TCL said:
Do you mind sharing your info on applying for tags and preperation? I want to hunt September.
Sure...
first piece of advice is buy a point NOW. You can buy points for $30 until the end of September. Go to Wyoming Game and Fish website and follow links, you can use credit card. Going into next years draw with 1 point really improves your odds on some decent units.
If you want a fun hunt with tons of antelope, tons of public land, it's hard to beat 47 or 32. There isn't a great chance for a trophy, but most of the unit is public land and the goat population is very high. Almost 100% draw odds with 1 PP.
I'm sure there are great ranches out there where you can hunt for a tresspass fee in units requiring 0 points, but personally, I'd rather do it all on my own on public land, which means you'll need at least a point to draw a decent unit.
Next (and this is where I'm at) is download the drawing odds and look for units where a lot of people applied (those are the best units). The very best units will take 4 points to draw next year (the max), but there's some great units that will draw with 2 or 3 points, and some pretty good units that will draw with 1 point. Find a unit that has a fair number of applicants, yet still a decent chance of drawing with 1 point (like 47). Then order the BLM maps for the unit (cheap $4 IIRC). Look it over and if it is appealing, plan on applying for that unit next spring. If not, look for another unit and get those maps as well.
Once you draw the unit, it's time to really get down to business. I'd suggest unit maps from mytopo.com ($35 or so) which go down to 1:25,000 IIRC. Start looking for all the good access roads and memorize them. Call the local BLM manager and local WO and ask them for hotspots. Find areas you can walk in off roads for around a mile to get away from other hunters and the quality of the goats will improve significantly. The majority of antelope hunters are weekend warriors who scout and hunt from the roads.
Mike Eastman has a pretty good book out on 'hunting trophy antelope DIY'. It's worth the $30.
BTW, I've never hunted antelope (except for does around 20 years ago), just started really researching it recently after getting enough points built up to have a reasonable draw on a great unit. I'm not looking for a book goat, but one in the mid to upper 70's for the wall.
