DIY muley/antelope hunt?
 

Hey guys,
Me and a friend are looking to do a DIY, public land mule deer/antelope hunt soon. Would it be possible to put one together for 2011? From what i've read, wyoming seems to be our best bet for this type of thing. Am i wrong? any other suggestions? Also, we don't have any preference points so what areas are our best bet at getting both tags? we're not looking for Boone & Crocket bucks, but pretty nice trophies. Any help you can give would be much appreciated

Edit: We'll also be rifle hunting

It may be possible in MT...you could be out there a few days before deer opener hunting antelope and scouting for deer, or wait til later in the season/deer rut and hunt both...

Eastern WY I think it would be possible on private land by paying a trespass fee, but I'm not sure about a DIY public land in WY without any bonus points...WY has walk in areas, ie private land open to the public, which may be an option for eastern WY...where a lot of the tags are leftover due to the private land...

Without bonus points, I'm not sure how nice of trophies you'll be looking for / chasing.

It can be done in Montana or Wyoming, but if you are really looking for some "pretty nice trophies", it is going to be hard to pull it off.

In Montana you are going to have to draw the antelope and mule deer tag and the odds can be anywhere from 50% or less without a preference point.

In Wyoming you can pretty much guarantee an antelope tag and if you want to pay extra for the special tag you can pretty much guarantee a mule deer tag, but not in a trophy type area.

I did a combo hunt in Montana in 2007 and was happy with my animals that I got, but I was lucky to draw both tags the same year and I grew up there and knew the area fairly well and knew where to apply and where to hunt.

Here's the antelope I shot. If I recall correctly it scored right at 72".


Here's the mule deer I shot. It scored right at 145".


Most people would probably not consider either of those trophy animals, but I was happy with them considering it was a combo hunt and not the ideal time to be hunting either animal. Antelope season was almost over and it was still too warm for the big mule deer bucks to be getting out and about.

If you really are wanting to shoot a pretty nice trophy you should probably focus on one species or another and may end up needing to build up a few preference points to draw a better area in Wyoming.

That's my 2 cents. Nathan

Nathan,
I would definitely be happy with those two animals you killed. I guess some people have different definitions of trophy haha. What region of montana did they come from? Would i be likely to be able to get something of similar size in wyoming with the special mule deer tag?

I hunted a couple of days on public land in Eastern Wyoming this year and I seen two of the biggest mule deer in my life and some really nice antelope. I don't hunt antelope but if I did I would have shot them. These were in areas that usually have left over antelope tags have some state and national grasslands for public land hunting. The one mule deer had 8 to 9 points on each side was massive, tall but not real wide. The other was a 5 x 5 that probably went 30 to 33" wide and tall but not alot of mass. I would have put them in the 180 and 200" range. Antelope were probably 14 to 15" and one bigger than that. It may be hard to draw the deer region tag and the antelope tag the same year though in Wyoming.

Check out Idaho ;)

Really most of the western states would be doable. I know North and South Dakota have good antelope and deer as well as Colorado. Maybe even Nebraska.

I'm just not familar with there seasons to know if they have any overlap or not.

Thanks for the input guys. Tell me if i have the application process figured out: We apply for our tags, and if we don't get drawn do we then have the option of purchasing preference points after we find out the results? And we can buy preference points for multiple animals in the same year, just one point per animal? Hope that made sense, let me know if i'm off or incorrect somewhere

That depends on the state. Not all states are on a Points System. Thats the main reason I like Idaho....no points just purchase your tags...now sure you can put in for a "draw" in areas that have better hunting but you dont have to. And there is a bunch of Public lands you can hunt.

In Wyoming if you put in for the tag and don't draw you get a point. If you don't put in then you can buy just the point up to a certain date.