Wy. antelope gear list help

[HOCOMO Hunter]

I'm going on first antelope hunt and wanted to start thinking about what gear I would need. I've hunted deer in the Midwest for a lot of yrs and have the basics but thought I'd get your advice for a wy spot and stalk style hunt. I will be hunting in unit 23 on private ground.
Ps: sorry if I did this wrong it's my first post

 

[Barrelnut]

Get some good knee pads and gloves. Parts of WY have LOTS of small prickly cactus on the ground and your stalking will probably end up being a lot of crawling to get in range.

 

[HOCOMO Hunter]

Thanks for the heads up on the knee pads. Do you think a kestrel would be a necessity?

 

[Topgun 30-06]

If the wind blows much like it usually does and you're talking about reaching way out, it would certainly almost be considered a necessity.

 

[Doublezranch]

I've hunted 23 the last 2 years. There are some cactus but not much. Kestrel would be very helpful for the rolling hills. Plan for all types of weather. One year we had a winter storm and the next it was 80 degrees. Shot distance can vary greatly. The bigger bucks get more and more weary as the season goes so try and find your goat relatively early. Practice as much as you can. It's a great unit to hunt...you'll have lots of fun.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

I've hunted 23 the last 2 years. There are some cactus but not much. Kestrel would be very helpful for the rolling hills. Plan for all types of weather. One year we had a winter storm and the next it was 80 degrees. Shot distance can vary greatly. The bigger bucks get more and more weary as the season goes so try and find your goat relatively early. Practice as much as you can. It's a great unit to hunt...you'll have lots of fun.

I think you meant to say "wary" as in cautious! They also get a little weary from chasing does all over during the rut.

 

[HOCOMO Hunter]

We are going out oct 20-25 how will that fall in the rut?

 

[Topgun 30-06]

There may be a doe or two coming in a second time that got missed the first time around, but usually the rut is pretty well wound down by then. The time you said you're going is the third week of the 4 week season, so I would think things should be settled down pretty good by then, although I have no idea how big the place you're going to hunt is and how many people they have on during the season and at one time. Did you ask them those questions before you booked with them?

 

[HOCOMO Hunter]

I think it's about 7k acres and only 2 of us hunting. Any advice on gear on tactics would be much appreciated.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

I think it's about 7k acres and only 2 of us hunting. Any advice on gear on tactics would be much appreciated.

If that's the case you should be able to slip around on the ranch roads and park where you can slip up to glass areas that can't be seen from the road. Antelope have eyesight that is unreal and the more you can stay out of sight and find them without them seeing you to then figure out how to make a stalk on one is how to do it. I know this is a long range site, but I like to think of hunting them like it's a bow hunt to see how close I can get. If the terrain doesn't allow it, then setting up and shooting out at distance if done properly is the way to go. Play it by ear and you'll find out that it's a ton of fun and they are a beautiful little animal that can be hunted the entire day, unlike a lot of animals that are only active early and late in the day and that are much harder to see.

 

[jaeger19]

Let's see gear list.
Rangefinder
Good set of binoculars. You will be glassing a lot.
You may want to have a spotting scope. It's helpful to judge an animals quality to see if you want to set up a stalk or not.
Shooting stick tripod. I use one that I can shoot off of and use for scope.
Windmeter.
Knee pads can be handy depending how much you have to stalk.
A range of clothing. Last year we had two days that were hot and dry and two days that we had snow sleet hail and rain. If you don't like the weather in Wyoming just wait. In 5 minutes it will change.

 

[HOCOMO Hunter]

I have everything on that list except the spotting scope. How vital is it? I have good bino's and scope will be 16 or 18x depending on rifle used.

 

[DR 3006]

I would get a window mount for my binoculars or tripod. I used a Manfrotto one on our hunt and was happy to have it. some days the wind would blow over a tripod with a spotter on it. a good rangefinder. seems some of those goats are hard to get a true range on

 

[Doublezranch]

Thanks TG...I knew what I wanted to say just typed it wrong.

Spotting scope is a very handy tool for goats. Especially if you are going to be picky. You will see lots of animals. Sometimes there's more than one herd buck and when they are herded up or laying down its really hard to get a good look. The Dr. was spot on with his diagnosis of the wind. It can and will blow. I like mounting my spotting scope to my window when it's blowing hard. Much easier than risking your spotting scope falling over. Your going to have a blast. That area is really nice with lots of animals.