning a area you want to Buck hunt in later.
We hunted 2 separate units for does this year...had a blast learned much for futuire hunts...don't overlook walk in areas...hunted a WIA in a leftover unit that no one had been in.....1st unit we hunted had several WIA's and never saw a soul in them. I took all 3 of my does and could have taken decent Bucks.

 

[Crawfish-MI]

Thank you all for your responses. With one point, which areas should be be looking at? Is there a resource that we can see which units take that 1 point to get a tag? In MN, we don't have preference points so I don't understand how this all works. I don't quite understand these special tags either. Is there a link that can help me understand it better?

You can use toprut.com for free or you can subscribe to gohunt.com -- they both allow you to filter units according to points required...

 

[NoWiser]

If you are researching right now, use the Wyoming Game and Fish site. Toprut is great but they haven’t updated to the 2017 odds and, as always, point creep is a factor.

 

[cwitherow]

Thank you again for all the replies. We both bought a point, and it really seems to up our chances at drawing a tag. Due to time and distance, we would like to stay as east as possible, while still being in a good area. We are looking at units 21, 23, and 113. Has anyone hunted these units?

 

[HONEYBADGER]

Thank you again for all the replies. We both bought a point, and it really seems to up our chances at drawing a tag. Due to time and distance, we would like to stay as east as possible, while still being in a good area. We are looking at units 21, 23, and 113. Has anyone hunted these units?

113 has difficult access, I think you were on the right track with the 20 series units unless you want to travel to southeast Wyoming, there are a few more options there in your point level.

 

[VikingsGuy]

There are a lot better units in eastern WY than 17, 19, 22, and 24 for 0 or 1 point.

Any recommendations?

 

[efw]

Here is a helpful resource. You’ll have to play with the hunt selector a bit, but the unit selector will tell you the most valuable information on each unit such as percentage of public land, success rates for non-residents, and draw odds:

http://diyhuntingmaps.com/p/hunting-wyoming.html

Use those units cited above as a baseline since you know you can get them as a second choice. Cross reference the info you find here w/ what the game & fish site has in their section on Walk In Only Areas. Good luck!