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Posted By: OldRook DIY Antelope 2016 - 02/21/16
Let me preface, I know zilch about antelope or hunting the process for tags. See a blue zillion in WY last couple of years coyote hunting, that's my antelope knowledge

Can you draw a tag anywhere as a Non Res with no points? Don't care what state or when, but rifle is the tool.

Any guidance appreciated.

Posted By: Jamison Re: DIY Antelope 2016 - 02/21/16
It used to be that easy, but all the good units now require at least a preference point for non-residents in WY. My daughter and I got points last year and are putting in for Area 46 this year.
Posted By: OldRook Re: DIY Antelope 2016 - 02/21/16
Thanks Jamison. We will definitely put in for a PP regardless

Posted By: Jamison Re: DIY Antelope 2016 - 02/21/16
The maps on the WY G&F site are interactive and you can look at draw odd and results from last year right from the map. If its a DIY and you don't have a hook up on private property, be sure that there is adequate public land with access and there are actually pronghorn present...
Area 46 is my favorite area...
Posted By: handsup Re: DIY Antelope 2016 - 02/23/16
Wy is a beautiful state but run by ranchers and energy companies.
Be very careful in WY DIY hunts around private land. If you even pull into a ranch road to do a three point turn around to reverse direction during hunting season you can be sighted for "trespass while hunting" and fined nearly $300. When your word against ranchers you loose.
If you are near private land use a GPS with tracking around private land as the fences do not always follow public land boundaries and again you may need to prove you did not stray onto private land. Also you can not inter private land w/o permission to retrieve game, again no fences or signs to say it is private.
Some ranchers are great people but many look at the public lands and animals on them as theirs. I have seen cowboys on horseback whooping it up down draws to run deer onto there land so as to charge hunters $1500 each for a trespass fee to take a mule deer off there property.
Posted By: WyColoCowboy Re: DIY Antelope 2016 - 02/28/16
Originally Posted by handsup
Wy is a beautiful state but run by ranchers and energy companies.
Be very careful in WY DIY hunts around private land. If you even pull into a ranch road to do a three point turn around to reverse direction during hunting season you can be sighted for "trespass while hunting" and fined nearly $300. When your word against ranchers you loose.
If you are near private land use a GPS with tracking around private land as the fences do not always follow public land boundaries and again you may need to prove you did not stray onto private land. Also you can not inter private land w/o permission to retrieve game, again no fences or signs to say it is private.
Some ranchers are great people but many look at the public lands and animals on them as theirs. I have seen cowboys on horseback whooping it up down draws to run deer onto there land so as to charge hunters $1500 each for a trespass fee to take a mule deer off there property.


It's your job to know where the hell you are. Why should a rancher have to post? If you had 20,000 acres, that's a lot of signs. How about you respect private property instead of bitching about people that make their living off the land?

Your story about cowboys driving mule deer onto private? I call BS.
Posted By: pseshooter300 Re: DIY Antelope 2016 - 02/29/16
Hey cowboy I think he was just trying to tell him what to look out for. Yes you are right it is your responsibility as a hunter to know where the property line is. I honestly dont think he was knocking ranchers but I believe you just showed the OP the Wyoming ranchers true colors. Congrats
Posted By: WyoCoyoteHunter Re: DIY Antelope 2016 - 02/29/16
This is a bad situation and only getting worse.. There is a ranch west of town.. One of the largest in the state.. It is checker board land.. Every other section is public, but the ranchers have passed laws making it illegal to access this land.. That has happened probably in the last 25 years. More an more ranches are bought up by out of state interests, that almost eliminates any hunting or fishing..

You will find it is easy to draw a license in areas with difficult access.. If you can local a ranch that will let you on, you are in.. The Gillette area has huge numbers of permits.. At one time, the G & F had a place set up to help hunters find a place to hunt.. If you want to go this year, I would suggest calling the G & F offices in Gillette or Casper and see what they have to offer..
Posted By: Rock Chuck Re: DIY Antelope 2016 - 02/29/16
Quote
Every other section is public, but the ranchers have passed laws making it illegal to access this land.
That would be worthy of a court challenge or a public referendum.
Posted By: WyoCoyoteHunter Re: DIY Antelope 2016 - 02/29/16
Years ago, it was not a problem to hunt all of that land..
Then one guy came in and tried to keep people off.. The judges told him checker board land, you can't do that.. No guilty. He pulled 20 some hunters in for trespassing.. All not guilty.. With in a few years the ranch operated government had in place laws to prevent crossing private land to reach any public land..

Up near Buffalo, Wy. There must be 20-40 state sections, that are land locked by the ranchers.. No one has forced a road into that ground.. The ranchers hunt on it, guide on it, but the public is shut out of our own land..
Posted By: wyoming260 Re: DIY Antelope 2016 - 02/29/16
Originally Posted by WyoCoyoteHunter
Years ago, it was not a problem to hunt all of that land..
Then one guy came in and tried to keep people off.. The judges told him checker board land, you can't do that.. No guilty. He pulled 20 some hunters in for trespassing.. All not guilty.. With in a few years the ranch operated government had in place laws to prevent crossing private land to reach any public land..

Up near Buffalo, Wy. There must be 20-40 state sections, that are land locked by the ranchers.. No one has forced a road into that ground.. The ranchers hunt on it, guide on it, but the public is shut out of our own land..

As A Buffalo resident I can agree with the all the above....
The areas with large amounts of tags also have large amounts of hunters. and it does not take that many hunters to rid an area of antelopefor an entire season.
Posted By: ToddNEWY Re: DIY Antelope 2016 - 02/29/16
I am in Gillette and what has been said is true. The areas with lots of permits tend to be mostly private land with limited access and the public lands are very busy. I do know that as a lifelong WY resident I would need to see the legal citation about getting fined for a 3 point turn off a public road on a ranch road approach, not saying it didn't happen but it seems a little intense.
Posted By: wyoming260 Re: DIY Antelope 2016 - 02/29/16
To add one thing mentioned before. As a Field surveyor I can state that fences are not to be followed as they are hardly ever on the lines. I was doing a survey one day for a mine co. and was escorted to the road by a fine gent carrying an ar 15 , because someone at the mine forgot to call the land owner. I explained the situation and he was not mad at me, just pissy about the mine intruding on his land. Land he pays for with mineral rights from the mine..........
Posted By: Bob_H_in_NH Re: DIY Antelope 2016 - 03/01/16

This is all very interesting to read since I will be in Buffalo WY this October on a hunt for deer/antelope.

I can see both sides to the checkerboard argument, but it really doesn't seem "fair" to not allow the public on public land, but also not fair to force private landowner to allow access. Hmmmm
Posted By: WyoCoyoteHunter Re: DIY Antelope 2016 - 03/01/16
Bob, if you have not been there, Buffalo is one of my favorite Wy. places.. If it were not for the private land issue, and influx of out of state interests, that would be my home..
Posted By: LDB Re: DIY Antelope 2016 - 03/01/16
The interface between rights & freedom is an ugly place especially for conservative minded people. I like Idaho's system, land owners have the right to post, public has freedom to go anywhere that is not posted. With that being said, what are some other good units in WY or MT that have sufficient public land for a quality hunt? I am also interested in hunting antelope in 2017 with my kids so I have 1 year to acquire a point.
Posted By: WyoCoyoteHunter Re: DIY Antelope 2016 - 03/01/16
Look around Jeffery City.. But any unit with lots of public land is tough to draw.. I had not kept up with antelope hunting because most of my out of state friends got their antelope years ago..

In 2014 my stepson, his son, and nephew came antelope hunting.. When I looked the odds up, the public land units near us were requiring 2-5 points to draw.. Fortunately, I had some contacts on ranches, and we had them put in for those units..They drew on their first try.

I have friends in other parts of the state that are surrounded by public lands.. They seem to draw an any antelope permit once every seven years or so..
Posted By: OldRook Re: DIY Antelope 2016 - 03/04/16
Many thanks for the info Gents. Thought provoking.
Posted By: pointer Re: DIY Antelope 2016 - 03/04/16
Some units that are largely private land still have some access for DIY hunters. Be sure to cross reference the drawing odds with Wyomings Private Land Public Wildlife program. I've killed more than a few in units that are largely private land on Hunter Management Areas or Walk In Areas. Be sure to read the ranch rules for the HMAs as they can be different from one to the next.
Posted By: LarryfromBend Re: DIY Antelope 2016 - 03/06/16
Originally Posted by OldRook
Many thanks for the info Gents. Thought provoking.


If you just wanted to have the experience of Antelope hunting, which I really enjoy, you might consider putting in for a Doe tag. Usually much easier to get. Montana has an active Block Management program in SE MT that gets hunters into some decent Antelope country.
Posted By: efw Re: DIY Antelope 2016 - 03/09/16
Larry nailed it:

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/10560718/Wyoming_Pronghorn_Doe_Run

It's a BLAST!!!
Posted By: Owl Re: DIY Antelope 2016 - 03/09/16
Originally Posted by WyoCoyoteHunter
The Gillette area has huge numbers of permits.. At one time, the G & F had a place set up to help hunters find a place to hunt.. If you want to go this year, I would suggest calling the G & F offices in Gillette or Casper and see what they have to offer..


My brother-in-law just moved to Gillette a year ago. Has made lots of friends. Guess I ought to see if any of them are nice enough to let a foreigner from Arizona hunt on their land.
Posted By: OldRook Re: DIY Antelope 2016 - 03/13/16
A doe antelope hunt is a great idea thanks!!
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