Big Uncle

Most people know that it has been much more difficult to get a license for a DIY pronghorn hunt on public land recently. We all think of it in terms of the odds of drawing an Any Antelope ("AA". aka Buck tag) tag, but the Doe/Fawn ("D/F") tags have really taken a hit. Point creep is unfortunately very real in most areas of public land, and in the past couple of years the point jump has gone wild. The Covid relief payments and the internet forums have probably been the biggest factors in increased demand and the current difficulty in pulling tags, Whatever is the cause the result is that in the last couple of years the "normal" point creep has been awful..

It was a common thing for some guys with buck tags to get additional tags for D/F, and I usually told new hunters that they were easy to get. Some fellows made the trip with just D/F tags for a nice low pressure outing. In the past I usually could pick up a D/F tag fairly easily, but that has changed quite a bit in the units with good access to public land. In 2018 one of the areas that I hunt had about a 60% chance of drawing a D/F tag, and last year it was an 11% chance. The draw areas that are substantially all private land have not been hit badly (if at all) with point creep so DF tags are still the same there, but do not plan on easily picking up D/F tags even if you are lucky to pull an AA tag for areas with good public access anymore.

greslyel

This thread had had some extremely good tips for first-timers like myself. It does really help give me a little confidence that I'm on the right track in my planning process. I'm currently waiting to finalize the party so I can create a party ID. We will be all first-timers with no points. I plan to start applying for PP this year as well. Thanks for all the tips and shared experiences. It really helps in setting a realistic expectation. I look forward to the research and hopefully, if luck is on my side, my first antelope hunt!