Opening Week vs. Following Week for Public Land Hunters

[tomengineer]

I'm planning a 4 man trip to Wyoming from out of state for this fall. Opening day lands on a Tuesday this year. We have 4 days to hunt. We are in a 0 point unit in eastern Wyoming. My question is are we better off hunting the first week? Or waiting until the second? I have seen both opinions on here in the form of "If you don't hunt the first week they will all be on private land by the time you get there" and "if you hunt opening week it's a zoo, best to wait until the following week when it has quieted down". Just wanting to draw on people's experience. We have already applied for our unit.

Thanks in advance.

 

[WyoDoug]

I prefer to scout preseason and make my decision on how I am going to hunt based on what I see for game and hunters so I usually start opening day actually hunting. I hike in on foot or horseback, so I can make hunting pressure work in my favor. It is not so much elk will go onto private but instead sanctuary. If you study your maps look for areas away from roads with food, water and sanctuary. Your big bulls will have likely split away from the herd to rest and recover for next year and will likely be high on north and east facing slopes where they feel safe. Cows and younger bulls will likely be lower focused on feeding to survive the coming winter.

 

[dwm4375]

I was in a similar situation last fall for WY pronghorn. Due to my custody schedule I had to hunt the second week in a unit with 100% draw for second choice (had an * for difficult public access). Nearly every hunter I spoke with had a difficult hunt, put on a ton of miles driving and hiking, and saw no antelope on public land. They said the beginning of the season sounded like a war zone. At the start of the season the antelope were probably distributed on private and public, but the initial pressure pushed them to private quickly. There were animals on the unit but they were all on private land. Was shaping up to be a tough hunt, but found a herd crossing from private to BLM late in the afternoon about 2 miles from the road. Made a long stalk and knew where we were with OnX on our phones. Waited until they fed a couple hundred yards across the (imaginary - no fence) line onto public before we shot. Got a buck and my brother got a doe. I might have just been lucky, but I know for a fact we did better than the guys we saw driving up and down the road not seeing anything on public from their trucks.

 

[WyoDoug]

Here’s the deal on late season antelope hunts - get off the road and check those little valleys and drainages. As Randy posts in his videos, I like to walk 500 yards or so and see what is over the hill and I do a lot of glassing even for does. On antelope, I very rarely don’t tag out. They are there, there they just go where they don’t expect to get shot at. Antelope rarely go more than a mile from their preferred territory unless pressured, but then they nearly always return to familiar territory.

 

[NEWHunter]

I hunted a * WY unit last year and spent just over a day and a half scouting before opening day. I shot mine opening morning.
If its a 10/1 opener, you’ll still catch some rutting activity too. I would spend the day before the opener scouting and three days hunting.

And zoo is a relative term. In my unit last year opening day was certainly a zoo. But when compared to the WI gun opener it was more of a petting zoo, with the WI opener being the San Diego Zoo.

 

[WyoDoug]

True. But 90% of people I see hunting antelope do it from the roads or close to one. Very few get off the roads and walk into the pastures, fields, CRP or BLM land and check those hidden little valleys. Once they are shot at, they use the drainages and draws to escape to safety but nearly always come back once the shooting stops, which is why my preferred time to hunt is from shooting light to around 10. Only about 10% believe it or not, excluding landowners who know where they are at generally hunt the correct way. I generally draw more than one tag in Wyoming because I am a resident. On top of that, in addition to the drawing, I used to do depredation hunts which are addition to regular licenses. They no longer do those but until I had to pause hunting a while back for medical reasons, I generally tagged out. My main secret is get away from the roads and glass and plan your hunt that way. I also have set up blinds and waited for them at frequently used watering holes which is how I might be hunting this year.

I am actually a Colorado native who migrated to Wyoming mainly to get married but now disgusted with the politics of my former state. In eastern plains Colorado, I used to see antelope all over the place and never went more than an hour without seeing a herd of them.

 

[WyoDoug]

Antelope will also flee from the sound of approaching motors where they might not if you use your leather personnel carriers aka boots and walk up to them.

 

[JLDemo]

I hunt eastern Wyo on a regular basis as a second choice, the weekends throughout the season can be crowded but from my experience the opening weekend is usually the worst. During the weekday? You shouldn't have a lot of competition. Sure there's going to be people out, but I don't know many locals who would burn a day or two of PTO to hunt a second choice unit during the weekday, myself included. It took all of one day to tag out last year in a eastern Wyo unit. I did have to put in the miles to find them off the beaten path, but they were found on public even after the opening weekend. Your biggest threat is going to be weather rather than other hunters.

 

[AggieCowboy]

Last year I hunted a 10/1 opener on a * unit which was a Monday. It was super crowded! Still saw Antelope though and still had chances. It was still fun. I went to the exact same area on Thursday and didn't see a single truck or person. I saw a few trucks on the main roads but that was all. Had the whole place to myself. That's when I punched my tag so I can't tell you how the weekend was. I think you'll be fine going whenever, even opening day I saw decent goats.

 

[LCH]

If it's a short season, say 2 weeks, I don't think it will matter a whole lot after opening day; a * unit is liable to be crowded for the entire season.

My favorite unit has a 5 week season, and by week 2 it's rare to see another hunter out. There are a bunch of tags issued for that area though, so I'm sure there are guys everywhere the first day or 2. I prefer to hun the 2nd or 3rd week, although I'm sure some of the bigger bucks have been taken by then. It's an * unit, but a whole lot better than some of the other * units I've hunted.

If I were going solo to a crowded spot, I'd probably show up 2-3 days early to scout and try to kill first thing on opening morning. But that would be tough to pull off with 4 guys. So I guess I'd lean towards going later if I were you.

 

[tomengineer]

True. But 90% of people I see hunting antelope do it from the roads or close to one. Very few get off the roads and walk into the pastures, fields, CRP or BLM land and check those hidden little valleys. Once they are shot at, they use the drainages and draws to escape to safety but nearly always come back once the shooting stops, which is why my preferred time to hunt is from shooting light to around 10. Only about 10% believe it or not, excluding landowners who know where they are at generally hunt the correct way. I generally draw more than one tag in Wyoming because I am a resident. On top of that, in addition to the drawing, I used to do depredation hunts which are addition to regular licenses. They no longer do those but until I had to pause hunting a while back for medical reasons, I generally tagged out. My main secret is get away from the roads and glass and plan your hunt that way. I also have set up blinds and waited for them at frequently used watering holes which is how I might be hunting this year.

I am actually a Colorado native who migrated to Wyoming mainly to get married but now disgusted with the politics of my former state. In eastern plains Colorado, I used to see antelope all over the place and never went more than an hour without seeing a herd of them.

Thanks for the detailed response.

 

[tomengineer]

Thanks everyone for your input.

 

[antelopedundee]

Here’s the deal on late season antelope hunts - get off the road and check those little valleys and drainages. As Randy posts in his videos, I like to walk 500 yards or so and see what is over the hill and I do a lot of glassing even for does. On antelope, I very rarely don’t tag out. They are there, there they just go where they don’t expect to get shot at. Antelope rarely go more than a mile from their preferred territory unless pressured, but then they nearly always return to familiar territory.

Creatures of habit until something forces them to change.

 

[antelopedundee]

I'm planning a 4 man trip to Wyoming from out of state for this fall. Opening day lands on a Tuesday this year. We have 4 days to hunt. We are in a 0 point unit in eastern Wyoming. My question is are we better off hunting the first week? Or waiting until the second? I have seen both opinions on here in the form of "If you don't hunt the first week they will all be on private land by the time you get there" and "if you hunt opening week it's a zoo, best to wait until the following week when it has quieted down". Just wanting to draw on people's experience. We have already applied for our unit.

Thanks in advance.

Depending upon how many choices you have, look for an area with a smaller number of type 1 tags as these will most likely get used on public land since they are good anywhere in an area.

 

[Cav1]

I've probably shot 90% of my antelope over our opening weekend and on BMA land open to the public, but I've hunted the same district for 25+ years so I know their regular travel routes and favorite fence crossings. Although physically capable of jumping any fence in a single bound, pronghorn refuse to do so and have certain weak spots where they wiggle through fencelines which they use over and over and over. Some of these get so beat in you can see them on Google Earth. We always sneak into one of these in the dark, set up, and just sit and wait quietly for shooting light. All those other opening weekend hunters will push antelope to you sooner or later. I enjoy the hunting more later in the season when fewer hunters are out but in my area the majority of the speed goats do indeed seem to yard up on private land not open to hunting within a week of the season opener.


Typical speed goat fence crossing, a braided mass of trails all narrow down to a single point on the fenceline.

 

[WyoDoug]

Creatures of habit until something forces them to change.

They do not change a whole lot like elk do. Get on yer feet and check the valleys and drainages hidden from the roads. It takes a lot more pressure to force them completely out of the area. My thoughts when I am told they left is tell that person to hold my beer and don my backpack and rifle and find them. They rarely go more than 1-2 miles even pressured unless chased with motors which is illegal and unethical

 

[antelopedundee]

I've probably shot 90% of my antelope over our opening weekend and on BMA land open to the public, but I've hunted the same district for 25+ years so I know their regular travel routes and favorite fence crossings. Although physically capable of jumping any fence in a single bound, pronghorn refuse to do so and have certain weak spots where they wiggle through fencelines which they use over and over and over. Some of these get so beat in you can see them on Google Earth. We always sneak into one of these in the dark, set up, and just sit and wait quietly for shooting light. All those other opening weekend hunters will push antelope to you sooner or later. I enjoy the hunting more later in the season when fewer hunters are out but in my area the majority of the speed goats do indeed seem to yard up on private land not open to hunting within a week of the season opener.
View attachment 104920

Typical speed goat fence crossing, a braided mass of trails all narrow down to a single point on the fenceline.

I've heard that they will travel a long ways to find a place to crawl under a fence rather than jump it. I've also seen them jump a fence from a standing position like it wasn't even there. Someone told me that the ones in town jump fences because they see the deer do it.

 

[antelopedundee]

They do not change a whole lot like elk do. Get on yer feet and check the valleys and drainages hidden from the roads. It takes a lot more pressure to force them completely out of the area. My thoughts when I am told they left is tell that person to hold my beer and don my backpack and rifle and find them. They rarely go more than 1-2 miles even pressured unless chased with motors which is illegal and unethical

Last year my rancher revoked hunting privileges because he said most of lopes left before season. Around here even turkeys are creatures of habit and you can usually find them in certain places unless something forces them out. I like to walk a lot when hunting lopes, but they can be flighty even with no pressure. Maybe the coyotes have something to do with that.

 

[WildWill]

I've heard that they will travel a long ways to find a place to crawl under a fence rather than jump it. I've also seen them jump a fence from a standing position like it wasn't even there. Someone told me that the ones in town jump fences because they see the deer do it.

Last year I watched a buck do that in Wyoming he was a little hesitant but after a second he jumped right over with no running start. Only time I've ever seen one jump a fence.

 

[WyoDoug]

Last year my rancher revoked hunting privileges because he said most of lopes left before season. Around here even turkeys are creatures of habit and you can usually find them in certain places unless something forces them out. I like to walk a lot when hunting lopes, but they can be flighty even with no pressure. Maybe the coyotes have something to do with that.

I don’t know the situation but my experience when that happens is a new lease by an outfitter has some play in that.

When you walk around are you seeing rubs or fresh markings? Antelope trample vegetation where they run. They also defecate and urinate to mark there territory.

Anyways landowners usually have other reasons when they revoke permissions like that. I grew up on a farm and my dad stopped letting anyone hunt after gates were left open and cattle got hit by careless hunters.