Hello!

[idi1796]

I would first like to say hello and introduce myself real quick. Long story short, I was born, raised and lived for 27 years just outside of Flint, Michigan. I hunted everything that the Great Lakes State had to offer on private land, state land and national forest. I moved to Bend, Oregon 3 years ago where I have fallen in LOVE with western, spot and stalk backcountry hunting. I am excited to be here!

Now to the good stuff ��

I hoping to plan my first Antelope hunt for next fall and I was looking for some advice. I have chosen Wyoming but was hoping to get some advice from the hunt talk community. What is that one thing when you think back that you say to yourself, "man, I wish I would have known _________" while you were planning, researching or participating your first Antelope hunt? I do have a membership to goHunt, kind of a research junkie, so I have lots of tools to use to hopefully plan a successful adventure.

Again, I am very excited to be here.
Ian

 

[Big Fin]

Welcome. For Wyoming pronghorn, your quote will be "man, I wish I would have known how much fun this was, I would have milked it for more than I did."

 

[JohnCushman]

Welcome aboard!

 

[pabearhunter]

Welcome aboard and where did you live in Mi. I was born in Flint and live in a couple different areas around there.

 

[fishing4sanity]

Welcome to Hunt Talk. The only thing I can think of as far as "I wish I would've" for antelope hunting is that "I wish I would have started antelope hunting sooner in life." It sounds like you're young, so I'm sure you'll have many enjoyable antelope hunts in your future. By the way, I really like the Bend area, it has grown crazy fast but still a great area.

 

[mixedbag]

I wish I lived close enough to hunt them yearly.Your going to have a fun hunt

 

[Tikka06]

Welcome. Good luck and let us know how it goes, I am planning something similar myself.

 

[Big Sky]

You will likely wish you had spent more time practicing your shooting from field positions. Antelope aren't very big and there is a lot of air around them. They have humbled more than a few experienced marksmen.

 

[idi1796]

I lived in Burton, about 10 minutes east of Flint. Small world!

Welcome aboard and where did you live in Mi. I was born in Flint and live in a couple different areas around there.

 

[duckhunt]

Welcome to hunt talk

 

[CodyCass]

Ian

I completed my first antelope hunt in October. I hunted unit 29, but unfortunately my tag was not good for the Thunder Basin National Grasslands. I was confused by the new language the Wyoming game and fish used explaining the hunts (found out later I wasn't alone) and held a tag that was primarily intended to be used on private land. Luckily the good folks at the game and fish department got me set up with an accommodating landowner. Here is my "wish I had known list":

1. Stay away from any tag that is xx - 2 (the two indicates that the tag is intended to be used on private land). For example my hunt was 29-2, but 29-1 was the tag I should've applied for.
2. If you purchase an OnXMaps chip for your GPS (highly recommend that you do) make sure you update right before your trip. I thought I had the most updated version and found out in route that we did not.
3. Utilize the Game and Fish department. This is probably the best and most important advice I can give. They put me in contact with a wildlife biologist who proved to be the key piece to my hunt.

Best of luck!

Cody

 

[pabearhunter]

Welcome aboard CodyCass.

 

[CodyCass]

Thank you pabearbunter!

 

[VAspeedgoat]

Welcome aboard, my first antelope trip to Wyoming I wish I had known what good glass is. I have upgraded to theron questa binoculars ( predator optics ), and leica rangefinder ( ebay ). If you have any intention of going out west more than once go ahead and spend the money. Your eyes will appreciate the binos, and you won't have a heart attack trying to range animals in the sage brush. Good luck on your trip and have fun planning it. Planning is half the fun and it makes tagging that animal even sweeter.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

Ian

I completed my first antelope hunt in October. I hunted unit 29, but unfortunately my tag was not good for the Thunder Basin National Grasslands. I was confused by the new language the Wyoming game and fish used explaining the hunts (found out later I wasn't alone) and held a tag that was primarily intended to be used on private land. Luckily the good folks at the game and fish department got me set up with an accommodating landowner. Here is my "wish I had known list":

1. Stay away from any tag that is xx - 2 (the two indicates that the tag is intended to be used on private land). For example my hunt was 29-2, but 29-1 was the tag I should've applied for.
2. If you purchase an OnXMaps chip for your GPS (highly recommend that you do) make sure you update right before your trip. I thought I had the most updated version and found out in route that we did not.
3. Utilize the Game and Fish department. This is probably the best and most important advice I can give. They put me in contact with a wildlife biologist who proved to be the key piece to my hunt.

Best of luck!

Cody

Type 2 does not necessarily mean what you have stated. It can be for the same unit and just have a different hunt date than the Type 1, rather than just for a specific area. Before you apply for a tag you need to read exactly what the tag stipulations are so you don't get a tag that is only good for private land, for a date that you can't hunt, etc.

 

[idi1796]

Thank you so much for all of the advice so far. I just remembered last night that I have some distant relatives that live in Cody so I am hoping to reach out to them for another layer of information gathering. I can already see from the research I have done that my father and I might be making this an annual thing if we can.

 

[NoWiser]

Man, I wish I would have known how fun antelope hunting is and how tasty they were and I'd have started hunting them a lot sooner!

I can see a person easily regretting pulling the trigger on the first buck they see, especially if they allocated a few days for the hunt. Get a doe tag to give your itchy trigger finger something to do while you look at a few bucks.

 

[CodyCass]

Type 2 does not necessarily mean what you have stated. It can be for the same unit and just have a different hunt date than the Type 1, rather than just for a specific area. Before you apply for a tag you need to read exactly what the tag stipulations are so you don't get a tag that is only good for private land, for a date that you can't hunt, etc.

You are right, my mistake. I should have said "type 2 can be an indication of private land only..." Which is what happened to me.

If after reading the specifics you are still confused, contact the good folks at game and fish, they are more than happy to help.

 

[idi1796]

Thanks Cody. I will definitely make sure to pay close attention. How many days was your hunt? What does everyone think is a good number of days to set aside for a trip from oregon?

You are right, my mistake. I should have said "type 2 can be an indication of private land only..." Which is what happened to me.

If after reading the specifics you are still confused, contact the good folks at game and fish, they are more than happy to help.

 

[CodyCass]

My hunting buddy and I planned on hunting the last 7 days of the season, but we ended up only needing 1 day to fill 4 tags. Our original plans were going to involve lots of hiking and glassing on the national grasslands to find a couple good bucks (we each held two buck tags). However we changed our tactics when we discovered we were going to be relegated to private land. Luckily the ranch we got access to had a lot of antelope as we had one day to hunt.