Hunting Washington Forum

Big Game Hunting => Out Of State Hunting => Topic started by: Buck Rub Jr on December 17, 2017, 04:58:14 PM

Title: School me on Antelope.
Post by: Buck Rub Jr on December 17, 2017, 04:58:14 PM: So my dad retires Jan. 31st next year and for his retirement I’d really like to take him on an out of state hunt for his retirement present. He’s always talked about wanting to hunt antelope so that’s the direction I’m hoping to go. I’ve never done anything out of state so I’m not sure how to go about it, I was hoping to go somewhere OTC if that’s possible so that we could go in 2019. Anybody have any tips or information that could get me going in the right direction?
Title: Re: School me on Antelope.
Post by: opdinkslayer on December 17, 2017, 05:27:45 PM: Buy a WY preference point next summer and look for 0-1 point units in the eastern part of the state with some public land. Units 7,23 &27 can be had with 0-1 point and have opportunity with some research and effort I believe. Go to WY f&g site and use the hunt planner and the harvest/draw odds features. Good luck. :twocents: :tup:
Title: Re: School me on Antelope.
Post by: Buck Rub Jr on December 17, 2017, 07:24:37 PM: Quote from: opdinkslayer on December 17, 2017, 05:27:45 PM
Buy a WY preference point next summer and look for 0-1 point units in the eastern part of the state with some public land. Units 7,23 &27 can be had with 0-1 point and have opportunity with some research and effort I believe. Go to WY f&g site and use the hunt planner and the harvest/draw odds features. Good luck. :twocents: :tup:
Perfect, I’ll get on it. Thank you!
Title: Re: School me on Antelope.
Post by: lhrbull on December 18, 2017, 05:18:19 PM: If you want to use an outfitter so you don't have to worry about land access Big Horn Outfitter is a great choice in Buffalo Wy.
Title: Re: School me on Antelope.
Post by: Muleyslyr on December 18, 2017, 07:43:50 PM: I've hunted Antelope in WY and Montana and I'll say you can do either one DIY and be successful. Been about 8yrs since I hunted Antelope in WY so not sure what the draw odds are these days in the areas I've hunted but it shouldn't be too difficult. PM if you go that route and I'll give you some areas you'll have a great hunt in and see 100's of goats a day. Montana...apply for 700 district, pretty much guaranteed a tag. Massive amounts of BLM and Block Management land to hunt. Not to mention most landowners will let you hunt Antelope with a kind asking and throw in that it's a retirement hunt/gift for your dad. Antelope are grazers and most ranchers don't like them competing with their cattle. You would have a blast over there. Again, if you decide there I got some good starting points for you.
Title: Re: School me on Antelope.
Post by: jstone on December 18, 2017, 07:59:27 PM: We got drawn for Montana this year and went kind of blind. Got some maps of our area. Got the onx maps. Arrived the day before the opener. Scouted for a few hours. Found the block management land we wanted to try. Two days later i killed my first goat. A 15 inch buck. Saw lots of antelope. Had a blast on my antelope hunt in Montana. Next we are also thinking of Wyoming. Shhhh the wife doesn’t know yet.!
Title: Re: School me on Antelope.
Post by: Buck Rub Jr on December 19, 2017, 06:20:09 AM: Awesome guys, I appreciate all the info. Going to start doing some homework and be in touch. Thank you all!
Title: Re: School me on Antelope.
Post by: nwwanderer on December 19, 2017, 06:57:47 AM: Great hunt, patience is a virtue, you will see a bunch of pronghorns. Prepare to process them your self. Some decent knives, cutting boards and iced coolers work great. Most taste great
Title: Re: School me on Antelope.
Post by: Stein on December 19, 2017, 07:56:59 AM: With no points and wanting something next year you should be looking at Wyoming. I had no problem getting tags in areas that are less popular, don't hold as great a trophy potential and are harder to navigate public land. Buck tags are harder to draw, doe tags are easier and more plentiful.

WY's website is pretty easy to navigate, get the information and start going through units looking at the numbers of tags, applicants and point averages for draws. Also, if you aren't fluent with On X maps, you could buy that now and use it in your search, the online version comes for free with the web app and you can easily look at a particular unit and see how much public is there and how accessible it is.

Antelope hunting is pretty much the opposite of most big game hunting, at least the ones I have been on. With most big game, 90% of the effort is finding the animals. With antelope, they are easy to find, 90% of the effort is getting close enough for a shot. The terrain is usually wide open and they have incredible eyesight and don't like people anywhere near them. When spooked, they can move huge distances quickly.

It's a great hunt, very doable DIY or you could hire a guide or access to private land. WY publishes landowner lists and you could call around and pay for access.

Many options for whatever type of hunt you want.
Title: Re: School me on Antelope.
Post by: Calvin Rayborn on December 28, 2017, 10:39:53 PM: They don't stick around long if they spot you!
Title: Re: School me on Antelope.
Post by: CaNINE on December 29, 2017, 08:32:42 AM: Quote from: Calvin Rayborn on December 28, 2017, 10:39:53 PM
They don't stick around long if they spot you!
And sometimes they might spot you from a mile away and start moving off. But they can be reapproached. The last buck I took in Wyoming I stayed on him for four hours and kept following the herd until I could get a shot. Probably bumped them 3 times in the process. When you find the one you want stay on him if you can and land access allows.