Grizz1148
Well-Known Member
Any advise for first timers? planning for next year. Trying to find out the best areas to draw a tag or buy otc leftovers. Areas with goats and public land? Any info on any aspect is appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Wyoming speed goat hunt
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Nimrod
Well-Known Member
Typically, public access and leftover tags are mutually exclusive. Do a search, there are dozens of posts on this topic.
huntinBuddy62
New Member
My son took me on a pronghorn hunt this fall in area 9. The numbers were down, but we each filled two tags, including two nice bucks.
Wyoming has thousands and thousands of acres of private land that is available thanks to the Walk-In program that is all shown quite well via a chip for your GPS (which is a practice necessity).
Be prepared to walk. And walk. Then walk some more. We probably averaged 6.5 miles a day. It wasn't the harshest terrain, but there were plenty of hills, and the flat ground isn't necessarily even ground.
Our hunt was challenging, but because Brant did his research we first-timers had a great time and filled some tags.
Good luck! And God bless...
(Be careful crossing fences - the last thing you want is to hunt for a week with a broken foot or something. )
Wyoming has thousands and thousands of acres of private land that is available thanks to the Walk-In program that is all shown quite well via a chip for your GPS (which is a practice necessity).
Be prepared to walk. And walk. Then walk some more. We probably averaged 6.5 miles a day. It wasn't the harshest terrain, but there were plenty of hills, and the flat ground isn't necessarily even ground.
Our hunt was challenging, but because Brant did his research we first-timers had a great time and filled some tags.
Good luck! And God bless...
(Be careful crossing fences - the last thing you want is to hunt for a week with a broken foot or something. )
huntinBuddy62
New Member
(PRACTICAL necessity)
Grizz1148
Well-Known Member
Thank you for the info, how long did it take to draw tags?
ATH
Well-Known Member
There are units you can draw with no wait. The trade-off is typically public land access. Much public land which may show up on a map has no legal access.
We hunted unit 6 this year. Not great public access, but despite that we filled 4 tags with bucks in 2 days, hunting together from 1 truck. The key was being willing to actually get out of the truck and hunt. 3 of 4 shot were not visible from the road but 3 of the 4 were within 200 yards of the road. We looked at unit 24 but access was even more limited. We talked to people who hunted 23, again not a ton of public land but they went there for doe tags and easily filled them in a day.
We hunted unit 6 this year. Not great public access, but despite that we filled 4 tags with bucks in 2 days, hunting together from 1 truck. The key was being willing to actually get out of the truck and hunt. 3 of 4 shot were not visible from the road but 3 of the 4 were within 200 yards of the road. We looked at unit 24 but access was even more limited. We talked to people who hunted 23, again not a ton of public land but they went there for doe tags and easily filled them in a day.
BAR BAR 2
Well-Known Member
Our ranch is in Area 24 and what has been said about limited access is entirely correct. We have the equivalent of one complete school section in two different parcels on the ranch. Both of these pieces of state land are along a road, otherwise there would be no access. Alot of ranches have state/fed lands, but if they are landlocked there is usually little chance for access. If a person wants to hunt on private property, or gain access to landlocked government land, they need to expect to pay trespass fees. That is a whole other discussion.
Research and a current GPS is your friend.
The harder the area is to hunt, the less competition you will have.
If possible, a scouting trip and time visiting with ranchers is well worth the effort and expense.
You probably have more questions and I will try to answer them as best I can, but hopefully this will help get you started.
Tex
Research and a current GPS is your friend.
The harder the area is to hunt, the less competition you will have.
If possible, a scouting trip and time visiting with ranchers is well worth the effort and expense.
You probably have more questions and I will try to answer them as best I can, but hopefully this will help get you started.
Tex
MagTen
Well-Known Member
I hunted around Lusk last year. My first rip there. Killed first goat. Lot's of fun.gun)
Grizz1148
Well-Known Member
Did you have to draw a tag or were you able to get one otc? Any trouble finding public ground? Thank you
Grizz1148
Well-Known Member
I should also mention, my uncle lives in Powell, I looked to him for help. He has stated that he hasn't hunted in several years and is kind of "out of the loop". He says that near Powell, which would be convenient for us, there is a lot of public ground and a lot of goats but very difficult to get a tag. Anybody familiar with this area? Thanks in advance.
MagTen
Well-Known Member
A friend of mine here in NC went online and got tags. We have friends in Scotts Bluff, NB that took us into WYO and went on the hunt with us. It was a great experience. The father gave me advise , the son called out the yardages. Just like a $10,000 guided hunt. What an experience. I took a 243. Never again.
ATH
Well-Known Member
What wast wrong with the 243? My 243AI does an excellent job on them.
Topgun 30-06
Well-Known Member
Please expound on your .243 statement, as it and the 25-06 with the proper bullets are as good as it gets for speedgoats!
For the OP---The answer to your question about the Powell area is that it will take a number of PPs to get a tag in the units up there that he is probably talking about. If you don't have any PPs, you are at a big disadvantage hunting any unit that has good public access because it usually takes a few to draw a tag. However, a unit like 23 or 24 that has mostly private land and a ton of leftover tags as 23 does because of that can be hunted every year if you want to fork over the money for a trespass fee to hunt on a ranch.
MagTen
Well-Known Member
I am sure this experience is the exception and not the rule. gun)
My first time shooting my M7 Predator in 243 @ over 200 yards was atop a mtn in western NC. I had sighted the BDC scope for 100 yards. We setup a target at 300 yards across a gap to the next hill. I calculated the shot with the Spot On program. I used the proper circle on the reticle and fired. Taking the Gator to the target I was 1/2" low and spot on left/right. I was ready for Wyo.
The morning of the hunt I was using Hornady Superformance 95gr. SSTs. We spotted several goats at 500 yards and Matt said get ready and shoot. After the devil telling me the 243 would fall flat I said "Matt we still have some bucks straight behind us". He said OK. They use 300 & 7 mags with large BC bullets and average 500-600 shots. We turned and walked up the slight hill and saw another buck @ 500 yards. We think this buck saw our heads and started to run straight at us. There had been several others to leave his area and run around the knoll beside us. This goat trotted and ran 400 yards straight toward us and all along Matt's son was calling out the yardage. I got ready lying on the ground and when the goat came over the knoll he stopped looking straight at us at 95 yards. Matt said shoot.gun) I put the crosshair on his white throat patch and squeezed off a round. He never acted liked he was hit. He turned to the right and prounced off about 30 yards while Matt said rack another one you missed. My thought Danny don't miss. He stopped I shot again crosshair right behind the shoulder.. Again nothing. Matt said rack another one you missed. My same thoughts. The goat jumped off slightly running again and about 25 yards more. I this time pulled slightly high to take out his spine and this time he is down. We walked up and Matt turned the goat over and looked up at me and said this goat was running dead, you did not have to shoot him after the first time and I thought the same. I had hit him each shot exactly where I had aimed. My displeasure with the 243 is not in the shooting experience but in the yardages of available shots. I have done well with the 243 on whitetails here in NC with TTSXs. But extreme long shots NO. IMHO. While at Cabelas in Nebraska I picked up a box of Nosler 100 grain partitions to try for next year. It is a longer bullet and higher BC and should work better on goats than the SST.
This is the gun that goes with me next year. M700VSF 308
This is group after only two days of working up loads with 155 & 168 grain A-Maxs. This grouping will get better. The 168 A-Max will buck a crosswind at 500-600 "10 times" better than any 243 slug.
Below is 6 bullets @ 100 yards.
