MiStickSlinger
Member
Well I have a couple antelope points, but I decided to hold off cashing them in with the hope that a couple of my buddies would start to build them so we could hunt a good unit in the future. In the meantime I just want to get out antelope hunting.
I started doing the research, looked at all available leftover units, then created a Gohunt account to figure out some info on those units. It's a little confusing as in the gohunt profile it will say that the unit has good public access, then a couple paragraphs down it says the unit has poor public access and better to find an outfitter. Just about all these units have a very small percentage of public land, which I expected.
So after looking at the maps I called biologists to discuss the units I had in mind. The consensus I got was the two units I zeroed in on weren't worth my while. I told the one biologist the area of the main unit I was looking in, in which she informed me that what little access was available wouldn't be worth it due to too many hunters, and the portion that offered good access was too rugged for antelope. I informed her I would be using the gps chip to which she replied that everyone has them now so it probably wouldn't give me an advantage. When I asked if I'd be better off contacting the chamber of commerce to find ranchers who offer trespass fees, she told me just about everyone would be filled up. (I've contacted every chamber of commerce I could find pertaining to each unit, everyone has told me they no longer keep lists)
Now of course I would much prefer the public route, but after the handful of people I talked to today, they made it seem like my search was futile. They were very nice and I appreciated the info, but I lost confidence in my ability to find a viable hunting area. I assume that whatever good units there may have been leftover have been swooped up in a hurry, so for the guys who have some experience under their belt, should I just ignore the advice I had been given today and press onward with the hopes of finding a chunk of land with some goats on it? Or were you me, would you hold out until next year and draw a decent tag?
I started doing the research, looked at all available leftover units, then created a Gohunt account to figure out some info on those units. It's a little confusing as in the gohunt profile it will say that the unit has good public access, then a couple paragraphs down it says the unit has poor public access and better to find an outfitter. Just about all these units have a very small percentage of public land, which I expected.
So after looking at the maps I called biologists to discuss the units I had in mind. The consensus I got was the two units I zeroed in on weren't worth my while. I told the one biologist the area of the main unit I was looking in, in which she informed me that what little access was available wouldn't be worth it due to too many hunters, and the portion that offered good access was too rugged for antelope. I informed her I would be using the gps chip to which she replied that everyone has them now so it probably wouldn't give me an advantage. When I asked if I'd be better off contacting the chamber of commerce to find ranchers who offer trespass fees, she told me just about everyone would be filled up. (I've contacted every chamber of commerce I could find pertaining to each unit, everyone has told me they no longer keep lists)
Now of course I would much prefer the public route, but after the handful of people I talked to today, they made it seem like my search was futile. They were very nice and I appreciated the info, but I lost confidence in my ability to find a viable hunting area. I assume that whatever good units there may have been leftover have been swooped up in a hurry, so for the guys who have some experience under their belt, should I just ignore the advice I had been given today and press onward with the hopes of finding a chunk of land with some goats on it? Or were you me, would you hold out until next year and draw a decent tag?