Is antelope in Wyoming possible

[ATH]

I've had good luck in a leftover tag unit, guaranteed draw, on public land. We found an area requiring a 1.5 mile hike to access and nobody does that so we tag out opening morning every year. We've also shot them close to the road. But most people drive around and scout the roads, rarely leaving the vehicle unless they see antelope, so your odds go up when you get aware form roads. A GPS with a land ownership chip is an absolute must.

Get a map of units of interest and really look at a) the public land, and b) access routes. We hunted a different unit for mule deer and found out that not only was most public land not accessible, but that which was accessible was all easily hunted from the road and so it was scoured clean Day 1 and everything run onto private land.

 

[kraigwy]

Just my personal opinion but paying tresspass fees is a waste of money. Almost half the State is Publicly owned, and full of antelope.
I hunt Area 7, heck of a lot of public land, There is also a lot of private walk in areas (no fees), Not to mention tons of Antelope.

As mentioned earlier, the trick to antelope hunting is hunting the first couple days of the season.

Wife and I normally get a buck (any) and doe tag each and a huge majority of the time we tag out before noon or 2pm on openning day. We only hunt public land.

 

[antelopedundee]

Just my personal opinion but paying tresspass fees is a waste of money. Almost half the State is Publicly owned, and full of antelope.
I hunt Area 7, heck of a lot of public land, There is also a lot of private walk in areas (no fees), Not to mention tons of Antelope.

As mentioned earlier, the trick to antelope hunting is hunting the first couple days of the season.

Wife and I normally get a buck (any) and doe tag each and a huge majority of the time we tag out before noon or 2pm on openning day. We only hunt public land.

Any reason why more residents don't apply for tags in area 7? This year at least 110 [and likely more] resident tags were pretty much guaranteed to be rolled into the NR pool.

 

[twister]

Any reason why more residents don't apply for tags in area 7? This year at least 110 [and likely more] resident tags were pretty much guaranteed to be rolled into the NR pool.

i have a tag there. i think its a good area was there last year. just really hard to find something big.

 

[mongoose]

I always hunted speed goats between Buffalo and Gillette, not sure of the unit number.

 

[RetiredAZ]

From past experience hunting in WY on public land is possible without paying some land owner any fee. To get close to one, you need to plan your stalk (tone in your stalking skills), crawl on your belly, use your optics and never, I mean NEVER shoot any antelope that is running or had been running. They do not have normal scent glands like deer or elk. There tongues are their adrenaline gland and if you shoot one that has been running your meat will taste bad.
I found hunting south of Hwy 80 in the Sweetwater County offers the best chance to bag a pronghorn.

 

[UltraShooter]

There's tons of public land and tons of antelope. Just have to get out of the truck and be sneaky and you won't have a problem. Guys who can't get close usually try and drive a truck right up to them.

 

[Deane]

Hunted antelope last fall for the first time. My girlfriend's family lives in Western Wyoming and she drew a doe/fawn tag. After two busted stalks she sealed the deal on her first game animal. We found a group higher up in the foothills of the Wyoming range. They were bedded and feeding around a stock pond on public land. One well placed shot from 175 yards six hours into opening day and she was tagged out.

After spending three years exploring Western Wyoming and having one hunting season I can tell you there is plenty of public land and antelope. We saw some nice bucks too that would have been just as easy that doe.

 

[Coyote_Hunter]

We hunt WY for does and don't have much trouble getting two tags each. This year we will have 4 hunters and we all go one or two tags, whatever we applied for.

As to land, we hunt both public and private. Many ranchers don't ask for trespass fees if you are hunting does - they want them out of their crop circles. One rancher gave us permission to shoot does, jokingly saying "Only if you shoot them all." Some ranchers want trespass fees. We pay $50 max for each doe we take and give it to the ranchers whether they ask for it or not. This helps ensure good will and we have hunted the same ranches for a number of years as a result.

The trick to getting on private ranches, we found, is politely asking. Knock on doors. Some will say yes, some will say no. Daughter #1 called one rancher on the phone and asked and he said "no" as he had buck hunters coming in. After the call I pointed out to her that she hadn't mentioned we only had doe tags. She called back and informed the rancher of that and he immediately granted access.

 

[MagTen]

Around Lusk, WYO is a great spot and lots of public land.

 

[lucky guy]

So I have a pile of questions. First off I live in Wv and would love to be able to come to Wyoming on a diy rifle pronghorn hunt with my two teenage sons. We all three have current hunters Ed cards and hunt our state like crazy( deer bear ) you name it we chase it.
If I remember correctly from what I read last year I believe if I read Wyoming's regs right we could have hunted and killed 3 a piece a buck and two does? Does this sound right?

If so and it is this way agin this year we're game .
Would it be safe to say that if we can consistently shoot 6 inch groups at 300 yards we would be good? My sons can pretty well kill any game animal we see now within 250 yards but I want them to be able to stretch a little bit more. As far as fire power we're good there a 260 rem and a 6.5 Creedmoor or the 7 mm08 . I plan on them shooting a lot this summer to 400 yards but limit them on animals to 300 ish. Would this be feasible on a public land hunt ? My buddy hunted out there several years back and says they couldn't get within 400 yards of any pronghorn! I don't know where exactly they hunted or what part of the season. I know that after the first few days they get skittish and head towards private ground from what I've read.

As I said I've got a pile of questions. Any and all help will be more than appreciated

 

[lucky guy]

Don't wait, plan it and go. There are plenty of online resources that will allow you to find a unit with public land and animals. They are not that hard to hunt, and of the 10 our group took last year only 2 were over 300 yds. Your cartridges are fine, don't over think that part, most anything will kill a pronghorn. Bench practice is fine, but field position practice is more helpful. And don't forget to put a cactus thorn or two in each knee just for a little realistic practice! I'm sort of kidding, my kit has knee pads and leather gloves for stalking. I'm going to try bird hunting pants this year but taking the knee pads.

The shooting distances need not be long if you like to hunt on your feet. Stay off the ridge tops, walk around the bottoms of the knobs, etc. They will bust you in a second if you profile yourself. If it's windy I walk down the in the cuts, that's also often where they go when bumped. When they just seem to disappear 6-800 yds out, there is topography that they take advantage of.

It's relatively high altitude and very dry, take and pump plenty of water. I've been at 5000' in WV so I know you have some altitude there, but still worth keeping in mind. Bring chains and a bumper jack for your rigs, doesn't matter what tires you have.

It is fun hunting, beautiful country (not easy but beautiful). Take butchering gear, they're small and easy to take apart. All the markets have dry ice. If you're going to use a butcher most want the hide left on so they can do it right and not get hair all over the meat. lol

If you have a bird dog you are driving through some great country to get there, and what's a hunting trip without a dog anyway?

Good luck!

 

[antelopedundee]

Around Lusk, WYO is a great spot and lots of public land.

The #5 book buck was taken around Lusk last year. Guy shot it 5 minutes after getting out of his truck.

 

[Coyote_Hunter]

We shot all the rest of the antelope around Lusk last year. None left.

Plus, there are no hotel rooms left in Lusk this year. We rented them all.