Other than Wyoming😁
- Thread starter wvhunter304
- Start date
I've hunted antelope all my life in Montana and I'm 67 years old. I took my granddaughter out on Sunday and saw 0 antelope on public land in a 90 mile loop north of Ryegate, area 516-20. I wanted her to experience the thrill of the hunt but failed miserably.
Don't waste your time on Montaña unless you want to pay to play. The MT FWP do a survey every year. They see 10000 antelope on private unhuntable land (Wilks Bros), 500 on public huntable land. They base their quotas on 10500 antelope and issue 2000 permits to hunt 500 antelope as well as additional doe and fawn permits. As with all governmental agencies they do things the way they always done it and the lack of critical thinking is appalling. There may be some interference from the state legislature but I haven't research that yet. You can get lucky and get a nice antelope but you won't have a quality hunt if you plan on hunting public land in Montana.
Don't waste your time on Montaña unless you want to pay to play. The MT FWP do a survey every year. They see 10000 antelope on private unhuntable land (Wilks Bros), 500 on public huntable land. They base their quotas on 10500 antelope and issue 2000 permits to hunt 500 antelope as well as additional doe and fawn permits. As with all governmental agencies they do things the way they always done it and the lack of critical thinking is appalling. There may be some interference from the state legislature but I haven't research that yet. You can get lucky and get a nice antelope but you won't have a quality hunt if you plan on hunting public land in Montana.
We are in 705 in MT fri/sat and part of sun with 2 buck and 2 doe tags and probably not going to pass many opportunities. I hunted this area 4 years ago and there were animals everywhere, I hunted it last year on 2 doe tags and there were not many but still a few. Taking my boy to grind it out, he will tag out first if I eat my tags I wont be mad about it. Wyoming seems to do the best with tag cuts when herds are hurting and tag additions when there is abundance, surrounding states seem to be slow to react and not enough.
Going hunting is better than sitting at home though and you cannot shoot anything from the couch, so we'll be out in the spitting rain Friday, see how it goes.
Going hunting is better than sitting at home though and you cannot shoot anything from the couch, so we'll be out in the spitting rain Friday, see how it goes.
Well, I lied. We started out in the rain Friday and had several groups located in the first hour of daylight and thought that would be the case, but after 10 am we hit a wall of hunters and decided to go back and get on some of the animals we had seen earlier in the day and every group had someone in the field butchering one up. Lessons learned! We pounded it out for 2 more days and the weather improved and we were able to cover a lot of country. We both shot our does, My boy missed a buck and I passed a couple bucks, still plenty of opportunities but we ended up not filling our buck tags. We both shot bucks in South Dakota so freezer has plenty of antelopes.
Still a fun hunt and animals have recovered from last year but still nothing like 4-5 years ago. Country is in bad drought, whenever that turns around populations will rebound. Way too much hunting pressure in 705, game and fish needs to continue tag reductions but I understand it's an opportunity hunt and we had opportunities.
Still a fun hunt and animals have recovered from last year but still nothing like 4-5 years ago. Country is in bad drought, whenever that turns around populations will rebound. Way too much hunting pressure in 705, game and fish needs to continue tag reductions but I understand it's an opportunity hunt and we had opportunities.
nothing personal intended here but I feel the FWP has ruined public land hunting in Montana and we need to quit shooting doe and fawn antelope. The populations just don't support the quotas and the issuance of doe fawn tags is kind of in your face saying if you want to play you will pay.
So much attention is given to access but access does nothing if no animals exist on public land.
So much attention is given to access but access does nothing if no animals exist on public land.
dan.kirkpatrick
Well-known member
new mex, and idaho are strait draws,,of course wyoming is the antelope king,,colo and utah and nevada if you can build points and get lucky.
Pucky Freak
Well-known member
Wy, mt, Co, NE, sd, and if you’ve got a little extra pocket change, ID. If you are willing to hunt females, archery, and tough public access, you can realistically hunt 3+ tags every year. Shelling out more $ opens up much more quality annual hunts (WY, NV, NM, NE, CO), but costs rack up quickly.
I guess it depends on what you want. You’re going to spend just as much on 1 quality hunt than on 3 spread-out subpar hunts where logistics and travel eat up the costs. I much prefer the latter, but that’s just me.
As far as other states go, AZ, CA, KS, OK, TX, OR, WA, ND, UT, (& Canada) do your research carefully. A very small # of NR tags means no opportunity, abysmal draw odds, and/or sometimes not really worth the application fees for the tiny chance to secure a tag.
I guess it depends on what you want. You’re going to spend just as much on 1 quality hunt than on 3 spread-out subpar hunts where logistics and travel eat up the costs. I much prefer the latter, but that’s just me.
As far as other states go, AZ, CA, KS, OK, TX, OR, WA, ND, UT, (& Canada) do your research carefully. A very small # of NR tags means no opportunity, abysmal draw odds, and/or sometimes not really worth the application fees for the tiny chance to secure a tag.
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