Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Colorado Antelope Unit 3

I'm thinking of burning my antelope points this fall. I use to hunt Unit 2----but it looks like a boat load of points needed & I've heard the antelope numbers are way down. I've got 11 points----should be able to draw in Unit 3. Has anyone hunted it for antelope? Looking for a little information before I apply. Thxs, Bob

Tag.

I have 13 Pronghorn points for Colorado.
The last time I asked here what CO GMU to put in for the consensus was Wyoming.

If you want to hunt, might as well burn em’ there’s plenty of antelope in that gmu

I've hunted Unit 3 since the mid 70's. In the past it was a great unit, killed several 14+" and 15+" bucks there, although my largest was in GMU 2. Got lucky and drew a tag through the hybrid draw with 7 points in 2017 for Unit 3. The weather was highly uncooperative (it rained and rained), couldn't access a couple of my favorite places, in my other fav spots there were pronghorns there, but nothing like the numbers or age class of bucks that I was used to seeing. Ended up killing a 13" buck and he was a close second to the largest buck I saw. The problem is there is private land mixed among the BLM ground that these days is posted where during previous decades the ranchers just wanted people to kill all the pronghorns they could and didn't care if folks hunted on their land.

The drought of the early 2000's decimated the antelope populations in NW Colorado, CPW decreased licenses by more than half, the number of PP's required (along with normal PP creep) increased exponentially, and now it takes a long time to draw what is an average, even a below average area. At one point it was taking 17 points to draw Unit 3. The populations are increasing though.

Unit 2 historically always had lower densities of antelope, but an older age class of bucks. I just checked the number of points required for Unit 2 and it's 21 points for a sure draw. Damn, I didn't know it was THAT much. To think I drew that unit in 1994 with 3 PP's..

PM incoming........

CB,

I’ve hunted it for Pronghorn probably 8 or 9 times. It’s not a trophy unit but you might get lucky in that regard if you take your time and look at a lot of goats. It’s also a good unit to have something like Onx Hunts to determine property boundaries. My last hunt there I saw 5 wolves, the CPW dude who checked my license assured me that they were probably just big coyotes. I told him I’m going back to hunt some coyotes and he told me that was not a good idea

BeanMan, what year did you see the wolves?

Back when I hunted Unit 2, we use to camp right next to the Little Snake. I killed a couple of nice goats out of Unit 2. Antelope hunting is just plain fun. I'm not looking for a monster. I just want to see a bunch & put the sneak on them. I looked it takes @ 9 points to draw. Just want to have fun. I don't really care if I even shoot one.

If you want to be patient, I would apply for GMU 2/201 for a few years and see if you could get lucky and draw through the hybrid draw--4 people drew with less than 13 points last year. Also, being patient might let the herds grow some more and the bucks get older barring any bad winters or more drought.

But yeah, Wyoming is a not a bad idea. I wonder if Colorado would let us put down Wyoming as second choice.........

Way back----We put in for antelope didn't draw. But the winter was rough & they had a special hunt after Christmas because so many came down from WY. The DOW had special maps made showing where the biggest concentration of antelope were. That's how I learned Unit 2. This was back in 78 or 79.

I just turned 65------I don't want to wait another 10 years to draw Unit 2.

Some are more .patient than me.

If I had to wait for 13 years to hunt antelope I'd sure as hell find another place to hunt, Antelope aren't bighorn, there are places to hunt damn near every year with good trophy quality.

2017.

It sounds like unit 3 is a good fit for your expectations listed above. I hunted it last year & it was a lot of fun. I chose to make it a quick hunt because weather was moving in, but we looked over a bunch of bucks in a day and a half. Here’s a link to my post from last year: 2019 Pronghorn Hunt

Let’s try that link again: 2019 Antelope Hunt

I just applied for Unit 3 buck antelope. I put in with a buddy----he's 70 & I'm 65. Burn those points-----can't take them us if we get the virus. Thanks for all the PMs with help. Got a unit map & plan on a couple of scouting trips this summer. I'll be making a few phones after the draw.

Good luck on whatever tags you're going after.



Beanman-------I have not decided on moose.

Bob