First Western Hunt, need some help

[wildfish]

Hi all,
Been reading this forum for a while but need some specific info. I'm planning my first western hunt for fall 2024. I'm solo and could fly or drive. I have a quad, am proficient archery and rifle. I was going to do DIY elk in Idaho, but I think that's too much for a first travel hunt. I've decided on pronghorn and planning for Wyoming (though can be convinced otherwise). The Wyoming site is great. However, I worry I'm missing a key bit of info: hunter success on public land. From what I've read, the units with great herds on public land require points, I have none (I do have elk points, not pronghorn). I'm more than willing to pay a trespass fee. But my hope is to camp, be fairly alone (ie not running into hunters every 10 mins) and successful after 5-7 days. I have OnX and use it regularly scouting in Indiana. Just never done the long distance scouting thing. Perhaps this is a crazy ask, but can anyone offer advice on units that are OTC or have reasonable draw odds? I'm happy to start really scouting once I've narrowed it down. Am I right to choose Wyoming? Is my goal possible with zero points?
Thanks in advance!

 

[EdP]

The answers to your questions are on the Wy site. The hunter success data is a bit difficult to find but the odds are right out in the open. The time to start buying points was a few years ago but better late than never.

Just a few years ago you would have had 80%+ odds of drawing a Wy pronghorn tag with zero points for an area with low public land. You would see a lot of other hunters but could still have a fun hunt and bag a buck in a few days. Those times ended when covid increased hunter numbers and tag numbers were dropped significantly due to a couple of bad winters that decreased herd populations. Those same areas now require 2 or 3 points to get a tag.

Hopefully you are a young man and have the time to accumulate the points you will need. Your best approach IMO is to develop a long term plan involving point accumulation in several states.

 

[Rich M]

Start buying points. You’ll need at least 5 to hunt out of sight of other people.

You can go guided on 1-3 and have a praceful hunt but it will likely be less than a day long.

 

[TaperPin]

I grew up in Wyoming and one year we had to hunt a crappy, but easy to draw area. Very very few antelope, but when we thought nothing was alive and every inch was glassed for a few days, a decent buck popped up. Some areas are shunned like the plague, and after that experience and a couple others, I don’t equate large numbers of tags with chances of success. In fact, crappy areas have fewer hunters. That big antelope was taken in a desolate part of the state and in 5 days of driving every dirt two tract we only saw two other vehicles.

 

[YellCoAR]

One small note on hunter success in Wyoming. Wyoming does a random survey on harvest. I have never put much faith in their results. It is not like some states that require you to report success on every tag. Of the 10 tags I have drawn over the years in Wyoming. I have only been sent a survey on 2 tags.

 

[wytx]

Go to the Hunt Planner, click on an area you are interested in, click More Info at the bottom of the pop up block then go to the left side and find the Harvest Reports.
Also look at Job Completion Reports at the bottom of the Hunting in Wyoming page.

Random draw maybe your best bet for a few years but don't even look at areas until next April when quotas are out for each area.

 

[wildfish]

Thanks all.

Wytx--I have to look now though, because I need to put in for the tag on Jan 3 right? I mean, I don't want to miss my opportunity.
I have called a few land owners and gotten permission with a $400 or so trespass fee. This feels like the way to go. But I will start buying points. I just need to get out there and see how it all works.

 

[Cornhusker]

You only have to apply for nonresident elk in January. On antelope wait and see what the winter is like then apply. Be sure to take into account that 2022-23 winter was deadly for a lot of units in Wyoming for antelope and deer. Best of Luck to you on your hunt.

 

[KHNC]

Yeah you have until May for deer and antelope apps.

 

[hjg_wy]

I live in Wyoming. A couple things, one is that antelope are everywhere on the plains. It was a harsh winter but there are lots of young ones on the ground, so unless this winter is really bad I suspect tag numbers will be up. If you are patient you can find them even in areas crawling with hunters. Last year I shot a buck on opening day in an area where I saw 6–10 hunters in the first few hours of hunging within a mile of where I got the buck. I wasn't after anything big, and this not to boast, just to give an example that you can find success in pressured areas bc we have a lot of antelope! If you wan't some giant buck then you may need to hike or get points, but if you just want to do a hunt then that can be had with few points (maybe none for some units).


Many areas that you can get with few points are patchwork ownership. Also, be careful regarding roads. County roads are going to be good, but other roads can be tricky to determine legal access. You can call Game and Fish and sometimes the county parks and bridges offices to learn more. Trespass is taken seriously, so I would strongly advise against doing that and hoping to pay a modest fee. Intentional trespass to hunt can carry some hefty penalties here (recent legislation has been passed to make this crime more clear, see this bill that just went into effect last July: https://wyoleg.gov/Legislation/2023/SF0056). More importantly than the legalese, is the moral issue of trespass since it paints hunter's in a bad light... like we don't care about other folks property. That is a bad look and hurts access in the long run, for sure. My apologies for going on and on about this, it is just a hot button issue up here so felt like I should be long-winded! (for more check out the ongoing corner-crossing saga here in WY)

One other random tip in case you haven't been here is that it is often super windy... so it is nice to have either a tough tent or something with hard sides once it really blows. On my first antelope hunt (awhile ago now ) I had like 50 mile an hour gusts...

Wyoming is a great spot, but I bet you will have a great time in any state you hunt out here!

 

[wytx]

License Type	Open Date	Close Date	Modify/Withdraw	Draw Results	Preference Points Only
Antelope	January 3	May 31	May 31	June 15	July 3 - October 31
Deer	January 3	May 31	May 31	June 15	July 3 - October 31
Elk	January 3	January 31	May 8	May 18	July 3 - October 31
Bighorn Sheep	January 3	April 17	April 17	May 4	July 3 - October 31
Bison	March 1	April 17	April 17	May 4	N/A
Moose	January 3	April 17	April 17	May 4	July 3 - October 31
Mountain Goat	January 3	April 17	April 17	May 4	N/A
Turkey - Spring	January 3	January 31	February 3	February 16	N/A
Turkey - Fall	April 3	May 31	May 31	July 13	N/A
Sandhill Crane	April 3	May 31	N/A	July 13	N/A

Is the trespass fee in areas you could draw? Not bad if they are, ask about other hunters- numbers.

 

[LuvsFixedBlades]

If you think more Western hunting is in your future, I'd recommend putting in for points in a few states now so you can draw entry level tags in the next few years.

You're pretty much going to need points to hunt anything but bushy beaver in WY.

ID elk tags are no guarantee anymore. It's a pull a ticket and wait in line type event the day tags go on sale, and they will sell out. I've not gotten a tag 3 years running.

New Mexico is a pure lottery for everything, no points. Low draw odds. Low allocations to NR's.

You will need points in AZ, NV and UT to hunt anything bigger than turkey.

Montana allocates 25% of it's deer/elk combo tags to 0 point holders, so you could try to pull a combo tag in MT.

If you want to hunt elk without having points, your only chance to get a guaranteed OTC tag is in Colorado. For NR's, that opportunity will all but surely end in 2025, so do it next year, or start buying points and wait.

 

[zacattack]

Doe tags have no points

 

[wildfish]

This is all super information, thank you SO much.

hjg_wy: I would never intentionally trespass to hunt. Just to be clear. I have been calling around landowners in units I could reasonably draw (or more often hitting them up on FB) and asking if I can pay a fee to hunt their land. $400 was just one example. ​

wytx: Maybe? A lot is unclear to me. Last year that unit had 100% special tag success, but very low regular lottery success. The owner said they don't really cut off the number of people they let on, but only one guy asked this year. So not bad. ​

I can't believe I missed the fact that the pronghorn deadline is later than elk. That gives me so much more time to research. Thanks all !

 

[Rich M]

The regulations aren't really a bad read.

I did a DIY in 2017 and thought the information was laid out well.

They have the map where you click the unit and see the % public land, hunter success %, and some descriptions of the area. After you see that you can find the GIS map for WY that shows the numbered roads - non-numbered roads are private. And you can pull the raw data on the spreadsheets that show the numbers of applicants and their points.

 

[wytx]

Remember that next year the Special draw fee goes way up, good for you if you go that route but bad if you're banking on Regular draw. It will be over $1,000 for Special pronghorn draw apps

AS for the access, sounds ok. Might want to wait til after opening week or opening day or 2 then go for less pressure, or get out here and scout up a buck early and be one him opening day.

With Special draw price going up your draw odds in the Regular may well change significantly, hard to tell how much until we get a draw conducted after this big fee increase.

 

[il_cop]

What hjg_wy said. The area you can draw may not meet all your criteria, but WY pronghorn is the perfect intro to the west. To keep it as such, I'd recommend hunting public land only. You'll learn more.

 

[hjg_wy]

This is all super information, thank you SO much.

hjg_wy: I would never intentionally trespass to hunt. Just to be clear. I have been calling around landowners in units I could reasonably draw (or more often hitting them up on FB) and asking if I can pay a fee to hunt their land. $400 was just one example. ​

wytx: Maybe? A lot is unclear to me. Last year that unit had 100% special tag success, but very low regular lottery success. The owner said they don't really cut off the number of people they let on, but only one guy asked this year. So not bad. ​

I can't believe I missed the fact that the pronghorn deadline is later than elk. That gives me so much more time to research. Thanks all !

Awesome! Best of luck. I did run across one other thing that might be of use to you. There is a new app called Infinite Outdoors run by some guys out of Casper, Wy. It lets landowners put hunt access up for sale through the app, like air bnb. I just logged on out of curiosity and there was some places in Wy doing pronghorn access. I think it might typically cost more than just finding folks on Facebook and paying them, but it might be worth a shot!

 

[manitou1]

Hi all,
Been reading this forum for a while but need some specific info. I'm planning my first western hunt for fall 2024. I'm solo and could fly or drive. I have a quad, am proficient archery and rifle. I was going to do DIY elk in Idaho, but I think that's too much for a first travel hunt. I've decided on pronghorn and planning for Wyoming (though can be convinced otherwise). The Wyoming site is great. However, I worry I'm missing a key bit of info: hunter success on public land. From what I've read, the units with great herds on public land require points, I have none (I do have elk points, not pronghorn). I'm more than willing to pay a trespass fee. But my hope is to camp, be fairly alone (ie not running into hunters every 10 mins) and successful after 5-7 days. I have OnX and use it regularly scouting in Indiana. Just never done the long distance scouting thing. Perhaps this is a crazy ask, but can anyone offer advice on units that are OTC or have reasonable draw odds? I'm happy to start really scouting once I've narrowed it down. Am I right to choose Wyoming? Is my goal possible with zero points?
Thanks in advance!

I live in Wyoming and my goal is to not run into ten hunters per hour on public!!!