pyclub1

Hey all, I have a couple questions..First off my buddy and I drew antelope tags in area 16 around the buffalo area...We were wondering if their was rattle snakes in the area and if we should by the snake boots or not...And we were wondering what kind of terrain their was in that area...Any help would be greatly appreciated...Thanks for the help..

pyclub1

pyclub1

Sorry I have one more question for ya...When is the rut for antelope..We have never been antelope hunting before and are just trying to get some questions we have answered before we go..Thanks again

manboy

as for snakes, ya you will see some if you archery hunt. if you are coming out in oct. for rifle chances are you won't.
and for part 2, well i have seen bucks already chasing little bucks off, it should be good and going by middle of aug.

wyotimberghost

There are quite a few snakes. Snake boots are not necessary. Just watch for them and listen for their rattle. Terrain in most of the area is hilly with a lot of draws. The draws get bigger and deeper the closer you get to the Powder River. There is a lot of grass and sagebrush. The draws have scattered cottonwoods and junipers. There a lot of cottonwoods and saltcedar along the Powder River. The river itself is slow, wide, shallow, and muddy. It was running pretty good when I looked yesterday from all of the rain the area just recieved. Quite a few farmers have fields up around Clearmont and Ucross.

pyclub1

Is this a descent area for goats or no??? We didnt know we kinda went with it because it has lots of walk in only areas that we could tell and kinda thought that since people cant drive into the area it might deter some of the lazier people but may not be as good as some other areas..Oh well we are learning as we go..Thanks for the info I REALLY REALLY appreciate it...
pyclub1

WYObowfisher

If you pay attention rattlers will let you know when you are getting to close and when to leave them alone. Are you going to be archery or rifle hunting? Im not sure about around where your going but whenever i have tried to do much spot and stalk hunting for goats i always where a pair of shin/knee guards. Where we are at there is a ton of cactus and knealing into a patch can make a trip miserable quik.

wyotimberghost

I haven't spent much time off of the highways in area 16, but I cover a bunch of country further south along the Powder River near the Pumpkin Buttes and Sussex during the spring, and I typically see a handful of bucks that look like they'll be decent by the time hunting season rolls around. Same for the area north of 16 along the river. The topography of the area makes stalking easy, so that will be a plus if you're archery hunting.

One thing that may present a challenge is the methane development. As I said before, I haven't spent much time in area 16, so I'm not sure what the situation there is, but most of the Powder River Basin is in some stage of development for methane. There may be roads all over the place that are private and won't be marked on your maps. And since the development resitrictions that protect grouse and raptors are lifted this time of year, there might be a lot of human activity. If any of the methane companies have developing pods in the area, you'll see wells being drilled, wells being worked over, power lines and pipelines being installed, compressor stations being installed, etc. Basically, it could be a reall busy place with a lot of heavy equipment running around. If the pods are already developed, there'll still be crews re-seeding disturbed areas, checking wells, etc. But like I said before, I haven't spent time off of the highways in area 16 so I don't know if there is much development there or not. And even if there is development around, there will still be some areas untouched by methane.

pyclub1

Since I am asking I might just as well ask about the powder...How is it for fishing??? We will be out their a few days early to learn the area and terrain and will have a fly rod with and was wondering how the fishing is in that area of the powder..No big deal if it sucks just asking..thanks


pyclub1

wyotimberghost

I personally wouldn't even bother. When it was running high from spring runoff I could still get an ATV across it. It's even shallower this time of year. Besides, the only game fish I know of in there are sturgeon, and I don't think you'll have much luck sturgeon fishing with a fly rod. If you're wanting to do a little bit of fishing, just head back into Buffalo and go up onto the mountain for a day.

Wheatley

Thats what I was going to recomend. Go up into the mountains from Buffalo and fish the rivers/streams there. If you have a couple of days it may be worth your while to hike into some of the ponds. There are excellent fly fishing spots up in the mountains.

There was alot of methane development and pipelines going in right off the interstate. I also seen some heavy equipment heading southwest of the interstate. Not sure how far they were going though. Most of this was closer to Gillette than Buffalo.

Wyotimberghost,

Do you live around the Buttes or just work around them. I know a couple of people out there and just wondering if you by chance lived out around that area?