2008(maybe '09) wyo pronghorn

[jackelope]

ok. here's  my story. myself and some friends from here and back home in new york would like to put together an antelope hunt for 2008, or maybe '09 in wyoming. we would like to all draw buck tags, but we know that may not happen, and none of us have ever put together a hunt like this. what i am looking for is advice on where to start. i need advice on everything...like where to go, or how to decide for ourselves where to go,  should we put in for individual or party permits, what are good maps to buy to do our homework, etc. we know nothing but want to learn and none of us have any experience doing this. hopefully all you guys born and raised out west hunting out west with your dads and granddads know how good you have it. when you are from back east, alls you have to hunt is whitetails, thats all you know. this western hunting is kind of intimidating when you're trying to put together a hunt. we pretty much know nothing.
feel free to pm or post here with any helpful or unhelpful advice even.
thanks for any input
Josh
oh and  1 more thing...this would be a DIY kind of thing and would not be a trophy hunt. we just would be looking for some nice goats for starters. maybe a few years down the road we'd get into looking more for the big boys, but lets get one out of the way first.

[Ridgerunner]

If you want to go as a group put in as a party application.  There should be plenty of areas in Wyoming that would allow you guys a chance to draw tag, maybe pay a small tresspass fee and get onto a ranch.  That state has so many antelope its amazing.  You might try posting on MM as well, I know Lowedog over there just did the same type of hunt for the first time this year and had a great time. I think the Wyoming G&F will give you a list of ranchers that allow hunting.  I've heard good things about the Casper area over there.

[wackmaster]

Well Jackelope you need to go to the Wyoming game and fish web site. Get a hunting book sent to you for 08 the come out around december. Having not put in before it is going to be hard to draw your first year. They went to a point system 2 years ago and only a small % of tags go to hunters with no points. But it is possible. Wyoming has speed goats all over. If you want your your group to all draw at the same time I would put in as a party. Also if you want a better chance at drawing and can afford it put in for a speical tag. Look at there web site for drawing odds to choose an area that you can draw easy.I was born and raised in cody wyo, so if you want some inside info on some spots send me a pm.

[Mortgage Hunter]

I just got back last week from chasing "speed goats" in Montana.  There were 6 of us and we were all tagged out after only 2 days.  Having hunted antelope in both Montana & Wyoming, I'd say the trophy potential is much better in Wyoming, simply based on the population.  They were grazing the lawn at our motel, grazing the lawn at McDonalds....they're everywhere!  Both states have party permits, and we've been drawn 2 out of 3 years.  Once drawn, additional doe tags can be purchased over the counter....(but, you might want to taste the meat of one antelope before killing 3)  I think Montana allows 5 in the party, and Wyoming is only 4...but I might be wrong about that.  Montana has alot of public BLM land, and a great block management program where the state pays the private landowner to open thier land for hunting.  Antelope hunting is a really fun group hunt, you guys are going to have a blast!

Here's a couple of pics of the buck I killed this year in North Central Montana.  I'd consider this a "good" Central Montana Buck.  He measures out at 15 1/4" and has great cutters.  He's probably only a 3 yr old buck, so he lacks a little bit of the mass needed to be a true trophy (but a trophy is always in the eye of the beholder).  As you can see, my Dad also killed a good buck (sorry for the blood shot)...great mass, and 1/2" ivory tips.

My contact info is below...Feel free to give me a call if you have any questions about setting up your hunt

The first pic is of my dad and his buck (right)...my buck is on the ground (left).  Second pic is just another shot of me & the buck.

[jackelope]

those would work.
thanks guys.

Having not put in before it is going to be hard to draw your first year

i saw on huntodds.com wyoming has areas with 100% odds of drawing. any thoughts on these areas?
 

[Mortgage Hunter]

If an area has 100% drawing odds, it either has...1) way too many anetelope   or, 2) no antelope at all ?   I'd have see what area it is to tell anything more than that.

[jackelope]

kind of what i was thinking.
MT would be a lot closer for me to pull my trailer(when i buy it) for us to stay in.


a 15" buck would work well for me.

[Mortgage Hunter]

We drove to Wyoming, and it took us 16 hrs. It's pretty easy to find though...just get on I-90 down by Safeco Field, and stay on I90 for the next 16 hrs.  When we reached Gillette, WY, I was ready to sell the truck and fly home.   

[Intruder]

Jack,
MT or WY are both viable options.  As was stated earlier WY probably gives ya better odds on trophy animals.  I don't know a ton about WY but I do know there's gobs of land in MT to hunt.  I've killed several of em there... nothing real big.  In region 6 and 7 you wont have a problem finding space to hunt.  CMR supposedly has some nice bucks because of vehicle restrictions.  Logistically, your buddies could fly into Billings and you can easily jump off to WY or hunt MT.

I've heard access can be an issue at times WY but there is still some awful big chunks of public ground there.  I friend killed a really nice buck down in the Rock Springs area a couple years ago on public land.  If you're set on WY... your friends could also fly into Salt Lake or Casper depending on where ya wanna hunt.

[jackelope]

I am not set on anything.
i guess i just need to decide between MT or WY.
i'd also say that trophy bucks are not required. this will be all of us hunting goats for the first time, so just putting a respectable goat on the ground is what we'd be looking for.
the first priority of this trip is getting together with my old hunting/fishing buddies and having a good time.
usually it's a flyfishing trip, this time we've decided on a hunting trip.

[boneaddict]

I'm looking at Montana this next year.  My buddy is moving from Lolo to Billings, and that seems to be good lope country.  I'll put in for Nevada again as well.  I won't be doing Oregon.  I know two folks that could help you, I'll send one an e-mail and ask the other one here at work when I see him.

[jackelope]

sweet. thanks guys.

[Jackjr]

there are alot of 100% draw areas.  You can shoot one just about anywhere.  I mean anywhere,  Me and some friends went and there in the parking lots at walmart and even the casper airport. the game dept will give you a list of landowners that will let you hunt. We went out of casper and had good luck.

[jackelope]

thanks jackjr...i appreciate the info.

[Jackjr]

I can e-mail you on the land we hunted if you want, landowner was a nice guy.