Is 2 pts enough for a good WY hunt?

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My wife will graduate from her masters program next spring and it will give us a lot more free time. We did a doe hunt here in UT last fall and she had fun and really likes antelope, says there pretty. We will have 2 pts for the 2018 draw. I would like to get her a buck, nothing big. Wondering if a high opportunity hunt with good public access is a reality with 2 pts or if we will need to wait.
 

TheCougar

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Jun 6, 2016
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I'm in the same boat, point wise. Access is your number one problem, unless up want to pay an outrageous trespass fee. I've done quite a bit of research on gohunt and the Wyoming game and fish website and it only pissed me off. Every unit that I can draw is very difficult to hunt from an access perspective. Good luck to you. Maybe you can succeed where I have failed!
 

NoWiser

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Aug 15, 2013
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You can have a dang fun hunt with 2 points! I'm not sure what your definition of "good" public access is, but I hunt a unit with some of the worst public access in the state and have no problem finding plenty of land to hunt that's full of antelope. I'm sitting at 5 points right now with no desire to burn them because I'm having so much fun hunting the "poor access" units.
 

TheCougar

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You can have a dang fun hunt with 2 points! I'm not sure what your definition of "good" public access is, but I hunt a unit with some of the worst public access in the state and have no problem finding plenty of land to hunt that's full of antelope. I'm sitting at 5 points right now with no desire to burn them because I'm having so much fun hunting the "poor access" units.

Not to turn this into sport-bitching, but I've had very little success with planning my 2017 goat hunt. This will be my first out-of-state hunt and my first time to Wyoming. I've used the G&F website and gohunt and looked at what people have said about certain units. All it does is raise my blood pressure. Almost everything I have found for the units I can draw with <2 points (or even better, as a leftover tag to keep my 2 points) has poor public access. I'll sum up pretty much everything I have read: "We hunted Unit XX. It was very difficult to find public land that wasn't crawling with hunters. Almost all of the antelope were pushed onto private land after opening day. We got yelled at/threatened by outfitters/guides/ranchers only to find out later that they were lying or wrong. There is lots of public land that is landlocked by outfitters and landowners who have kept us from using public land. You can pay trespass fees of $500-$2000 to get better hunting, if you want." I'm not trophy hunting... I'd be happy with an "any buck" and filling a couple of doe tags and more importantly, having a fun hunt and wanting to come back to Wyoming in future years. Sorry for whining, but the thing that really pisses me off is the ranchers and outfitters blocking public land or trying to strong-arm the DIY hunters. Teddy Roosevelt warned about what would happen if we let hunting become the sport of the rich, and Wyoming has a head start.
 

NoWiser

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Not to turn this into sport-bitching, but I've had very little success with planning my 2017 goat hunt. This will be my first out-of-state hunt and my first time to Wyoming. I've used the G&F website and gohunt and looked at what people have said about certain units. All it does is raise my blood pressure. Almost everything I have found for the units I can draw with <2 points (or even better, as a leftover tag to keep my 2 points) has poor public access. I'll sum up pretty much everything I have read: "We hunted Unit XX. It was very difficult to find public land that wasn't crawling with hunters. Almost all of the antelope were pushed onto private land after opening day. We got yelled at/threatened by outfitters/guides/ranchers only to find out later that they were lying or wrong. There is lots of public land that is landlocked by outfitters and landowners who have kept us from using public land. You can pay trespass fees of $500-$2000 to get better hunting, if you want." I'm not trophy hunting... I'd be happy with an "any buck" and filling a couple of doe tags and more importantly, having a fun hunt and wanting to come back to Wyoming in future years. Sorry for whining, but the thing that really pisses me off is the ranchers and outfitters blocking public land or trying to strong-arm the DIY hunters. Teddy Roosevelt warned about what would happen if we let hunting become the sport of the rich, and Wyoming has a head start.

That has not been our experience at all. Poor public access is relative. Even the worst units in Wyoming still have 100X more public land than the part of Minnesota that I'm from. At $34.00 a pop for a doe tag, antelope hunting is far from a rich man's sport. If I were you I'd go out and try it before complaining about it. You might be surprised.
 

ChrisC

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Oct 11, 2016
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I sure hope 2 points is enough for a good hunt because I'm going with one point this year
 

Murdy

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I went out on a leftover tag while I was building points a couple years ago -- i.e., zero point tag -- I had a good time, found some animals, was able to stalk a few, and missed one, all on public land. I went towards the end of season and saw only a few people on the weekend and basically no one during the week. Clearly this was one of the poorer hunts in the state, but I still found it worthwhile. (also a good way to get a feel for western hunting if you've never done it)
 

TheCougar

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Good to hear some positive stories. I'm just going to throw a dart at a map of Wyoming and put in for a leftover tag in whatever unit it lands in. I'm sure there is some good hunting to be found if you can navigate the maps and access. No doubt, I will not be going on a weekend!
 
Joined
Jul 9, 2014
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2 points is plenty to get you into the kind of hunt you're after. I have always had a wonderful experience on my past WY antelope hunts. We hunt a unit that takes 0 points and is a unit with an asterisk for poor public access. We have never had an issue finding animals to hunt on public land. Get a good map and a GPS chip! If you go into the hunt with a positive attitude knowing that you will have some company at times you'll have a great time. If you're concerned with crowds plan your trip to start 2-3 days after the season opens. 80-90% of people hunting antelope pack up after day 2.
 

Bobbyboe

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Feb 3, 2016
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I'm thinking the same thing as MNbearhunter. If you cant get into animals in a 2pt unit your doing something wrong!

I've hunted antelope twice in 0pt units, both times we filled our tags without a problem. Like previously said, get some maps and a GPS, you'll fill your tags.

Let me know what units your looking at and I'll give you my opinion on if there will be enough land to hunt. My guess is you're over analyzing this!
 

bmf0713

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Jan 25, 2017
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Me and 2 friends are from Iowa and trying to plan a trip to Wyoming this year for antelope. We only have 1 pp and were wondering what areas are good to hunt? I've done a bit of research and Have narrowed down 2 areas where it looks like we can draw with 1 pp. Not sure if we want to use our point for a hard access area. How hard is it to draw on #2 and #3 choices for the hard access areas. I've never used points or a draw system before.
 

bmf0713

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Jan 25, 2017
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We are planing on getting a good GPS and a chip. Not looking for a huge trophy just a good time and seeing some animals. Never been out west hunting before. Any help would be appreciated
 

wapitibob

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Why anyone would spend $280 to shoot a dink 10" buck and get 25# of meat, when you can shoot 4 Does for about $170 is beyond me but, it's not my hunt.
 
Joined
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SW Colorado
true but all I was saying was guys shouldn't be discouraged about "crappy" units you can do much better than 10" bucks. Wyoming's worst units are probably better than most of Colorado's.
 
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