Special vs. Regular Pronghorn in WY

[Jimmy33]

Antelope nuts of HuntWA, I went on a pronghorn hunt in Montana last year and loved it. Came home and bought points in South Dakota and now I’m planning on using up my Wyoming points of which I have 5. My question for you guys is, do you guys think that the price is worth the quality that you get with a special? I am mainly concerned about opportunity and land access. Just want to hear some general thoughts about it. Thanks!


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[Mtnwalker]

It's hard to define "worth" for somebody else, but it certainly opens up a lot more doors in your point range. The price increase on the special really put a lot of pressure on the regular draw, lots of guys just aren't willing to pay that to go kill a goat, myself included. 5 points in the regular draw pretty much limits you to units east of the Bighorns where public land is more scarce and more pressured. Still some decent opportunity for somebody who hunts hard but part of the appeal of a pronghorn hunt (to me) is low pressure and lots of animals, I'm not sure there are many 5 point regular units left that fit that criteria. At the end of the day only you can determine what is worth the cost but it does open up a bunch of good units in the western half of the state to you 

[Ridgerunner]

Having hunted antelope in wyoming during the peak years with seeing tons of critters and minimal pressure it is worth it imo depending on what else I have going on that year.  The question is just where are the herds in their recovery from the winterkill of 22/23.  I don't know the answer to that question which makes the tag pretty pricey.  Dropped $1300 on a special deer tag last year in Wyoming, in the end I got a nice buck but honestly the numbers were way lower then they typically have been and the hunt was pretty tough with deer sightings being similiar to a WA mule deer hunt.  Definity wasn't out of this world awesome but in the end was able to kill a nice buck so looking back of course I'm glad I got drawn for the tag. 

For antelope as long as you aren't set on a B&C buck and have the funds to do so I say go for it.  They are a ton of fun to hunt and the western part of the state has alot of antelope.  I'd bet you enjoy this hunt much more than your MT one. 

 

[vandeman17]

Tagging along. 92xj and I are looking to use our antelope points this year. I have 12 and he has 7 so we will be going in with <9 which should get us a decent hunt. Its really hard for me to spend the extra money for special given that I personally will not be looking for a giant but more just after the experience but at the same time, I don't see myself going yearly so paying extra has some merit.

[Pathfinder101]

Same situation for me.  Sitting on 9 points currently and was planning to burn them this year.  The problem is, I don't think anyone knows how this new pricing thing is going to affect the points.  Will 10 points in the regular draw get me a hunt that last year drew for 7? Or am I looking at 5 and 6 point hunts now?  I know that paying for the special would get me a 9 or 10 point hunt... but dang, that's a lot of money...

[catdog]

If you go special you can get some decent sw units with around 5pts that otherwise would take 9 points or so . My family had antelope tags in 2023 and most people said you will not see antelope and they are all dead . We were in one of the hardest hit units from that winter kill but still saw 250 antelope a day so i imagine those units have rebounded even more in last couple years . Buying the special isn’t cheap but you only live once and will get a couple extra hunts in your life from doing the special is how I have justified it for deer, antelope and elk .

[bobcat]

With 5 points you can't draw any areas that have a decent amount of public land, unless maybe the number of tags is increased this year, which I doubt will happen.

So yes I'd say you'll probably have to pay the $1215 cost of the special draw if you really want to hunt this year.

[jstone]

Can you draw Antelope and hunt deer at the same time? Say you hunt general deer and not draw tag?

[furbearer365]

In my opinion, there's is no reason to wait. If you think this will be a thing you do once, then go and quit buying points and kicking the can down the road. But, if you think you want to hunt antelope more than once, also go now so you can start building points to go again.  I've hunted Wyoming twice for antelope, and its a blast. Coming from Washington where we have none, you'll love it. You probably wont know the difference between a 5 point tag and a 10 point tag, so dont waste those last 5 years of point buying and go now if you can.

[Bob33]

Here are the links for 2025 Wyoming antelope preference point drawings, both regular and special:

https://wgfd.wyo.gov/media/32689/download?inline
https://wgfd.wyo.gov/media/32691/download?inline

Since you have five points now you can scroll the list and identify units that would have drawn last year with four points. You could also do the same for the Special odds results.

Based on the very mild winter Wyoming has had so far, there’s a chance that more licenses will be available this year than last.

[Jimmy33]

Here are the links for 2025 Wyoming antelope preference point drawings, both regular and special:

https://wgfd.wyo.gov/media/32689/download?inline
https://wgfd.wyo.gov/media/32691/download?inline

Since you have five points now you can scroll the list and identify units that would have drawn last year with four points. You could also do the same for the Special odds results.

Based on the very mild winter Wyoming has had so far, there’s a chance that more licenses will be available this year than last.

Thats awesome! Thanks for that


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[Pathfinder101]

Here are the links for 2025 Wyoming antelope preference point drawings, both regular and special:

https://wgfd.wyo.gov/media/32689/download?inline
https://wgfd.wyo.gov/media/32691/download?inline

Since you have five points now you can scroll the list and identify units that would have drawn last year with four points. You could also do the same for the Special odds results.

Based on the very mild winter Wyoming has had so far, there’s a chance that more licenses will be available this year than last.

@Bob33 Are these results based on the "old" prices for the Regular and the Special?  How much do you think the odds for "regular" tags will change now that the "special" tags doubled in price?  Isn't the new pricing likely to make the "point creep" turn into "point leap"?  Are the linked results from the 2024 draw (old prices) or the 2025 draw (new prices)?

[Bob33]

Here are the links for 2025 Wyoming antelope preference point drawings, both regular and special:

https://wgfd.wyo.gov/media/32689/download?inline
https://wgfd.wyo.gov/media/32691/download?inline

Since you have five points now you can scroll the list and identify units that would have drawn last year with four points. You could also do the same for the Special odds results.

Based on the very mild winter Wyoming has had so far, there’s a chance that more licenses will be available this year than last.

@Bob33 Are these results based on the "old" prices for the Regular and the Special?  How much do you think the odds for "regular" tags will change now that the "special" tags doubled in price?  Isn't the new pricing likely to make the "point creep" turn into "point leap"?  Are the linked results from the 2024 draw (old prices) or the 2025 draw (new prices)?

The linked draw results are from 2025. I saw some change due to the pricing change but not significant in the units I checked.

[Pathfinder101]

Here are the links for 2025 Wyoming antelope preference point drawings, both regular and special:

https://wgfd.wyo.gov/media/32689/download?inline
https://wgfd.wyo.gov/media/32691/download?inline

Since you have five points now you can scroll the list and identify units that would have drawn last year with four points. You could also do the same for the Special odds results.

Based on the very mild winter Wyoming has had so far, there’s a chance that more licenses will be available this year than last.

@Bob33 Are these results based on the "old" prices for the Regular and the Special?  How much do you think the odds for "regular" tags will change now that the "special" tags doubled in price?  Isn't the new pricing likely to make the "point creep" turn into "point leap"?  Are the linked results from the 2024 draw (old prices) or the 2025 draw (new prices)?

The linked draw results are from 2025. I saw some change due to the pricing change but not significant in the units I checked.

Thanks Bob.  Good to know.  Trying to figure out what to do with 9 points... 

[vandeman17]

Here are the links for 2025 Wyoming antelope preference point drawings, both regular and special:

https://wgfd.wyo.gov/media/32689/download?inline
https://wgfd.wyo.gov/media/32691/download?inline

Since you have five points now you can scroll the list and identify units that would have drawn last year with four points. You could also do the same for the Special odds results.

Based on the very mild winter Wyoming has had so far, there’s a chance that more licenses will be available this year than last.

@Bob33 Are these results based on the "old" prices for the Regular and the Special?  How much do you think the odds for "regular" tags will change now that the "special" tags doubled in price?  Isn't the new pricing likely to make the "point creep" turn into "point leap"?  Are the linked results from the 2024 draw (old prices) or the 2025 draw (new prices)?

The linked draw results are from 2025. I saw some change due to the pricing change but not significant in the units I checked.

Thanks Bob.  Good to know.  Trying to figure out what to do with 9 points... 

When you figure it out let us know.  We are <10