Anyone hunted antelope in Wyoming?

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canoetrpr

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Our moose hunting plans seem to be slowly falling apart as we were all setup for WMU 11A and tags have dropped their drastically for this year.

We are hunting the second week of November and only a few units in Wyoming are still open then. I'm told doe tags can usually be purchased over the counter at a couple of the units I am considering.

Has anyone here had much experience hunting down there? Any suggestions? Is second week of November way too late to hope for antelope there?

We're desperately trying to salvage our hunting plans for this week as everyone has it booked off from work and the options are drying up cause most guys are on a strict budget. A moose hunt in Ontario was looking like a steal with us being residents and having located a cabin in 11A that was not too expensive.
 
My daughter and I put in for a tag there this fall, hopefully we get drawn as a youth hunter has a better chance there, and would love to take a .234 Penguin down for goats. I can check with my friend that I will be hunting with, if drawn for a tag. Will let you know.
 
Did some additional research on it by calling the Wyoming Fish and Wildlife office in Sheridan, Wy. We haven't applied for tags so will have to do Over the Counter. Found a unit that is likely to have a good supply of OTC doe tags and got a list of landowners allowing free hunting for does/fawns. Whitetails are also in season and this unit expects to have OTC tags for does as well.

The catch is that we will be hunting in the second week of Nov (last week of the season for this particular unit - most end Oct 31). So hunting will depend very much on weather. If it gets cold the antelope are likely not going to be about.

I guess that is the chance that we take since we've got fixed dates for vacation. I'd have loved to do cow elk but can't find one that is nearly as good a deal. Maybe next year for cow elk.
 
I hunted antelope in Wyoming last year, my first hunt for antelope but definitely not my last. We hunted in shirt sleeves near the end of September, although the extremely high winds on most days were a challenge. Two days after we departed, the area had something like 20cm of snow! Really a wonderful, fun hunt, lots of game to be seen, more of a relaxed, social deal rather than a balls-to-the-wall serious affair like many hunts are. Bringing home meat and trophies was quick and easy, and as a huge bonus it turned out that antelope is outstanding on the table! Some folks don't agree, but my wife and I both love it.

Don't forget to start getting your ducks in a row as far as importing your gun and ammo into the states. It's fairly straightforward, but does take a bit of time.
 
Thanks HuntNL! Always good to have a vote of confidence from someone local.

jjohnwm - thanks for the reminder wrt the gun and ammo. A social deal is what we're after here. We will leave the really serious stuff till another time. Will just cross our fingers that the weather cooperates. If it does not; that's hunting!

Curious, did you guys skin and bone out in the field? or do a more traditional field dress and then drop it at a butchers? It seems to me that people out west tend to skin the carcass without even field dressing and then bone it out right there and put it on ice. Something we're going to have to learn.
 
canoetrpr do a search on a member Mur.
I know he traveled many a mile in Wyoming hunting lopes when he was alive.
I am sure he has written about those trips here on CGN when he was healthy.
RIP Murray and Happy Hunting,
Rob
 
I have been out there a bunch of times (mostly for Mulies) but 2x for antelope.

Both times was early to mid October. First time was very cold day 1 and shirt sleeves by day 4
We did a normal field dress, a word of caution, if you are doing any taxidermy do not drag them as you can drag the hair right off them. We went to a butcher in downtown Gillette and they (all) require a tag on the animal. Tastes very good, has a distinct sage taste from all the sage brush they eat.

The other time antelope hunting we had about 60-70 mph winds and the hunting was tough, mostly because the wind was blowing bullets all over the place. Laying on the ground with a bipod, took aim at one that was bedded down 200 yds away, aimed a foot to the left and the crosswind blew the bullet 6 feet right (Buddy saw the dirt fly)....next day we came home, Hwy 90 was closed because tractor trailer were blowing over.

You can get maps from the BLM website and they show private vs public land. You can also get a chip with data for your GPS that shows the same thing so you always know if you are on public land. Cabelas sells the GPS chips.

The first season they are pretty easy but after that they get spooky right quick.

Buy some knee & elbow pads, they sure come in handy when you are crawling on your belly trying to hide behind sage brush. And get some western camo, the stuff we use here is way to green. Needs to be almost FDE type
 
I've hunted antelope in November near Sheridan Wyoming. It was a fun hunt, there's lots of pronghorn around and I think a DIY doe hunt would be great.
Bigbubbas right about the knee pads and western camo and I'll also add that you should bring gloves, you will end up crawling and there's lots of little cacti on the ground. Don't forget that there's an orange requirement in Wyoming.
By November those animals have been hunted a fair bit already so expect tough stalks and long shots.
 
Gentlemen... thank you!. Looks like we are booking a hunt with an outfitter. Far from the best deal but I tried calling land owners around there and couldn't find one willing to let us hunt. Figured the first time around we will go with a well regarded outfitter and DIY the next time since it will likely be challenging - late in the season. Found an outfitter who hunts private land in a number of different areas there are apparently left over tags generally and hope the animals haven't seen as much pressure as public land here.

Can't wait!
 
Sight in for 300 yds, practice prone shooting, and take note of wind deflection.
A .270 or so is lots of gun, a .257 wby would be great, anything going fast is what you want, and antelope is good eating meat. I really like it.

Usually they judge the horns looking from the side, and if they are twice as high as the ears they are good shooters. Ears are 6" high
Whereas Mulies you like to look head on, and if they are wider than the ears they are 20+ inches wide which is what you want

If you could PM me the name of the outfitter I would appreciate it in case I go back next year, the guy I used to go with doesn't outfit any more.
Drew an elk tag in New Mexico so that's where I am off to in Oct.....should be fun
 
My plan is to take my Cooper Jackson Game in 280AI that I gifted myself last year. It's purpose was to be used on a western hunt - antelope, elk that sort of thing. Doing some load dev. with 150gr TTSX as a all round load. So this year it will see its first hunt; antelope. Perhaps cow elk a future year and Africa as well some day.
 
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