1st wyoming antelope hunt

[nateNAU]

After a lot of years of contemplating, I finally decided to bite the the bullet and apply for wyoming. I really wanted to hunt this year and decided on unit 102 becuase of the draw odds and a moderate amount of public land access. I only had 5 days total for travel and hunting which equated to about 2 1/2 days to hunt in a unit I have never laid eyes on before. The opener worked out great with my  5 year olds son's fall break so he came with me on the hunt. A big snow storm rolled in a couple days before the opener but I still decided to stick with opening weekend for our hunt. We rented a little air bnb cabin in our unit and our host was very gracious and gave us hunting permission on his aprox. 100 acres which bordered public to the north. Opening morning we decided to access a big chunk of public land along the big horn mountains. After a few miles along a county road road we hit a huge snow drift that was impassable so we had to hoof it the last mile to our acess point. When we got to the access point there were already numerous trucks there that had come along the county road from the north. We got up to a big knob and could see many other hunters who were clearly looking for antelope along with a lot that were making their way up towards timber who were probably deer or elk hunting. As we got to our high spot my son was complaining about his feet hurting so I told him to take his boots off. Sure enough he had big blisters on his feet. It was my fault as I made him wear brand new snow boots as opposed to his normal hiking boots because of the snow. After glassing for a bit and seeing no antelope and only hunters we decided to head back to the truck. I had to carry him 1 mile out of the hills and 1 mile down the county road back to the truck. We ran into town and got bandaids and electrical tape to try and fix his feet up and we switched to his regular hunting boots that were broken in and much tighter. That afternoon we decided to try the public land that was adjacent to where we were staying. Every access point had multiple vehicles parked at them and every little knoll had an orange hat on it. I was checking my onx, scrambling, trying to come up with a game plan. I found a stretch of public land about only 1/2 mile wide and 1 mile long right a long the highway but though it may not be hit as hard as some of the bigger chunks of land. It had a lot of little rolling hills that could hide an antelope. After about a 1/2 mile walk in this section we saw 3 does running and we made a break to try and intercept them. We went able to before they hit the highway and crossed over into another unit but at least we saw antelope on public. We decided to get on a knob in this area the following day because at least we had it to ourselves. The next morning we were kind of slow to get up and as I got up and looked out our window I saw a string  of about 50 antelope on the adjacent private to the west. They and just come off public! We got dressed quick and and walked over the the big chuck of public they had just come off of and got up on a little hill where we could see them. They were acting really skidish and had probably already been shot at at day break. They we still on private but as a vehicle drove past them they turned and started headed back toward public. I was set up and ready to take a shot, but when they got within 50 yards of the fence line the mulled around and bedded down. I waited for about an hour but they showed no intention of crossing the fence. I decided to glass to the west and north in the public section to see if I could turn anything up. After a while I glassed up a head of a doe bedded down to the west at what I guessed was about 1500 yards. I kept watch trying to determine if it was within the boundaries of public when I see a big buck stand up and stretch right next to the doe and bed back down. I'm pretty sure the are on public so we make a bee-line towards them and when we get over there we realize the are 15 yards on the wrong side of the fence. They rest of the hunt was pretty much like this. Close calls but just outside of land we could hunt on. We saw probably 500 antelope in our unit but they very much know where they are safe. It was a great trip with my son and one that I will never will forget. We plan on doing it again next year but the key will be to try and line up some private land access as these antelope definatly know where they are safe.

 

[Flatlander]

Bummer you weren’t able to pull it off. I have had good luck reaching out to landowners ahead of time, hopefully that works out for you. Another tip I like is to hunt a week or two after the opener. The pressure drops dramatically when you go later in the season.

Congrats on great memories made with your boy and a new experience for both of you.

[PRDATR]

That's awesome you were able to take your little guy. You gained a lot of knowledge for next time though.

[Couestracker]

Great experience and write-up!

[AzRaised08]

Thanks for sharing your experience! Sounds like you were still able to make some great memories. Thinking of maybe doing a Wyoming Antelope hunt myself sometime soon, and reading your story gets me itching to go

[NOTAGS]

The two times I hunted Wyoming, we  hunted public  land the first year, and encountered a lot of what you described.  We all did tag out, but it was frustrating for sure. The ranchers wanted us to shoot an antelope on their place, cause the GF would charge us a fine  over $200 that the ranchers got.   The second time, we contacted the local Chamber of Commerce, and they had a list of ranchers who would provide hunter access for a fee.  I think it cost us $100 per hunter ( yeah, it was some years ago), but it made the hunt a lot less frustrating.  Go back next year, and getter done!