Craig area units
If you've spent much time in the NW corner of Colo (near Craig) you will likely notice that about 80% of the antelope in those surrounding units are within about 15 miles of the city limits of Craig. Unfortunately to most hunters the area close to Craig is about 90% private land. Once you get past the 15 mile circumference of Craig there are VERY few antelope ..and it is about 90% public land.
10+ years ago there were gobs of antelope in 2, 3, 301 and other surrounding units on public land. I have a feeling the combination of drought, public land hunting pressure, tough winters, etc are all factors why the antelope tended to move off public land to private land closer to Craig. If you think about it, many of the small acreage lots around Craig have water troughs for horses, cattle, springs, etc that are very few and far between on BLM land. During the droughty years many of the antelope headed to where there was water! There are VERY few water sources available outside the 15 mile Craig radius I mentioned earlier...other than the Yampa River. The same rangeland in Wyo would likely have gobs of antelope because Wyo tends to develop a lot more water sources!
If you head from Craig due east to Steamboat you will likely see a pile of antelope (again on private land) that likely weren't there 10+ years ago. Again,,,,more water...more antelope!
I hope this helps answer your question...there aren't many antelope in the NW corner of Colo on public land..compared to private land.
). So out of 775 tags, public land hunters only had a chance of drawing 85 tags. BS if you as me, but nobody has...
