Wyoming Mule Deer/Pronghorn combo

[Mitchellmountain]

I am looking to plan a DIY in SE Wyoming in 2018 for my 12yo son and I. We are from Pa and don’t mind the drive. Public land would be good but not opposed to paying trespass fees either. Just looking for some firsthand info from guys that hunt out there. As always not interested in learning gps coordinates to someone’s honey hole, just some starting info and where to begin my search for hunting areas. This will be my son’s 3rd season hunting and his trip to pine ridge Nebraska in 2017 really wet his appetite for out west. He’s not ready for the mountains yet so looking to stay east of them for now.

Thanks in advance for advice given,

Steve

 

[375H&H]

How did you decide on SW Wyoming?

 

[Mitchellmountain]

Already starting off on the wrong foot, I meant SE. Gentleman in my office went out not too far from Cheyenne and a lot of good things to say. Since he has only been there once and only hunted on the one Ranch his info/experience was limited. Looking for more input from people that are more familiar.

Steve

 

[MN Public Hunter]

Welcome and here is a place to start.

Start here and pick the units based on your points you have.

https://wgfd.wyo.gov/Hunting/Drawing...7-Drawing-Odds

Then start here and look for public land available for each of those unit.

https://wgfd.wyo.gov/Hunting/Hunt-Pl...g/Antelope-Map

Also look here, no 2017 info yet.

https://wgfd.wyo.gov/Hunting/Harvest-Reports/

Hope this helps you start the adventure.

 

[jtm307]

Do you have any preference points? A dual species hunt CAN be a challenge, especially if you have no familiarity with the places you're hunting. If you have a few preference points for antelope, I could point you to some places where it's doable if you're not too picky on buck size. I'm not familiar enough with "zero point" antelope units to offer recommendations. If you insist on a dual species hunt, don't get hung up on necessarily hunting the same unit for both species.

 

[Muskeez]

I would recommend making it an antelope only hunt. Get extra doe tags if you can. I think it's best to focus on one species at a time and make the most of it instead of wondering and thinking you maybe should be doing one thing while you are doing the other. This way you will have plenty of time to look at a lot of animals and make several stalks. My girls and I always seemed to take 3 stalks for every animal harvested. We liked it that way actually. When you mess up, you just go over the next hill and find some more to look at. Just my opinion, enjoy the preparation and learning, it's as much fun as the hunt!

 

[Elite7]

Muskeez gives good advice. My first year out we went for antelope only and were succesful. Last year we went for antelope and mule deer in a limited access unit. We were fortunate enough to get our mule deer, but failed on coming up with a respectable antelope on public land. I was not a fan of trying to hunt two different species at once due to the pressure and trying to decide which one would be best to go after that day. I don't plan on doing the two species thing again, but it is hard not to pick up extra tags when making a trip from out of state.

 

[Mitchellmountain]

I completely understand what u mean, basically don’t take too big of a first bite when you go out, but I will say my feelings more follow the line of one trip a year and a long drive let’s get a few tags if available. At this point in my hunting career I don’t feel much pressure to fill tags, just enjoy the opportunity. And for a few hundred more to get both, I’ll take the chance that one will go unfilled. I sincerely appreciate everyone’s input, when I told my son we might hunt Wyoming this year to say he was excited would be an understatement.

 

[Elite7]

I can't blame you for wanting the additional tags. MN Public Hunter laid it out for you to start doing some research. Be sure to look at the county GIS maps for which roads are actually public. Onxmaps, google earth, and maps on wyoming game and fish will mislead you on what is public vs private roads. Be sure to get the onxmaps on your phone or GPS and go hunt! Best of luck to you and your son.

 

[MN Public Hunter]

I'll even add a little more to this for google earth....Once you have it down to which unit you want to apply for based on your criteria...

Go to this link https://wgfd.wyo.gov/hunting/hunt-planner

Select a species...
Click on SELECT A HUNT AREA...
On the right box in the drop down select the hunt area...
Click on VIEW DETAILED INFO...
Above the map you will see KML....click on this and this is the google earth KML for that unit. Save to hard drive, Load it into google earth.

What does this help with, well you can see all roads...etc.etc.etc via google earth that lead into the BLM/State land on the map as it has all the colors.

Again, I hope this helps.

 

[Mitchellmountain]

It all helps, thanks everybody! It’s funny, was kind of thinking of antelope as a added bonus to a mule deer hunt now after advice from here and more reading on the net that antelope might be our prime target. Just sounds like a lot of fun, and good eating.

Steve

 

[Nick87]

Are you looking for a buck of each species or maybe a buck deer and doe antelope hunt?

 

[Mitchellmountain]

Buck in both, not a trophy in either.

 

[Lonesome_God_outdoors]

If you don't care about a huge antelope you should be able to fill that tag in less than a day

 

[isu22andy]

Antelope should be a cake walk, I was honestly shocked at how easy it was (and how lazy other hunters are) . My next quest is also muleys, but being a midwest whitetail hunter I have no experience with areas to hunt Muleys. I deeply regret not scouting for muleys after I tagged my antelope so if anyone has any info to share id be all ears.... (only saw 5-6 out in the open and a few in town while we were there)

 

[leadpillproductions]

I'm in the same boat wanting to bring my son down from Canada , no idea where to start lol

 

[Bigjav]

Me and my dad did antelope and deer last year, we cashed in on the antelope and it was a bunch of fun. The mule deer was frustrating as all hell. The problem was I figured we'd get deer tags in the same unit as the antelope seeing as we were able to draw them in the past. Problem was that because of the winter they cut a bunch of deer tags and we ended up getting deer tags in a unit we'd never hunted and was quite a ways from the others and we were too busy traveling between the two and learning the area so we always felt rushed. I would suggest getting tags for a single species and points for the other this year. Hunt the area and get a feel for it, then maybe next year think about getting tags for both

 

[Mitchellmountain]

Me and my dad did antelope and deer last year, we cashed in on the antelope and it was a bunch of fun. The mule deer was frustrating as all hell. The problem was I figured we'd get deer tags in the same unit as the antelope seeing as we were able to draw them in the past. Problem was that because of the winter they cut a bunch of deer tags and we ended up getting deer tags in a unit we'd never hunted and was quite a ways from the others and we were too busy traveling between the two and learning the area so we always felt rushed. I would suggest getting tags for a single species and points for the other this year. Hunt the area and get a feel for it, then maybe next year think about getting tags for both

I think this is the conclusion I am coming to. Try to accumulate points for deer then go for Pronghorn. My October hunts out west with my son will be short lived as he loves football and can only blow off for a week for a couple more years before it gets more serious in senior high. Need to do some research on areas and then try to figure out the draw process.

Thanks everyone,

Steve

 

[Swede]

5 of us did a antelope hunt in unit 22 this past year. We all got bucks and most of us got a doe apiece. One guy got a 78 incher. Rest of us got decent ones. We done alot of walking to find anything and onxmaps is a must where we was at. We seen enough muleys that if I went back I would want a doe tag at least. We didn't see alot of bucks but a couple guys seen some shooter bucks but far and few in-between. It was a easy draw with us drawing the unit as our second choice and doesn't have vast amount of public land but with some work I think you could pull off the double. It was my first western hunt and would go back in a heartbeat.

 

[Uvaldehunter]

Toprut.com has great free info for the first time out of state hunter...Wish I had found it when I started...