Antelope Advice for Beginners (WY Unit 21)

Thanks for the write up. Wondering when I should cash in some points. Seems like the units I want just keep out pacing my points each year. I would assume any unit that you can draw with 1 point is going to a challenge in some way to hunt
 
This was a great write up. Trouble with waiting to accumulate the 4-5 pts is those units that last year took that number of points will likely take 8-9pts by the time you get to those 4-5pts. Obviously depends on the unit but pt creep has struck pretty much across the board in the west--I guess at some point it will plateau as people will stop applying. Its depressing.

I would rather hunt every couple years in a potentially crappy unit....scenery is still pretty good!
 
I'm with you. Would rather wait four or five years and have a nice experience than to draw a shit unit and play try not to get shot while stalking dinker bucks on tiny chunks of crowded public
Way to many uncertainties in this life to wait around 5 years for something, IMO of course. Now i guess if you want to pile up points in some state while still hunting another state most every year thats a different deal- what I'm saying is I'm not going to sit around and not hunt and pile up points for a finish line that seems to always move.
 
Way to many uncertainties in this life to wait around 5 years for something, IMO of course. Now i guess if you want to pile up points in some state while still hunting another state most every year thats a different deal- what I'm saying is I'm not going to sit around and not hunt and pile up points for a finish line that seems to always move.
I can definitely agree with your view there, I don't like the build points just to build points attitude. More in the hunt somewhere else while I wait camp.
 
This whole concept that the only time people go hunt is when they can kill something is very limiting. If you really love sheep, antelope, etc get out as much as possible. Go when you have no tag and no season is even open. A summer vacation to a choice unit, driving around with no hunters, looking over thousands of antelope, etc.. will teach you a lot more than a few days of frustration when things don't go as planned.

Also keep in mind there are doe tags, cow tags, deer tags, etc that you can get for the area if you want to hunt more often as you build points and learn how to hunt the unit.

Just because a unit takes 4-5 years to draw as a NR does not mean there won't be pressure, lower quality bucks than expected, etc.. That's a misconception. The units NR"s can draw in 4-5 years used to be 1-2. And the same locals hunt those areas every year as well.
 
Each there own, could get get hit by a bus tomorrow. I'm going every year.
Nothing like spending $1k, vacation days, time away from family, and wear and tear on your vehicle to fight over yearling antelope bucks with crowds on 1 square mile of public that touches a county road. Or even better, sitting in your truck next to others for 3 hours with onX pulled up watching a lone 6 inch buck bedded on private and you are praying he decides to go under the fence onto the quarter mile piece of public so you can get a shot. This isn't 2010. If a unit is easy to draw, and you are strictly hunting public, it's going to suck. No thanks, I would rather be at my desk making money and using my vacation days and time away from family a lot more wisely than that. Lot's of other opportunities out there for an actual enjoyable experience out hunting. Despite what they are selling you, there are alot of hunts that are an absolute waste of time and money. If a bus takes me out, I'm ok having missed out on the *units that you can draw with 0 points as an NR in 2022.
 
Nothing like spending $1k, vacation days, time away from family, and wear and tear on your vehicle to fight over yearling antelope bucks with crowds on 1 square mile of public that touches a county road. Or even better, sitting in your truck next to others for 3 hours with onX pulled up watching a lone 6 inch buck bedded on private and you are praying he decides to go under the fence onto the quarter mile piece of public so you can get a shot. This isn't 2010. If a unit is easy to draw, and you are strictly hunting public, it's going to suck. No thanks, I would rather be at my desk making money and using my vacation days and time away from family a lot more wisely than that. Lot's of other opportunities out there for an actual enjoyable experience out hunting. Despite what they are selling you, there are alot of hunts that are an absolute waste of time and money. If a bus takes me out, I'm ok having missed out on the *units that you can draw with 0 points as an NR in 2022.
I happen to agree with all your points. I’ve been building antelope points (currently at 3) and I don’t want to come out until I can draw a hunt that will be an enjoyable experience and not a mad dash for a small buck with a bunch of other hunters. I am willing to wait a couple more years if that’s what it takes.
 
Come back in week 2, 3 or 4, as late as you can and it gets better.

Wife and I had doe tags in an easy to draw zone. Won't even bother the first week. Mid way through week 2 I went, covered 5 miles on foot, nothing. End of week 3 back to back days we filled tags, hunters gone antelope back in sight.
Hunting later in a season is a hard concept to accept for us newbies.
 
My favorite time to hunt especially when I am a meat hunter to start with. If I am after a buck, I like to do that opening day.
I am definitely hunting for the meat. That being said, I’m certainly going to take the prettiest looking meat so can find!
 
Why? Genuinely curious.
At least where I am from in Southern Illinois, the longer you go in the season the more pressured the animals are and the more skittish they become and the further into the woods they go. Your best opportunities are early in the season before the animals have caught to the fact that it is hunting season again.
 
At least where I am from in Southern Illinois, the longer you go in the season the more pressured the animals are and the more skittish they become and the further into the woods they go. Your best opportunities are early in the season before the animals have caught to the fact that it is hunting season again.
Got you. Well don't worry because while it seems counterintuitive, the idea is that antelope in a lot of units catch on to it being hunting season about an hour into opening day, haha. They will just flat out leave public land in high pressure areas. It's nothing to them to all jump up and run a mile or two. When the pressure cools off a bit, they will filter back. That's when you strike! :)
 
Back
Top