Some WY advice

[RobStar]

I've heard things have changed over the past couple years. What are the chances of drawing out without points? Im wondering if I need to start planning a backup hunt in an poo their state or for another species.

Spend the $99 and sign up for GoHunt.com and use their very well done and easy to use online interactive maps. Plus you can get a $50 gift certificate from them when you sign up and use that at a Sportsman's Warehouse. The GoHunt maps have interactive sliders so you can list your zero points and see exactly what area you can have potential in. They also have a pretty decent write up on the characteristics of each unit for each species. You can click to your hearts content with all the "what-if" scenarios. You'll also find access and camping info.

~Robert

 

[duckaholic]

I will have to look into that!

 

[ClearCreek]

Spend the $99 and sign up for GoHunt.com and use their very well done and easy to use online interactive maps. Plus you can get a $50 gift certificate from them when you sign up and use that at a Sportsman's Warehouse. The GoHunt maps have interactive sliders so you can list your zero points and see exactly what area you can have potential in. They also have a pretty decent write up on the characteristics of each unit for each species. You can click to your hearts content with all the "what-if" scenarios. You'll also find access and camping info.

~Robert

No offense to Robert but I would save that $99 and buy a Wyoming chip for your GPS so you know when you are or are not on public land. Use the maps on the G&F website under the hunt planner section.

Many of the antelope units east of Buffalo, WY do not sell out in the initial draw because there is a lot of private land. There is some public land that is accessible but you will have to do your homework AND have that GPS chip.

My advice would be pick an area that has a lot of public land and have that area as your first choice as you may draw it in the random draw. Find an area where there are licenses left over after the draw and have that area as your second choice; you should (will) draw that area as your second choice.

You have from now until May 31 to submit your application so you have some time to do your homework - DO NOT WAIT UNTIL A WEEK BEFORE THE OPENING DAY TO START SEARCHING FOR INFORMATION.

Good luck - antelope hunting can be an extremely enjoyable hunt!!

ClearCreek

 

[duckaholic]

Thank you clear creek! I do have one maps on my phone but have to buy a GPS for our 2018 hunt anyways so its on the to do list. I figured the onx may get spotty out there for signal.

 

[RobStar]

No offense to Robert but I would save that $99 and buy a Wyoming chip for your GPS so you know when you are or are not on public land. Use the maps on the G&F website under the hunt planner section

No offense taken! You made a great suggestion. However, the OP asked specifically what areas he's likely to get a tag in without points and where he can camp. Yes he can wade through G&F's site but they don't provide what he is asking for in a concise all in one presentation. He sounded rather new to WY and not so inclined to decipher the G&F data. GoHunt will do that for him super easily.

Like you I'm a huge advocate of OnXmaps for GPS and in fact used their Nevada chip this year to make sure the mule deer buck I had been sitting on was 100% off the rancher's alfalfa field albeit narrowly by 20 yards! ;-). I even tied little markers tape bits on sage brush to mark the boundary line that was not the same as the fence line. It sounds to me like the guy wants to figure out the if, how and where and until he does that a GPS chip won't do him any good.

~Robert

 

[duckaholic]

We are green and it will be our first trip out west.

 

[RobStar]

...Take a look at the units east of I-25 for what you want.

Topgun is spot on in this suggestion. I've taken some really nice antelope around Douglass and Buffalo and arrowed a super nice P&Y book goat there last year plus two bucks by rifle this year.

Good luck and don't forget to post pictures!

~Robert

 

[ATH]

I've had good luck in areas with 100% draw odds and poor public access. What acces there was was plenty if you walked 200 yards from the road.

The only unit I checked that public access looked terminal bad was a Gillette (24?). Be careful because there is a big difference between public land and legally accessible public land.

 

[Slick8]

Great info fella's, I too am looking make an antelope trip in the next year or two and this is a good start.

 

[BCinKS]

I have hunted north of Douglas in years past and have filled tags relatively easy. Look north of Douglas around the Thunder Basin Grassland.

 

[duckaholic]

I thibk we have it narrowed down just have to start getting our gear together and purchasing what we dont currently have. Like a good tent.

 

[Bulseyetom]

Several things to consider about antelope hunting in Wyoming that you should think about. Number one is that there is a long time between now and the application date so narrow your search down but don't apply yet. By the first of May call the Fish and Game biologist where you have thought about going and see how the herd did over the winter and spring. They will have a good idea if they will be increasing the number of available tags or god forbid decreasing them because of winterkill or poor fawn survival due to weather. The second thing is don't even think about hunting Wyoming without a GPS chip that has been mentioned. There are few fences between public and private land and it is VERY difficult to distinguish where you are at without the chip. Also it is hard to tell where some Unit Boundaries are. As for a tent, I have learned the hard way that the wind does blow in Wyoming and had to change my internal frame to a much beefier model to survive! Also firewood is scarce for the wood stove. Good luck. It sure is fun. Tom gun)

 

[Topgun 30-06]

It's actually not necessary to call the G&F around the first of May like the previous poster mentioned. The Final Regulations will be posted about the last week or so of April after all the information and recommendations from the biologists for tag totals are put together, signed off by the Commission, and then posted on the website. Go into the 2016 Regulations that are still on the website and save them. Then when the 2017 Final Regulation come out in late April you can look to see if tag totals are up, down, or if they are the same. You will have the entire month of May to do that and then apply the last week or so of May. That covers you on what he mentioned and you also keep your money for 4 more months.

 

[duckaholic]

How much will I have to worry about theft at the camp while out hunting?