4 Points Enough?

LWC55

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A little background. I have a group looking at possibly doing a WY pronghorn hunt this fall. We have an average of 4 points. I have hunted elk, mule deer, and antelope does in WY. So fairly familiar with the state. Mainly the south-central part. I would like to take my son and my nephew who are still in high school. They play football so can't be away for long during the fall. They would probably only have 2 days to hunt and have to get back. The rest of the group would likely hunt the better part of a week.

I have been reviewing the odds on gohunt. 4 points doesn't seem to go as far West as I thought it might. Should I be looking at the areas that took 3 points for last year to determine what might be drawn with 4 points this year? Not looking for trophy antelope. This will be the first antelope hunt for most in the group. Any pointers, tips, expectations or units to look into (by private message please) or AVOID would be appreciated. Mainly looking for a fun hunt with decent numbers of lopes and enough public land to be able to get 2 boys a shot with only a couple days to hunt. Wondering if 4 points is enough or we need to keep saving points for a couple more years. Thanks for any input!
 
If you're not looking for trophies, there's plenty of units you can draw without any points at all. Ones with trophy potential as well.
 
Not many units you can draw with 4 points, unless you apply in the special draw. I know because I have 4 points myself. The ones you can get with 4 points just don't have much public land. And if you're going with a unit that requires paying for access to private land to have a good hunt, you might as well save your points and try to draw something as a second choice. Either that or pay the extra money and apply in the special draw.
 
PLENTY of options for a fun and good hunt with 4 points. You don't need 80% of the unit to be public land to have a good hunt. I would look at units that took 2 or maybe 3 points and look at the trends over the past 3 years and go from there. Point creep is a given in most units but not all.
 
If you are dead set on the western part of the state, you might be disappointed, but there are plenty of options in other parts of the state.
 
Not many units you can draw with 4 points, unless you apply in the special draw. I know because I have 4 points myself. The ones you can get with 4 points just don't have much public land. And if you're going with a unit that requires paying for access to private land to have a good hunt, you might as well save your points and try to draw something as a second choice. Either that or pay the extra money and apply in the special draw.

This is kind of what I've been seeing in my preliminary research. 4 point units this year were likely 1 to 2 point units just a few years ago. Not much public land on the surface. I know some have some good walk in areas that will take some time to dig through. But 4 points ain't what it used to be. I don't particularly want to spend $629 on special antelope tags. Especially since two will be youth tags that are regularly $125. I feel like it is a doable hunt but not a slam dunk.
 
Below is an example of the gohunt write-up on one of the 3 point units from last year:

"Public land is limited, and much of the public land in this unit is landlocked by private land, making it inaccessible. There are a few Walk in Access and Hunter Management Areas that could provide additional access. Accessible lands can be overcrowded with hunters, especially during the first part of the season. Hunters that are willing to get away from roads may find areas with less pressured antelope and may have a better chance at a above-average buck. "

A little worried to burn 4 points on something that doesn't sound too great. There also aren't a lot of units that open up from going from 2 to 3 points or even 4 points. Lots of 1 to 2 point units and not many more for several more points. Feels a little like no mans land. Sort of like that 5-10 point range for CO elk. If we can have a good hunt, I don't really care if I burn an extra point or two. Just don't want to burn points and not have a decent antelope hunt. That would be disappointing...
 
It's definitely a tough spot to be in and only you can decide if you're ready or not to burn your points on a marginal hunt. What gives me pause in saying just go for it, is that you said the kids will only have two days to hunt. The best option might be doe tags in an area that you're already familiar with.
 
Just an FYI - if you apply special, your son and nephew would not get “youth” tag pricing.

Yessir, would be an extra $1,000 to put them in the special draw. Could probably pay for access and get a second choice tag for close to that. Don't really want to do either of those. Just looking to have a nice pronghorn hunt on public land with 4 points. Seemed like a good plan when we started lol. Not sure if it is as good at this point.
 
Here's a thought for you, put those boys on a plane from DFW direct to Cheyenne and pick them up there. Daily flights and not bad at all, 40 or so passenger jet and it's direct to DFW. Book it early though.
You could hunt your PP areas close enough to be a partial day's drive from Cheyenne.
Some decent hunting in areas I'm thinking about.
 
Here's a thought for you, put those boys on a plane from DFW direct to Cheyenne and pick them up there. Daily flights and not bad at all, 40 or so passenger jet and it's direct to DFW. Book it early though.
You could hunt your PP areas close enough to be a partial day's drive from Cheyenne.
Some decent hunting in areas I'm thinking about.

Thanks for the idea. I was thinking something like that. Thought we could head out Friday night after football game and drive to WY. Hopefully arrive on Saturday early enough to get in an evening hunt. Hunt all day Sunday and probably Monday morning. Then get the boys on a plane back to DFW Monday afternoon. The rest of the group would stay and hunt and try to be back home by the next Friday.
 
Thanks for the idea. I was thinking something like that. Thought we could head out Friday night after football game and drive to WY. Hopefully arrive on Saturday early enough to get in an evening hunt. Hunt all day Sunday and probably Monday morning. Then get the boys on a plane back to DFW Monday afternoon. The rest of the group would stay and hunt and try to be back home by the next Friday.
Did a variation of this with my son this year and it worked well. Ours was the opposite, the main group went to WY set up camp, scouted and hunted for a couple of days. My son flew from MSP to Casper one evening mid-week - I drove over and picked him up. He hunted with us for two days, helped us tear down camp and drove home with us. It worked out well because by the time he got there we were comfortable with the unit and didn’t waste much time getting him some pronghorn to see.
 
I wouldn't be scared of areas that are only 1-3 points to draw. I also wouldn't pass up on a chance on doe tags for anyone's first antelope. Those are cheap and easy to get. Personally, I want to hunt WY every other year at least, vs waiting out the point game.
 
If 4 points is your average how many points do you have? I would get the highest point holder his tag and the others put in for doe tags. Kids don’t care about horns as much as they care about the experience. Give them a reason to come back later with their own points. Makes getting a nice buck much more appreciated.
 
I was personally pleasantly surprised at how much public land there was when we made our first trip to SE WY. Some people say it's not much and so do certain publications, but when you come from areas where there is very little public land it doesn't seem that bad. Just drive to and check every single little piece of public on your OnX chip and walk out a ways from the road to glass them all. It worked plenty well for us. Also going the 2nd or 3rd weekend of the season helps A LOT, I didn't want my kids to be involved in a sea of orange and rushed stalks and shots due to other hunters. We saw very few others when going later in the season.
 
If 4 points is your average how many points do you have? I would get the highest point holder his tag and the others put in for doe tags. Kids don’t care about horns as much as they care about the experience. Give them a reason to come back later with their own points. Makes getting a nice buck much more appreciated.

I have 5 points. One of the kids has 4 and the other 3. We have a couple more 5's and 3's. Avg of 4. But I really want to do a hunt that is best for the kids. They are big into football and can't miss a lot of time in the fall. It doesn't leave much hunt time for them coming from TX. Then they will be in college soon and I haven't looked too hard into that. But I don't think they will have much time off in the fall. So my thinking was get an antelope hunt in while they are in high school to get them a taste of western hunting. Keep building points for them and go on a couple of nice deer and elk hunts when they get to a point in life where they can get away for longer in the fall.
 
I also have 4 pronghorn points and was planning to use them in a western unit in the standard draw, but checking gohunt last night I really need to go in the special draw to be certain of my tag - based on last years odds. Amazing, and completely understandable, now pronghorn hunting has become more popular.
 
If are headed from TX then what about 4 landowner tags for pronghorn in NM? You have a lot of hoops to jump through to attempt a nice hunt in WY. May be a bit more relaxed to head to NM. Similar terrain in eastern NM as southern WY. Your all in costs to fly, drive, burn 15 years of points (those add up), get the WY tags then perhaps battle dozens of orange vests may not save that much over NM tags. Either approach is going to be $1000s, right? Heck, an aoudad hunt might not be that much more and could go when is not football season. Just some ideas outside the has to be WY in 2020 box.
 
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