Planning 1st trip to Wyoming 2020

[MikeW217]

I am planning my first western hunt for 2020. I am in Illinois and will be driving to Wyoming to hunt antelope. At least that is my hope. I currently have 2 points and have been researching both the regular and special draw using gohunt. So far the top choices I see are 27, 51,52 or55. I am just looking to see if anyone has experience in these units to determine if they are worth doing the special draw? Or is there a regular unit I could draw with 2 points I am overlooking? My biggest concern is difficult access. Having never been to Wyoming I do not know how to accurately interpret that especially regarding road conditions. Not trophy hunting by any means. Just want the experience and meat. Thanks!

 

[NEWHunter]

I’ve not used gohunt, but unless the WY antelope draw experiences “point slump” (ie the opposite of point creep) the odds are not in your favor for drawing any of those units - even in the special. If you are willing to work and can shoot, you should be able to fill a pronghorn tag in WY in a 2 point unit in the regular draw.

That said, I would advocate for paying up the extra $288 dollars for the special, putting in for a harder to draw first choice and a 2nd choice tag you can likely draw, and also putting in for some good access doe units nearby. This way you’ll gain valuable experience and if it turns out you get hooked on pronghorn, like many folks do, you’ll be able to burn 3 points in 2021 more wisely or continue to hunt 2nd choice units and build points for a great hunt in the future.

The Hunter Planner and draw odds on the WY Game & Fish website is very helpful. Good luck.

 

[Buffs35]

Agree with NEWHunter. I don't track special draw odds, but you are below normal draw in all 4 units listed. Crazier things have happened, however. And I will second using the Wyo Hunt Planner, best in the west.

 

[JohnBud]

I’ve not used gohunt, but unless the WY antelope draw experiences “point slump” (ie the opposite of point creep) the odds are not in your favor for drawing any of those units - even in the special. If you are willing to work and can shoot, you should be able to fill a pronghorn tag in WY in a 2 point unit in the regular draw.

That said, I would advocate for paying up the extra $288 dollars for the special, putting in for a harder to draw first choice and a 2nd choice tag you can likely draw, and also putting in for some good access doe units nearby. This way you’ll gain valuable experience and if it turns out you get hooked on pronghorn, like many folks do, you’ll be able to burn 3 points in 2021 more wisely or continue to hunt 2nd choice units and build points for a great hunt in the future.

The Hunter Planner and draw odds on the WY Game & Fish website is very helpful. Good luck.

This is good advice. I did exactly what he described and drew a second choice buck tag and a doe tag for my first antelope hunt this year. I tagged out and had a BLAST hunting antelope in Wyoming. Do your homework regarding "difficult access" units. Difficult does not mean impossible, but planning is critical.

 

[MikeW217]

Thank you all for the advice I really appreciate it. I will checkout the Wyoming hunt planner. Go hunt had my draw odds for a type 1 special for unit 27 at 93 percent. Not sure their accuracy. Just giving that for reference.

 

[unclemoe]

I did the same trip as you are looking at, live in north central Illinois and drove to wyoming for my first pronghorn hunt, my brother and I had 2 points and put in for a unit I will PM to you it was listed as "limited access" but had no problem at all filling our tags did 2 bucks day 1 and 1 doe day 2 and we were tagged out, often times the limited access means limited road access and if your willing to hike a bit you will be fine, at least thats hows it worked out for us

 

[338 win mag]

I drew 52 this year with 2 points in the special draw. You wont have any trouble filling a tag there I dont think.

 

[Rhino Hunter]

I'm tagging in!

I also want to hunt WY for speedy goat in 2020. There will be five of us. Me, my two sons (23 & 21), my buddy and his daughter (23). It will be the first hunting trip out West for the three young uns'. We can't wait. We'll be driving from Michigan, camping on public land and it'll be a DYI hunt.

Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you.

 

[FranklinME]

Go to the Wyoming draw odds and look at the last couple of years to see the trend in points required, it’s very easy to use

 

[Bluffgruff]

Gohunt is using 2018 draw odds to make their recs currently, and I think several of those units took more points in 2019.

 

[RuRu12]

I will second using the Drawing Odds tables on the Wyoming Game & Fish website. There are some units in the eastern part of the state that are mostly private that are easy to draw. If you do a little research and are willing to pay a small trespass fee access is easy to obtain. Some of these units will have limited public and some have Walk-In areas. If you plan on hunting Public or Walk-In in one of these units I would plan my trip to avoid the first week of the season, possibly through the first weekend. The local hunters hit these areas pretty hard early in the season. They usually concentrate on filling their tags quickly. Pressure will be way less after the first week. The Game & Fish Regional Offices and the Chambers of Commerce can be good resources for obtaining information on access. Good luck. Pronghorn hunting is addictive.