Can any Wyoming locals or repeat hunters to the area lend any advice on a unit or two to apply for for a first time Antelope hunter (rifle season)? Pretty overwhelming when coming from a state with only about 15 units total Not looking for record book goats, just a representative animal from the area. Leaning towards public land access, but have no problem at all paying a trespass fee for private ground. Would just like to have that lined up before getting a permit, driving to WY and not being able to find permission in an area that's all private.

Any advice/tips appreciated. Thanks.

Adam

Do you know the split between the two different classes of tags: Special vs Regular? Special costs more and has fewer tags but most of the time, though not all the time, takes fewer accumulated preference points to draw in the preference point pass. The random pass happens next so you might draw without any accumulated points though the bulk of the tags go in the preference pass bucket.

There are tags in several units, mostly in the eastern 1/4 of WY that can be drawn as a 2nd or 3rd choice or even in the leftover draw (no longer first come, first serve for tags not drawn in the main draw). Public land access can be limited and even finding private land can access or pay to access can be challenging with the increase of ranchers leasing access to outfitters.

My advice is to look at past draw results (WY provides a lot of info here: https://wgfd.wyo.gov/Hunting/Drawing-Odds/2016-Drawing-Odds ). If you compare 2014 to 2015 and 2016 you will see that fewer units can be drawn each year as a 2nd choice. If WY cuts pronghorn tags due to winter kill in the Western units then that can shift applicants to the Eastern units so might be even fewer units with surplus buck tags in 2017.

Only drawing your first choice will use up your accumulated points. You can figure out the better units by some research as to what units have the most applicants per tag available. For your 2nd and beyond choices these units might be worth researching a bit to see if the harvest rate and land access challenges are acceptable for you as most likely you can draw a buck tag with a 2nd choice in 2017: (all are Type 1 tags and are up in NE WY: 15, 16, 17, 20, 22, 23 and 24). Those units had tags left after 2nd choices were filled in 2015. I have not looked at 2016 but those units tend to be lower demand.

Good luck on your applications and hope you get a tag and have a wonderful experience.

Do some research on the WG&F website on draw odds, public land access, etc. For antelope in this state, there is no reason to pay to kill one if aren't looking for a trophy.

I think for most of the better public units, a couple points are now required.. Buy a point this summer, some units with 2 points you should be in.. The more private land the better the chance of a draw, but much tougher get a spot to hunt..

Redleg, PM me and we'll talk. I can give you a few pointers.