tomengineer
Active member
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2019
- Messages
- 258
In late September/early October of 2019 I drove to Wyoming from the east coast with 5 friends to hunt a zero point Wyoming Pronghorn Unit. Like many here I had never hunted pronghorn before or even been west of Ohio. With the help of this forum and other online sources we were able to put together a fun trip for everyone involved. Thanks to the experienced members who gave me their 2 cents on things and didn't need to. I'd like to return the favor and add some advice/intelligence for those considering a first hunt for Wyoming Pronghorn.
Choice of Unit - After hunting in a zero point unit in the northeast part of the state I firmly believe that the topics of public access, road access, hunting pressure, terrain that will hold antelope, antelope populations etc. are highly subjective. That is to say everyone has their own opinion and they seem to be all over the map. This was the biggest hangup for me prior to contemplating a 24 hour drive for a hunting trip. Which unit do I choose? And after asking about a unit you'll receive answers all the way from "easy unit, killed three bucks our first day" to "I'll never hunt here again, wait until you have 11 points to hunt Wyoming". My advice here is simple. Do your research. Look at the number of tags issued, the success rate, public access using onXmaps, public road maps available from Wyoming counties and other sources including this forum. No zero point unit is a sure thing in my opinion. I will say this, I went with 6 guys and everyone in the group had an opportunity to shoot an antelope. 3 of us harvested bucks, 1 missed his shot, 1 had a herding dog literally come up to him while laying prone for his shot and start sniffing him thus ruining his shot and scaring the game(honest truth so he says), 1 passed a doe as he deemed it too small. Hunting is not a sure thing and neither is a zero point unit but as many here say if you walk, hunt aggressively and get in early you will most likely have an opportunity. I personally would not pay for a trespass fee. The unit we were in had 30-40 antelope laying on the ground in agricultural fields like dogs. I mean if you want to drive across the country to shoot an antelope in a farmer's field from behind a hay bale then that's your thing but if you want a bit of a challenge I wouldn't shy away from a zero point unit.
Hunting Pressure - If you are used to hunting a private 200 acre wooded lot in the east I have bad news for you. The Wyoming Pronghorn hunt is not that. You will see other hunters, lots of them. Partly because you can see for miles and partly because there are relatively few public access points in certain units. You will see trucks driving the roads, guys at the gas station, guys sitting in "the spot" you chose from your topo map. We even saw one pile of stones in the shape of a guy with an orange hat on to hold a spot, which I found kind of funny. We went the first week and we saw lots of hunters on the roads. We walked 4 miles back and saw virtually nobody, but we did still see orange hats in the distance. That didn't stop us from getting chances. Go into it with the mindset you will be sharing public space and you won't be disappointed. There were areas and times of day were we walked for 4-5 hours and didn't see another hunter.
Hunting Tactics - This is the fun part. Hopefully from the pictures attached to this post you can see the type of terrain we were in. It took a couple of rounds of seeing antelope while trying to get a shot to start to respect just how good the eyesight on these animals is. I'm talking 500 yards away poking your head over a ridge slowly to see a group of 10 of them staring at you. I actually bumped the group of 8-10 I saw several times before I was able to close the distance and get a shot. My hunting partner was able to connect by sneaking over a ridge and executing a 380 yard shot with a 30-06. Best advice I can give and I'm not expert is peak over that ridge over so slowly, if you can sneak to a point to close the distance using terrain do so but just assume if you are in their line of sight they will see you.
Travel/Lodging - We stayed in a pretty nice AirBnB house we found. That's just what our group was looking for. There were people camping in trailers, staying at hotels and tent camping. You can see from the pictures the weather varied from 60 and sunny to 21 and windy with snow cover in the span of 3 days. Only you know you and your hunting crew but choose wisely as your comfort will have an effect on how hard you hunt. If you are truly driving from the east coast (24 hours + drive time) I would fly. It's some extra hoops to jump through logistically but that drive will really take it out of you as well as eliminate a couple days you could be hunting. We drove 24 hours straight through and if I was to drive again that's how I'd do it.
Firearms/Equipment - We used everything from a .243 to 30-06 with 6.5 creedmoor, 7mm-08 and .270 in between. Success was had with the .243, 30-06 and 6.5 CM. I think any caliber in that range would be fine and no antelope that was shot went very far. I took my shot at 278 yards and my hunting partner's was 380 yards. Rangefinders are a must as is a good pair of binoculars. I would recommend 10 or 12 power binoculars. I personally did not use my spotting scope or tripod the entire trip. There is just too much walking and relocating. Good boots (waterproof), backpack, game bags, onXmaps device are all critical. We used iPhones and onXmaps with the maps downloaded along with external battery packs. Worked like a charm. I would recommend a pack where you and a partner can quarter an antelope and carry out hide, head and quarters along with all gear in one trip. That is doable with antelope. I made the mistake of starting to drag mine and boy that was a mistake. You will definitely need a vehicle capable of pretty decent off-roading. The mud kept many out of prime hunting areas. Bring chains or towstraps and something to scrap the mud off of everything.
Meat Preparation - I would process your own meat if possible. If you can't do that I would quarter it and do it at home. The meat cutters are all slammed in town and they are not able to give you your own animal back. They can ship it to you bu the cost is high. We processed ours, vac sealed, hard froze and it was still hard frozen when we got home.
That's all I can think of for now. I've attached some pictures to give you an idea of how our trip went. In keeping with Hunt Talk custom I won't be discussing which unit we hunted publicly. If you are a member of the forum and would like to ask questions about a unit or anything else please feel free to PM me. I'm not on Hunt Talk a whole lot during the off season but I will respond.
Choice of Unit - After hunting in a zero point unit in the northeast part of the state I firmly believe that the topics of public access, road access, hunting pressure, terrain that will hold antelope, antelope populations etc. are highly subjective. That is to say everyone has their own opinion and they seem to be all over the map. This was the biggest hangup for me prior to contemplating a 24 hour drive for a hunting trip. Which unit do I choose? And after asking about a unit you'll receive answers all the way from "easy unit, killed three bucks our first day" to "I'll never hunt here again, wait until you have 11 points to hunt Wyoming". My advice here is simple. Do your research. Look at the number of tags issued, the success rate, public access using onXmaps, public road maps available from Wyoming counties and other sources including this forum. No zero point unit is a sure thing in my opinion. I will say this, I went with 6 guys and everyone in the group had an opportunity to shoot an antelope. 3 of us harvested bucks, 1 missed his shot, 1 had a herding dog literally come up to him while laying prone for his shot and start sniffing him thus ruining his shot and scaring the game(honest truth so he says), 1 passed a doe as he deemed it too small. Hunting is not a sure thing and neither is a zero point unit but as many here say if you walk, hunt aggressively and get in early you will most likely have an opportunity. I personally would not pay for a trespass fee. The unit we were in had 30-40 antelope laying on the ground in agricultural fields like dogs. I mean if you want to drive across the country to shoot an antelope in a farmer's field from behind a hay bale then that's your thing but if you want a bit of a challenge I wouldn't shy away from a zero point unit.
Hunting Pressure - If you are used to hunting a private 200 acre wooded lot in the east I have bad news for you. The Wyoming Pronghorn hunt is not that. You will see other hunters, lots of them. Partly because you can see for miles and partly because there are relatively few public access points in certain units. You will see trucks driving the roads, guys at the gas station, guys sitting in "the spot" you chose from your topo map. We even saw one pile of stones in the shape of a guy with an orange hat on to hold a spot, which I found kind of funny. We went the first week and we saw lots of hunters on the roads. We walked 4 miles back and saw virtually nobody, but we did still see orange hats in the distance. That didn't stop us from getting chances. Go into it with the mindset you will be sharing public space and you won't be disappointed. There were areas and times of day were we walked for 4-5 hours and didn't see another hunter.
Hunting Tactics - This is the fun part. Hopefully from the pictures attached to this post you can see the type of terrain we were in. It took a couple of rounds of seeing antelope while trying to get a shot to start to respect just how good the eyesight on these animals is. I'm talking 500 yards away poking your head over a ridge slowly to see a group of 10 of them staring at you. I actually bumped the group of 8-10 I saw several times before I was able to close the distance and get a shot. My hunting partner was able to connect by sneaking over a ridge and executing a 380 yard shot with a 30-06. Best advice I can give and I'm not expert is peak over that ridge over so slowly, if you can sneak to a point to close the distance using terrain do so but just assume if you are in their line of sight they will see you.
Travel/Lodging - We stayed in a pretty nice AirBnB house we found. That's just what our group was looking for. There were people camping in trailers, staying at hotels and tent camping. You can see from the pictures the weather varied from 60 and sunny to 21 and windy with snow cover in the span of 3 days. Only you know you and your hunting crew but choose wisely as your comfort will have an effect on how hard you hunt. If you are truly driving from the east coast (24 hours + drive time) I would fly. It's some extra hoops to jump through logistically but that drive will really take it out of you as well as eliminate a couple days you could be hunting. We drove 24 hours straight through and if I was to drive again that's how I'd do it.
Firearms/Equipment - We used everything from a .243 to 30-06 with 6.5 creedmoor, 7mm-08 and .270 in between. Success was had with the .243, 30-06 and 6.5 CM. I think any caliber in that range would be fine and no antelope that was shot went very far. I took my shot at 278 yards and my hunting partner's was 380 yards. Rangefinders are a must as is a good pair of binoculars. I would recommend 10 or 12 power binoculars. I personally did not use my spotting scope or tripod the entire trip. There is just too much walking and relocating. Good boots (waterproof), backpack, game bags, onXmaps device are all critical. We used iPhones and onXmaps with the maps downloaded along with external battery packs. Worked like a charm. I would recommend a pack where you and a partner can quarter an antelope and carry out hide, head and quarters along with all gear in one trip. That is doable with antelope. I made the mistake of starting to drag mine and boy that was a mistake. You will definitely need a vehicle capable of pretty decent off-roading. The mud kept many out of prime hunting areas. Bring chains or towstraps and something to scrap the mud off of everything.
Meat Preparation - I would process your own meat if possible. If you can't do that I would quarter it and do it at home. The meat cutters are all slammed in town and they are not able to give you your own animal back. They can ship it to you bu the cost is high. We processed ours, vac sealed, hard froze and it was still hard frozen when we got home.
That's all I can think of for now. I've attached some pictures to give you an idea of how our trip went. In keeping with Hunt Talk custom I won't be discussing which unit we hunted publicly. If you are a member of the forum and would like to ask questions about a unit or anything else please feel free to PM me. I'm not on Hunt Talk a whole lot during the off season but I will respond.
