Wyoming with Nine PP

[Tryin]

So, time has gotten away from me over the last several years and I find myself with nine points for Wyoming pronghorns and no idea where to use them.

I started accruing points back in the “BB” (of Bowsite fame) days of allowing hunters to travel out with him for basically a semi-guided hunt at one of his many honey-holes. I missed the point deadline one year and was thus disqualified for that particular outlet. Not wanting to just lose the points that I did accrue, I just kept buying them in hopes that I would finally have enough time and money to go. Well, here we are.

I have some obstacles for consideration in your recommendation:

I’m not a western hunter, Indiana and Kentucky whitetails are my only big game animal experience.

I don’t have a ton of money. I’m just a patrol level cop at a small agency. No outfitters, and I can’t buy a ton of gear.

I am trying to combine my hunting with a family trip. They (family) are pretty autonomous and do not require me to be around to have a great time. That said, I would like to be hunting within an hour or two of wherever we pick a hotel to base out of.



Other considerations:

I need good public access.

I would like the opportunity to try archery, but will be taking my rifle. Honestly, the rifle is probably gonna be considered as primary. Archery use might change recommended areas due to topography?

I don’t feel the need to burn the points “just because”. If there is a better way to get my feet wet and later spend the points on a trophy unit, that’s fine. If I can just go into a trophy unit with good odds of success with my current points, that’s fine too.

I can camp, truck camp, or commute from a hotel. I know opinions will vary, but I’m leaning toward commuting. Maybe add an overnight camp option if needed. If I do a week-ish camp, I’m gonna have to buy more/different gear. I don’t have good backpacking gear at the moment.

I guess that’s pretty much all I know at the moment. It looks like I would have decent odds at several high-public access units in south-central/ southwest Wyoming with nine points. Advice, arguments, and stories are all welcome.

Thanks for the consideration guys. I know the “where should I go?” questions can get a bit... tedious.

 

[Oregon]

With what you describe, most of your units fit your needs. When I say “don’t over think “ honestly, don’t overthink.

 

[ncstewart]

You don’t need much gear for sure man. A weapon is basically it. Well a range finder and binos gonna help but not much else needed in my limited experience. I’m similar budget wise as you so I feel ya. We went this year for the first time and with 9 points you gonna have a good hunt for sure. We went with 4 points to what’s considered an ok public land unit and it was way more than what I expected. Being a whitetail guy myself I get it can be intimidating but if you just go then you will figure it out. Took us all of about 6 hours total to kill 5 bucks. Nothing to brag about but fun for sure. Good luck man and main thing is just go do it.
Also we hauled camp gear just to stay in hotel. Don’t get me wrong plenty of places to camp with all the blm land but being from Arkansas there wasn’t much that looked good to me for camping. Unless you like camping on the moon I’d just hotel it. My personal opinion


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[Jimss]

I sent you a personal message.

 

[Takem]

PM sent. Just did a family trip/antelope hunt myself last year.

 

[BuzzH]

What I wouldn't do is pay a trespass fee or do a party application with anyone...I can assure you, you're in a good place to do a very good pronghorn hunt.

 

[204guy]

Quickly looking it looks like 53,58,60,61,92 are the only 5 units that you don't have 100% draw odds. That leaves you with an incredible # of units with a lot of public and excellent trophy potential. If you want to do archery and rifle you might try to find a unit that has a rifle season that opens sometime in mid sept. Then time your hunt so that it overlaps both. While you can archery hunt during rifle the pressure will increase a bit once rifle opens.

Forget backpacking there'll be no point.

What I absolutely would not do is a party app with someone and dilute those points no matter how good their pitch is... You can easily do this yourself.

 

[Jimss]

I would recommend the same thing. There are great units you can draw and hunt on your own with lots of public land with your points. There also happens to be fantastic options to hunt little pressured private land with virtually no hunting pressure and great trophy potential! The choice is all yours but I wouldn't shy away from a party app with someone that has first hand knowledge of an area with years experience field judging antelope! As mentioned above you can do the hunt yourself but there is advantages to both sides.

 

[wytx]

Great position to be in. Don't make any decisions until the winter counts are in and seasons are set next spring.
You can plan a public land hunt in a great area with access and probably get a nice buck in 2-3 days , or sooner, then take the family on a nice sight seeing trip around the state.
With your PP I would not even consider paying a trespass fee, no need to.

 

[Rackmastr]

Quickly looking it looks like 53,58,60,61,92 are the only 5 units that you don't have 100% draw odds. That leaves you with an incredible # of units with a lot of public and excellent trophy potential. If you want to do archery and rifle you might try to find a unit that has a rifle season that opens sometime in mid sept. Then time your hunt so that it overlaps both. While you can archery hunt during rifle the pressure will increase a bit once rifle opens.

Forget backpacking there'll be no point.

What I absolutely would not do is a party app with someone and dilute those points no matter how good their pitch is... You can easily do this yourself.

Great post.

Wife has 11 points and its time to get down there. Hoping for a good winter and then will see where research points us. I couldn't imagine using those points in a party application unless it was with me and blending those points. Surely wouldn't let some random person on the 'net blend points together for their benefit after all that time invested.

 

[204guy]

I can't even imagine the balls it takes. "Hey man I know you got enough points to draw more than 20 units with more than 75% public land and tremendous trophy potential. Yeah it would probably be the easiest hunt in North America but if you just pay me 4.5 years worth of preference points and pay a little extra $750 trespass fee we'll have a great hunt, I'm really good at judging antelope. Technically this isn't legal for either of us in WY so we didn't meet on the internet as strangers. We've been friends for years and you approached me and offered to share your points, I was so taken aback by your generosity I couldn't say no. WINK, WINK."

 

[Jimss]

Wow you guys are brutal!

I don't think I've met any of you and you are hammering me in your posts! Do any of you happen to have any idea about the great experiences I've shared with other hunters over the past 15 to 20 years? If you only knew some of the lifetime friendships and great experiences I've shared with other hunters! Did you happen to see the smiles on the 80+ year old father and son's faces after harvesting this year's bucks? What brought a smile to my face was when the father mentioned that their Wyo antelope hunt was the greatest hunting experience he had ever shared with his son! None of you can take that away from me, the father, or his son! The ear to ear grins in their hunt photos told the story! It is pretty sad that several of you have no idea about these experiences and have such negative posts when you know nothing about the experiences nor the quality of bucks harvested on these hunts!

I guess what several of the posts above are saying is that units that take close to max pts have potential for better quality bucks and experience compared to a hunt on a large private ranch with only limited hunting pressure that takes fewer pts to draw? Do you think there is any chance that a private ranch may produce larger bucks than a unit with lots of public land that takes a pile of pts to draw?

I've spent a great deal of time in some of the best B&C units Wyo has to offer. There are a lot of factors that come into place to produce B&C bucks. For example, I drew a unit 64 tag quite a few years ago. 64 historically has super genetics for B&C bucks. It's smack-dab in the middle of one of the top ranked B&C entry counties in the entire Western US. It took close to max pts for me to draw a tag. That area had super bad drought 2 years in a row plus a couple fairly severe winters 3 years prior to that. I decided to apply for 64 because of the mild winters. I had no clue what affect the winterkills followed by severe drought had on that particular unit. I virtually looked over hundreds of bucks/day. I only saw a couple hunters the entire season. The biggest buck I could find was the 80" buck I harvested. I would say that 90% of the bucks I saw on that hunt had 10 to 12" horns. The following year I drew a 2nd choice tag in a different region in Wyo that missed the severe drought and winterkill that apparently hammered unit 64. I only hunted a couple days and passed up several 80" bucks and harvested a super nice 83" buck. Boy did I learn a lot from those back to back years!

What I'm saying is just because a unit takes a gob of pts to draw with lots of public land to hunt doesn't necessarily mean it will produce B&C bucks in any given year. I don't know how many antelope fanatics I've spoken to over the years that have drawn trophy Wyo antelope units that take close to max pts to draw that had problems finding an 80" buck. Those bucks definitely aren't hanging out behind every sagebrush and there's a lot more to it than drawing a tag! You also better know how to field judge or you will be faced with dreaded "ground shrinkage!"

As mentioned in one of the posts above, it's pretty important to keep an eye on recent and historic weather, snow depth, winterkill, predators, fawn recruitment, herd health, etc before applying for tags. Do you happen to know when there was severe drought, winterkill, poor fawn recruitment, etc in the unit you plan on applying....and which years these happened? What quality bucks did the units you are interested in produce last year and the 2 years prior to that? If you plan on applying and burning lots of pts I would highly recommend investigating these things!

Anyway, I thought I would toss out a few ideas to vent my frustration from several of the negative posts above! Good luck hunting Wyo antelope...they are a kick! There are quite a few options available if you have close to max pts. Make sure to do your research and check things out!

 

[Rackmastr]

I guess what several of the posts above are saying is that units that take close to max pts have potential for better quality bucks and experience compared to a hunt on a large private ranch with only limited hunting pressure that takes fewer pts to draw? Do you think there is any chance that a private ranch may produce larger bucks than a unit with lots of public land that takes a pile of pts to draw?

I don't doubt the hunting on the private ranch is likely a really good experience with great trophy potential. What I get sick of seeing is people looking for ways to blend points with complete strangers in an attempt to benefit them. I'd imagine that's what others on this thread don't like either, as its a greasy way of using other people's invested time and money to benefit yourself. Its a see-through tactic that most of us are tired of seeing, so giving the OP some advice on it in case he hasn't noticed your tactic.

Agreed that Wyoming antelope is a ton of fun and also a challenge balancing expectations, weather, judging, winters, tag numbers, access, etc, etc. Exciting as well.

 

[orionthehunter1]

so Jimss you are just getting him access out of the kindness of your heart and you will be reimbursed in smiles?

 

[wytx]

If you want or feel the need to average your points why not share them with a family member or great friend. Yes some great hunting on private land and some just as great on public land in the right areas.
Plenty of data to be found on historical weather and herd numbers and ratios right here and on WG&F website.

You have all winter to decide, many on here live in prime antelope country and can help with conditions and advice. You have the points to make yourself a hunt to enjoy, don't sweat it. The family can catch some bomber trout during the fall spawn and see some awesome scenery.

 

[isu22andy]

If you went to a trophy unit id make sure you practice on field judging antelope or have some good optics, cause in my scope a 55 inch lope and 65 inch lope look the damn same at 250 yards.

 

[Jimss]

I guess I look at this in a lot different light than several of the posters above. I look at it as a win-win situation for both sides! I've had the opportunity to share incredible experiences with total strangers....several of which have turned into life-long friends. In fact, one of the guys I shared hunts with around 6 years ago we've hunted together ever since! We've both harvested incredible antelope and other species together. The last thing I intend on doing is take advantage of others....just as I wouldn't want someone to take advantage of me!

If someone with years of experience scouting and hunting a particular area offered me the opportunity to share a hunt with them I think I would at least seriously investigate...especially if I live thousands of miles away and had limited time to hunt. First-hand knowledge of a species and how to field judge them is priceless! Trophy hunting and fishing grounds are generally thought of as sacred! It's almost like pulling teeth!

To top it all off is the chance to hunt a very large, private ranch with minimum hunting pressure. It almost sounds to good to be true? I really think it is! A trespass fee plus pref pts may be worth every penny and point! It obviously isn't worth it to everyone but I know quite a few hunters that I've shared hunts with over the years with smiles on their faces! We may have first met as strangers but we left Wyoming as great friends!

There are always bad apples out there! I certainly have run into a few over the years. I would strongly urge anyone that is seriously considering something similar to this to use your head and check things out in detail!

It's always great to share pref pts with family and friends! I do it as often as possible!

 

[wytx]

Jimss, my responses were not directed at you personally but at anyone thinking of averaging that many PP for antelope.
It just is not necessary, but I agree could be beneficial.
Tryin you could draw an area in that you may very well not see another hunter, public land, or may well be just minutes from a town with great trophy potential.
Within a couple of days of viewing antelope bucks you will be able to discern between young, immature bucks and mature potential trophies.
You could easily sleep in your vehicle for an overnight hunting excursion in your area while the family sleeps in warm comfort at the hotel.

 

[BuzzH]

jimss,

I know what unit you draw, and I know what ranch you hunt.

Maybe I should just try to make someone smile by giving out that information over the net? Maybe I could also find some new "great friends" by sharing that information? I'm quite sure the landowner doesn't care who pays them the trespass fee, yes?

You're not interested in helping anyone unless there's something in it for you.

For the OP, send me a PM and I can point you in the right direction...and jimss is over-playing his hand on what it takes to kill a nice buck in Wyoming. It definitely does NOT take paying a $750 trespass fee, or private access, to kill a B&C buck.

My wife shot her 6th buck this year that grosses over 80 and her 4th B&C qualifier netting over 80.

You have lots of good options for a great DIY hunt on public land with a chance at a great buck.

 

[Trial153]

9 points for WY Lope is good place to be. You can draw about 20 units with great trophy potential and excellent easy public acess.
A Gohunt type service would be worth it to you for easy research.