Wyoming Pronghorn

[RyeGuy74]

Hello,
I was just wondering how difficult it is a for a nonresident like myself to draw a tag, come out to Wyoming and do some Pronghorn hunting?
Thank you for any help and advice!

 

[renello]

Not difficult at all. Actually surprisingly easy. An article I wrote some years back about antelope hunting in Wyoming. Enjoy.

As the sun began to rise in the East I was peering over the blades of grass and sage from the hidden confines of an irrigation ditch that bisected the large tract of public land. With my 10x50 binoculars in hand I was scanning the rolling prairie studying my quarry. I was watching a group of pronghorn antelope about 600 yards away while Deb my wife was doing the same in the opposite direction behind me. I was fixed mainly on a group of does and the herd buck. Antelope are very gregarious and during the fall dominant bucks collect harems, which can range from 3 or 4 does on up to 20. Other satellite bucks continually challenge the dominant bucks. That was the play I was watching as two or three satellite bucks hovered around the periphery of the group jockeying for position no doubt vying for the attention of some does. We could move in the ditch unseen finding different vantage points, no small feat in open country as antelope have exceptional eyesight and uncanny peripheral vision. Debbie had her eye on a nice buck and decided to plan an approach using the landscape to shield her from the group. A small hill between the ditch and the pronghorn would situate her about 100 to 150 yards from the group when she popped over the crest. No problem with her 270 WSM. So with plan in mind Debbie popped out of the ditch in a low crouch and began her stalk ever careful to keep herself out of view from her quarry. Safely hidden in the confines of the irrigation ditch I watched as Debbie crept ever closer. Stalking steadily and slowly she made her way adeptly towards the pinnacle like a seasoned veteran. After what seemed like ages she picked her spot and began setting up her shooting sticks for what looked like a sitting position. I noted nervously at this point that some of the does had surely sensed something and were beginning to move away from her position a bit warily. It was at that moment that I heard the telltale, "pop!" Quickly followed by Debbie’s voice crackling excitedly over the radio, "I got him! I got him!" I immediately scrambled out of the ditch and ran towards her position about 200 yards away. When I got to her she was flushed and very excited. Together we headed in the direction where she thought he should have been. A few anxious moments passed as we scanned the area without any sign. Debbie decided to look farther on and began circling desperately, starting to second-guess herself and her position. I, on the other hand, had just noticed a glint of tan hair over a small rise and I knew immediately we had found her prize. Chuckling, I called at her to come back over towards me. With a smile a mile wide, she came running all the way. I will never forget the look of pride and relief in her face. Debbie had her trophy.

 

[renello]

Me and my father had already harvested two nice bucks the day before, and now, with the addition of Debbie’s trophy underfoot, our little hunting party was batting 1000 with our last tag filled. Under that impossibly large and blue Wyoming sky, I was touched with an overwhelming feeling of connection to the land. A good woman, some fresh air, and a big blue sky go a long way towards curing what ails you. What a fantastic way to finish our 2005 Wyoming hunt. When it came time to field dress her 15" beauty Debbie didn’t even let me get my hands in there, insisting on doing it all herself. Fine by me, what a trooper.

Although pronghorn are often referred to as goats or antelope, being biologically proper one should call them pronghorn. Their scientific name is Antilocapridae Americana, which is a combination of Greek and Latin. Which would translate to American Antelope Goat. They are unique to our continent and have no ancestry outside North America. Pronghorn are the only mammals with hollow horns that shed annually. Females have smaller horns and shed theirs every two to five years. They are well adapted to grasslands of the west from the southern Prairie Provinces to northern Mexico. Although most Pronghorn are quite shy, at times they can become very curious and in sometimes even quite territorial. Pronghorn are exceptional sprinters capable of speeds up to 60 miles per hour. Unlike deer, elk or moose, pronghorn generally bed down at night and move and feed during the day. They prefer wide-open spaces, as their keen eyesight and great speed are their main defense against predators like coyotes, wolves and bobcats. What this behavior translates into is great all day action and sightings for the prepared hunter. No need to set the alarm clock to beat the sunrise, all day is primetime.

There are a few different approaches to hunting antelope. By far the most common is the spot and stalk method common out West in vast open terrain. This could involve spotting from a vehicle or from foot usually targeting high ground and using binoculars and/or spotting scope to identify animals. If you do stalk the antelope and bump them the game isn’t over even though they can make some pretty hasty departures. Often waiting 3-4 hours in that very area they will return. Antelope are known to make a big circle and come back to areas where you first seen them. For bow hunters, another method that works well for is a ground blind situated close to watering holes. Much of the antelope range is very arid and watering holes are at a premium so being on top of one can often produce shooting opportunities at any point during the day. Pronghorn don’t seem to have much fear of ground blinds. Stalking with stick and string is an option for the more seasoned hunter, unless you have some sort of terrain features you can utilize you’re not going to get in range without being detected. Believe me I’ve tried many times and probably in all futility try many more. I have also spent a lot of time dusting myself off and pulling imbedded cactus quills out of places a gentleman doesn't mention, but it is all part of the fun. As I have mentioned before, there is no shortage of animals so don't be afraid to use your imagination and try other techniques like decoying and drives.

 

[renello]

One of the things that makes an antelope hunt in Wyoming so enjoyable is the fact that simply driving through the state you are likely to see enough pronghorn and mules deer to make even the most seasoned hunter drool. In some areas you may even come across some elk, white-tailed deer and bighorn sheep. There is no lack of game here. The fact that most of the geography is vast rolling prairie creates fantastic visual hunting capabilities which are nearly impossible to find in Northern Ontario where I live. And let me tell you, as much as I love to see great rub or other sign, actually seeing herds of animals, some trophies, off in the distant hills repeatedly add a little fuel to the fire.

There is more to do in Wyoming than simply hunt. My father, though an avid hunter, is perhaps a bit more tempered than myself and enjoys stopping at many of the local landmarks and historical sites along the way. Driving along he is most often found with a map in his lap reading off names and giving directions to our next destination. Wyoming is a treasure trove of famous places and towns to visit; Devils Tower, The Black Hills, Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National park, Jackson’s Hole, Casper, Cheyenne, Cody, Sheridan. The list goes on and on. The names in and of themselves inspire and awe and remind us of a simpler, albeit, tougher time, when the west was still wild and free. Everywhere we stopped we were greeted by good-natured friendly folks who went out of their way to help us anyway they could. Wyoming is a great place to vacation even if you didn’t get the tag you applied for this year.

 

[TJT96]

If you don’t have any preference points yet, it’s always a good time to apply for some easier to draw type 6 tags (doe/fawn) and start building points for an any pronghorn tag. There is no shortage of pronghorn in Wyoming and there is public accessible land in most unit; some units you will have to walk a lot further to access more land.

The Wyoming website’s user interface is super easy to navigate. Draw odds are easy to read and as always, just compare the draw odds with the harvest reports to help narrow down which units you want to hunt. If you’re willing to walk in a mile or more from the road and have a decent amount of public land to wander, you should have no issues getting opportunities!

 

[Big Fin]

Here is a great place to start your research - https://wgfd.wyo.gov/hunting

 

[efw]

Read this; it’s almost as tho this was written for you:

Thanks to Hunt Talk and Advice for First Timers Hunting Wyoming Pronghorn

In late September/early October of 2019 I drove to Wyoming from the east coast with 5 friends to hunt a zero point Wyoming Pronghorn Unit. Like many here I had never hunted pronghorn before or even been west of Ohio. With the help of this forum and other online sources we were able to put...

www.hunttalk.com

 

[WyoDoug]

Hello,
I was just wondering how difficult it is a for a nonresident like myself to draw a tag, come out to Wyoming and do some Pronghorn hunting?
Thank you for any help and advice!

Not at all. I have nonresident friends call me all the time when the draw areas I hunt and know well. Antelope is probably easier to draw and hunt than deer or elk.

 

[RyeGuy74]

Thank you for all the advice! And just out of curiosity, local guides for Antelope isn't a thing is it?

 

[VikingsGuy]

Thank you for all the advice! And just out of curiosity, local guides for Antelope isn't a thing is it?

There are private land outfitters for pronghorn, but the pricing seems very high to me for what you would get, but it would pretty much guarantee you an animal in a low to no points unit.

If you have any prior hunting experience, pronghorn is pretty easy to pick up. Finding antelope is easy, their white butts glow for a thousand yards on a sunny day. Use the terrain to allow you to get within 300 yards without them having line of sight (as they can see for ever), preferably from the downwind side. Be mindful of the wind and its effect on your bullet trajectory. Be ready to shoot your gun comfortably out to 300 yards from various hunting positions (not a bench), and a rangefinder can be a huge help. For skilled non-western hunters I think the tricky part is not the hunting, it is getting a solid sense of public vs. private boundaries/roads/etc. ONX on your phone is a must.

You gave us no sense of if you are new to hunting, new to western hunting or just new to pronghorn. If you have never hunting any type of "big game", you might want to go with an outfitter, or start with something like squirrels or rabbits - I don't think your first ever time in the field with a gun should be a DIY big game hunt. There is a lot of just getting comfortable with moving around with a gun, setting up shots, knowing how to use maps/gps to stay in the right area, reading wind, etc. I would not recommend going from zero to hunting in one 5 day trip by yourself. Many of us learned all this little stuff at the heals of a grandfather, dad, uncle or brother. But many have become "late onset hunters", it does take a fair amount of learning to pick up all the "little stuff" on your own.

 

[WVgoodguy22]

I myself am looking into a Wyoming pronghorn hunt this fall, if I can swing it with time and $$$ might add a mule deer tag to make up for the fact that I didn't have one this fall when I went with my Dad and brother to Idaho. I bought a preference point in Wyoming for both. I also subscribed to GoHunt and will be using that Wyoming Hunt Planner that BigFin aka Randy posted. I saw all kinds of pronghorn when riding through southern Wyoming, some decent bucks too right along the road. I know I need to get in much better shape, even though I have had heart surgery twice. I can't use that as a crutch. Plus if I can get my Dad to go and some other relatives and friends that would be fun. He can hike, but chasing mule deer up a mountain was rough on the 62 year old retired coal miner. Good luck and if you go I am sure you will have fun. This will be my second western big game hunt if I get to go.