Serious thought on a DIY antelope hunt in two years....

[massbigbore442001]

The first time I hunted pronghorn antelope was in 1993 with a guide out of New Mexico. I was solo but part of a group of about 27 people. Long story short, I got a nice buck .

Since that time I have been thinking of going for antelope on my own.

I am looking at either Montana or Wyoming ( also the deadline for antelope will be tomorrow so I better get off my rear end to get a point in some area) .

I am not asking for anyone's personal hotspot but a direction to a general good area would be appreciated. I am interested in hunting with the gun or even muzzleloader.

Thank you for any replies.

John. Now living in Maine.

 

[RyanT26]

Either state would work. You’re gonna need to buy points. Or don’t buy points and try to go back to New Mexico, but I would wager the price of a guided antelope hunt in New Mexico has quadruple since 1993.

 

[Beendare]

DIY Antelope is arguably the easiest Hunt to do DIY.....

 

[MuleyFever]

Antelope | Wyoming Game & Fish Department

If you want to hunt antelope, you’ve come to the right place. Wyoming has more antelope than the rest of the continent, and harvest success commonly exceeds 85 percent. Pronghorn, called antelope here, are found only in western North America.

wgfd.wyo.gov

 

[406life]

Wyoming is going to be a better bet for you than MT. Preference points means you can plan better on when you'll draw. Also, there are three times as many goats there (or used to be, or might still come, or whatever). Plenty of DIY opportunity there. If you have a few years to build points, which I would suggest, then buy them in CO as well. You can have a good time on 4 points in both states, maybe double up on the trip.

 

[gsiler23]

Wyoming is going to be a better bet for you than MT. Preference points means you can plan better on when you'll draw. Also, there are three times as many goats there (or used to be, or might still come, or whatever). Plenty of DIY opportunity there. If you have a few years to build points, which I would suggest, then buy them in CO as well. You can have a good time on 4 points in both states, maybe double up on the trip.

I agree with this. Build up points in Wyoming & MT, maybe CO (if you apply for other animals in CO) to draw a solid tag in an area with good numbers. One thing to consider when planning a trip a few years out is to keep an eye on the antelope numbers in areas you are thinking of hunting. I know Wyoming had a winter die off a few years back, but I'm sure the population will rebound or already has rebounded.

 

[atmat]

My guy, you’ve been thinking about antelope for 32 years?! Get out there!

 

[magnum44270]

Lots of easy to draw 1 point areas in Wy. Get off the road and you can find an antelope. Might not be a giant, but they are all over.

 

[gsiler23]

Lots of easy to draw 1 point areas in Wy. Get off the road and you can find an antelope. Might not be a giant, but they are all over.

100% opportunity abounds. Higher point units might have better access or trophy antelope, but there are plenty of units that you can find good number of antelope in.

 

[massbigbore442001]

I'm thinking that the Hunt Fool App may be a good idea to navigate the point system.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

I'm thinking that the Hunt Fool App may be a good idea to navigate the point system.

I have drawn 3 WY antelope tags since '19 none of them used PP. They weren't in trophy units but they made great tablefair and it was a boat load of fun with friends and family.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Wyoming is going to be a better bet for you than MT. Preference points means you can plan better on when you'll draw. Also, there are three times as many goats there (or used to be, or might still come, or whatever). Plenty of DIY opportunity there. If you have a few years to build points, which I would suggest, then buy them in CO as well. You can have a good time on 4 points in both states, maybe double up on the trip.

There are no 4pt public land buck tags in CO that I can think of that even comes close to the quality of WY units (WY doe hunts don't take points to draw, pure lotto, so I kept the above statement to bucks). We just don't have the populations of pronghorn vs hunters. Decent tags take too many points to draw versus their quality if we're being honest and that is talking about pulling resident tags, offhand drawing non-resident probably is a joke of wait time/cost for points versus WY. At least when you put in for the draw in WY you have a lottery chance of pulling the tag even if you don't have enough points.

Yes as a resident I put in for CO points cause its cheap and I know of tags to put in for to get out there hunting at resident pricing for fun (would suck to pay non-resident for the quality) but its not even in the same realm as the hunts I do in WY, I've hunted a magnitude more pronghorn in WY than CO. Pronghorn are the animal I have killed the most of in my lifetime, plenty of doe hunts putting meat in the freezer.

But hey if someone wants to buy a non-resident small game license in CO every year to build points here for marginal pronghorn hunting then have at it, I am just being honest about the reality of it so someone doesn't buy in on something without realizing what they're paying for.

 

[OTCLIFE]

Both MT or WY would work. You can get it done in a low point unit, but if you are driving from Maine, you might want to go for units that need a few points.