Success Rates in Eastern WY

[np307]

Three of us went with 5 total tags last year for our first time. Had it not been for poor shooting, we could have filled all 5 tags. Public land only. Only hunted 3 days as well.

 

[3855WIN]

Yep, this will be new territory. I dont believe i have taken a shot over 100 yards before. Got to get in some range time.

Im guessing 10 or 12 x binos is a must? I have a set of 8x42's but im guessing those will be a bit underpowered.

Use those binos, but consider a spotting scope.

 

[HandgunHunter]

I use 8x binos and a 15-30 spotter

 

[GoatHntr]

Success rate is high. There are a lot of animals, not necessarily the biggest, public land is limited. With that said it takes little public land to be successful. The trick is finding accessible public land.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

I’m with @Dsnow9 100% for me.

If your not super picky or have a doe tag it shouldn’t take more than a morning to fill a tag.

That said if you are looking for a big buck it could take a long time in NE WY.

 

[Dougfirtree]

It's difficult to compare pronghorn hunting with say, hunting whitetails in the east. The success rates can seem so high you think there must be a catch. As long as you draw a unit that has a decent amount of public land, that is accessible, there's not really a catch. There are a lot of pronghorns and they're usually not hard to locate.

Just give yourself a bit of time to put it all together, be prepared to walk a bit, to crawl on your belly through the cactus and while you don't have to be a long range shooter, you'd be smart to be a confident shooter out to 250 yards, or so. 300 is even better.

 

[arthurpete]

You guys are great. Appreciate all the feedback (even you "piss off non resident guys")

Again, i would be happy with whatever i get, i am in no way looking for any B&C buck. I am probably over thinking everything at this point as my desk is a jumble of spreadsheets and printouts with a gazillion tabs open on the PC. I have narrowed it down to 2 or 3 units for the general and am still tossing around the idea of seeing different country with some doe tags. I plan to spend about 10 days in the region so i should be able to cover a good bit of ground.

 

[SaskHunter]

I plan to spend about 10 days in the region so i should be able to cover a good bit of ground.

You will have plenty of time to fill all your tags in 10 days, best advice I can give you, is scout the first day. Drive the entire unit if you have to, stop, glass, etc. I've drawn three buck and three doe tags over two seasons in NE Wyoming and have filled all three buck tags and one doe tag. The other two doe tags I decided not to fill because I wanted to return home earlier and didn't want to shoot more than I actually needed. Turns out not filling those tags was a good thing considering they have pulled all doe tags for that unit for 2020.

 

[ccc23454]

You guys are great. Appreciate all the feedback (even you "piss off non resident guys")
Plan to spend about 10 days in the region so i should be able to cover a good bit of ground.

I selected 75% because 100 wasnt a option. If you spend 10 days you better plan on doing some yote hunting and fishing with the other 9 days, just find a piece cover some ground preferably on a weekday and you can find a decent buck. If you find access its cake!

 

[wytex]

Here is what we did on our first trip my wife and I did last year along with my Dad and a buddy.

We applied for buck tags in a southern unit and used a unit around the bighorns as a second choice that had over 50% chance of drawing. We in the same southern unit applied for doe tags, two chances each.

We ended up with a total of 9 tags. 3 buck tags in the second choice unit near the bighorns and 6 doe tags in the southern unit. It was about 3.5 hours between these units.

We started with does. Got to that unit and it has about 1/3 public land but lots of checkerboard. We chose this area mostly for our buck tags and the doe tags allowed us to scout it for bucks. Success rates on the doe tag was really high and with the amount of public land, figured it was be pretty easy. I would highly recommend this stategy for any first time hunter For antelope because boy was it easy. First day we actually had a flat tire and since we arrived in the afternoon, the day was shot. Saw some lope to give us hope we would get a few tagged the next day. Well crap, by 8am we had 4/6 down it was that easy...every square mile it seems has antelope in that rawlings area...we got the other two being way more selective shooting big mature does by end of day.

The North unit where we drew buck tags was a whole different animal. Snowstorm hit dropping some early snow. We had to work hard and do some hiking in the limited public that existed in this unit. Many many many antelope on private, not so much on public along with a hunter parked at almost every access area. Did manage to kill two bucks and my wife didn't want to settle for a doe and passed up a few. We did have 4 encounters with bucks and just she never got a shot chance.

So in summary, if you want to shoot an antelope for the experience and don't care about horns, success almost has to be 100% if you head to an area with decent public land and doe tags. Look around rawlings...

It's Rawlins.

 

[bts09]

I'll add my 2 cents. Have gone to eastern Wyoming two years in a row, and have had 100% success rates (if you don't count the doe tags we burned last year because we had enough meat between us already and weren't going to shoot the extras just to do it). The first year it was trickier because we were still figuring out access and stalking, etc. Last year was just not challenging since we weren't looking for the biggest antelope to ever walk the unit. If you're trophy hunting, your odds will be lower. If you pick a unit with decent access, and you're just trying to get an antelope down, I would be surprised if you're not successful. Again, it's all about what you're going for. But I think my point would be, as long as there's access, you will have a chance to be successful, as long as you define success as harvesting an antelope and not harvesting "the" antelope. And I define "access" as a legal way into a large swath of public--can be lots of hiking involved in those lower point or zero point units.

 

[arthurpete]

You will have plenty of time to fill all your tags in 10 days, best advice I can give you, is scout the first day. Drive the entire unit if you have to, stop, glass, etc. I've drawn three buck and three doe tags over two seasons in NE Wyoming and have filled all three buck tags and one doe tag. The other two doe tags I decided not to fill because I wanted to return home earlier and didn't want to shoot more than I actually needed. Turns out not filling those tags was a good thing considering they have pulled all doe tags for that unit for 2020.

Yes, i definitely want to spend the first day getting the lay of the land. a section of southern pine/oak woods is going to feel way different that a section of rolling grasslands so it will take some adjusting to the scale. With my buck tag I put in for unit 9 for my first and unit 8 for second option, there is a decent chance i wont draw a buck tag with roughly 70%/50% draw odds but worst case scenario i collect a point and go after does. For Doe tags i went units 6 and 1 with a second options of unit 2. Unit 2 is barren of accessible public but I was able to acquire access to a little bit of locked up state land so i was pretty happy about that.

 

[arthurpete]

I selected 75% because 100 wasnt a option. If you spend 10 days you better plan on doing some yote hunting and fishing with the other 9 days, just find a piece cover some ground preferably on a weekday and you can find a decent buck. If you find access its cake!

I absolutely want to wet some line while im up there but i did throw in for a General B deer tag so even if i luck up and fill my antelope tag right away i will still have some hunting to do. I plan to get up there the monday after opening weekend, i know they will be pushed around a good bit by then but i had planned to go in to the deeper pockets of public anyways.

 

[arthurpete]

It's Rawlins.

Yeah i know, maybe in 5-7 years for me

 

[arthurpete]

I'll add my 2 cents. Have gone to eastern Wyoming two years in a row, and have had 100% success rates (if you don't count the doe tags we burned last year because we had enough meat between us already and weren't going to shoot the extras just to do it). The first year it was trickier because we were still figuring out access and stalking, etc. Last year was just not challenging since we weren't looking for the biggest antelope to ever walk the unit. If you're trophy hunting, your odds will be lower. If you pick a unit with decent access, and you're just trying to get an antelope down, I would be surprised if you're not successful. Again, it's all about what you're going for. But I think my point would be, as long as there's access, you will have a chance to be successful, as long as you define success as harvesting an antelope and not harvesting "the" antelope. And I define "access" as a legal way into a large swath of public--can be lots of hiking involved in those lower point or zero point units.

Im not going to be too picky at all. Im having a hard enough time as it is telling these 80 inchers from 60 inchers in these pictures and youtube videos.

Ive picked unit 9/8 for my buck tag. I looked at 9 specifically because of all the walk in access area. 8 seems like a wasteland from everything ive read but there are sizable chunks of public, there has to be some antelope back in there.

 

[bts09]

Either of those will be fine. Might be slightly more opportunities for public access in 8, but 9 looks like it has a larger piece more accessible. And yes, tons of walk ins areas. Good luck--there's still a chance you strike out, but based on last year's odds, you've got a really good chance of drawing one of them.

 

[WyoDoug]

I hunt antelope strictly close to Cheyenne because of so many antelope around us. Last few years I have been hunting on the base since they opened that up. Last year I drew a type 1 and two type 8 doe/fawn tags and then put in for leftovers and drew two more does. I filled all but one of the leftovers just because my truck blew a spark plug and wife would not let me hunt in her car LOL. Being a meat hunter, I just don't have the motivation to venture out for them like many do in here especially with multistate hunts. I won't turn down a trophy but that is not what I am after primarily. Only exception is on base, I started chasing some big bucks only because they are there and there are only so many allowed to hunt on base and bucks there are easier to get closer to for bows. Once I get more proficient with my bow maybe I will do some more areas outside the area I am in. But that is a big maybe for me at my age.

 

[vikingload]

Im not going to be too picky at all. Im having a hard enough time as it is telling these 80 inchers from 60 inchers in these pictures and youtube videos.

Ive picked unit 9/8 for my buck tag. I looked at 9 specifically because of all the walk in access area. 8 seems like a wasteland from everything ive read but there are sizable chunks of public, there has to be some antelope back in there.

I hunted Area 7 two years in a row and saw a lot of 60" through out it. I did see on butte who I feel came close to the high 70's and it was night and day in the difference.