Wyoming Antelope - Bad News

[HOT ROD]

My wife and I didn't even hunt with our tags this last year figured we would save a couple antelope... Will probably do the same this year....

 

[BuzzH]

My wife and I didn't even hunt with our tags this last year figured we would save a couple antelope... Will probably do the same this year....

Same here, we had 6 tags between us, pitched all 4 doe tags and a red desert buck tag. Did shoot one buck in an opportunity unit.

 

[WCB]

Hey but at least guys every year before it gets bad shoot 4 does a piece in a party of 5 or 6. Of course the numbers are horrible. Stacking up does year after year then get a bad winter or a drought...now throw in disease. What the hell does everyone expect.

 

[BuzzH]

Some people have been pitching their limit of doe pronghorn tags for 11 years...

 

[rwbowser]

Awful that there's been this much of an impact. I really hope it turns around.

 

[Nemobowhunter]

We lose a few whitetails almost every year here in MO it seems, but we have had a couple years where it was terrible. Walk along a river or check ponds and find several. Seems like it is hard on older bucks here for some reason.

 

[Coveyleader]

I'm sitting on 5 points, wanted to hunt this year, but will need to research. I drove from Cheyenne west to the Utah border several times this year (great antelope units) and the numbers shocked me. I have great eyes, and sightings that usually number in the 100s from the HWY resulted in just a handful.

 

[BuzzH]

I'm sitting on 5 points, wanted to hunt this year, but will need to research. I drove from Cheyenne west to the Utah border several times this year (great antelope units) and the numbers shocked me. I have great eyes, and sightings that usually number in the 100s from the HWY resulted in just a handful.

Very few bright spots in Wyoming for pronghorn, will be horrific if we get any kind of a bad winter. So far, its been pretty mild.

I've talked to a lot of pronghorn hunters and nobody is happy with numbers across a vast majority of the state.

The GF is in denial about the low numbers.

 

[IsThisHeaven]

Me and my BIL hunted a unit in NE Wyoming. We hunted the same unit 5 years ago, shot nice bucks for the area in a couple days and saw hundreds of antelope every day. This year, after driving around the entire unit a couple times, we chose not to try to fill our tags. It was just awful. There were 100 doe tags issued in the unit as well. We didn’t see 50 different does in 4 days. Its a shame any doe tags were issued at all. There was almost no grass in the unit. Drought and grazing made the pastures look like they had been mowed.

We deer hunted a unit to the SW. There were better numbers of antelope there, and it’s managed more conservatively, but the locals we talked to said the unit was a shell of what it used to be too. It’s a real shame.

 

[HOT ROD]

We can hope the winter stays mild and pray for lots of spring and summer rains... Maybe the GF will error on the side of caution and cut sum tags again or at least dont raise tags numbers..

 

[Coveyleader]

Another trip East to West, and West to East on the I-80 corridor, and did see some pretty sizeable herds, but there was a lot of dead space without any animals.

 

[cfounta1]

hopefully they'll bounce back

 

[coloyooper]

i can’t believe someone would fill their tag that they state game agency handed out to them after setting an annual quota.

 

[smeckert]

This is terrible news. Hopefully quotas will be reduced enough to allow for a recovery in a few years. One of my favorite species and a great state to hunt them in.

 

[Lil-Rokslider]

Can anyone verify how deer winter kill northwest of Casper was this year? I unexpectedly drew a deer tag in the random. I haven't heard the Casper area mentioned specifically in any of the winter kill reports I've read.

 

[Laramie]

Can anyone verify how deer winter kill northwest of Casper was this year? I unexpectedly drew a deer tag in the random. I haven't heard the Casper area mentioned specifically in any of the winter kill reports I've read.

I haven't heard much from that area so it can't be too bad. Congrats on the tag.

 

[long hunter]

Drew both buck and doe antelope, will eat tag soup on the doe.