Wy Unit 95 first antelope hunt.

[johnnybow]

Hey guys, im looking to try to go out to unit 95 in 2013. Ive never antelope hunted before and i was wondering if anyone had any experience with the area? Im planning on flying in and renting a vehicle and doing it myself. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.
thanks john

 

[Topgun 30-06]

Unless you have close to maximum PPs you won't be going to unit 95, as it's one of the top units in the state. The Max was 6 PPs last year and only 59.26% of the applicants with 5 drew it, meaning it will probably take 6 or 7 this year to even be in the running for a tag.

 

[Big Fin]

I have hunted it three times. Fun hunt. If you rent a vehicle, you might have some flat tires if you head out the direction of Cedar Mountain. Two strategies to this hunt.

One, hunt near the reservior, which is mostly the stuff east of the highway. Plenty of pronghorn, easy access, but more hunters.

Second, hunt the SW or central parts of the unit where there is huge blocks of BLM. Tons of antelope.

This is like most the units I have hunted in SW Wyoming. Lots of antelope. Almost as many as some of the nearby glory units.

As far as strategy, find one of the many water sources the ranches use for their cattle and hunt within two miles of that. You will see hundreds of antelope each day. It is not a difficult hunt.

Hardest part is sorting out which buck you want. Really, like all units in that part of Wyoming, you will see a ton of bucks that get you thinking, and finally one that really gets you excited.

If you have not antelope hunted and you are going for the opener, try go one or two days early, giving you time to look around and see what is really there. I filling a tag is paramount, you will be done by 10am the first morning. If you want to get the full experience, spend a couple days just looking around. Odds are, if you spend two day, you will find one that is bigger than most, and the fun becomes finding that one buck and hanging your tag on him.

Good luck.

 

[johnnybow]

Unless you have close to maximum PPs you won't be going to unit 95, as it's one of the top units in the state. The Max was 6 PPs last year and only 59.26% of the applicants with 5 drew it, meaning it will probably take 6 or 7 this year to even be in the running for a tag.

Ok thanks for the advice.. What would be a good unit to try to draw or evan a over the counter tag? If that is possible?

 

[Topgun 30-06]

My advice would be to look on the G&F website and if you highlight "HUNTING" you will see all kinds of stuff come up. Click on "Draw Odds" and when that comes up click on the top line for 2012 odds. Then when all the animals come up you can click on the nonresident random draw where no PPs are used or either of the PP draws to see how many PPs it took. Generally the more private land there is in a unit the easier it is to draw a tag because the landowners pretty much control the hunting. The units that have tons of public land generally take more PPs to draw if they are in areas that people consider good. I assume you're talking about a OYOA or DIY hunt since you're on this particular website, but you can draw a tag in a unit like 23 and pay for access on a ranch. You can call the G&F in Gillette and they will mail or email you a list of ranchers in the area. The sooner you start making calls the better until you can firm something up and know you have access before you get the tag. Don't do like some do and buy the tag because it's a sure thing and then go out there only to not have a place to hunt! There are so many tags issued for unit 23 that they never sell out and I believe you can get 2 doe tags in the draw and then buy 2 more leftovers when they go on sale in July. If you just want a good antelope hunt, you might just think about a cheap doe tag or two and a lot of the ranchers will let you shoot them for free to keep the herds in balance. Not so for the bucks though! .

 

[elkantlers]

I hunted 95 and had a great time. The hardest part was sorting through all the antelope. The first day we saw well over 100 Bucks and probably 600 total. Me and my son both shot nice mid 70's bucks but I wish I had been more selective.