Wyoming antelope 23-2

[MHWASH]

Looking to pickup some left over doe tags. This unit is mainly private and sounds like it's had to get access. Does anybody have any info they would like to share?

[Call em in]

From my understanding all of the “-2” units are mostly private. I spoke to the game warden in that area today and he said most of the private lands have outfitters guiding on them. Sorry that’s not much help. We are looking to pick up some extra doe tags as well.

[MHWASH]

The bio I talked to today said don’t bother if you don’t have somewhere lined up.

[Bob33]

A few years ago I did research on a Wyoming unit with very little public land. I targeted 10 landowners and mailed each a personal letter asking for permission to hunt doe antelope. I got two replies and got permission to hunt one of them last year. I am making my second trip to the landowner's property this fall; he also invited me to hunt a buck this year. Stamps are only $.50.

[Stein]

Doe and buck tag permission on private is night and day, especially if you are flexible and can go late season or whenever they aren't busy or booked.  The best odds would be irrigated farmland with tons of goats that eat their paycheck, if you have several doe tags you will have a much different conversation than one buck tag from a guy very particular about what you want to shoot.  If you have a big checkbook, you will always have willing landowners, but doe tags can slip in many times and be a win-win.  Ironically, I have had better luck showing up with a pile of doe tags compared to one.  If the landowner has been getting eaten out of house and home, doesn't have a buck hunter booked and you show up and are willing to put a dent in the herd it's not a difficult thing to negotiate.  The other thing is to find marginal property that can't get top dollar but still has goats.

The other piece of advice is that some units may have a small amount of public, but it only takes a couple of acres with animals on them to make for a good hunt.

From my experience, I can do all the calling and e-scouting, but to find a diamond in the rough I have to take a chance, buy the tag and go see if there are animals there or not.  There is a gigantic portion of WY that has identical terrain and some hold goats and some doesn't.  I don't know how you can tell one from the other without checking or talking to someone that has checked.  When you are there, try to find time to scout nearby units as well.

[Widgeondeke]

23-2 is for any antelope, but ONLY valid for private land. So all the BLM land on the West side of the unit is off limits. If you are set on a buck your only option w/o permission would be the Walk-in area Johnson 7.

If you were to get a couple tags and only target does you will have a better chance of finding permission.
I must agree with Bob33 and say try writing some landowners.

[MHWASH]

All good points. I’ll be writing some letters before next season. Bob, what time of year did you write? I feel that’s a big step to getting permission.

Stein, if I had a younger hunter with me I would try the show up and see what happens. I talked to the bio yesterday and she said the antelope are few and far between on the Walk in areas. If i was hunting alone or with one of my boys I would have given it a shot. 

As hard as it is to get drawn these days I’m going to change things up. In 2010 we drew the first try, then it took us 3 years, this time it took 6.

[Call em in]

Thanks for the information guys and thank you MHWASH for letting me tag onto your post. 

My hunting partner and I drew on a partner application.  This will be our first trip to Wyoming to hunt and his first antelope hunt.  He has limited mobility so we are exploring as many options as possible.  We are excited for the trip and I'm excited to help him get one of his bucket list animals!

[MHWASH]

I posted on another site the question, mostly because it has a larger base of hunters from across the country. Ironically a guy from Washington pointed out that I wanted a -6 or -7 tag because those are for antlerless only. I did a little more research and found a favorable unit to apply for. Now it’s another waiting game to see if we drew a doe tag.

[Bob33]

All good points. I’ll be writing some letters before next season. Bob, what time of year did you write? I feel that’s a big step to getting permission.

Stein, if I had a younger hunter with me I would try the show up and see what happens. I talked to the bio yesterday and she said the antelope are few and far between on the Walk in areas. If i was hunting alone or with one of my boys I would have given it a shot. 

As hard as it is to get drawn these days I’m going to change things up. In 2010 we drew the first try, then it took us 3 years, this time it took 6.

I mailed my letters in early September. I'm not sure if there's a better time.

As an update I got a call yesterday from the landowner who allowed me to hunt does on his property last year and a buck this year. He told me that some of his neighbors have a lot of antelope that eat their alfalfa and wondered if he knew of a hunter he could recommend to help get rid of some. The neighbors are in an adjoining unit that's almost entirely private so there are leftover doe licenses. I'll be able to pick up four and help the neighbor. It's rewarding to see a relationship build over time.

It sounds like you've found a way to get some additional licenses. Good luck.