Free: Contests & Raffles.
Do you have 1 point or 2? You said you bought a point this year, so sounds to me like you only have 1? Looks like for 73 you need at least 4 points and 27 you need at least 3. Area 7 is the only one of those that can be drawn with 1 point. So if you really want to hunt in 2017, you should apply for area 7 as your number one choice. You may end up not drawing 7 if you don't have it as your first choice.You could take a chance and put in for 7 as a second choice and one of the others as your first choice. But the odds of drawing 27 or 73 would be very low if not impossible. For second and third choices you should only choose units that had leftover tags last year. Like many of the units in NE Wyoming.
Quote from: bobcat on December 02, 2016, 07:34:04 AMDo you have 1 point or 2? You said you bought a point this year, so sounds to me like you only have 1? Looks like for 73 you need at least 4 points and 27 you need at least 3. Area 7 is the only one of those that can be drawn with 1 point. So if you really want to hunt in 2017, you should apply for area 7 as your number one choice. You may end up not drawing 7 if you don't have it as your first choice.You could take a chance and put in for 7 as a second choice and one of the others as your first choice. But the odds of drawing 27 or 73 would be very low if not impossible. For second and third choices you should only choose units that had leftover tags last year. Like many of the units in NE Wyoming.I bought a point last year and figured if I applied this year it would give me 2. Im probably wrong assuming that. But if I did special draw for 27 I think I might have a chance
I've hunted in three different units over there, and didn't really know anything about any of them beforehand. The factors I considered in applying for a unit were pretty basic, but it has worked out well so far: (i) how many tags are given out and what is the harvest % on bucks, (ii) how much BLM land (or other public land, but NOT national forest) is available and is it generally in big chunks (good) or broken up (bad, can be landlocked), and (iii) can I draw it with the number of points I have?I took a look at 73 (never been there), and it looks great on the first two prongs (lots of tags, very high buck harvest %, and lots of big BLM chunks)but not so good on the last one. Looks like you need at least 2 points in the special draw. You've probably looked at the Hunt Planner Interactive Map already, but that's a very quick way to see how much BLM land (yellow) is available in a given unit. https://wgfd.wyo.gov/Hunting/Hunt-Planner/Antelope-Hunting/Antelope-Map. If you look hard enough, there are some units that satisfy all three prongs, assuming you're willing to pay for the special draw.
Quote from: WAcoueshunter on December 02, 2016, 01:38:01 PMI've hunted in three different units over there, and didn't really know anything about any of them beforehand. The factors I considered in applying for a unit were pretty basic, but it has worked out well so far: (i) how many tags are given out and what is the harvest % on bucks, (ii) how much BLM land (or other public land, but NOT national forest) is available and is it generally in big chunks (good) or broken up (bad, can be landlocked), and (iii) can I draw it with the number of points I have?I took a look at 73 (never been there), and it looks great on the first two prongs (lots of tags, very high buck harvest %, and lots of big BLM chunks)but not so good on the last one. Looks like you need at least 2 points in the special draw. You've probably looked at the Hunt Planner Interactive Map already, but that's a very quick way to see how much BLM land (yellow) is available in a given unit. https://wgfd.wyo.gov/Hunting/Hunt-Planner/Antelope-Hunting/Antelope-Map. If you look hard enough, there are some units that satisfy all three prongs, assuming you're willing to pay for the special draw.I’ve hunted 73 many times, and it is a great unit. Ten years ago you could draw with one point, and get four leftover doe/fawn licenses to boot every year. It takes around four to five points now unless you pay more for the special category. I plan to hunt 73 next year myself.Unless Wyoming is a “one and done” state, my advice for first-time hunters is to find a unit that typically has leftover doe/fawn licenses and some public land, and hunt that unit the first year. You can get four doe/fawn licenses for $34 each. The does are just as challenging to hunt, the meat is superb, and you’ll learn enough to allow you to apply the next year with more knowledge. It takes several years to draw an “any antelope” license in the more desirable units, so plan on hunting doe/fawns during the off years.The last few years I’ve hunted units I never hunted before as I built up points in 73. I bought leftover doe/fawn licenses in July and had a great time filling them. On average it took me about one day per license because I wasn’t familiar with the units. If I were to go back to those units I’m pretty sure I could fill four in one day now, if I wanted to.