WY 2015 Rut dates
Contributors to this thread:Pronghorn
From: Tracker
26-Feb-15
Looking to head out to WY for a antelope hunt the fall with my longbow. Looking to pal it for the rut. What is a same week to look at for this year.
From: jims
26-Feb-15
Unfortunately the rut in most Wyo units is around the time rifle season starts. Usually around the 2nd week in Sept the rut is going pretty strong and it lasts into the first week or 2 of Oct.
From: tradmt
26-Feb-15
When does the rifle season start? I was looking online today trying to figure out what units to apply for.
Most show like mid Sept. start dates. Is that rifle or archery or both or what? Honestly between looking at the unit map, land status map and draw odds, I was about to put a gun to my head!
Seems like I hear a lot about August water hole hunts and thats what I am most interested in, but very few units show an August opener.
From: wyobullshooter
26-Feb-15
The dates you see online are the tentative regular season dates. Dates and quotas won't be set until the game commission meets in late spring. Quotas vary from year to year, while season dates rarely change.
Special archery seasons open earlier, normally 15 Aug.
From: jims
26-Feb-15
Each unit pretty much has a different rifle opening date. The archery seasons vary a little but most start in August and run until the rifle season. You can hunt the rifle season with bow but that may be tough! The best time to bowhunt waterholes is generally when there is hot, dry weather for a length of time. Your guess is as good as mine to when this will happen but August is generally a lot warmer than Sept. Also, some units or areas within a unit have a lot more water than others. If you set up a waterhole blind where there are other water sources close they will likely head to a different waterhole. If it rains you will likely be screwed because antelope can water out of puddles! It may take a year or so to figure things out.
From: cityhunter
26-Feb-15
i have seen them insane last week of sept
From: tradmt
26-Feb-15
I guessed that was the case. Thanks guys!
So does the commission meet and set the dates and quotas before the application deadline?
From: cityhunter
27-Feb-15
Whats tough about the rut is they can run all over the place . Two yrs ago i bought a doe tag on the way out of WY . Doe was in a herd with a buck a nice buck ! As soon as she got hit the buck chased her. While she was bleeding out he was trying to mount her . He got her running again only to knock her down and try and mount her. I walked up to this buck, he cam towards me wouldnt leave i got within 20 yrds of him . They can be nuts very aggressive .
From: Tracker
27-Feb-15
We hunted four years ago and went the second week of rifle season. It did not impact my archery hunt. Most had tagged out the first week. We saw very few hunters.
From: glacial21
27-Feb-15
This is pretty confusing. Are these antelope tags similar to the elk tags, in that you can buy an archery permit and hunt antelope with a bow prior to the opening of the rifle season?
I've been building points for a hunt. I envisioned going out a few days before the rifle opener and bow hunting. I guess it's not that simple. Right?
From: wyobullshooter
27-Feb-15
Yes, it is that simple. You can bowhunt during the special archery season as long as you have a license valid for the area you're hunting, a conservation stamp, and an archery license.
From: Triple 3
27-Feb-15
Triple 3's Link
Third week of September is a good time. Decoying and spot and spook!
Craig
Bowsite Sponsor
From: wyobullshooter
27-Feb-15
"Spot and spook!" lol! Yep, that's usually what happens! ;-)
From: midwest
27-Feb-15
That is good looking "spot and spook" country right there Triple 3!
From: Triple 3
01-Mar-15
Triple 3's Link
Yes this is some of our prime mule deer and antelope country in southern Johnson County, Wyoming. It's miles and miles of nasty rim rock and broken creek bottoms full of mule deer and antelope. Makes for some fun stalking situations. This hunter and I crawled over a mile of cactus, sagebrush and rocks to get within 25 yards of this bedded buck. No way to get there on an ATV so we took turns carrying him out. Was fun!
Craig
Bowsite Sponsor
Photo of more rimrock and nice mule deer
From: tradmt
02-Mar-15
What unit is that?
From: cityhunter
02-Mar-15
great lope craig! awesome cutters !!
From: Triple 3
02-Mar-15
Triple 3's Link
tradmt, Unit 21 for Antelope and Region Y for deer easy draw tags in both units.Game number are very good!
Craig Bowsite Sponsor
