Utah Elk or Wyoming Antelope

[RadSav]

how is del doing

Big Pain in my Arse...as usual

I just finished working on a spring bear bow for him.  Doing something I have been thinking about myself.  Going up in speed rating and down in poundage.  He has been getting a bit of target panic lately so I took a 50# Arena 30 and made it 55# while fine tuning his draw length down from 28.5" to 27.75".  Creep tuning with that new Bear cam is crazy!  Of course with the limb stop I can not tune much longer as it freakin stops solid at the wall.  But I creep it well over an inch and it still punches dead center holes.  That's one heck of a cam!!

Took a little doing to get him to abandon the He-Man super testosterone high poundage stud finder bow and too long draw length.  But he's been trickling down over the past few years.  Last year he shot 62# out of the Venue and he shot it well.  So this year we got the 50# limbs and bumped the stress to 55#.  Flippin' screamer with the Blue Streak 250's!!  I even shot a few Pile Driver Pass-Through Extremes and they seemed to be zippy

[D-Rock425]

Well that's cool.  I hope he is finally gets his elk.

[RadSav]

I dont understand what we are debating here answer seems so simple.

So what you are telling me is I should definitely chose the antelope hunt, right

[Bob33]

They both sound like wonderful hunt opportunities. With antelope you can kill 5. They are an absolute hoot to hunt. I don't believe there is any better red meat than antelope. Plus you can always kill a monster bull during general seasons in Washington, right?

[trophyhunt]

Utah elk on a landowner tag is the only choice for my way of thinking. Unless you don't like the group of people going, or if it's a pressure-to-get-the-video hunt. That could be a OIL chance.

for me it would be a no brainer!! Go get a big bull, and mabey the will invite you back?!

[RadSav]

They both sound like wonderful hunt opportunities. With antelope you can kill 5. They are an absolute hoot to hunt. I don't believe there is any better red meat than antelope. Plus you can always kill a monster bull during general seasons in Washington, right?

Where I hunt in WY you are only allowed one buck, no does.  I think there are doe tags available, but the land owner manages the ranch for long term hunting success.  And with all the winter kill the past few years harvesting does would be counter productive.

I agree on the meat.  Way better than elk!!  If I could tag five I would never even begin to think about Utah elk.  That would be a no brainer decision in favor of the antelope!!

Any time I've decided to get serious about hunting WA...yes, good general season bulls have been tagged.  I just don't get too excited about WA elk hunting very often.  It's more of a take the friends and wife hunting and sleep in the truck thing most of the time.  Well at least after I do the opening day bull hunt, anyway.  Elk and whitetails are usually on the bottom of my "favorite hunt" priority list.  I tend to gravitate toward smarter more unpredictable creatures if I get a say in the quarry choice.  Not that antelope are any smarter or less predictable...just higher on my cool scale.

If it were just me choosing a hunt for myself the answer would be a simple one...Wyoming!  The guys I would be sharing a camp with in Utah are the sole reason I'm considering it.  Elk number 31 or 32 doesn't really hold as high of value as does time spent with good people I've never hunted with before.  Potential for my best elk does hold a small value, but again not as much as value as it does for many.  I don't ever plan on entering a bull in the record books unless it is top ten or better.  And the chances of that happening are extremely slim if not all together impossible.  Species to species the trophy quality is expected to be the same on each of the hunts - six of one half dozen of the other.  A 90+ antelope would be much more valuable to me than a 400 bull.  Guess that makes me weird around these parts

[trophyhunt]

Yes that makes you weird!!! please pass my name on if you don't go on the elk hunt!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bob33]

What part of Wyoming do you hunt? Many units have leftover doe/fawn antelope licenses for about $32 each. You can legally have up to four doe/fawn licenses.

[RadSav]

I guarantee the land owner I hunt with will not allow a doe kill unless you are disabled or under 12 years old.

[Bob33]

Would that prevent you from hunting other property near there?

[RadSav]

I knew asking this question on H-W would lead to a large number of "Choose Utah" responses.  Though I am surprised out how many chose to leave the wife in the dust for an animal I could shoot any year here in Washington.  Is an extra 30" of antler growth really that much more appealing than spending time with the wife hunting an animal we do not have in Washington?  Granted it is one we tag every other year, but still we can't hunt in our back yard.

I do have 30 elk that have spent time in the freezer.  A few big, a few small and most in-between.  I have one Oregon antelope and three WY antelope.  I have laid plans to get serious about Washington this year.  That should mean a 280-300 bull rather easily with an upper limit around 350 I expect.  We do not have enough freezer space left for two bulls let alone three so meat really is not a factor even though I'm sure we could donate some. 

Timing of Utah should allow me to guide the wife enough in WA for her to tag out.  And possibly enough time to make sure CL tags out as well.  It does interfere with the best bear hunting times.  That is a BIG disadvantage as the wife and I both were really looking forward to getting back into the high country for some boar slaying.  I was even planning to go after "Melon Head" who could be top ten or better in the state.  Utah would definitely ruin our chances at hunting elk with our bows during Muzzy season which is something we have been discussing.

Antelope hunting happens weeks before WA archery season opens.  So that does not effect anything but early bear hunting opportunities.  And honestly those early bear hunts aren't all that good.  WY is a hard one day drive.  Utah probably going to be a two day drive and might even work into a two plus if I decide to tow the trailer over.  Than means even more time away from work.  Paid vacation is a different thing to the self employed.  Means we pay double to take a vacation and then we pay again when we get back and have to fix all the crap done wrong while we were gone.  Rarely does it work out to be worth it.

[RadSav]

Would that prevent you from hunting other property near there?

This unit has VERY little public land to hunt.  And most of that boarders coal mines.  Between poor feed, very little water and routine explosions there is little reason for antelope to spend time on that land.  You might get lucky, but it really isn't worth the time you would spend hoping for a miracle.

[RadSav]

Yes that makes you weird!!! please pass my name on if you don't go on the elk hunt!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How much money do you have?  I hear there is one more tag available!!   I think I heard that tag is going for $9,000.  I believe that's about $5,000 less than the going price in the area.

[D-Rock425]

I dont understand what we are debating here answer seems so simple.

So what you are telling me is I should definitely chose the antelope hunt, right

right. 

[D-Rock425]

Well i guess im just a sucker for elk.