Criticism of road-glassing?

[ORJoe]

I more was concerned about pissing someone off while there.

For example: Here in NJ we get a lot of guys who will jump shoot ducks in the refuges (despite being against the regs).

Existing in Wyoming while being from New Jersey is going to piss people off so don't worry about going above and beyond that.

 

[fngTony]

This will be a regional thing and depending on what crowd you ask. It’s legal to road glass for big game in Colorado as long as you’re not stopping on a public road glassing private. Just putting that out there in case Wyoming is similar.

 

[bdan68]

This will be a regional thing and depending on what crowd you ask. It’s legal to road glass for big game in Colorado as long as you’re not stopping on a public road glassing private. Just putting that out there in case Wyoming is similar.

Seriously, that can't be illegal, can it? I don't see how looking at anything from a public road could be against the law.

 

[fngTony]

Seriously, that can't be illegal, can it? I don't see how looking at anything from a public road could be against the law.

In my case it was a dirt county road with no easement, instantly became private property off the road. So technically I was trespassing and obviously it’s not allowed to stop on a road. Game warden also said that glassing was an act of hunting. Maybe he was wrong but it wasn’t worth the argument.

 

[Wyo_hntr]

Guess I never knew this was a big deal. I don't glass from paved highways, but dirt and two tracks..yes.

 

[pirogue]

Well, they are Bucks not Rams,lol.

Ugggh, he’s a FNG a thousand miles, or more away from the nearest public land pronghorn.

 

[Kurts86]

Let me first say the utility and function of scouting from roads for antelope is very unit and date in the season specific. The easy to spot and access antelope are gone in the first day of a hunt. The easier to draw units tend be fairly limited whereas in the desirable red desert units that are 90%+ public you have to drive blm roads a ton to look over a lot of bucks and cover ground. If you drive legal public access roads a few days into the season you could think there isn’t an antelope on public.

In general antelope hunting as practiced by the locals is heavy skewed towards motorized hunting. Antelope are viewed second class big game and zero effort is put forth. They drive everywhere, often trespass and break tons of rules. On private ranches the same thing happens minus the trespassing and travel restrictions.

It’s worth researching the public road definitions, motor vehicle use rules for the public land and general game rules for the area.

In general motorized hunting is terrible. There isn’t a worse feeling than when you hiked in miles somewhere vehicles shouldn’t be and blow your stalk. The same can be said when a vehicle could be there legally but you walked a big loop to get into position on an antelope. Road hunting isn’t particularly effective but it has a big negative impact on other hunters too.

 

[ElkArcher918]

FNG from NJ here. Been branching out hunting since starting late at age 30. I primarily do coastal/tidal waterfowl, some turkey, went to S. Africa earlier this year and now am completely hooked. I think I really want to try a NR pronghorn hunt in WY for 2024.

First off, by no way am I implying road HUNTING.

I've been doing a fair bit of research. Why does it seem like there is a lot of hate for road-glassing and then putting a stalk/closing distance on foot for a ram you like? What is the alternative? Hike/pack/camp in or into an area where you think they are?

In my mind, I figured I'd head out, drive around the unit I plan to hunt, glass around, if I see something I like I would make sure I'm not trespassing and put a stalk on it.

Glassing from a distance from the truck or side of the road is very common out West where it's Big Country. It's especially an efficient/effective strategy when antelope hunting. I "drive and glass" alot during
pre-/in-season trips to gather most recent intel on elk and deer movements. This strategy is particularly useful if you're New to a unit. Once you gather your intel you hike or backpack in and get after the game. As others have said, "Put the work in as you can't cheat the mountain".

 

[wytx]

In my case it was a dirt county road with no easement, instantly became private property off the road. So technically I was trespassing and obviously it’s not allowed to stop on a road. Game warden also said that glassing was an act of hunting. Maybe he was wrong but it wasn’t worth the argument.

I would have asked for that statute in writing, the glassing is not illegal but maybe the trespassing on the road easement.
You are legal to glass private land in Wyoming from a public road.

 

[Bwhntr]

I’ve always been someone opposed to glassing from the road.

But I had a buddy kill a huge ram this year in Canada that he found glassing from the road. Previous to that he had spent 7 days 7-8 miles deep and hadn’t seen a legal ram.

I’ve also had a terrible couple years of hunting doing it may way (as far back in as you can get). So maybe time to rethink.

 

[fngTony]

I would have asked for that statute in writing, the glassing is not illegal but maybe the trespassing on the road easement.
You are legal to glass private land in Wyoming from a public road.

I would have but there was no ticket or anything, and no chance to actually hunt that buck. It was an impromptu “hey look at that” situation not an actual planned glassing session which I would have changed my tune.

 

[zacattack]

FNG from NJ here. Been branching out hunting since starting late at age 30. I primarily do coastal/tidal waterfowl, some turkey, went to S. Africa earlier this year and now am completely hooked. I think I really want to try a NR pronghorn hunt in WY for 2024.

First off, by no way am I implying road HUNTING.

I've been doing a fair bit of research. Why does it seem like there is a lot of hate for road-glassing and then putting a stalk/closing distance on foot for a ram you like? What is the alternative? Hike/pack/camp in or into an area where you think they are?

In my mind, I figured I'd head out, drive around the unit I plan to hunt, glass around, if I see something I like I would make sure I'm not trespassing and put a stalk on it.

Just so long as it’s legal hunt however you want. Don’t worry about some keyboard warriors

 

[TaperPin]

I more was concerned about pissing someone off while there.

For example: Here in NJ we get a lot of guys who will jump shoot ducks in the refuges (despite being against the regs).

That’s 100% a non issue in Wyoming. No antelope hunter worth a darn leaves their spotting scope and binoculars at home. Make sure to bring a window mount for the spotting scope, and better is one spotting scope for each side of the vehicle. Litterally, all year long I’ll glass every decent buck.

There’s a lot of open country in Wyoming and locals pull over where ever they feel like it. If they are assholes they may stop behind you and glass for whatever you’re looking at and shoot it before you do if you dittle around. Nothing is illegal about pulling over, crossing the fence on foot and putting the smack on a critter, but personally I’d stop glassing and pretend to be peeing or picking my nose until any vehicles pass. Many big antelope have been shot by a guy in a geo metro glassing from the blacktop shoulder until a big one is spotted in a huntable spot.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but if you see a big buck from the road don’t be surprised if a quick thinking kid pulls up behind you, jumps the fence and uses his Rokslide special to take it out at 1200 yards. Combat hunting applies to many things, especially antelope. Lol

 

[WCB]

This is literally the primary way guys hunt goats. Nothing wrong with it. But it can be effective but if there is a rise in terrain even 200 yards off the road there can be a lot of goats behind it that nobody sees.

GENERALLY Antelope hunters are lazy and don't put a bunch if really any effort into goats they can't see from the road or within a 2minute walk of their vehicle.

Another thing that makes it not very productive when actually hunting is around opening day. You can scout for 2-3 days mark every buck in the unit you can see from the road. Guess what happens the evening before season? 200 yahoos start driving every 2 track stopping and staring at every goat and they get pushed off the roads.

As TaperPin mentioned above and just in general when driving around be ready. If you spot something you want to go after. Go after it. No idea why it takes guys 10minutes to get out of the truck and start moving. literally grab your gun, pack, binos (probably already on your chest) and go.

 

[EdP]

It’s worth researching the public road definitions, motor vehicle use rules for the public land and general game rules for the area.

Absolutely. In Wy it is legal to drive any two track on state or federal land (BLM) , but not legal to get off that "road." I don't know about other states.

There isn’t a worse feeling than when you hiked in miles somewhere vehicles shouldn’t be and blow your stalk. The same can be said when a vehicle could be there legally but you walked a big loop to get into position on an antelope.

This is one reason I have enjoyed hunting some of the Walk-in areas where vehicles are excluded.

 

[Hoosker Doo]

In general antelope hunting as practiced by the locals is heavy skewed towards motorized hunting. Antelope are viewed second class big game and zero effort is put forth. They drive everywhere, often trespass and break tons of rules.

Dang, us Wyomingites sound pretty horrible. You must hate hunting here. Keep spreading the word

 

[NickyD]

I find that pronghorn are generally much more spooked when you simply park the car and go after them. If you’re like me and don’t have experience with long range shooting this can be an issue. I like to find a spot to park that’s out of their sight and sneak in from there. I’ve had a lot more success getting into shooting range that way. Even better if you can figure out their direction of travel and ambush.

 

[SouthernWyo]

Another thing that works really well is driving two-tracks, spotting a goat you want to shoot, grabbing your shootin' arn, leaning over the hood or rear-view mirror, and smoking it.

Literally thousands upon thousands of antelope have been taken this way.

 

[Muley Tag]

It’s common…..just don’t shoot from the truck. You’ll pay a ticket like one of the guru’s had to do.

 

[kcm2]

Another thing that works really well is driving two-tracks, spotting a goat you want to shoot, grabbing your shootin' arn, leaning over the hood or rear-view mirror, and smoking it.

Literally thousands upon thousands of antelope have been taken this way.

Really? I can tell you from experience that the moment they see a vehicle in SW Wyoming, antelope take off like they were being paid well to run. That probably works on private ranches where they aren't shot at as a matter of course, but otherwise not so much. But I've only killed about 30 Wyoming pronghorns on public land so maybe I don't know much about it.