future Antelope hunt

[Ngarcia11892]

So I wasn't able to do last year for my first western hunt due to work. Im headset on this year and started getting some of the gear I needed. My main question im not sure about is clothing, it would most likely be in October, what clothing do you guys recommend, I use mostly sitka stuff and wanna stay with it.

Also how do you guys go about planning a hunt, looking at areas to apply in with enough public land, points etc ive seen toprut, go hunt etc are there any other ways you guys do it.

Also its Wyoming specifically I would go in.

And lastly how much of the gear specifically clothing would over lap with a possible December Arizona deer hunt?

 

[long hunter]

As too clothing you can expect 70-80 degree weather or 20, and down weather, this past hunt spent two days in a hotel room watching a blizzard, the day before the blizzard hit it was in the 60-70 degree range. this was the second week of October. One thing is for sure Wyoming weather is going too happen. The Wyoming fish and game sit is the place too start with the planing lots of good info there. And start buying points when they open you will need them, 2019 hunted antelope with no points, 2021 went in with two points same area never drew a tag, but did draw a deer tag with one point.

 

[ClearCreek]

If you are going to buy a preference point (assuming you are eligible) the deadline to buy one is midnight November 1, MDT.

ClearCreek

 

[Ngarcia11892]

Already bought em this year so I’m good to go.

 

[eaglemountainman]

If you're driving to your hunt destination, you probably have the luxury to pack warm and cold weather clothes. If you fly, as I do, there are weight/bag limits to be considered. I usually watch the 10 day forecast from several different sources, then decide whether I need to pack cooler/lighter or warmer/heavy. Worst case scenario is a mix of warm and frigid weather during the trip. All I can say then, is it's time to get creative. Think light layers here. Remember, it's always easier to take off clothing that's too warm, than to put on warmer clothing that you didn't pack.

As far as scouting and choosing a unit to hunt, I can't be help much there. I've been fortunate, in that several years ago, I found a great piece of private that I pay a reasonable fee to hunt deer and pronghorns, in a low point draw area.

 

[Ngarcia11892]

I am hopefully planning on driving so im not super concerned on space so good advice. just gotta figure out what cold weather gear I wanna invest in, being from florida don't have much of it as it.

 

[Laramie]

Seriously no way to predict what the weather will be- others are correct in that you should plan on anywhere from 20 degrees to 70 degrees.

As far as researching units, keep in mind that all the sites out there taking your money are just compiling info from the Wyoming Game and Fish web site and then making educated guesses. There is NO way to know how many points will be required to draw a tag because there is NO way to predict how many people will apply for a specific tag. That said, you can look at multiple years draw odds and come up with trends. Keep in mind, tag numbers change as well as number of applicants. Wyoming made significant cuts to antelope tag numbers last year in response to declining populations. With some of the state impacted by EHD, I anticipate additional cuts this year. My best guess is you will need 3-4 points to get into a mediocre area and 7-10 points to get into a primarily public area with a good population this coming season. 5 years from now, those point totals may be doubled if the WG&F can't figure out what is hurting fawn recruitment.

The reality is antelope hunting in the future is looking like a much more difficult proposition. I don't send this to be discouraging but trying to let you, and anyone else who cares to read, know that antelope hunting is going to take several years of preference points and planning to get on a solid hunt.

All of that said, you can absolutely draw with fewer points in areas with little to no public. The hunting is tough but guys seem to get it done every year.

Good luck to you.

 

[WCB]

MOST Antelope hunting you are going to either be in the vehicle looking for them or moving on foot looking for them. Not a lot of sitting and waiting. A good wind breaking layer is more important IMO than a really warm layer.

I also recommend zip off long under ware bottoms. don't have to remove boots or pants completely whenit warms up in the afternoon same thing to put them back on if you get chilly.

You are going to want to pay attention as it gets closer to draw time of the units that had EHD kill and pay attention to the winter...even more so if a bad winter overlaps with EHD kill areas.

 

[kpk]

I went first week of Oct this year and it was 75 and sunny. The next week was 20 and a blizzard.

 

[long hunter]

Yep and I was there too verify it.

 

[Ngarcia11892]

So even with draws being harder and harder every year would this still be the go to first western hunt with few points? or is there something else you'd recommend instead?