wyoming 16 year old daughter hunt

[heartsticker]

My daughter is turning 16 and has asked me to take her to wyoming this fall on a mule deer and antelope hunt. I have a wall tent, good land reading skills, 4x4 truck, all our hunting gear needed. we are nonresident and not worried about trophy potential, I have never hunted wyoming though...Trying to figure out best dates, areas we can gain access to BLM, state land, walk in areas are fine too. We have no preference point and want to make sure we can get tags to area with access.

I'm not asking for specific hunting spot, would appreciate any help we could get to figure out seasons that overlap and game areas for both species. We are looking at 9-10 day hunt. I am not opposed to even paying a small trespass fee if needed to gain access.

Thank you in advance for any help.
I am looking to spend some quality time in God's Great Outdoors with her making memories, passing on the traditions, and knowledge.

 

[Trigger50]

Congrats on a 16 yr old daughter that wants to go hunting. Alittle tough to do both antelope & deer on same trip....but doable. Personally I would ask her which animal she wants to hunt more, mule deer or antelope. Antelope is alot easier for beginners. You almost need to focus on 1 species & just hope for the other as a bonus. Or hunt 1 area for 4 days for antelope than relocate to a diff area for deer. U can call WY county chamber of commerces for lists of landowners that allow trespass fee hunting. Most of the list are very outdated but if ur willing to make dozens & dozens of phone calls u might find a place. Wyoming folk love to talk. Even if they kindly so no at first, you might score if u converse w them at length. Even if they say no, they might know someone else that might allow trespass fee hunting. For sure mention your daughter & her birthday at length. Antelope will be a lot easier access. Deer is tougher. Look to skip opener to improve your chances of getting on a ranch.
Plenty of public land options for antelope in WY. Go to the WY website & start researching antelope hunting units. Of course 1st look at the draw odds. If ur willing to pay the higher special tag fees that will improve your odds. Write down units that u can draw the tag. Next start looking for public land. Look for HMA's & hunter walk-in areas especially. Make some phone calls. Call WY wardens & biologists too. They can give suggestions. Involve your daughter in this research, it can be fun.
For deer... look for region general tags. Make sure that the antelope & deer seasons overlap. Some units they dont. I would say, focus on filling your antelope tags & then try for deer.

 

[VAspeedgoat]

Drawing both in good areas with public access or ranches with affordable tresspass fees fir bith species are difficult. Your work is definitely cut out for you. I second the idea of calling game dept and then the biologists and wardens in the areas they recommend. Two other things to consider are putting the trip off for a year to get preference points or doing just an antelope hunt for the highest success rate. As mentuobed earlier the special draw would do well with or without preference points. A tresspass fee hunt in the eastern part of the state may be your best bet but will take alot of phone calls. Any contacts you may have will help greatly

 

[St52v]

Pm sent!!

 

[JDH]

Check your PMs

 

[heartsticker]

Thanks guys, we have decided to just hunt Mule Deer. Looking for suggestions on an area still, have been looking at the Kaycee area, we plan to camp in our wall tent at or close to the public hunting area we choose. Deadline is approching quicklly and we are still lost.

 

[Washington Hunter]

You could try region Y. I don't think it's a guaranteed draw with no points, but it's close. My only fear, especially if I were taking my daughter, is that it may be very crowded. But there's plenty of National Forest to hunt. The problem is that the deer and elk seasons are at the same time. That's why you should expect to see lots of other hunters.

 

[mixedbag]

Think you can draw any general unit but G with the special draw price/no points.The units around the bighorns I hear are decent, but I have no first hand knowledge.Seen a few nice deer in region D but wouldn't recommend it.Hopefully, you figure it out before Friday
Good luck

 

[danr55]

Be happy your daughter wants to hunt. I couldn't get mine to eat or even taste Elk. "Dad, I don't even want to smell that elk snout". You're lucky..

 

[Outdoor Junkie]

Heartsticker,

If this is your first time hunting out west, which is what I gather by reading between the lines, then I would definitely hunt antelope. They are a much easier hunt and will enable your daughter to have more success. Just my reccomendation. You can shoot a mule deer your first year out, but its not a gauranteed. Antelope in Wyoming is about as close to a gauranteed successful hunt as you can get. If you go this route, I would check the draw odds to make a list of units that you can draw with zero points, then get the huntinggpsmaps download for your GPS, so that you can identify a unit with decent public access and high scuccess rates. Once you pick a unit or a list of units, you can get a public roads maps from the country assessor's web page to see what area has the most accessible publi land. Also, if you call the biologist and game warden and tell them about your situation, they will typicaly be very helpful in pointing you to a general area of a unit, which has more animals.

Just my advice,
chuck

BTW, did you get any good advice from the guys who PM'sd you? People on here have a soft spot for parents taking their kids out for their first hunts out west. I'm surprised you didn't get some good advice from them.

Thanks guys, we have decided to just hunt Mule Deer. Looking for suggestions on an area still, have been looking at the Kaycee area, we plan to camp in our wall tent at or close to the public hunting area we choose. Deadline is approching quicklly and we are still lost.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

If the OP has decided to take her deer hunting, the following Regional tags were drawn last year in the Random Draw by all who applied for them as a first choice: E, F, J, M, T, and Y. If he's looking at the Kaycee area, I would suggest that he go the second week by putting them in as a party in the Regular Draw for Region Y. Her tag will cost $124 and his will cost $326. They will each need a Conservation Stamp at $12.50 a piece for total fees of $475. If the OP applies for Region Y and draws the tags he can PM me and I'll help him on where to go down in the southern part of Y to have fun, but there is no guarantee they'll take a deer. If they just want to go out for fun and a lot better chance to take an animal or two, I would agree with the other members about putting in for antelope. In fact, if they applied for a couple does for each of them the cost of the trip would be very low and they can probably find a ranch over in unit 23 that will at least let the girl take them for free. To do a doe antelope hunt in unit 23 they wouldn't even have to put in for the draw because there will be hundreds of leftover doe and buck tags to buy OTC in July. If they wanted to take a buck in 23, they would probably have to pay for access to a ranch for that though.

 

[88man]

PM sent. Let me know if I can help.