Your Best Tips for first time wyoming antelope hunt?

[sled]

I am planning a wyoming Antelope hunt this year diy.  What are the best tips from begening to the end of the trip you can give?  I figure asking the people who have done it is they best way to learn i

[Ridgerunner]

depends on the unit probably and how many tags they give out, in the unit I hunted it would be to lock your ammo in the glovebox for 24 hours, if we had shot the first bucks we saw(which were nice) we would have been done in 20 minutes.  Tehy were everywhere.

[washingtonmuley]

Get good maps and do your homework. What unit are you looking to hunt in?

[Craig]

Unless you have a buck picked out, hunt the second week of the season. A lot less hunters and plenty of bucks to look at. Don't drive 1200 miles and kill a buck in 5 minutes. after seeing 100 bucks they all start looking the same. Learn what to look for to make one stick out above the rest ( i haven't figured it out yet ).

[ribka]

I have only done one hunt in WY with Gasman but this is what we learned:

If hunting an area with many animals spend the first day or 2 looking at as many bucks as possible to practice estimating horn size.

If doe tags are available buy a few. Very reasonable. If on private land ask beforehand if charge extra for shooting does

Have a system in place to butcher/bone out animal as soon as possible after the kill. Bring big coolers with plenty of ice every day you go out hunting. By the end of our hunt and  many animals harvested we were able to skin, bone out, package an animal in 20 minutes. Gasman picked up the big zip lock baggies that came in handy and a large plastic butcher board to lay in back of truck to put meat on to bone out.

Gasman made a neat device to hang animal for butchering. I think Cabelas has them for sale


The ranch where we hunted suggested putting ice water and  rock or kosher salt in the cooler to soak the meat. I tried it and meat turned out very good and mild tasting. Change/drain water every day.

We stayed in a hotel that had big fridges and freezers. Came in handy because we each took five animals.


Have fun and explore the area. Lots of neat things to see in WY.

[Hangfire]

Be prepared, do your home work. If hunting on a ranch, understand what they provide and who's land you are hunting on. Often you will be paying a tresspass fee for hunting public land,(school sections, BLM, state land). If hunting public land, get land status maps, know where you are, be prepared to take a lot of flack from the ranchers. They will try to kick you off  public land, lie to you and make your life miserable. The game wardens are real good to work with, just don't make a mistake.

I would get the latest pronghorn DVD from Eastmans, or their book on pronghorn hunting. I hunted in Wyoming from 1977 to 2000, about 10-12 times. My son still hunts there about 4 out of 5 years.

Pronghorn are small, most people over estimate the distance. Learn to shoot in the wind.

[MADMAX]

Good stuff
Thanks for the info also
I will be trying my first time for antelope if we get drawn also near Douglas WY

[Gutpile]

My best tip is DO NOT shoot your buck on the first day. I guarantee you'll regret it. Just judge them the first day the you'll know what you want. We passed up over 100 a day on our 2010 hunt.

[sled]

  Is it legal to bring a head home for taxidermy, because of CWD.

[Bob33]

My advice for a first time antelope hunter:

•   Do not define hunt success as requiring an animal of a certain size.  A 12” antelope is a nice buck.  If you don’t have a buck tag, all the better in a sense.  For your first trip, enjoy the experience, learn the country, meet some local landowners, and have a good time.
•   If you are planning to hunt public land, buy a GPS and a map product like this: http://www.huntinggpsmaps.com/states/wyomingdownloads.html
•   Knowing where the public and private land boundaries are is absolutely essential.
•   If you are interested in killing a trophy, study books and materials in advance.  Antelope are some of the hardest animals to field judge.  One inch here and there makes a significant difference. 
•   Have a plan for caring for your meat.   I typically immediately field dress mine and take them to a butcher to skin and process.  I’ve had them in this situation for four hours or more with no problem.  If you don’t have a local processor, you will need coolers and ice.
•   Don’t fall for the premise that antelope meat is not good.  I’ve eaten meat from more than 50 different animals and never had a bad one.  If cared for properly, antelope meat is better than any other wild game in North America that I’ve eaten.
•   Bring a good rangefinder.  I like the Leicas.  Scrimping on a rangefinder can cost you.  It can be difficult to get a good reading because the terrain is flat and the animals are small.  I’ve had some friends that could not get readings at 400 yards.  Also, remember that it’s not just the shooting distance that matters.  I often use my rangefinder to plan a stalk: “if that antelope is 800 yards away, and that knoll is 500 yards away, then I will have a 300 yard shot when I get to the knoll.”
•   Bring 10x binoculars.  A spotting scope with window mount is helpful.
•   KNEE PADS.  Did I tell you that you must bring KNEE PADS?
•   Know your gun’s trajectory to at least 300 yards.  400 yards is better.  Don’t shoot beyond 400 unless you really know what you’re doing.  Antelope are not difficult to kill, but they are hard to hit: small targets at long distances, often with lots of wind currents.
•   Take a camera and bring back the memories.  I think Wyoming antelope hunting is about as fun and enjoyable as it gets in the western United States.

[sled]

Is it worth putting in for a deer tag also when going on an antelope hunt?  I know it could depend on the unit but on average?

[mtman]

Pronghorn guide service put out a dvd called size is everything. Shows you how to jugde an antelope helped a little bit. Once your down there and you see hundreds a day it can get hard to figure out witch one to shoot. expectations change as far as what size is good enough on public land compared to the ones you will see on the ranches. I would call around and figure out where the public land is. Good luck

[MADMAX]

I did on the deer/buck tag, I was not going to WY without one.
Leaving here the Oct the 8th back the 18th Of Oct

[BigFoot02]

My best advice to you would be to invest in some good optics.. These critters have binocular vision themselves so you need to be able to judge bucks from a long ways off. Also, extend your comfortable shooting range out to 300 yards because rarely do these critters let you get much closer than that unless you have a sneaky way to approach them. My last bit of advice is to find the water hole... Finding a good water hole out there on the plains will produce the best chance of seeing a lot of different antelope. Be patient, and wait on a whopper there are plenty of them out there! Good luck!

[MuleDeerCrazy]

Chronic Wasting Disease is only for deer, elk or moose... so you're fine transporting antelope back for the Taxidermist!