It's only April...I'm from IL..and there is no big game hunting again for months. I'm trying to pass the months by planning future trips. I love hunting the whitetails, but I'm looking to expand my horizons into additional big game.
I've been researching antelope in Wyoming. I received the non-resident package from the state and now I'm looking for some advice. I'd appreciate it if anyone could tell me a good goat hunting area with a high draw rate for non resident tags. I read a post about any area around the Green River being good, but the odds of getting drawn for a non resident permit for those areas is like 10% or less. If anyone could provide me advice about good public areas for antelope with a high draw rate I'd greatly appreciate it.
Also, any posts regarding antelope hunting in general would be great to read. Thanks!
if u go to wyoming game and fish sight u can find out this info. also i would tell u that here wher i live in wyoming if u walk and use your binos, and do a little homework, u will get a good goat!
Most areas that are easy to draw contain a majority of private land. But in some of those areas you can get permission or pay a small tresspass fee to access the land.
Try around the Rawlins area, for lots of public land and fair chance of a draw. If you haven't, research the draw odds on the G&F website, that may help you choose.
Gillette area also has some accessible private land, and you can find out through the chamber of commerce on some. Your first trip might be trial and error. If you want to do a total public land hunt, get a BLM map and do a little research.
Tuffest part is the draw, and if you do, be patient. Don't necessarily shoot the first one you see, unless it is a big one! Also, antelope is great table fair, as soon as you shoot it, cool it down quick, I gut mine, and pack with bags of ice, or quarter it, cut out the back straps, then throw it in an ice chest with ice. Cape the head, and keep it cool also if you intend to mount it.
It is easy to do-it-yourself, and is very enjoyable. You might find arrow heads, a rattle snake, horny toads, scorpions, dinosuar bones, petrified wood, petroglyphs.
This guy has some openings. It is posted on Accurate Reloading under Big Game.
If any folks have not made a commitment for a hunt this fall this maybe what you are looking for.
The hunt is in Wyoming Unit 23 close by Gillette. This area had hundreds of leftover tags last year so drawing a tag in the "Leftover Drawing" should be a slam dunk. Aplication period is limited to July 10-20.
These hunts are fully guided for 3 days and the hunt price of $1750 includes 1 buck and 2 does. You provide motel/hotel and food in Gillette.
Expectation should be a nice representative goat in the 13-15 class.
You will see literally hundreds of undisturbed antelope. This 30,000 acre ranch is owned by a coal company and our outfitter is the only one that can hunt it.
I sent a group from LA on this exact hunt last year and they just had a ball.
The Wyo. app date is Mar. 15th, etc., so you will have to look at landowner tags. If you looking ever further like next year's apply/draw. The areas around Kemmerer (93, 94) are some of the best units in the state. Almost all land is public BLM/Forest Service, etc. I grew up in Kemmerer and my dad still lives there etc. I go back every year I can and it's easy to take a solid 15-16 inch buck if you hunt even 1/2 hard. Hunt hard, with a little scouting and luck and you might bag a 16+ goat. 14-15's are a dime a dozen. If you ever need detailed information about those units or SW Wyo. in general, just holler.
There are no land owner tags in Wy. What you will find is antelope areas, or units, that are mostly private land with very little public. There is always tags left for these areas. But you have to find a ranch that will let you hunt, via tresspass fees, or outfitting.
My son and I did a pronghorn hunt in Unit 23 near Gillette, our first pronghorn hunt, last year. We paid $125/apiece trespass fees to hunt a ranch for a couple of days. Our ranch was about 5 miles from downtown Gillette, and my son took a 13.5" buck. The draw in this unit is just about guaranteed. As a matter of fact, I think there are usually left over permits that can be applied for, perhaps in July after the regular drawing. Phone the Buffalo, Wyoming field office of the Wyoming Fish and Game department to ask them to email you a list of land owners that will let you hunt on their lands. I think you can do it for well less than $1700/hunter. To my knowledge the heads are not overly big in Unit 23, so if your goal is big horns, you ought to look elsewhere. There is also a large piece of public land in Unit 23 -- the Thunder Basin National Grassland -- but I have heard rumors that this land is heavily trafficked by hunters. Maybe hunting during the week, a couple weeks into the season would be a strategy to avoid heavy hunting pressure.
Pronghorn hunting isn't too complicated. Get on top of a hill with binoculars, find the animals, determine an approach to stalk up on them, and go for it. If you fail or spook the animals, guess what, there are more pronghorn and more stalks just around the corner!!! There are tons of antelope in the Gillette area. No kidding. I don't see what an outfitter or guide gets you, other than access to private herds that might have bigger horns and a guide who has good experience field judging horn sizes who can say "Oh, that one is only 14.5", you should hold out for 15.5" in this area." Close to Gillette, you can drive your truck to Gillette and have your taxidermist cape your head for you, if you choose to mount your antelope head. So, in my humble opinion, if your funds are limited and you are not head hunting, save your money and do it yourself. Practice your marksmanship.
You can also look into reigon 7 of Montana they put out lots of tags for this area,if you draw you can get a Blockmanagenet book of reigion 7 and find places that let you hunt,also state land and Nat'l Forest.
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The left overs are the way to go if you want to hunt this year, Call G&F and they will give you the Name and phone # of the local Warden or biologist in the areas you are looking at.They will normaly be happy to help you.
If your looking at next year you can put in for the regular drawing and put in for one of the harder areas to draw as a 1st choice ,then put in for an area that has leftovers as 2nd choice and know that you should draw,
Just a neat little trick on field judging antelope that my dad and I figured out. The ears are around 7" long so if it is double the ears, you likely have a +14". Also you want around an inch of air beneath the prong and the top of the ear, and near the same amount of horn above the prong as below. With that criteria you are looking at a for sure 15" speed goat.
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