2019 Wyoming Antelope

[bsfl]

My Dad and I are heading to Wyoming this year to try and hunt some antelope. I am doing all the usual online research for units but I have a question for those with experience about logistics.

I am coming from Florida and have to fly as neither of us can commit the required time to drive. I will be flying either to Denver and driving up or directly into Casper. I am having difficulty finding somewhere to rent a 4x4 vehicle. So my questions are, is 4x4 absolutely necessary for county roads? Can anyone recommend a rental place in either Denver or Casper for 4x4 vehicles? Suggestions?

Thanks,

Brian

 

[sheffe]

Not sure if this is quite what your looking for, but I saw these guys at a trade show once and it stuck in my mind as a good option. Looks like they rent all manner of campers and 4x4 rigs that are set up for camping. https://adventuretravelsportrentals.com/
Good luck!

 

[Beardeddeer91]

I hunted unit 23 this year, and you could have gotten away with 2 wd. It rained one day during the hunt and some of the BLM roads may have needed to be avoided without 4 wd, but on most it wouldn't have been an issue. You shouldn't have a problem getting one in 4 wd in Denver (there are a lot of rental companies at the airport), I rented a 4wd SUV (I believe a Pathfinder) from Alamo at the Denver airport last year.

 

[bsfl]

Thanks for the responses.

 

[rogerstv]

I thought anything besides a 4 x 4 is "outlawed" out west.....

 

[jimss]

You shouldn't have any problem renting a SUV 4x4 at any car rental place near DIA airport. People rent them all the time to take skiing. I would advise at least a SUV with decent clearance. It may be somewhat expensive but worth it....especially if it gets wet. You may luck out and have dry weather but many of the county roads are impossible to drive on once wet....lots of gumbo mud. A lot depends upon the particular road and area you are hunting.

 

[TJAY]

I would search for off airport rentals if possible as they tend to be less expensive.

 

[TG-5150]

There were three outfits that came up when I did a Google search just to see what I could find.
I would go 4x4, you can even rent ATVs and side by sides with a trailer.
https://www.enterprise.com/en/car-rental/vehicles/us/trucks.html

 

[jimss]

TJays post above is right-on! I would definitely search outside the DIA area to get better prices. I've had great luck renting vehicles through Priceline or Hotwire.com websites. Their prices are sometimes around 1/2 the price of going directly through rental agencies.

 

[bsfl]

Thanks everyone, for the replies.

 

[.30US]

I hunted unit 73 for the first time this year and drove out from the East Coast. I never had to put the truck in 4WD. It was dry the first few days of the hunt, then we had rain, and a bit of snow.

I looked at flying out versus driving from a time and cost perspective. Denver makes a lot more sense than Casper, to me.

My wife, a friend, and I hiked for miles the first few days glassing, and just didn't get up on any at ranges they were comfortable shooting. Meanwhile, two of our three buddies gave up hiking in the first hour or so and cruised the roads until they saw antelope, got out, walked up the ravines until they were close enough and tagged out two and a half hours into day one. I did see a few hunters that would drive, jump out of a rental SUV, walk not quite far enough away from the road to be legal, take shots, miss, and get back in the truck and continue on.

All six of us had doe tags, and I read everything I could find about 73 beforehand and most of it said there were no trophies in 73. I probably don't know the difference in a 12" or 14" buck at distance, but there were some impressive bucks out there.

The toughest part of our trip was housing. Originally, I rented a place through HomeAway.com or VRBO.com months ahead, and the owner sold the house and cancelled on us a week or two out. I found another place through AirBnB.com that I will highly recommend if you're looking up on top of Casper Mountain. We were a bit of a haul from our hunting area, but it wasn't like we had to be out there early...there were no shortage of antelope, no matter the time of day. We even saw a heard of about 25 elk that the locals say is rare out in that area.

Most importantly, if you like breakfast, you owe it to yourself to eat at G-Ma's Diner!

 

[bsfl]

Thanks for the detailed reply. I am anticipating hunting south and west of Casper and staying in or around Alcova. We want to get some fishing in as well.

Do you feel that you were able to put eyes on more antelope and bucks by hiking or covering ground in a vehicle? My plan is some combination thereof.

 

[.30US]

Definitely by vehicle. The three of us that hunted the whole week together, hiked the first two days just learning the area and glassing. Then we sat for most of a day in a spot near water we had seen them at the previous two days, but couldn't walk up on them at. Surprisingly, that didn't produce any good shot opportunities, either. We drove to a farther west part of the unit to check it out the next day and saw many more antelope, much closer to roads. They didn't really care about the truck at all, but if they saw us get out, they were gone. One of our group got hers that day and we cleaned it and wrapped up as a big cold front came in. The next day was pretty nasty, so we drove the county road through the walk-in unit that the other two guys tagged out near on the first day. We got out and stalked a few groups before my wife took her shot. I was just spotting and had a good opportunity, so I borrowed her rifle and shot mine, too.

Despite more success while spotting from the vehicle and then stalking, talking to both of the ladies I was with the whole week, we all agreed the first couple of days climbing and hiking ridges to get away from the roads were the best experience. We saw massive mule deer bucks grouped together that would have been a chip shot, had we had tags. Seeing that herd of elk was really cool. We thought we were in a gently rolling area, but there was enough variance that they just appeared, then disappeared.

 

[ATH]

Hunted WY 5 years now. Never had to put the truck in 4WD.

My experience is 90% of hunters never get throwing distance from their truck. We found a nice spot on public land in a "limited access" area which requires a 1.5 mile hike in. We tag out opening morning within 2 hours because nobody ever goes there. We have had numerous experiences where we find antelope within 400 yards of the road, but hiding just out of site of the road. Most people drive right by them, we get out here and there and hike around just a bit and see 4X the antelope of just driving around in the truck.

I don't find antelope hard to hunt but they aren't completely stupid.