How many points do I need for a decent hunt in WY?

[unchained]

Looking to do an unguided, public land hunt with my wife in a few years. We each have two points right now. Looking for a place where we could hunt and have a reasonable expectation of success without a lot of headaches. I am not looking for units or anything but about how many points would you say I should have before I get serious about looking at units? Not looking to hunt in 2022 but any year after it would be on the table. Thanks.

 

[mooretitan]

Are you willing to do the special or stay in the general.

 

[Glockster26]

5-6, but by the time you have 5-6 it will take 8-9, unless you go the special route.

 

[realunlucky]

Point creep grows every year. I'd start investing in your future (buy points) and see what units those points will draw when your ready to go.

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[mooretitan]

My group is sitting at roughly a 5pt average and will start looking at units. We have some youngs that we have been waiting on to go. But point creep is no joke and will not be slowing down anytime soon. We have to find a way to increase herds if the non resident as any chance moving forward over the next 5 years.

 

[unchained]

I wouldn't mind doing the special either, I'll be buying us points every year we have 2 now. We won't be holding out for trophies/scores. Just looking for a fun, relatively easy hunt together that ends with some meat, some stories, and a couple cool euro mounts.

 

[406life]

I have hunted WY antelope every year for awhile now as an NR.
I think you can find a good hunt for 3 points in the general draw and do it on public land. Special draw is hit or miss, but the one time I have done it was in 2020 when I thought (correctly) that Covid would increase what it took to draw. That year my unit needed 3 instead of 1 point.

I would also tell you that private land can be found with handshakes and a bottle of whiskey. And if you are inclined and consider what you have invested just to get to WY and hunt antelope, you can find reasonable trespass fees.

So to answer you original question, I'd be hunting, for sure, if I had three or more. I don't anticipate I will need to worry about it.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

0-1 if your not picky on a unit....drew 2nd choice 2yrs ago with no points and then the next year 1st choice with 1. Didn't apply last yr as pulled some NM tags. Filled both tags and had a great time, they weren't trophy bucks but they ate fine.

 

[Collins10jm]

Following, similar situation.

 

[smeckert]

You have enough now if you are willing to walk half a mile from the road. As others have said point creep is a real problem, but a single point was enough last year for my go to unit and prior to that it was a second choice unit.

 

[kbone]

You have more than enough right now. I think it just depends on the quality of the hunt of the animals in the unit. You can draw a lot of the areas with a lot of private with few points, but there is still enough public in most of those units to get it done.

You can't go wrong with any unity within 100 miles of Casper. There are antelope everywhere.

 

[smeckert]

Just saw the thread on the disease outbreak, that could change things, especially if quotas are reduced in a manner that allows for a full and speedy recovery. Not historically the way things go, but even if you do get a tag the hunt may not be as satisfying. I’d still go because hunting beats waiting on points.

 

[j_volt]

5ish right now for what I like. That *usually* leads to a unit where you don't have to hunt fence lines and aren't covered in people. The special doesn't have as much value as it used to, but you can still find another point in there. Also, antelope point creep has been crazy the last 3 draws so be careful when someone tells you how they hunted a zero point unit in 2014.

 

[Jimss]

There are a number of considerations. Things may DRAMATICALLY change for the worse in the near future for DIY nonres hunters in Wyo. If Wyo res and outfitters have their way there is a good chance that limited antelope tags could be cut by 75% in the near future. If that happens your points won't mean a whole lot and it will take a bunch more years to draw ANY tags. If you have a chance send your comments to the Wyoming Task Force before the next few meetings. The more nonres that complain the better chance that they won't change this!

Also, antelope population numbers are trending downward. As a result the WG&F has been offering fewer tags in quite a few units across Wyo. If you don't believe me, take a look at how many tags were issued in particular units you are interested in 2021 compared to what they were around 5-10 years ago. There has been some blue-tongue going on in several regions plus winterkill and severe drought in other units. Fewer antelope mean fewer tags so keep your fingers crossed the trend starts going the other direction!

 

[wweaver]

4/5 points to get enough public land to not have to live on your OnX. 2 pts can get it done but you will live on onX

 

[Twodog]

I'm Sitting on 4 points, id like to burn them before the 90-10 deal goes into effect, It's just a matter of time.

 

[Rich M]

I'm Sitting on 4 points, id like to burn them before the 90-10 deal goes into effect, It's just a matter of time.

Exactly.

My group is sitting on 3, unit went from 2 to 4 pts during 2021 draw. Gonna get a point this year and apply for 2023, if not then 2024.

Hoping to beat the 90/10 thing.

 

[matchbook454]

Just wait till they pass 90/10 for Antelope…….. cash in whatever points you have now.

 

[EdP]

Print the Antelope Hunt Area map from the Wy G&F website. Go to the non-res odds page and identify all the areas that drew with 2 pts last year. Highlight them on the map. Do the same for the non-res Special draw and highlight in a different color. Then investigate each area. The website has info on herd health and trends, trophy potential, public vs private land, etc. There is also info on public land access with map showing Walk-in Areas, BLM, parcels, State Trust parcels, other federal lands, etc. Note that Walk-in Areas can change year to year and info on parcels in the program in any particular year is not published until after the application due date.. When preparing to apply, wait until after the quotas for that year are available (usually in March I think) and reevaluate your odds for any specific area.

 

[Rich M]

Go now or it might be a real long wait if you put it off very long. 90/10 is coming.