Bubba48

I'm new to this form me and some friends are looking to go to wyoming for antelope I'v never been to wyoming and would like to hunt on public land. I'm from wisconsin and any help with this would sure help a lot. We are going to hunt the gun sesson.

Wheatley

Do you have a general area of which part of wyoming you want to hunt. Here in the North East around Gillette, Wright, Newcastle so on there are the national grasslands with alot of public lands and a ton of antelope. They are not as big as the antelope down in the mid south part of the state but large ones can be found here. Look around area 27 I believe and the surrounding areas for a starting place. Get the forest service map of the Thunder Basin National Grasslands and you will be good to go.

Bubba48

Thanks that will help alot.

Alsatian

Wheatly provides good advice. To hunt with your buddies you will want to submit a "party application." Read the Wyoming Big Game booklet carefully to figure out how to file such a party application. It is not complicated, but you want to learn and follow the rules or some (or just one) may be drawn while the others stay home.

Look on the Wyoming web site for their state Department of Game and Fish, Fish and Game, or whatever they call this department in the state of Wyoming. Figure out what the draw odds are in the several different antelope units. Units 24 and 23, I believe, have high odds. Unit 24 includes some of the Thunder Basin National Grasslands, I think.

Hunting antelope is a lot of fun and the succes rates are high -- I think I've read that 90% of hunters take an antelope. You are going to find, however, that for the most part the antelope with the big horns are going to be in units that are hard to draw in or are on private land that has already been identified by and leased by outfitters. Thus, if you want to hunt for big horns, it is likely going to cost you a lot of money. You can have a good hunt and take a good pronghorn in the units, such as 24, that have lots of permits and lots of pronghorn, but the big horns are going to be scarce in these units. And that is OK. The hunt is the thing that is fun, not the size of the horns. When I went on my one and only pronghorn hunt -- so far, I want to go back -- I took a doe. The doe meat tasted just as good as the meat of the buck my son took. This is your choice, of course, but big horns and easy drawing odds/public land are sort of mutually exclusive concepts.

Be ready for any weather. Have a plan for taking care of your antelope meat. You want to field dress promptly and start getting the meat cooled down -- like putting a couple of bags of ice in the body cavity and/or skinning the carcass quickly. When well taken care of, the pronghorn meat is delicious. Pronghorn are not like deer. You don't have to be out hunting them at the crack of dawn. Take a leisurely breakfast at 8 AM and get out to the hunting ground at about 9:30. The pronghorn will be out there -- and they'll stay out there all day long. If you go out in the dark in the morning about all you're going to accomplish is to run the pronghorn off. Pronghorn habitate is devoid of cover. Their survival mechanism is good eyesight and extraordinary speed. They PREFER to be out in the open, so they can see their enemies before they can attack them.

Bubba48

Thanks any info will help I need as much as I can get me and the guys that want to go to wyoming haven't really talked about what unit but I thank the three or fore you guy's have talked about will be the ones we look at. I have been looking at google maps and you can see alot and I'v been looking at all the wyoming sights to and getting as much info as I can it sounds like I'm the one to do all the work. Sounds like I need to buy some map's to get a better look at thangs. Thanks alot guy's

Wheatley

Good point about the party application. I believe that area 27 is pretty low draw odds becuase it is right in the middle of the grasslands.

I still have no clue why they even make people draw for antelope. There are way too many of them around here. I have 30 of them out my back yard that come and eat all the trees and shrubs. I think they should make a few areas general and sell general licenses.

If you ever need any help, wether you come out here to scout or whatever let me know. I live pretty close to those areas so just shoot me a PM and I would be glad to help.

Bubba48

That's great would like to draw at lest med high to high unit for the first time out like I said before any help would be great. Now that I know that 27 is a low draw how is 23,24,26 and7 maybe even 29 I'm just trying to learn as I go thanks for the help.