Wyoming antelope unit 3

[Mfritts]

Hoping to pick up a leftover tag for unit 3 any Antelope. Limited public access from what I can see. Anyone have experience hunting in Keyhole Lake state park? Thought of hunting the park as well as using as base camp to cover surrounding area from. This will be first western hunt. Will be coming from Texas. Any other states have left over antelope, or even cow elk?

 

[Bearlodge10]

The area around the State park is a bit tricky. Yes you can hunt it and yes there are antelope around but it seems that they move off over to private with pressure. Also the restrictions can also limit where you can get to without the use of a boat. Most of the good spots that hold animals are away from the roads and are landlocked. More info here Wyoming State Parks, Historic Sites, & Trails - Hunting - KEYHOLE
The antelope population is just coming back in that area so numbers aren't bad. If you start now, you might get your foot in the door to gain access to some area ranches that might also border other state lands thus increasing your acreage that have antelope. For what it is worth, I would suggest a different area that has a few more tags available and thus more antelope. With the limited number already, you can bet the tags will go quickly. There is quite a bit to do in the area so not a bad first western hunt. if you want to shoot me a PM i'd be happy to help you further.

 

[Mfritts]

PM sent, I think. Still New to this.

 

[ClearCreek]

For what it is worth, I would suggest a different area that has a few more tags available and thus more antelope.

Be careful with this as there are a couple areas, Hunt Areas 23 and 24 near Gillette, that have a bunch of TYPE 2 and 7 licenses available, BUT those licenses are restricted to private land and getting access, even for does, may be very difficult.

Just because there are a bunch of licenses left in a hunt area does not mean there are more antelope in that area, it could just mean access is very limited.

ClearCreek

 

[Mfritts]

I have obtained license for Area 3. From what I can see on crook county website, and OnXmaps, thorn road (also shown as CO RD 79, and Oak Creek Road) offers access to state land that is also attached to Blackhills national forest. is this accurate? Also

 

[Triplebranch]

Use to live and hunt the area, PM me for any questions

 

[Mfritts]

Had success on first DIY antelope hunt.
Any guesses on size for this one?


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[9Line]

I have no clue on judging antelope, but it is a great animal. Congrats.

 

[tntrker]

you got it done, CONGRATS!!

 

[Mfritts]

Thanks! It was a blast!


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[Bryan B]

Looks to be about 67".

 

[Fordguy]

I'm hoping this thread is still active. I applied in Wyoming this year but was unsuccessful on all three of my any antelope choices. I did draw a doe/fawn tag for unit 21 though. There are still a few tags available in the leftover draw for unit 3. I've been looking around online trying to decide if I should try for one of the unit 3 any antelope tags... doesn't appear to be much public land, but Mfritts obviously did well. I'm hoping he (or anyone knowledgeable) will weigh in with some info and help me make up my mind.

 

[TW13]

The area around the State park is a bit tricky. Yes you can hunt it and yes there are antelope around but it seems that they move off over to private with pressure. Also the restrictions can also limit where you can get to without the use of a boat. Most of the good spots that hold animals are away from the roads and are landlocked. More info here Wyoming State Parks, Historic Sites, & Trails - Hunting - KEYHOLE
The antelope population is just coming back in that area so numbers aren't bad. If you start now, you might get your foot in the door to gain access to some area ranches that might also border other state lands thus increasing your acreage that have antelope. For what it is worth, I would suggest a different area that has a few more tags available and thus more antelope. With the limited number already, you can bet the tags will go quickly. There is quite a bit to do in the area so not a bad first western hunt. if you want to shoot me a PM i'd be happy to help you further.

Hoping to pick up a leftover tag for unit 3 any Antelope. Limited public access from what I can see. Anyone have experience hunting in Keyhole Lake state park? Thought of hunting the park as well as using as base camp to cover surrounding area from. This will be first western hunt. Will be coming from Texas. Any other states have left over antelope, or even cow elk?

Had success on first DIY antelope hunt.
Any guesses on size for this one?


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great job. I have two sons and a neighbor boy and I that did not draw. Looking at the leftover list 3 is one of them. Just wondering if you would recommend giving it a try even with limited public access? Thanks.

 

[Mfritts]

It was a blast and a fun hunt, but the access does get frustrating. And the pressure as well. But you can’t shoot anything from the couch (w/o severely pissing the wife off) so that’s why I tried it and it paid off. Plus it was a fun camp out and great scenery.


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[Fordguy]

thanks for the reply, I opted to just use my unit 21 doe/fawn license and use this year as a first time in wyoming learning experience. I don't really know much about unit 21 either, I just thought my odds of drawing both an any antelope license and a doe fawn license were pretty good for that unit. apparently I was wrong. lol It will still be fun. Anything to escape Oklahoma for a few days...

 

[jaldridge22]

I drew an antelope tag in area 3. I called the two biologist that have the area and did not get much usable info. The one that has the east part of the area said too many pine trees and no antelope. The other biologist said keyhole and a very small area of state land. I asked about trespass fees and was told that all private land was leased to outfitters. Anybody had any experience with keyhole or have any information for the area?

Thanks,
Jason

 

[Bryan B]

What they told you is correct and there really isn't any more to it. The reality is Unit 3 is one of the worst units for public access and then some of the public parcels that are accessible are not antelope habitat. Since it sounds like you are not using an outfitter, you will need to check out the small, isolated parcels of public land and what is available at Keyhole. You will need to check each parcel for antelope and possibly sit and wait them out to see if they move onto public land.

 

[jaldridge22]

Ouch. I saw that it was tough but had pretty good success rates so thought it may not be so bad. Maybe the better success rate is due to people going through outfitters. If you know, are you able to walk all the way around Keyhole? Doable but it'll take more effort? My daughters fall break is the first week of season which means I will not be hunting until the second or third week of season so maybe I will miss some of the rush and pressure on public land.

 

[magnum44270]

bring a boat. fishing in keyhole is great. small mouth, 12-14 inch crappie, walleye and large northern pike.

 

[TW13]

thanks for the reply. I may have to try the fishing.