Are there really that many antelope in WY?

[Bowhuntrben]

Hi everybody! I am new to the site. I am planning on doing a rifle antelope hunt in Wyoming in a couple of years, so I wanted to start researching early! I have read through many of the threads on this site, and it seems like everybody is saying not to shoot the first buck you see. Are there really that many antelope in Wyoming that you can expect to have this success?
From reading the threads, the units that have sparked my interest are 7, 27, and 47. It seems these units have good public access (I don't want to be trespassing and not know it!), and from what I hear have good numbers of antelope. I should have 2 preference points by the time we go. If I would go with my dad and my uncle, would it be realistic that we would fill 3 buck tags in any of these units? We would not be too picky, just want representative animals. It sounds good from the thread, but I'm afraid I am just hyping myself up! (This happens to me easily when I see all the nice pictures and read the fun stories!)
Also, how do you guys prefer to hunt antelope? It sounds like a lot of people hunt from the road. I guess I would like to get out and do some hiking to find the animal, but how do you go about picking a direction to go?
I also want to verify..camping IS allowed on BLM land correct? Can we set up camp anywhere on this land, or just near the road?
One last questions (for now!). Do you have to register the animals after harvest? Looking at the regulations, I don't see anything about registering, just that they have check stations. Supposedly you have to stop at every station in route to and from? Are there a lot of them?
As mentioned, I did look through many of the threads here, but if you guys know of any specific threads or sites that would be good for a new antelope hunter, please send me the link.

Thanks for your help everybody!

Ben
[email protected]

 

[Big Fin]

Hi everybody! I am new to the site. I am planning on doing a rifle antelope hunt in Wyoming in a couple of years, so I wanted to start researching early! I have read through many of the threads on this site, and it seems like everybody is saying not to shoot the first buck you see.

Welcome. That would be correct - Don't shoot the first one, unless he is so big, you think he is like nothing you have ever seen before.

Are there really that many antelope in Wyoming that you can expect to have this success?
From reading the threads, the units that have sparked my interest are 7, 27, and 47. It seems these units have good public access (I don't want to be trespassing and not know it!), and from what I hear have good numbers of antelope. I should have 2 preference points by the time we go.

Yes, there are that many antelope. Lots of areas with good access. Have maps and know how to use them. A GPS with the landownership chips from HuntingGPSmaps.com will be a game changer for you.

Having 2 Points will get you a tag in many of the good units. Maybe not the glory units, but there are good bucks in most any unit, so go now.

If I would go with my dad and my uncle, would it be realistic that we would fill 3 buck tags in any of these units? We would not be too picky, just want representative animals. It sounds good from the thread, but I'm afraid I am just hyping myself up! (This happens to me easily when I see all the nice pictures and read the fun stories!)

If you don't fill three tags, it is because you ran out of ammo, or didn't find the one you wanted. If you are looking for representative animals, you will fill all three tags, and maybe do so in one day.

Also, how do you guys prefer to hunt antelope? It sounds like a lot of people hunt from the road. I guess I would like to get out and do some hiking to find the animal, but how do you go about picking a direction to go?

Spot and stalk. Wyoming is full of roads, so use them to cover a lot of ground. You won't find good bucks by "road hunting" and doing the "bail out" plan. Drive to good glassing points and glass like crazy. Then move on to the next point. You can cover a lot more ground while driving and glassing. The better bucks will usually be quite a ways from the roads, so you will be stalking them, which is the funnest part.

I also want to verify..camping IS allowed on BLM land correct? Can we set up camp anywhere on this land, or just near the road?

Yup, you can camp on BLM, but not state land in WY. Check with the regional BLM office to make sure there are no restrictions on camping or open fires. Most areas have no restrictions. You can camp anywhere, but cannot drive off the roads, so you will be camping somewhere near a road or two-track.

One last questions (for now!). Do you have to register the animals after harvest? Looking at the regulations, I don't see anything about registering, just that they have check stations. Supposedly you have to stop at every station in route to and from? Are there a lot of them?

No registration like you have in MN. You guys have to stop at a registration station. Not the case in WY. You may receive a survey card, but nothing like you are accustomed to. If you see a check station along a road, you do have to stop, even if you have no animals.

As mentioned, I did look through many of the threads here, but if you guys know of any specific threads or sites that would be good for a new antelope hunter, please send me the link.

Thanks for your help everybody!

Ben
[email protected]

Look at the Wyoming Draw thread from the last week or so. Some pretty helpful stuff there about tags and areas.

Good luck.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

Big Fin---You saved me a lot of typing, so all I can say to this newbie is "ditto" to what you said. The only thing I would add is that a lot of good bucks are within a mile or so of roads or two tracks, but because of the lay of the land you can't see them from a vehicle. That is where you need to park and slip up to the tops of hills to peek over and survey the countryside up close and then work your way out to the distant points with good binoculars. DO NOT skyline yourself or you will be busted with their fantastic eyesight even if they are 2 miles from you!!! If you are looking for a really good buck, that is when a good spotting scope is necessary to check one out better before you decide to go after him or skip him and keep on going.

 

[Bowhuntrben]

Thanks guys! I am really excited to go give it a try...even though it is a long ways off yet!!!! I really appreciate the insight that you give.
Do you guys know much about rifles? Being from SE MN, I have only hunted with shotgun, so I know nothing about rifles. My dad has a .30-06 that I was going to put a scope on and use for antelope when I go. Do you know of any good factory rounds to use? Looking at some other threads/forums, it seems they recommend 150 to 165 grain bullets with Nosler Ballistic Tips for antelope, but I really have no idea on what is best.

 

[Big Fin]

Thanks guys! I am really excited to go give it a try...even though it is a long ways off yet!!!! I really appreciate the insight that you give.
Do you guys know much about rifles? Being from SE MN, I have only hunted with shotgun, so I know nothing about rifles. My dad has a .30-06 that I was going to put a scope on and use for antelope when I go. Do you know of any good factory rounds to use? Looking at some other threads/forums, it seems they recommend 150 to 165 grain bullets with Nosler Ballistic Tips for antelope, but I really have no idea on what is best.

That '-06 will kill anything and everything that walks in North America. Use that rifle, put a good Leupold scope on it and shoot Federal ammo (a couple small plugs for the good guys ) in the weight you have talked about and the pronghorn are in big trouble. Just practice shooting long distances as much as you can. Get a bipod or shooting sticks and you will be in business.

Sounds like you have everything you need, now just draw the tag.

 

[Zach]

Great reply Big Fin!!

How many times have you seen someone ask a question like this and the typical reply is "you'll have to find out for yourself". That's what I like about this place, great wealth of knowledge that is actually shared!

BTW, every time I drive from Denver to Casper, I see Tons of Lopes!

 

[174in]

My advice would be if you have 2 or more points do not waste them on unit 7 or 27,there is not a lack of pronghorns in these units but with 2 points you would probably be able to draw other units like fin said that would have less hunting pressure.Be ready to see 75-100 animals a day.

 

[Bowhuntrben]

I agree Zach..this is a great site. I really appreciate any advice I get. Ultimately, I would go out there and learn on my own if I had to, but it is very very nice to get any help I can! I would certainly be willing to share anything I can to help others Unfortunately, I only have experience with deer in SE MN.
"174in"...do you have any recommendations on units for 2 points with good public access and not a lot of pressure? I can look at the wyoming game and fish site and look at draw odds/statistics/etc., but first hand experience is worth a lot more than any amount of statistics, and statistics can be misleading in my opinion (although that is what I am basing my CO elk hunt on this next fall!).

 

[174in]

I agree Zach..this is a great site. I really appreciate any advice I get. Ultimately, I would go out there and learn on my own if I had to, but it is very very nice to get any help I can! I would certainly be willing to share anything I can to help others Unfortunately, I only have experience with deer in SE MN.
"174in"...do you have any recommendations on units for 2 points with good public access and not a lot of pressure? I can look at the wyoming game and fish site and look at draw odds/statistics/etc., but first hand experience is worth a lot more than any amount of statistics, and statistics can be misleading in my opinion (although that is what I am basing my CO elk hunt on this next fall!).

Last year was my first pronghorn hunt out there so I dont have alot of info.I can tell you that I had unit 7 as my third choice and that is the tag I drew.Being I didnt draw my 1st choice I was able to keep my PP wich is the nice thing about WY.Unit 7 seemed like good hunting to me but there was a crowd,nothing as bad as deer hunting public land in wisconsin though.The public access was good and plenty with the homework I did I didnt have a problem It only cost me a $25.00 map.$400.00 GPS,and A $100.00 map chip.I would not hunt that unit without those tools.Best thing to do is probably what you are doing now and study all the stats you can on different units and go from there.If you have any questions on unit 7 feel free to send me a PM.The resource page on this site seems easier to follow your draw odds than the WY web site.

 

[tarheel]

Areas 42, 46, 47,48 and 62 are all good areas with plenty of public access. Area 42 has one walk-in block of about 16,000 acres. Your points should give you a pretty good chance of hitting, but the closer you get to the Great Basin, the tougher the odds.

 

[Bowhuntrben]

174in,
I am guessing the map chip you got was from HuntingGPSMaps.com.
Have you noticed any discrepancies between the chip maps and hard copy BLM maps, or have you not compared? I downloaded the free western lands ownership map from gpsfiledepot.com. I compared it with public land ownership shown on maps from mytopo.com (in my case I looked at the southern portion of wyoming antelope unit 27), and noticed that it is very close, but the gpsfiledepot.com version seems to be saying that a small piece of land that is called private land in mytopo is supposedly public. I do intend on buying either BLM or mytopo maps when I decide on a final unit, but just wondering if you have noticed this as well in your chip to determine whether or not that is more reliable than the free version. I don't really trust the free version anymore and would really like to be able to have the ownership on my GPS to ensure I stay on public land. I suppose it is possible that the public land ownership in mytopo.com may not be correct. Maybe I can play around with finding the GIS data online and making my own maps too.

 

[174in]

I roamed most of the unit I hunted and compared the GPS to the Mytopo maps and it seemed very accurate I did find 1 small spot that the map a the the hunting Gps did not agree it was not even a section and the spot didnt look good enough to further examine wich one was right.The chip is the way to go as far as knowing exactly where you are at in referance to staying on public land.

 

[MNHunter]

Bowhuntrben, I've hunted 27 a few times. Lots of public land and tons of lope but very few "trophies". in 2009 we didn't see very many hunters. Shoot me a PM with any questions

 

[Corax]

I am in the same boat as you - planning a DIY antelope hunt for next year. I have been using the Public Lands Information Center to screen units. Try the site below to download free index maps showing land ownership - they are small scale but will show you which units have public land. Using these in combination with the Wy G&F tables showing draw odds should help.

 

[pseshooter300]

I to am doing research for a DIY hunt in Wyoming. It is gonna take me a while but boy is it gonna be fun

 

[Solohuntr]

I roamed most of the unit I hunted and compared the GPS to the Mytopo maps and it seemed very accurate I did find 1 small spot that the map a the the hunting Gps did not agree it was not even a section and the spot didnt look good enough to further examine wich one was right.The chip is the way to go as far as knowing exactly where you are at in referance to staying on public land.

And staying in your unit on the west end of #7,,,,,,,

 

[5Speedjim]

I live in Jersey and hunt antelope in Wyoming on my own. A little research goes a long way. Don't waste your points on areas with leftover tags. Put them down for your second choice. GPS with a platt chip is the only way to go. Also don't hunt the first week, to crowded. Late season you will have the place to yourself and still plenty of animals

 

[Solohuntr]

I live in Jersey and hunt antelope in Wyoming on my own. A little research goes a long way. Don't waste your points on areas with leftover tags. Put them down for your second choice. GPS with a platt chip is the only way to go. Also don't hunt the first week, to crowded. Late season you will have the place to yourself and still plenty of animals

I agree on the plat chips in the GPS but I did screw myself by not consulting the paper map before a stalk, there was a road up behind the herd I was after, someone else got up on the far ridge before I got to mine I hunted the second week and would like to try the opening week this year, Area 7 was hit hard with winter kill last year, might take a couple years to recover, as far as having the place to myself on week 2???? ,,, Not !!

 

[Bowhuntrben]

I just got my maps in the mail today, so I'm getting pretty excited for my hunt this coming fall...even though it is still a LONG ways away! I have another question about Wyoming though. I have been told to stay on the two-track roads. How picky are they about this? Are you allowed to at least pull off far enough so you can not be right on the road so you can hunt there (i.e., on the "shoulder")? Seems like this should be reasonable, but just wanting to make sure!

 

[Topgun 30-06]

Don't go off any further than it takes so you're not blocking the road and you'll be fine.