Wyoming DIY Hunt

rhs2362

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Nov 28, 2021
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Rowlett, Texas
So I am essentially a novice, but beginning to play a DIY pronghorn hunt in Wyoming in 2023. I found a lot of articles to help me get started, but I am curious as to pot holes or hidden benefits that I may be missing. I can gather all the data, buy the needed gear, and get a tag, but once there I'll be learning from ground zero of pronghorn hunting and learning on the fly. Any and all tips are welcome.
 
So I am essentially a novice, but beginning to play a DIY pronghorn hunt in Wyoming in 2023. I found a lot of articles to help me get started, but I am curious as to pot holes or hidden benefits that I may be missing. I can gather all the data, buy the needed gear, and get a tag, but once there I'll be learning from ground zero of pronghorn hunting and learning on the fly. Any and all tips are welcome.
Be careful as there are county/gov roads the land owners can block off and you cant drive on. We got lucky one time. Wanted us to pay $500 trespass fee to access public ground with public road to it. Not one land owner around it would let us pass. The last one we just politely said "no thanks we have never paid to hunt anything, understand you need to make a living, respect your property and you, we would rather not hunt than pay more taxes to hunt land we are already paying taxes for. Thank you for talking to us and we hope the price stays up for your sheep and cattle. We were walking back to our truck, and they called us back and said they believed us and let us cross. Pure luck? I don't know and that was a hard lesson to learn if we had not gotten lucky.
 
Wyoming generally states which areas have difficult access, ie. private lands! memtb
It mentions units and areas. We never saw one time private land owners can deny access on public roadways to public land. Do you know if they post or put that information out? I agree they can (don't agree it should be a blanket no way no how situation) deny access across private land to get to public ground. I don't want to run into that mess again.
 
If I'm reading your post correctly.....yes, private land owners can and very often do close roads crossing their land that have been used for decades to access BLM or NF lands! More often than not, these are large land holdings, sold by heirs to out of staters! This has caused a lot of heartburn throughout the state! memtb
 
If I'm reading your post correctly.....yes, private land owners can and very often do close roads crossing their land that have been used for decades to access BLM or NF lands! More often than not, these are large land holdings, sold by heirs to out of staters! This has caused a lot of heartburn throughout the state! memtb
Yes where my family farms (4th generation still farming home ranch) we have been over ran with non farming/ranching transplants. My favorite is when I meet one and they tell me they are a local, and I dont know them as in never seen them. I ask their last name, and it confirms they are not local. I then ask how long they lived in the area.....and I then point out having a summer house or moving here the last 20 years does not make you a local it makes you a transplant. Conversation usually ends and we go our separate ways. I do understand locals having to sell out or give it back to the corporate banks. The ones who let us on for several years and we had dinner together every year and shared stories. All of the ones we talked to were what we would call true locals for several generations. The one who let us on the 3rd generation was just finishing college and the plan was for them to continue on.
 
Yes where my family farms (4th generation still farming home ranch) we have been over ran with non farming/ranching transplants. My favorite is when I meet one and they tell me they are a local, and I dont know them as in never seen them. I ask their last name, and it confirms they are not local. I then ask how long they lived in the area.....and I then point out having a summer house or moving here the last 20 years does not make you a local it makes you a transplant. Conversation usually ends and we go our separate ways. I do understand locals having to sell out or give it back to the corporate banks. The ones who let us on for several years and we had dinner together every year and shared stories. All of the ones we talked to were what we would call true locals for several generations. The one who let us on the 3rd generation was just finishing college and the plan was for them to continue on.
A local lives there. A native has had their roots there for generations. That being said, the only true "locals" had their land stolen from them. So no white man is a true local if they want to stand on a high horse.
 
1) I believe an absolute must for anyone from out-of-state that plans hunting in WY should have OnX Maps (or equivalent) on their phone. Some areas looks like a chessboard of private/public land. The app will show you what is public vs private and often give you contact info for private holdings.

2) Finding bucks will not be a problem. Judging them is a different story. Watch some videos and learn how to field judge an antelope. If shooting a trophy is not important to you - then just enjoy the experience.
 
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You will see tons of goats, regardless of which area you choose. And at times a white tail hunter is not expecting. Mid-day is a great time to see them up and feeding, or going to feed. In non-irrigated areas, you can effectively hunt water holes, tanks, etc. That is often best near sundown. Where they eat alfalfa, they often just lounge and don't leave the security of the green. The local game warden can be your best resource; the regional office staff can be the opposite.
Be prepared for 90 degrees or 10 and 40mph winds driving snow against your eardrums. Be prepared to get stuck on a flat, smooth county road after a 5 minute rain. And be prepared to cool meat faster than you ever have.
 
You will see tons of goats, regardless of which area you choose. And at times a white tail hunter is not expecting. Mid-day is a great time to see them up and feeding, or going to feed. In non-irrigated areas, you can effectively hunt water holes, tanks, etc. That is often best near sundown. Where they eat alfalfa, they often just lounge and don't leave the security of the green. The local game warden can be your best resource; the regional office staff can be the opposite.
Be prepared for 90 degrees or 10 and 40mph winds driving snow against your eardrums. Be prepared to get stuck on a flat, smooth county road after a 5 minute rain. And be prepared to cool meat faster than you ever have.
Good info especially the cool the meat down. We would only shoot one and fully take care of it in the cooler before moving. We did all of our internet research and talked to office staff (not any help at all), field officer was great general information but no info on the closed roads. We have had onx, google earth, county assessor (onx gets the same info), county road dept., and anything we could think of. We had a plan to hunt the water holes, and when we got there the oil companies had put in extremely extensive water tanks all over the private lands. So, for us the water hole idea was a bust. The rancher who let us use the road said they negotiated those in their lease, and it clearly was one of the best things for him. I'm guessing the antelope and deer also benefited hugely. We hunted it for a few years and had pretty exclusive access and never...never saw a 15" buck. Yes we saw dozens a day but no wall hangers. We talked to the bio and he said what we were seeing was all we were going to see with a few single larger bucks every now and then. We are going to a new location next year as I want one for the wall.
 
Are you a meat hunter or out for a nice set of horns? If you don't care about a set of horns on a head, look into doe/fawn tags. The tags are cheaper, don't require preference points and you'll find more does out there than bucks. Look into the Hunter Management Areas of access to NF or BLM is limited in the area you are interested in. You'll have to get tags for the specific unit and then get a permissions slip for the HMA. Rules vary by HMA, so make sure you understand not only the season dates but dates that the permission slips are good for.
 
Are you a meat hunter or out for a nice set of horns? If you don't care about a set of horns on a head, look into doe/fawn tags. The tags are cheaper, don't require preference points and you'll find more does out there than bucks. Look into the Hunter Management Areas of access to NF or BLM is limited in the area you are interested in. You'll have to get tags for the specific unit and then get a permissions slip for the HMA. Rules vary by HMA, so make sure you understand not only the season dates but dates that the permission slips are good for.
Yes sir....we always got one extra doe tag when we put in, and would go to town and get another if needed. I love it when you have to drive an hour one way to get to a store that sells licenses. They would always laugh and go oh you must be from out of state when we asked for a doe tag. The rancher expressed his thoughts on us shooting too many and we kept it to two each or a third if we lost a lot of meat. We have not gone for three years since we are building points. I have no idea where we are going as it is a secret until we get there. A cousin we have not talked to in years we met at a family get together. We were showing pics, and he has a spot to get a 15" or better buck or at least have a chance or two. He had other hunts the last couple years so we just bought a point. He said it will take at least three points minimum to draw, so this year we will put in for the first time.
 
Yes sir....we always got one extra doe tag when we put in, and would go to town and get another if needed. I love it when you have to drive an hour one way to get to a store that sells licenses. They would always laugh and go oh you must be from out of state when we asked for a doe tag. The rancher expressed his thoughts on us shooting too many and we kept it to two each or a third if we lost a lot of meat. We have not gone for three years since we are building points. I have no idea where we are going as it is a secret until we get there. A cousin we have not talked to in years we met at a family get together. We were showing pics, and he has a spot to get a 15" or better buck or at least have a chance or two. He had other hunts the last couple years so we just bought a point. He said it will take at least three points minimum to draw, so this year we will put in for the first time.
The question was meant for the OP, but glad you are having success up there. 😉 Good luck next year!
 
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