First antelope hunt WY 2022… advice?
Pronghorn
I recently retired and am working on some bucket list hunts. I have 6 points in WY for antelope, deer and elk. Would like to start with antelope in 2022. DIY, driving out and camping on my own. Being from Georgia I’m not real experienced at spot and stalk but can sit in a blind all day. Any advice would be appreciated. God bless! ~ John
With 6 pts, draw a good area and get set-up with a quality guide and properly utilize your PP’s and enjoy a quality hunt.
He said DIY so I don’t think he wants a guide, I don’t blame him half the fun is figuring it out yourself.
I am not much help with WY. But antelope DIY should not be terrible hard to figure out. Find a water hole they are using set up a blinds 25 yards from it and wait. If you can but it up a few days earl even better. Also I find permission for antelope easier than deer or elk. Work the phones before you go or go several days early knock on some doors or do both. If it is hot and dry you should have a good chance at success. If it raining and wet better to spot and stalk.
Good luck
Research a unit with ample public land and have a great hunt. Wyoming antelope is one of the most fun hunts around.
I hunted Unit 50 in southern Wyoming back in 2015. The area is a checker board pattern of BLM and private land. Basically 1 sq mile BLM 1 sq mile private. I got a list of landowners in the area from the F&G that charged a small trespass fee, like $50 if memory serves me right, so we could hunt 10 sq miles or more of the mix. Just rented a cheap motel room in one of the small towns for convenience. I do not know how the rest of the state is set up.
Antelope is one of the most fun hunts there is. Spot/stalk or sit water. You're bound to see animals. Go have fun
Having done 3 lope trips to Montana now as a rookie.....here's what I have learned. It may apply to WY too. I might let ya know in 2022 if I decide to cash out my 7 or 8 points there. Also....these were rifle hunts so it might be a different situation....take this FWIW.
1. Apps like OnX are your friends...mandatory IMO.
2. Any public land near a town with motels/campgrounds will get hit hard...especially by road hunters and stalkers.
3. Do the research and find public land away from towns and campgrounds. I found great success 45 - 50+ miles away from the town where we stayed. The animals weren't scared from being chased, stalked or glassed. I just seen one or two local ranchers drive by where I was at and that was the whole day. Where I got my muley I didn't see anyone. I talked to other hunters and many complained they didn't see any animals or they ran off when they tried to stalk them.
4. Any private land with a green/ag field or water tank/pond across the road or near the boundary line from public land would be of very high interest. Google Earth is your friend here too. I would get there at first light or late afternoon and the critters would be active. They would bed down from mid-morning to mid-afternoon...which could be an advantage for a stalk.
5. Ask questions...alot of good advice out there.
Good luck....
it's pretty easy DIY. Done 5 myself. IF it's dry, waterhole is excellent. If it's wet, Spot & stalk will probably be it. I took my son in 2019 for his first.. IT was water every where so spot & stalk. We had low numbers too. 4 of us arrowed 3 Bucks & 1 Doe. 3rd, 4th & 5th days. Several missed shots & several busted stalks. We mostly hunt Walk in areas. Have some type locater (we used onyx). We have "always" had good hunts & take pretty good critters (we are nor head gear hunters either). My good friend has arrowed 3 P&Y in 5 trips. My sons 1st trip & his 3rd day Antelope (38 yd shot) spot stalk. This was a 1 point draw area. We did a 5 point draw a few years ago & it was "our" worst hunt of 5. We still took Antelope but fewer Bucks seen.
With 6 pts, draw a good area and get set-up with a quality guide and properly utilize your PP’s and enjoy a quality hunt.
All good advice depending on what you are looking for. I will say that things have changed in the last few years in Wyoming. Lots of ranches are leased by outfitters now and as far as I know the “landowner list” from Wyo G&F is irrelevent, if they even still have it. Last time I got it I called every name on there and wound up with one place to hunt.
My first and second hunts were outfitted, a rifle hunt in Texas that produced a 78 2/8” buck and a bow hunt in Montana that produced a miss and a high hit, but a great hunt nevertheless. The high hit goat was chasing does the next day if it matters.
After that I did a bunch of DIY bowhunts and a couple rifle hunts in eastern Wyoming. Tresspass fees and sitting water. The terrain for the most part was not conducive to spot and stalk. It was easy to draw in eastern Wyoming at that time with no points. Not as easy now but you have plenty of points to draw a quality area. Good luck and don’t burn six points on an easy draw would be my advice. Make ‘em count !
Double post, my bad
My first and second hunts were outfitted, a rifle hunt in Texas that produced a 78 2/8” buck and a bow hunt in Montana that produced a miss and a high hit, but a great hunt nevertheless. The high hit goat was chasing does the next day if it matters.
After that I did a bunch of DIY bowhunts and a couple rifle hunts in eastern Wyoming. Tresspass fees and sitting water. The terrain for the most part was not conducive to spot and stalk. It was easy to draw in eastern Wyoming at that time with no points. Not as easy now but you have plenty of points to draw a quality area. Good luck and don’t burn six points on an easy draw would be my advice. Make ‘em count !
I live here in Wyoming, I can definitely help with the where and how to. Send me a PM and we'll get to talkin. 6 points will get you some decent areas. Not top of the line areas, but good ones with a pretty good chance at some 70-75 inch lopes
No need for a guided hunt with 6 PP. Check the draw odds but WAIT to submit your app until quotas are set in Spring. We'll know about populations and conditions b y then and have a good idea on winterkill by April/May.
Not many trespass fee hunts available anymore but lots of great public land hunting. No need to pay a guide for a 12 inch buck, lots of archery hunters take those over guided water hole hunts.
hoytshooter1 is right on .
I went on my first antelope hunt this year (in WY as well). It was crazy fun. I tried spot'n stalk for a week. It was very fun and frustrating at the same time. What other species can you get at least 5+ legit stalks in one day? I stalked every buck I saw no matter the size and had so much fun. Although I never got it done with a bow, I did end up shooting one of the bucks I stalked via bow on the opening day of rifle. Ironically, I got closer with a gun in my hand than a bow!
Again, it was so much fun to do something different.
I can't imagine hiring a guide to hunt antelope in Wyoming. There's plenty of public ground that holds high numbers of antelope. In the right areas, you're likely to see hundreds of them in a day, with very little hunting pressure during archery season.
Matt
Great advice gentlemen, thanks so much. Great and logical insight JL! Hoytshooter, PM sent. God bless!
Our antelope numbers are waaaay down right now so the "feast" that many speak of is more likely to be "famine" next year unfortunately.
Steve....are the lope numbers down across the whole state or just in certain areas? If I was to cash out my points, it would be for the southern, mid to western side of the state. If the numbers will be way down next year....I might stay on the sidelines. Thx...John
We hunted Central WY last year and this year. Last year was great...this year was great also, but not many antelope to hunt. I'd estimate that 70-90% of the herd was killed by the storm...surprised they even had a season.
Talked to some G&F folks this weekend and you can bet that the tag numbers will drop significantly again next year. That storm we had in March was devastating on critters. Said that it wiped out 3 generations of the lope population in some areas
I hunted 63-1 this past year DIY but did gun hunt. Hunted the same unit several years ago archery. You don't need a guide in that unit for sure.
Wow, hate to hear that about the storm and animals killed
So are there areas that weren’t hit as badly I can hope to draw? I don’t really want to wait any longer as I’m dealing with some medical issues. You just never know when you’ve had your last hunt
So are there areas that weren’t hit as badly I can hope to draw? I don’t really want to wait any longer as I’m dealing with some medical issues. You just never know when you’ve had your last hunt
Agree with Buffalo1 at the top. And have fun, they’re a great bowhunting trophy, and tasty.
Diy is difficult if you do not know where you are going. Public land can have real issues. Either go out in summer and drive around to see what you have or hire outfitter. Blue tongue and bad winters can decimate a population from one year to the next. I have been bitten more than once. You dont need points usually. Recommend calling biologists for different regions in may after they do census in different regions. Then call outfitter in region where numbers are high.
You're retired. Go out for archery. If you don't kill one go out rifle. Learn the area and enjoy your retirement.
If you end up with in 100 miles of Lander let me know. I will help you out in any way possible. I know from here to pinedale, to rock springs to Baggs to Casper to Worland pretty well. I have no doubt that any unit you draw in this area will be a blast to hunt and we can definitely get you into lopes on public land and with the long season you will tag out. Once you decide on a short list of areas I can help you sort out access and places to Hunt etc.
