Dl1969
Active member
was able to take does on consecutive days but boy were they sure warmed up.1 on blm and 1 on a walk in piece,not a unit I wanna try again soon
Wyoming 22 success
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EastTNHunter
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Lots of pressure?
Bluffgruff
Well-known member
Midweek, 4th week of the season last year, I had 6 different trucks pull in behind me while I stalked a mediocre buck on a tiny piece of public land. 1000 any antelope and about as many doe/fawn tags make the pressure unreal. I thought it would be relaxed that late, but I won't make the same mistake again.
Dl1969
Active member
Pressure and lack of public access
Pucky Freak
Well-known member
I had a similar experience on a high-pressure WY unit this year. I think the “OnX phenomenon” has saturated the playing field to the point where each hunting season there is a higher % of DIY, self-guided, mid-week and end-of-season strategizing, corner-hopping, go in deep, out-of-state people. If you had the same tag 2 years ago your experience and intel is already starting to get outdated. You’d think outfitters and sellers of tresspass fees would be going for broke (I don’t think they are). My guess is WYG&F lags a little on their tag allocation, season structure, and game management strategy to account for how hunting has rapidly changed due to technology. I can hardly expect they could do much better somehow.
I’ve been thinking what should I do for my next antelope hunt, and here are a few ideas I’ve batted around.
-accumulate 3-4 points to get into a unit with more accessible public land.
-apply for a very low draw probability, but higher hunt quality, random draw doe/fawn tag
-Return to the same unit which I know now, but scout a few days before the opener and be ready for the opening volley (makes me a little uneasy)
-Switch to archery
I’ve been thinking what should I do for my next antelope hunt, and here are a few ideas I’ve batted around.
-accumulate 3-4 points to get into a unit with more accessible public land.
-apply for a very low draw probability, but higher hunt quality, random draw doe/fawn tag
-Return to the same unit which I know now, but scout a few days before the opener and be ready for the opening volley (makes me a little uneasy)
-Switch to archery
Absolutely correct. I was just chatting about this with another forum member about a half hour ago. It's a very real phenomenon. Between OnX, GoHunt, and a buffet of YouTube videos, the public land hunting dynamic is changing very rapidly.
Brittany Chukarman
Well-known member
The world has been invited to hunt Wyoming pronghorn and all inside knowledge has been shared. How else could it turn out?
thusby
Well-known member
Seeing license plates from 49 of 50 states while you are driving around to the 15 accessible BLM chunks is a little disheartening.
Hang in there. I'm sure you will the 50th if you look hard enough.
deer_shooter
Well-known member
Agreed. I hunted a second choice unit this year that only a few years ago I could pick up left over tags in. The first year I hunted that unit was 2012 and there were a couple hundred tags left over. Now its 1-2 points for Type one. Until this year, I had never seen another person on foot. This year there were at least 11 others that I could see on foot and that was way back in.
D
Deleted member 16014
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I feel WY has done and will do a good job adjusting to harvest efficiencies and herd management needs. Particularly relative to some other western states. I'm not sure it's even possible for a state agency to be limber enough to address how rapidly the hunting experience is changing.
dcoryn
Well-known member
A non-resident hunter complaining about an abundance of non-resident hunters, can't have your cake and eat it too....
thusby
Well-known member
I am part of the problem.
I've had the same experience. Though anecdotal, it's very telling. I lived in Laramie from 2012-2015 and hunted the same unit each year (100% odds and close to school). It progressively got more crowded each year but I was still able to tag out on small bucks.
Since moving away I hadn't been back to the unit until this year when I pulled it as my 3rd choice. Wow. I had one day to hunt and even late in October on a Thursday I was blown away at the amount of vehicles I saw and how few antelope there were. I saw at least more hunting rigs the day I hunted than I used to see opening weekend when I'd hunted it just a few years earlier. One clown from Wisconsin seemed to think it was the Baja 500 - like he had a goal to drive every road in the unit rather than hunt.
I understand the appeal of antelope hunting, no matter where you live. It's a great time. But man, tag allotments seem like they could use some decreases. And with apps and websites there just doesn't seem to be any secret info/honey holes/untouched areas anymore......
NEWHunter
Well-known member
There’s a lot more than one unfortunately - at least the one you ran in to showed the appearance of thinking . . .
Bigjay73
Well-known member
Have the NR tag allotments gone up significantly?
I am hunting 102 which shares a boundary with 22. This is my first year in 102 and for the life of me I can't find one!
We are now under a week from season closure, so 3 weeks in. I think I've been in there 1 time since gun opened where I was the only truck. Yesterday there where 2 others. I have not yet found an animal in there where in archery I was getting multiple stalks a day. I have been up to 2 miles from the truck.
It's been nuts.
We are now under a week from season closure, so 3 weeks in. I think I've been in there 1 time since gun opened where I was the only truck. Yesterday there where 2 others. I have not yet found an animal in there where in archery I was getting multiple stalks a day. I have been up to 2 miles from the truck.
It's been nuts.
Dl1969
Active member
Maybe a decrease in tags for awhile would help,the one group I found on blm after I shot,pretty sure they didn’t stop till they hit Montana
ClearCreek
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2017
- Messages
- 430
Bob-WY:
Antelope Hunt Area 102 has always been difficult, IF you do not have access to some private land.
Where are you talking about when you say, "I think I've been in there 1 time since gun opened where I was the only truck." Where is "in there"?
Private message me if you desire.
ClearCreek
