I hunted 17 one day before CO OTC 2nd rifle. Found a herd, but didn't get to them before they moved onto private. After my elk hunt, I drove 7hrs back to WY. Hunted two days. Saw plenty of Prong everywhere except on public. I hunted the 29th & 30th(the day before season close). On the 29th, I found a herd in the late afternoon posted on a hill feeding back and forth on public and private. I moved from 900 to 300yds and lost light so didn't get a shot in. The next day, I drove 144 mi, stopping and walking squares of state land. Saw prong all day on private. At 4:30pm, I went back to a square where I had seen a good number of Prong heading toward in the morning. From the road, I saw half a dozen muleys feeding 600yds out and in the middle of them a male Prong. I parked, grabbed my pack and glassed them again; the prong had moved off. To save time, I drove a little closer to them and parked behind a berm. Got out and crawled to the top. There were two prong at 220yds within 5 feet of the private fence. I shot the tallest one which turned out to have already dropped one side. I heard from a BM property owner, "this place is like wal mart". He was surprised that I found a herd east of 1416. I heard from another property owner, that the prong concentrated areas hold 3-4 camps during opening week. In my experience, by the end of the season, these animals know exactly where the safe zone is. They can be caught on public, but only when snuck on by foot. In my un-ordinary case, the spot was near a high traffic area with ranchers coming and going so I got away with my truck move. It's a hell-of-a challenge and super fun, a true character builder, especially when you readily see what you can't have and are on a time crunch. I'd hunt it again if that's what was all I could get. Although, when I bought my leftover tag, there seem to be an exorbitant number of tags available. Relative to the available public land and outfitting/leases happening there, I'm sure they over sell it. I don't have a unit comparison as this was my second prong hunt and 1time in WY—my first prong hunt being the second week in October in SE MT of which I probably saw less Pronghorn, but also harvested a buckProng. I'm hooked.
From what I gleaned from a unit17 landowner, the bigger muleys tend to be more prevalent in the southern part of the unit. I did see a decent 4pt up north. I saw a bunch of deer throughout the unit. There's a big outfitter in the north part that plants acres of corn. Every ranch seems to be leased. GoHunt puts unit 17 around 20% public land. I highly recommend OnX & GoHunt Insider.
Living and hunting my whole life in CA, unit 17 public access felt enormous and insufficient given the constant PrivateProng sightings.
