Hunting & Fishing Wyoming antelope advice

[OG10]

I finally drew a nonresident antelope tag for Wyoming mine is for unit 7, my buddy drew in unit 1.I have been trying to get a tag since 2013 this year it finally happened for me, and my buddy got drawn on his first try.I am hoping some of the hide members who have hunted, or live in these units can help out with suggestions, recommendations. All help is appreciated. Thank you.

 

[VVhoisJohnGalt]

Never hunted it but I would see if you can get access to private land. Less than 30% of that unit is public...and lots of checker boarding BLM land pieces.
With the amount of tags issued to that unit I would either buy the archery stamp and hunt water early or be ready for a circus on public for the opener.

 

[OG10]

Thank you for the suggestions, Im in 7 and feel good about my hunt and odds. My buddy is in unit 1 and Im concerned about the lack of public land in unit 1 . I will both be checking WF&G to see if they still have a yes program we are not adverse to a trespass/access fee if anyone knows a land owner in that area we would thankful for any info and like I said we are not looking for a free hunt.

 

[hk401]

Few years ago, I hunted unit that only around 25% public land and 75% is private. I went on the opening day there were so many hunter on the public land. Spotted game and fish officer on the public land and I went to him and ask where to hunt. He gave me a lot of infor, very useful. I ended up killed a big buck on the first day.

 

[OG10]

I will be contacting WFG once the draw questions end, they are usually very phone busy for at least a week after the drawings. I appreciate all the help from the hide , Thank you. I plan on making a scouting trip or two to both areas with my budy prior to the season , Also need to find out about local amenities , food stores , gas , processors etc. I will do some google searches also may check into fishing in that area for after the scouting trips.

 

[Muley Buck]

Sounds like you are going about it the right way and will have a good hunt due the proper planning. Good on you for that! I haven't been out that far N/E in Wyoming but I'm sure there will probably some damn good goats out there. I have yet to go anywhere in Wyoming that didn't house very nice bucks!

 

[OG10]

Thank you @Muley Buck not my first out of state hunt just my first time in Wyoming.

 

[Muley Buck]

I didn't draw a tag in Wyoming this year and I sure am gonna miss it! I felt spoiled and have been the last 4 years in a row. Sometimes with deer and sometimes with antelope, and sometimes with both. Have fun! Can't say I'm not a little jealous.

 

[Dale264]

We just drew tags just southeast of 7. My biggest concern will be weather. Recently we were out there to shoot prairie dogs/get the lay of the land and ran into some rain. Those roads turned horrid after just a new tenths of rain. Pretty much wiped out access to all the publicly accessible land not on paved roads.

 

[Muley Buck]

We just drew tags just southeast of 7. My biggest concern will be weather. Recently we were out there to shoot prairie dogs/get the lay of the land and ran into some rain. Those roads turned horrid after just a new tenths of rain. Pretty much wiped out access to all the publicly accessible land not on paved roads.

Been there, done that. We got out and walked and got taller with every step! Haha!?

 

[Ricker]

I hunted unit 9 a few years back which lists public access at 15%. It was a great hunt and we didn't feel like we were limited by the access you just hunt it in a different way. OP lists unit 1 as the concern and it looks to have a bunch of BLM and WY State land. Unfortunately there don't seem to be any Walk In Areas.

I suggest figuring out which part of the unit you want to hunt in and based on the access or where you want to stay. From there map out the land you do have access to (BLM and State). Plan out a driving / scouting / daily plan like a connect the dots map. Each day go to your first spot, walk and look. If nothing worth pursuing drive to spot #2, if nothing go to spot #3 and so on. Using a GPS with land ownership map card or something like OnXMaps is a must have in the field. We probably had about 10 spots on our connect the dots map and hit them all in the first two days. Most of our driving from spot to spot was <20 minutes. I don't recommend driving a long distance between your "dots" unless you can string a bunch of other spots together. Some areas were better than others and we focused on the better spots through the remaining hunt. Keep in mind the animals move so you probably shouldn't cross a spot off your list unless the terrain doesn't look antelopy.

In easy to draw units don't expect to find trophy animals. Hopefully you can get a couple extra doe tags.

 

[OG10]

Thank you all,the weather is always a concern and that little info on the roads degrading will not be forgotten. I plan on a scouting trip prior to the season opener to get a better grasp on unit 7 .I am studying my unit on google earth and will contact the biologist for the unit 7 area.I was wondering if there are any places I should checck out while I'm there restaurant's, fishing, and such. Thanks again to all of you for sharing your info.The (hunt on x app )thanks for the reminder @Ricker will get that taken care of asap.

 

[Mike Casselton]

Lots of antelope in the sagebrush and grasslands.
When the pressure gets high, don't overlook patches like this area.
The goats will bail out into them because most people won't look into these spots.

Google Earth

earth.app.goo.gl

 

[Mike Casselton]

Another thought, don't pass up going up into the tree line if your unit has trees. They will bail into there too.

 

[OG10]

Thank you Mike I have been studying google earth in my area #7 and will make a scouting trip in July or August this hunt has been in the planning stage for a while ,now that I got drawn it's a reality . I can hardly wait and thank you for your suggestions I will keep them in mind .

 

[kraigWY]

I live near and hunt in Area 7. Each year on openning day wife and I head out with a buck and doe tag each and are normally done by noon.

Dont get hung up on trying to find and pay for private land. Area 7 has tons of public land and tons of antelople

Get a map of the Area, and find 6 Mile Basin. If you cant find antelope there, its because you stayed in bed. 6 Mile basin if all public land.

It's important to hunt the first day. It gets harder each day after. Its close enough to town (newcstle) that you dont have to get up in the middle of the night to get to your hunting spot.

The last two days of Sept. Our club opens the range (in Newcastle) for hunter sight in days. FREE, or hunters to check their zeros before openning day. I work the range those two days. If you plan on hitting Area 7, stop by the range and find me. I'll point you out where to go.

Or hit me up if you have any other questions.

Area 7 Antelope

 

[Muley Buck]

Nice offer @kraigWY

 

[OG10]

I was hoping you would see this and chime in @kraigWY it was a post you made back in 2012-2013 that started this quest for a antelope tag. Thankyou for the offer , I will definitely take you up on this offer.The unit 1 is looking better for my buddy I feel good that we will both do well and have a great time.I have hunted a lot as a nonresident in different states I always bring my secret weapon.... (a good attitude, and consider every opportunity a blessing) Thanks for the guidance from everyone.

 

[OG10]

Excellent hunt thank you @kraigWY for all your assistance, pics and narrative to fallow

 

[SD Carpenter]

I just got back on Friday, those speed goats we're everywhere this year.... Even on the road at the airport in Casper lol

 

[OG10]

 

[OG10]

I would like to start by saying thank you to all of the hide members who replied to this thread.I would also like to thank @kraigWY for taking the time to get me pointed in the right direction, he and his family are super nice people .Ok narrative, I will make this as short as possible I drove up to Wyoming from Texas 2 days worth of driving. I arrived at the gun range in Newcastle Wyoming under the yellow water tower just outside of town and met with Kraig . He stopped everything he was doing and showed me on my map where to go and how to get there. My brother and I were a day early so we took the time to do some additional scouting and things looked very promising ,we pitched a tent on the Thunder Basin National grassland and watched a group of antelope bed down 700 yards from our tent then we went to bed also.The next morning came and the weather was excellent ( if you were a duck) overcast,drizzling and temps in the 40"s some of my favorite weather to hunt.We only saw one other truck opening morning, and Kraig came by to wish us luck then he headed on his way down south of where we were hunting.The 3 bucks we spotted the previous evening were up and moving early but we found them in short order.The larger buck was heading away from us at a slow pace but he had a good head start and I was unable to catch up with him.The other 2 bucks were 600 yards in the other direction so I waited until they moved out of direct line of sight and started my stalk. At 387 yards I decided these were not the antelope I waited six years for and cancelled my stalk I came back to Camp spoke with my brother decided to get something to eat, the morning coffee was wearing off.On the way out we ran into Kraig he had been successful with 2 does down, I talked to him about the mornings events, and from the look on his face after telling about passing on the bucks that morning I was starting to second guees may decision to pass on the bucks.My brother and I decided to head to the SW part of our unit and try to find some bucks we had seen earlier, I had waited 6 years to draw this tag and opening day was running out.We pulled into the road we had scouted earlier and first thing we see is other hunters, we continued up the road and found a heard of lopes I got out and started a stalk, my brother continued up the road.After crawling on my hands and knees for a hundred yards through cactus, rocks, and brush I started to set up for a shot at 256 yards.I was almost ready when the lopes spooked, I realized that a truck was coming up the road and they bolted over the hill. I picked up and headed back to the road my brother drove up and at the same time the antelope ran back to my side of the hill, I made a stalk back into the cactus, rocks and brush and from a less than stable position I picked the best buck and made my shot the wait was over.We tagged the lope and brought him out to the truck took a couple pics then field dressed him and headed to the processor.On the way in the F&G had a check point they checked my tag and license, inspected the antelope and we were on our way they also mentioned that the buck had great mass and was the largest buck they had seen so far, very positive folks we dropped off the buck at the processor and then continued on our vacation.We headed north through the blackhills into Deadwood, my brother had never been to this part of the country so we did it all, Spearfish canyon , mount Rushmore, Bear country , Crazy Horse, caves .National parks, the plunge, total flurry of sight seeing.We hit the breweries, the wineries, and some great places to eat.The next spot we camped in was the Deerfield lake area great fishing 14-20 inch rainbows, smallies , brookies and a awsome view every morning.We next moved back to Wyoming the Devils tower to be exact, camped there until the weather moved in and then headed back to Newcastle to pick up the meat and get back to Dallas before the weather hit.This was a great trip and a awsome time for both me and my brother we met people from all over the US during the course of or travels , made some new friends and will always remember this adventure.If any ome has any questions feel free to ask.Thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread.

 

[OG10]

Lightning strikes again, I got drawn this year again for unit 7. I only hope it will be as fun as last year...to be continued.

 

[OG10]

	My oh my what a difference one year makes.

 

[OG10]

Unit seven after three years of lower re production rates and extensive Doe and fawn harvest permits the herd was nowhere near what it was one year ago. Driving in to the unit I could see there were nowhere near as many antelope as the previous year we pitched a tent in the same spot as in 2019 opening day came and many a truck drove by us it was almost as if there were more hunters than antelope. Through some advice from Hide members we changed our strategy and were able to be successful it took a little more effort but things worked out for the best.and once again after the hunt we headed to South Dakota for a little fishing pictures to follow.

 

[OG10]

Sorry for the split post my cell phone is acting up.still picking cactus spines out of my knees. Oh the memories of knee walking through the Prairie.

 

[Ankeny]

Winter kill took a horrible toll on antelope and deer in central Wyoming. I spoke with a game warden day before yesterday and some units suffered up to a 60 per cent loss. A friend of mine has a large ranch about 10 miles south of Waltman (half way between Shoshoni and Casper). He told me every fence corner on his place was covered with antelope carcasses this spring. Mother Nature can be a real bitch at times.

 

[OG10]

That makes sense, the numbers this year were way down.I hope the heards fair better this year and Wyoming has a milder winter.