2017 Wyoming Pronghorn hunt help for the newbie!

Alright, I think the decision has been made. I am going to hopefully put together a Wyoming Pronghorn hunt this year (was going to DIY Elk). Though my wife does not know of this plan... or the previous elk plan... lol. As they say... better to ask for forgiveness then permission right! That being said, I am planning this out and need a little help. I am not the type that is going to ask everyone what I should do and where to go, I am trying to do my own research. I am having a little bit of trouble understanding some of the numbers on the Fish and Game Website though. (I am from Indiana so the idea of public land is foreign to me lol).

My intention is this:
Go to Wyoming, with a buddy (or solo if i have to). I would love to put a buck and maybe a doe down to put some meat in the freezer. I do not need a Boon and Crockett buck. I to conservation oriented to shoot something that is immature, but at the same time, I do not need a trophy. I want to go out, have a blast, put some meat in the freezer, and create some memories. I have never been to Wyoming so I am not sure this is even a possibility, but I would love to maybe find public property, set up a camp, and hunt/hike/photograph/etc for a week... or at least a few days.

That being said, I have been looking at the Wyoming Fish and Game site and was sort of looking at units 60, 61, and 64. Reason being, the abundance of what appears to be BLM land/state land. I believe the BLM land is all yellow with random squares of what I believe to be state land/water? (can't tell on my computer since the colors are sooooo close). My next step was to look at the draw numbers. It appears the units all have a "quota" of 0 or 3. The next stat says the 1st choice applicants were 374, 306, and 156 respectively. I am assuming this means that it is pretty close a sure draw? I am not sure what the quota of 0 or 3 means?

With the above information, am I falling into a pitfall? Is this a big mistake or am I going to travel out there and not see a single thing? I can't seem to find how long the hunting season lasts, but seems to open in early September. If these units are applicable, I am not opposed to maybe waiting for a second or 3 week to maybe bypass some of the "opening week" activity. Not sure if that makes sense or is just Indiana logic applied to the wrong type of hunting lol.

Anyhow, any advice, sounds great, you don't want to do that, etc would be greatly appreciated! This is my first "out west" hunt and whether my buddies jump on board or not... at this point is irrelevant. Although if they do, I see you can apply as a group... which is pretty cool!

Thanks again!

Quota is how many tags are available. It sounds like you're just looking at the random draw; you need to look at the preference point draw first. Find the tags that could have been drawn last year out of your point pool (I'm guessing zero), then narrow it down from there. Look at public land, and also the HMA and WIA programs.

I highly recommend watching Randy's video on the Wyoming draw process a time or 3.

Awesome video! Thanks! Did not even know it existed... I understand the concept of their draw system, I just wish there was somewhere that calculated the numbers and said look, if you applied at this unit in 2016 with zero points/1 point/ etc, this was the % chance you got drawn (if this does exist... I can not find it). So as quota is available tags, for example, unit 61 on the 2016 draw and odds report lists the quota as 3. The non resident special still lists a quota of 2. So that means, as of 6/15/16, there were 3 available tags left in the general non resident draw? Meaning everyone who applied listing that unit as their first choice, second choice, or third choice in the regular non resident draw got a tag? In which case, in theory, it would be a decent unit for a newbie pronghorn hunter to apply to as the odds are high you will get a tag with zero points and almost the entire unit is blm? Am I understanding this correctly?

Sorry, but unless you have a bunch of points, You're not going to be hunting any of those units this fall.
60, 61 and 64 all took over 9 points to be guaranteed in the Special PP draw.

No, you're not understanding correctly..

If the quota listed is 3 in the random draw, and 300 people listed it as their 1st choice, that's a 1% chance. You need to look at the preference point draw though, that's where 75% of the NR tags are distributed (25% in random). It will show what % of people in each point pool drew. It will show that you need a pile of points to have any real chance to draw any of the units you listed.

You really need to watch the video Randy did a bunch of times because you are so far off in your post statements it's hard to know where to start, but I'll try! If you have no PPs, just go into the top line for the Random Nonresident Draw and peruse that table. To get there click on "Hunting" on the main page and then on "Draw Odds" when the next page pops up. Each unit shows the total number of tags available and then how many people applied. If there were a lot more tags offered than first choice applicants, then you can start looking into whether that unit has enough accessible public land to do a decent hunt. Most of the time they don't have a huge amount, but they may have private land under the two different Access yes Programs, so you need to look into the green Public Access section of the site to check that out.

LOL WOW... I was embarrassingly far off the mark! Alright back to the drawing board! thanks for the help... this concept is so foreign to me. My state has nothing of the sort!

*** now that I am looking at it... with the above information... it has clicked! Good lord I feel like an idiot!

I have done a lot of research on this topic over the last 6 years. I have gone on one antelope hunt in Wyoming a few years ago. I went left over tags in unit 23. It was a private ranch we paid for access. It was $400 then. I helped a guy from a different forum get access on that ranch last year. He paid $500 per buck. I just went on the Wyoming website and wrote down all of the 100% draw units according to the 2016 draws odds Wyoming posted on there website. They are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 15, 16, 17*, 19*, 20, 22*,23-2*, 24*, 29, 70-2, 76-2, 102, 113*. The * is for poor access. I positive all of these units have poor access though. I added the * for the units that a magazine confirms. Most of these units don't even get noticed by the un-named magazine. LOL. My suggestion is to do a ranch hunt and get 2-5 points and do the grand public land 1000 antelope bucks glassed in 5 days type hunt. I have five points and I'm going to burn them in 2018. I will throw out more information later today.

I can dig up the list of land owners that the Gillette chamber of commerce used to give out. The list is very large. Most of them are already booked for this year though.

I think I got the hang of this now ;P Now that I understand the numbers ;P I am looking at unit 19 at the moment. Unit 19 appears on the northwest portion to have a large (approximately 14000 acre) section of blm. Appears route 59 will get you there (still have to verify it is a public road that is driveable). Not sure the hunting is any good, but I am not afraid to throw a pack on an hike. I plan on calling the fish and game tomorrow and chatting with someone for some advice on unit selection. Either way, this is easier now that I understand how to look at the numbers correctly, thanks for the help guys! I will continue in my research and make a go of it.

Great info CC! Be careful though, some of the tags for the areas you mention have special restrictions (irrigated land, off NG, etc.).

devildog115 said:

I think I got the hang of this now ;P Now that I understand the numbers ;P I am looking at unit 19 at the moment. Unit 19 appears on the northwest portion to have a large (approximately 14000 acre) section of blm. Appears route 59 will get you there (still have to verify it is a public road that is driveable). Not sure the hunting is any good, but I am not afraid to throw a pack on an hike. I plan on calling the fish and game tomorrow and chatting with someone for some advice on unit selection. Either way, this is easier now that I understand how to look at the numbers correctly, thanks for the help guys! I will continue in my research and make a go of it.

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59 is a state highway that you can pull off of anywhere along that BLM to access it. I wouldn't try to call G&F tomorrow as I think they are closed for the holiday.

Topgun 30-06 said:

59 is a state highway that you can pull off of anywhere along that BLM to access it. I wouldn't try to call G&F tomorrow as I think they are closed for the holiday.

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lol well played, I work a 6 on 3 off schedule and have for years... what day it is and holidays are a blur to me ;P

devildog115 said:

lol well played, I work a 6 on 3 off schedule and have for years... what day it is and holidays are a blur to me ;P

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Devil dog, I am in your same boat. Buddies will not commit, and picking a unit that I can camp and hunt from has been difficult. I do not have the knowledge of the pronghorn to know what habitat the like. All the hunting videos show open yet hilly terrain. So heck I once I think I picked a unit, then the draw odds are out. Good luck to you and safe hunting

Devil dog and kjames, I'm in the same boat. I've been studying stuff for months and have it narrowed down, but can't get a 100% commitment from my partner. I'll be calling today or tomorrow to verify some stuff. I'll be applying with 3 points.

Check this link:

http://diyhuntingmaps.com/unit/wy/antelope/19/index.html

15.9% public. Access will be tough. OnXMaps would be indispensable.

Go down to non-resident preference points show 100% chance as a third choice so you're in.

Guys don't let it intimidate you. You go out there and drive around using the OnXMaps ap and when you see a pronghorn you get out and stalk it.

If you don't do it it'll stay a mystery. Just go out there. You can't learn to hunt em here. And it's a friggin HOOT hunting em!