Wyoming Antelope Advice

[aOWENc]

Hello All!

I’m new to the forums but am looking for some advice on my upcoming antelope hunt. Myself, my friend, and my brother drew Unit 26-1 tags for this fall. I am not looking for anyone to give me handouts on their honey holes, but more just generic advice to make sure we have a safe, successful, and legal trip.
We will be hunting public land. I have purchased the OnX map chip and have been looking at the area. It seems there are many chunks of public land either BLM or State ground that range in size from 40-3000 acres.
Our plan is to take my truck and an enclosed trailer and camp on the BLM land. I would prefer to do more hiking around than driving to find them. I went on one antelope hunt before that was “guided” and shot one off a fence post on the side of the road in the first 20 minutes, not exactly what I was wanting in my first western hunt.

1) Would you recommend hunting the larger chunks and staying away from the two track roads?

2) Can I just pull over on any of the BLM 2 track roads and set up camp?

3) How can I preserve the horns until we get to the taxidermist? I heard they have meat in them that will rot.

4) There is a fairly sizable chunk of land designated as a walk in unit. I know we can’t camp on it, but would we be able to walk to it or drive granted we don’t cross any private land? Has anyone had luck on these walk in units?

Thank you all in advance! Your knowledgeable is greatly appreciated.

 

[aOWENc]

Also, I don’t have access to PM’s for a few more days since I just made my account. Thanks!

 

[stonewall]

Your plan sounds good to me. I’d look at a county road map to verify roads are public or not. Sometimes it can be deceiving if you’re only looking at onX. Your taxidermist will clean out the horns. No need for you to do that

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

1) Would you recommend hunting the larger chunks and staying away from the two track roads?

2) Can I just pull over on any of the BLM 2 track roads and set up camp?

3) How can I preserve the horns until we get to the taxidermist? I heard they have meat in them that will rot.

4) There is a fairly sizable chunk of land designated as a walk in unit. I know we can’t camp on it, but would we be able to walk to it or drive granted we don’t cross any private land? Has anyone had luck on these walk in units?

Thank you all in advance! Your knowledgeable is greatly appreciated.

Pronghorn are one of those critters that driving around to glass is productive vs just boots. Doesn't mean you need to shoot one from the road but with good optics you can see them a mile or two into some land. That said they can be tucked into low spots you can't see from the road either. Just don't burn too much hunt time walking an area if they aren't there.

1) General thoughts not even looking at that unit: All depends, get there early and drive around scouting what actually holds antelope, sometimes a 1mi square off on its own can be productive, other times getting into public further IF there are antelope can be good to make a stalk with less chance of other folks messing it up.

2) Generally yes.

3) There is tissue in there yes but it needs to soften up to get the shealths off anyways you don't have to do anything special. I presume we're talking about a euro? Otherwise I'd be far more concerned about getting the hide cold if its still attached than the shealths.

4) The walk in hunts have a PDF map associated with them on the WY hunt site and it tells you what the access route is, this may include crossing private land thus read the specific details on what was negotiated for that access site. Also pay attention to signs there, I know one walk in site I've hunted that is signed to allow you to drive in about 3/4mi to a parking area on a 2 track. Yes I've harvested on them. Mixed bag on where the animals are, use the optics.

 

[wytx]

If you're going to have your buck mounted then keep the head in a cooler til you get to the taxi. If doing a euro then let it sit outside and in about 3 days or so the horns will pull right off. The lining along the horns on the core it what needs to come out or it will rot and stink.
Pronghorn have hollow hairs so watch getting lots of blood on the hide, it can stain the hairs.

 

[aOWENc]

Pronghorn are one of those critters that driving around to glass is productive vs just boots. Doesn't mean you need to shoot one from the road but with good optics you can see them a mile or two into some land. That said they can be tucked into low spots you can't see from the road either. Just don't burn too much hunt time walking an area if they aren't there.

1) General thoughts not even looking at that unit: All depends, get there early and drive around scouting what actually holds antelope, sometimes a 1mi square off on its own can be productive, other times getting into public further IF there are antelope can be good to make a stalk with less chance of other folks messing it up.

2) Generally yes.

3) There is tissue in there yes but it needs to soften up to get the shealths off anyways you don't have to do anything special. I presume we're talking about a euro? Otherwise I'd be far more concerned about getting the hide cold if its still attached than the shealths.

4) The walk in hunts have a PDF map associated with them on the WY hunt site and it tells you what the access route is, this may include crossing private land thus read the specific details on what was negotiated for that access site. Also pay attention to signs there, I know one walk in site I've hunted that is signed to allow you to drive in about 3/4mi to a parking area on a 2 track. Yes I've harvested on them. Mixed bag on where the animals are, use the optics.

Wow, thank you for the great information.

I already have one lope mounted so unless I killed a real dandy which seems unlikely I will be doing a euro Mount. The two other hunters in the group will likely be getting shoulder mounts.

I see a lot of people talking about ordering maps from the Wyoming G&F office. Is this what I should do? I have seen maps available online but it was difficult to decipher the different areas and how they correlated to the Wyoming hunt units. I’m not very well versed in reading maps though

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Wow, thank you for the great information.

I already have one lope mounted so unless I killed a real dandy which seems unlikely I will be doing a euro Mount. The two other hunters in the group will likely be getting shoulder mounts.

I see a lot of people talking about ordering maps from the Wyoming G&F office. Is this what I should do? I have seen maps available online but it was difficult to decipher the different areas and how they correlated to the Wyoming hunt units. I’m not very well versed in reading maps though

I have onx on my phone and cross reference with the WY interactive map once they've secured the access areas for the season and have published them, if there are discrepancies I'll check online county maps.

 

[Miflatlander91]

Antelope tastes great just get the hide offended cooled try to keep hairs from getting on the meat as well. Driving around glossing can be effective but when the hunting gets tough it's amazing the small dips you can't see from the road that will hold animals

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

 

[Hill Difficulty]

1) Would you recommend hunting the larger chunks and staying away from the two track roads?

2) Can I just pull over on any of the BLM 2 track roads and set up camp?

Unless a road is authorized you canNOT operate a motor vehicle on BLM. The dash-mark roads you see in the BLM-colored areas using OnX mapping are generally off limits. Not a lot of BLM-huntable road travel in Unit 26. When camping on BLM, you'll be spitting distance from a public road. Hope this helps!

 

[j_volt]

26 can be a tough hunt due to access. If you look hard enough, there is a YT video of a guy hunting 26 and he shows his coordinates on OnX of where he killed his buck.

 

[aOWENc]

26 can be a tough hunt due to access. If you look hard enough, there is a YT video of a guy hunting 26 and he shows his coordinates on OnX of where he killed his buck.

Thank you all for the replies. Looks like I have some work to do on researching the legal roads to travel on. I appreciate the heads up on the YT video.

Would you guys say that a spotting scope is absolutely necessary or a good pair of 10x42 binos should do well enough?

 

[j_volt]

Thank you all for the replies. Looks like I have some work to do on researching the legal roads to travel on. I appreciate the heads up on the YT video.

Would you guys say that a spotting scope is absolutely necessary or a good pair of 10x42 binos should do well enough?

Binos are enough.

 

[NEWHunter]

Spotting scope is absolutely not necessary. I doubt you’ll have the luxury of being that picky in that unit.

Just took a look at the unit. The draw odds say it will be a tough hunt. There is very little accessible public land and really no ability to get away from two tracks or other folks. You may need to be very mobile checking each little piece of public or find an area that holds animals and wait for them to cross or get pushed into the public or it’s the rut and hope one does something dumb.

With a short season I’d try and scout the two days prior to the opener and get my buck down in the first 15 minutes of the season. Good luck.

 

[Miflatlander91]

The only thing I used my spotter for was to tell if a buck was in a group that we'd find way out there

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[Jimss]

I'd also suggest getting the hide off your antelope ASAP. That will help cool it down plus keep the smell on the cape from getting in the meat. It will also prevent the hair from slipping on the cape (if you intend on having it mounted). As mentioned above set the skull plus horns in a garbage bag or 2. Don't allow the skull to dry out or it will be way tougher to pop the horns off. If left in the sun for a day or 2 the horns will likely pull off without having to boil them.

Antelope hunting is a matter of staying mobile and looking over as many bucks in a day as possible. Obviously if you are hunting a unit with the majority of private land the little public that is available likely has more hunting pressure. You may have to do some hiking off roads to find bucks.. Antelope often get pushed away from areas within sight of roads once pressured.

It's impossible to field judge antelope without a spotting scope. Do you think you can tell if a buck has 6 1/2" or 7" bases....or 5 vs 6" prongs at 400+ yards with binos? A spotter is also helpful for spotting bucks from 1/2 to a mile plus away. Obviously you get what you pay for with a spotter and it's worth the added $ for quality glass if you intend on trophy hunting antelope and other game often. With that said, it doesn't sound like you are picky so you likely won't need a spotter.

 

[ohiohunter]

I'll be in 26 towards the end of the hunt, good luck!

 

[Haro450]

Unit 26 looks like water will be the key. Also the ag fields at the south may draw animals. If it’s any thing like the unit I hunted you could hunt them as they move in and out of the ag fields. For a euro I don’t think you need to worry about the horns till you get home. But like everyone else said a shoulder mount you will want to get the hide off and cooled down. I don’t know that I would stress about finding animals. But make sure you are not on private ground. A lot of private land is leased for hunting and if caught they take it serious.

 

[mojofly]

Looks like you got some great advice, i am going on my first Antelope hunt this fall as well so appreciate the info here. Good luck

 

[bhunt6688]

All good info here!