Wyoming off year?

[jimss]

I just returned from a "premier" Wyo antelope unit/hunt in South-Central Wyo. You may not believe me but I conservatively looked over somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 to 700 different bucks. I originally thought with the good moisture Wyo had last fall and this spring plus fairly mild winters the past few years that horn growth would be at a premium. On average most bucks I saw had decent mass but seemed to lack in length. Almost all bucks were in the 11 to 14" range. Most of the younger bucks tended to have better than average mass/growth. Although I was hunting a unit that historically has great B&C potential I didn't see 1 buck that came close to getting me too terribly excited. I also drove through a couple of the best Wyo antelope units in Wyo and didn't see 1 buck that got my attention.

I'm curious if anyone else noticed this in Wyo this year? On the bright side I saw lots of dink to mediocre bucks that ought to be ready to go in future years. Good luck to those still out there searching for their dream bucks! I'm sure there are few out there but you may need to do a lot more searching this year!

 

[Big Fin]

That matches my observation, with two exceptions. One, I shot. The other had a broken prong and was allowed to walk.

Tons and tons of low 70" bucks that in the past were mid 70s, and higher. I wish I had an explanation. Other hunters I talked to expressed the same observation. Something happened that made so many bucks drop 5-8 inches of growth over what you would normally see.

Still a ton of fun. Wyoming on a down year still beats neighboring states on their best years.

 

[sbhooper]

Unit 62 was like that last year when my buddy hunted there. They saw tons of bucks, but only a couple real good ones. They did not get the good ones.

 

[ShootsManyBullets]

You guys think it's just the age class of bucks isn't quite there yet?

 

[Big Fin]

A guy who knows more about pronghorn than I could ever hope had an interesting theory he shared with me last week. He was seeing the same thing. He knows the area very well and has plenty of huge Wyoming bucks to show for it.

His theory is that when the drought was really bad from 2009-2011, the bucks born during those periods have a tough go of it. They do not fully develop their horn bases as young bucks and that issue carries forward with them through their entire lives, even with good moisture in future years.

I had never thought of that. Not a scientific theory, but could make sense, when you understand how pronghorn mature and how their horn cycles come and go.

Could being born in a drought year cause a pronghorn buck to never reach full horn development, due to their first year not giving them nutritional needs to grow the full pedicle/base? Not sure, but would provide a plausible explanation as to why the 3.5-4.5 year old bucks I saw this year are one strata lower than what I normally would see in these units.

 

[ShootsManyBullets]

That makes some sense then you add in the additional stress on the animals from lack of water and nutrition, etc during that first year or two.

I'm finally heading out this week to do chase some pronghorn. I'll be hunting solo so I can't promise any hero shots. Hope to have a decent story to share though. Either way it'll be fun to hit the road and see some new country.

 

[pointingdogsrule]

Bucks in the area that I hunted (eastern Wyoming) had some nice horn growth. Maybe not spectacular, however, nice. Most seemed to have "more mass" then length.

On a side note we did see a significant DECREASE in the number of doe antelope. Buck numbers seemed to be about the same.

good luck to all
the dog

 

[chuckyd313]

One of these days im going to get there. Wyoming will definitely be my first out of state hunt. Im ok with a buck that is in his mid 70's.

 

[Tom]

Look at this study, rain and age had negative effects on those pronghorn.
http://www.azantelope.org/Facts___Research/Horn_Growth_Study/horn_growth_study.html

That's different.

 

[schmalts]

I have heard that the moisture the year before matters more than the current year.

 

[sbhooper]

A guy who knows more about pronghorn than I could ever hope had an interesting theory he shared with me last week. He was seeing the same thing. He knows the area very well and has plenty of huge Wyoming bucks to show for it.

His theory is that when the drought was really bad from 2009-2011, the bucks born during those periods have a tough go of it. They do not fully develop their horn bases as young bucks and that issue carries forward with them through their entire lives, even with good moisture in future years.

I had never thought of that. Not a scientific theory, but could make sense, when you understand how pronghorn mature and how their horn cycles come and go.

Could being born in a drought year cause a pronghorn buck to never reach full horn development, due to their first year not giving them nutritional needs to grow the full pedicle/base? Not sure, but would provide a plausible explanation as to why the 3.5-4.5 year old bucks I saw this year are one strata lower than what I normally would see in these units.

So, its just the runt of the litter on a grand scale!

 

[jimss]

I don't know how exactly this ties into things but 2 of the highest scoring bucks I've shot over the past 40+ years of hunting pronghorn were in 2 of the historic driest years in the particular areas I hunted in Wyoming. I was somewhat amazed this year after viewing so many bucks in a premier Wyo unit after a fairly wet fall/early spring that I didn't see any that came close to getting my blood pumping. I spent a lot more time and miles searching this year than years past in one of the better units in Wyo so I was curious about what exactly might be going on!

 

[Dinkshooter]

I agree with the above findings where I have been. I know I'm pushing 100 bucks I've looked last Friday afternoon through Monday afternoon and nothing has made me gagga. Back this weekend for 3 days, I'm not hopeful of seeing a monster at this point.

 

[Triple BB]

I have an antelope tag this year for a traditional quality B&C area and have looked over hundreds of bucks. We've maybe seen one or two that would hit the 80 mark. The rest have been similar to what others are describing. Howdy Doody told me I needed to research my areas better. Good to hear its not just me...

 

[sigpros]

So dang I burned 7 points on my dream hunt and will be disappointed? Na il still have a great time even if I get a 12" buck. I've been wanting to do this for way too long.

 

[HONEY BADGER]

Same observation in what is traditionally considered a decent unit...all the goats were about the same size, same shape even, very little difference in any of them and we looked over probably 200 bucks, On the upside, there were lots of them out there and the hunt was still a good time.

 

[WapitiBob]

I need to get out more. I've hunted WY the last 4 years and have never seen 100 Antelope TOTAL in a day let alone 100 bucks in a few days.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

We had the same observation in our unit as is being mentioned in this thread. We looked over at least 40 bucks that were just average or below, but finally ran into this one and my buddy let him have it. He is in the low 80s and should make the 82" B&C mark after the 60 day drying period. His length is 16" and he has great cutters and good mass at all 4 measurements. I''ll get a couple pictures up, as soon as I resize them to the website requirements.