If you had 16 points for Antelope.....
Colorado
I'm really not sure how it's happened. Between putting in for other tags, helping friends, and just everyday life getting the way, I find myself with 16 points for Antelope.
I haven't really had the time or energy to scout, so I just keep putting in for a preference point. Now, I've got a bunch of them. I looked the statistics page on the DOW website and none of the resident tags took more than 15 last year.
Where would you go? I've thought about a RFW (Ranching For Wildlife) tag, but I've heard a lot of horror stories about the ranches rushing you to make room for paying hunters. From past experiences, it was never hard to get permission on private for antelope as most ranchers hate them. We were once told by a rancher that the trespass fee was $100 if we shot one, $50 is we shot two, and if we shot four or more, there was no fee!
So where should I go??
What are you looking for in an antelope? I burned 14 points 3 years ago & hunted Rimrock Ranch in the RFW program. It was a rifle tag. We chose that one because several of us with varying amounts of points could all draw. I had no qualms about it at all. The ranch director I guess separated out the hunters to keep them as much apart as possible. He had everyone stay on that section until about noon, then you could go whereever you wanted. We saw some decent bucks & one pretty good one we never could get close enough to. I shot my biggest goat there. If you are wanting to do an archery hunt, that may be more tricky. Since there is only one season & the rest will be hunting with rifles. There are a few places that only give out 1 or 2 buck tags, so that may help. I took my daughter to Kiowa Creek last year for a doe & it was the same deal. They told us to stick to a certain area until about noon & then we were on our own. The guy running that even called us to tell us where the antelope were. The only request they had was to stay out of one area where a guy was archery hunting elk (paying customer). Wasn't a concern as there weren't any goats in that area anyway. She also hunted cow elk there last year & it was the same deal. Those are the only two RFW places I have been. Someplace close to New Mexico (Rimrock & Purgatorie) or Wyoming would be my suggestion if you want a big buck.
Yeah, I'm thinking that I'm probably doing to do a rifle tag. I just don't see how I can get a good set up on public land for archery, and RFW just doesn't lend itself to archery hunts either.
I'm looking for an opportunity at a super buck. I've already taken a P&Y buck with my bow. I'd like a chance at a B&C buck...if it is has to be rifle, I'm ok with that too.
Thats a hard one to burn 16 pts. Because I have seen B&C bucks in otc archery units. You can find a monster just about anywhere if you look hard enough. I have seen some monsters in near Alamosa
i would have gone to wyoming 15 years ago.
There are some monsters in Colorado despite the pundits!
16 points....scout, scout, scout! Big bucks can be found just about anywhere in Colorado. Guys that know where they are and are banking PP to hunt them sure as hell aren't going to tell you where they are. Check out the Pope & Young record books to see where most of the big ones have been taken. But that's only a guide...might not be any more left there. If I had 16PP, I'd be hiring me an outfitter that has a good record of taking big bucks.
I don't what Antelope is, Can anyone catch me up and tell me about antelope. You should know about google apps,
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My partner and I burned 16 points to rifle hunt unit 11 last year. It USED TO BE a great unit. After drawing, we learned that there had been a big die-off of mature animals in the past two years. We decided to hunt anyway and give it our best shot.
What we found were a ton of 11-12" bucks and very few larger. I got lucky and killed the biggest one we saw, a 16" that grossed 81 green, which the warden said he thought was the biggest one in the unit. My partner settled for a 13". Everybody else we saw killed little 12-13" bucks.
So just because a unit takes a lot of points doesn't mean it's good. Same with the North Park units (16, 17, 161, etc..) that take 16 points but had a massive winter die-off two years ago and are just starting to recover.
Nice buck! Congrats! I'm kind of in the same boat, have 15 points and wondering where the best spot to use the points would be to also have a chance at a good buck. Doesn't really make sense to keep banking points cause you could hunt pretty much every other year for a draw buck in the state.
I’d give it 3 more years and scout north park and the unit jaq was in and the other next door.
Like jaq said, there was a big winter kill, I saw where a big truck plowed through about 20 of them because they were walking the roads to stay out of the deep snow, a local guy said it was pretty common that winter to have whole herds wiped out on the roads...
And if you had 23 points?
Have a family member with 20 Something points. What unit has a giant?
I killed an 80+ inch, 16 1/2" in unit 16 last time I hunted there before the huge winter kill. Understand some of the S. CO units have some big ones. There's one more 80" in unit 11 if he survived the winter. :-)
Spammers are simply bringing old threads to the top to advertise their crap. Everyone who posts after are simply bringing the spammers ads to the top again and again.
I understand the issue with the spammers, bummer deal. As long as no one clicks the ads no big deal(cant imagine why anyone would). This is actually a great thread though. I think a lot of people may be in the predicament. My father and I are in the same boat with 15+ points. Would love to take the old man out for a big antelope buck. he hasn't killed one in decades. Anyone else have any good reviews on RFWs? or recent experience on the hard top units?
Yea I have 15 points so I've been researching, and have been looking for advice! This thread is a good one right now!
So if you had 20 something points where would you apply for a chance at a whopper?
That is a real beauty Jaq. I find myself with a fistful of antelope points in Colorado since my family and I have been bowhunting pronghorns in Wyoming. Your lope pic looks even bigger than he measures. I appreciate that because I can remember more than once walking up to a 16" goat that we had arrowed only to find a 12-13 inch buck laying there. I am leary of putting in for a unit that I have not scouted lately because of what you are saying. My advice to you guys with a lot of points is listen to the posters on here and do your homework. I scouted the Colorado units along the Wyoming border a couple of years ago and was disappointed with the numbers. You current serious posters can pm me if you want to talk. Good hunting. Bob
“So if you had 20 something points where would you apply for a chance at a whopper?”
Correct answer: Wyoming
“20+ points for Colorado”
Correct Answer is still: Wyoming....4-7 times in that 20 year span versus awaiting for one Colorado unicorn
Just kidding but not kidding.
Wow, 9 year old thread from the dead....
But, since it's still relevant to some guys, I'll add my experiences. I burned 15 points for unit 11 archery, two years ago. I hunted 2 weeks, and saw plenty of antelope, but never saw a buck over 13". I spoke with a few local rancher/farmers in the area, and they all confirmed that the big bucks of the past are no longer around. I bailed on the last half of the season and went elk hunting.
I've concluded it's no longer worth it to bank points for Colorado antelope. There really isn't one "trophy" unit that holds bigger bucks than numerous OTC units. If I was hoping for a true world class buck, I'd be looking at New Mexico.
Matt
6. Colorado: 141 B&C entries
Colorado ranks sixth in B&C and second in P&Y total entries. The top five CO counties in B&C are Moffat (45), Jackson (19), Weld (13), Las Animas (8) and Rio Grande (7).
This is older but still relevant.
Wyoming is the hands down leader of B&C antelope (twice over) and there is not a tag that takes 20 points....
I don't think anyone is here making a case for Colorado being anywhere in comparison to Wyoming. My father and I have so many points simply because we apply for a point every year because well...why not? If you have the points you may as well go to the top unit. I don't care if the top unit only has 13in bucks, if that's the best Colorado has, no big deal. I have the points out of coincidence, its costs nothing. I think we are just looking for the highest quality hunt we can.
RFW is your best use of high PPs for Colorado residents
I would agree with cnelk. Jackson County used to be great, with realistic opportunities for public land 80" bucks for those who don't settle for the first "nice one". It will be again, but not for quite a few years until it recovers.
You could have a good hunt in 11 in the right area with another year of growth, but there were huge expanses of country with NO antelope. None. After I killed mine we went on a wild goose chase to another spot 40 miles away where the game warden told us he had seen a really good one. We finally found him and my partner missed. He ended up settling for a smaller one because a huge storm was blowing in. I think he could have killed a 15" buck with good mass if he hunted a few more days and hadn't settled, because everybody else killed small ones and left, and we knew where the other two good ones were hanging out.
But I think there are better opportunities elsewhere.
Heck, I have 22 points and no idea what to do with them...
