Wyoming Preference Points
 

My dad and I would like to hunt Antelope *hopefully* next fall in Wyoming. We'd like an area with good public land access and plenty of antelope. I'm looking for some clarification on the Preference Point System. If I buy us both preference points this season, would I have a good chance of getting drawn to a decent unit for next fall? I'm reading online but it's slightly confusing! If anyone knows, help out!
-Jake

Also, can we buy preference points as a party? Or do each of us have to apply separately?
-Jake

If I was you I'd PM TopGun30-06. He hunts WY as a non-resident every year and knows the system they have in place really well.

One point is a whole lot better than none. Go to the following link and buy your individual point for $30:

https://wgfd.wyo.gov/elso/elsowelcome.aspx

Whenever you go you will be able to apply for your licenses as a group.

A PP must be purchased by the individual applicant and you have to set up individaul accounts on the G&F website to do that. Next year you will definitely have a better chance with one PP than none. However, a lot of the decent units that previously could be hunted with a 100% chance of drawing with 1PP now require 2 or even 3. The main reason is because of big tag cuts this year due to decreasing number of animals in areas where precipitation has been minimal and/or the winter a couple of years ago caused large mortality figures that haven't been replaced yet through fawn recruitment. The resulting decrease in tags has translated into a longer wait for people to get drawn. If you apply as a party, Wyoming adds all the PPs the party has and gives the party an average (no rounding up or down) and one random number for the draw. Everyone is in the PP draw first and if not drawn get a second chance in the random drawing where PPs are not used. Thus, it doesn't increase your chance of drawing by going the party route. What it does is allows the party to all either draw a tag or nobody gets one to eliminate the chance of some drawing and some not if they applied separately. Just a fraction of a PP can make a difference in whether you draw a tag or not. If your party would have an average of 1.5, for example, the tags may be gone before it gets to that draw pool since those with anything above that number would get a tag first. If you have any other questions on Wyoming just send me a PM, as I've been hunting out there most years since 1992 and can answer most of them or know where to find the answer.

Thanks for the replies guys. TG I'm gonna get my group together to buy some Points. And I'm sure I'll be PMing you with questions in the future.
-Jake

No problem! Fire away and I'll help as much as I can!

I've been doing a lot of reading on they Wyoming website and various other sites today about units and public land and such. Allot of public land, but allot of it seems difficult to access.
-Jake

Website for anyone else interested. it gave some good overview information.
http://www.n4thehunt.com/2013/01/27/...ing-a-license/

While it is correct that large amounts of BLM land are locked up by private land, there is still good public land that is accessible. The walk-in areas are OK also, but not ideal for everyone.

On most BLM land with good public access you will not be alone unless you have drawn a tag in one of the better units. It is a big pain to stalk a herd and have the hunt ruined by some yahoo with a truck or ATV, or by some "sniper" trying to get lucky at 800 yards in a strong wind. Some of the better units (Red Desert, etc.) take a bunch of points to draw. With one point you can probably get a unit 26 or similar tag.

Don't get discouraged by the access issues or other hunters. There is still plenty of land and enough antelope. I have had public land hunts that were a really great experience, and shot some pretty good public land antelope.

I'm open to more unit suggestions from anyone with experience. Starting from scratch here so a unit suggestion gives me a good place to start looking. I'll look into some unit 26 maps thanks! Walking is no problem. I have a decent amount of backpacking/ hiking/ backcountry experience and we're not afraid to put miles in.
-Jake

Some of the walk-in areas are lightly hunted. I don't think too many guys want to get more than 1/4 mile from their truck (lots of them don't want to get 50 yards from their truck!). It is common to drive around and spot pronghorns from the vehicle and then stalk them if they within fairly easy walking distance.

Check out the rules for walk-in areas (usually no camping, etc.). The following link will give you maps by county:
http://wgfd.wyo.gov/plpwhmprogram/fr...ntingHome.aspx

When you buy your point you will get a Sportsman ID number. You don't need to choose units when you buy the point. When you apply for the actual license you can put a group together, pick a unit, and apply as a group.

btw even yellow/white units according to eastmans' system can be legally accessed and hunted even though it's very limited.

but do your research and find a unit ideally with some chunks of public blocked together vs. all checkerboard.

also part of the hunt is getting out there and having a look around, so don't stress if on the drive out to WY you aren't exactly sure where you'll be hunting etc..., have some spots circled, if one doesn't have access, check out your other spots.

The colors you're talking about in the Eastman's MRS section strictly stands for ones that they don't consider decent units to hunt as far as quality or quantity and has nothing to do with the legal access to public lands within them.

perhaps you should re-read your eastmans'

a unit could be good/great but access is terrible and therefore yellow/white.

none the less, my point was that even units with very "limited" access, can still be hunted successfully.

Excuse me, but I strongly suggest that you're the one that needs to read the Eastmans MRS closer. If you'll look closer at the charts, it specifically shows a header as "Potential" or "Trophy Quality" and that blue stands for excellent trophy quality, green for good, yellow for fair, and white for poor. The colors have absolutely nothing to do with access issues that are shown separately in a column to the far right in the tables under the heading "Public Access"! An example is the unit I hunt in. It is colored yellow in the MRS because they don't consider it to have good quality or quantity even though over 75% is legally accessible public land. Incidentally, I've drawn three buck tags I've applied for there and killed three bucks between 75" and 80". There are goats like that in every unit if you have the time and energy to look for them and know how to hunt them. Yes, I agree that if you do your homework that you can kill a goat even in areas that don't have a lot of legally accessible public land, but you'll need good maps and a GPS with a landownership chip or download to avoid trespassing. Here's the last two I shot in 2009 and 2012. The shoulder mount was 76" and the other was right at 80" before the 60 day drying period was up.