Wyoming Antelope

[e_collop]

I stayed in Cheyenne Wy for a night on vacation, then went out and drove around the next day.  I am definetly going to plan a hunt for antelope next year.  Probably take two other guys with me.  The units and such are a bit confusing for a Missouri boy so I need some help.  We would probably be looking to go some place with in a couple of hours from Cheyenne.  I was thinking of getting some ranchers names and putting in some phone time.  It dosen't look like there is much public land on the east side.  How crowded does public land get out there?  Is it hard to get permission on private land?  Any help will be greatly appreciated.

EC

[crow_feather]

ry the BLM land in the Red desert or in Carbon county.  The red desert is south of Lander WY and just below a town called muddy gap junction.  You might also call the Fish and Game as they handle questions like yours all the time.  Best of luck.  Antelope will know your hunting them if you are wearing hunter orange while in your vehicle.  Don't put it on til you have to.

C F

[freddogs]

  Sometimes, the chamber of commerce has information on private landowners who allow hunting ( for a fee). The Fish and Game can tell you about walk on areas also.

[Gusman14]

As a former WYO resident and avid antelope hunter, I would recommend area 46.  It is 1/2 way between Laramie and Rawlins on the north side of I-80.  There is a ton of public land and more antelope than people.  I hunted there for 10 years and was always very sucessful.  Why do I tell you of my honeyhole for antelope?  I moved to Utah and just don't get to WYO often enough.  I would rather see someone enjoy it than it go to waste.  PM me if you need specifics or have any questiions.

Gusman

[crow_feather]

Gusman14

Is there deer there also?

[e_collop]

Does anybody know anything about antelope unit #9?  I have a few leads there.  Also how crowded do the walk in areas get?

[Gusman14]

There are whitetail and some mule deer that frequent the river bottoms of Rock Creek.  If you go on the other side of I-80 and into the Medicine Bow National Forest, there are tons of mulies and elk.  I have shot antelope during the day and almost arrowed deer at dusk in that area on the same day.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

   While the areas mentioned are fine areas, it is very difficult for a person to draw a unit with lots of public land. Try those if you like. I have friends that haven't drawn a buck tag for 7 years and they are residents. For nonresidents odds are greater. I don't mean to be discouraging, but honesty is required here. I do know that in the northern and eastern section of Wy. there are many permits left each year, BUT this is largely private land and you must get on a ranch. At one time it was fairly easy to get on for a nominal access fee. Now I do not know. I would try the game and fish offices in Douglas and Gillette and see what they say about ranches granting access. Guides have almost swallowed the entire private sector of Wy., but I am certain there are a few places where you can still get a spot. It will require some digging, but you have lots of time till the permit app.s are due.

[Carroll B]

I hunted this year with Wyoming Trophy Outfitters out of Casper.  They had 500,000 acres they had access to.  Like others have said a lot of land out there is under lease already. It wasn't a matter if we got a goat but which one we wanted to shoot.  Stayed in a cabin in the middle of no where with elk, deer, and goats around the cabin each morning.  I plan to book an elk hunt with them in 2009.

[e_collop]

I recieved about a 5 page list of land owners, with some leads highlighted from my "source" in WY.  These are in antelope units 9, 11, 12, and 29 (right around Douglas).  Does anyone know anything about this area?  We are not agianst paying a small tresspass fee and there are always the walkin areas.  What I need to know is antelope numbers and trophy expectations in this part of Eastern WY.
Any help?

E

[lewdogg21]

I recieved about a 5 page list of land owners, with some leads highlighted from my "source" in WY.  These are in antelope units 9, 11, 12, and 29 (right around Douglas).  Does anyone know anything about this area?  We are not agianst paying a small tresspass fee and there are always the walkin areas.  What I need to know is antelope numbers and trophy expectations in this part of Eastern WY.
Any help?

E

Call the Wyoming Department of Fish & Game (or whatever its' called) and ask to speak with a biologist about those areas.  Usually they can be very helpfull and you hear it from the Horses Mouth.  This forum is not very active so I don't know what type or if you will get much of a response.   

[IMshooter]

This past fall I hunted antelope north of Gillette, WY in management area 17.  We were non-residents who did our homework and were successful.  Basically, I made numerous phone calls to both state and federal employees who live and work in that area.  And then we purchased BLM land ownership maps and studied those maps hard.  Area 17 is a beautiful mix of prairie, rolling hills, and pine trees.  Most of the land is privately owned, but there are pieces of public land (BLM and state)accessable by county maintained roads.  One has to read the map carefully and keep track of the miles driven.  However, shooting a nice antelope buck is very doable.  Filling a mule deer tag is much tougher.  The one sour note on our trip was finding that about half of the public land had been posted.  This is extremely dishonest on the part of whoever did it.  We even had one rancher try to run us off BLM land until we let him know we knew we were on BLM land.  At that point he backed down, but not before bragging that he gets $400 for every antelope buck and $1000 for every mule deer buck shot on his land.  My friends and I may return to WY some day to hunt antelope, but next time we will apply for a management area that has a lot more accessable public land.