Wyoming antelope/trespass hunt

I know it is a stretch, but does anyone have a rancher who does trespass fee hunts in WY? My buddy and I are looking to head west this fall. If you have a connection, feel free to message me. Thanks

https://www.hunt-nation.com/hunt/wyoming-self-guided-antelope-hunt-142/

I don't know if they still do it, but some of the Chamber of Commerce's from different cities in Wyoming used to have a list of names of ranches that allowed hunting. Some charged a flat "trespass fee" or some charged by the license. Others charged a fee for each animal taken. Check out bigger cities near areas you might be interested in hunting around. Douglass, Wright, Sheridan etc.....

Good luck!

Lots of BLM land to hunt on, without the need to pay a fee. Call the BLM office, purchase a few maps in areas you are looking to hunt, they used to be $8.00 each.

The world has changed.

You aren't hunting wy antelope on big chunks of public without 5 to 7 preference points.


By the time you get to 5-7 points, the point creep will make it 7 to 9 points.

Ain’t that special! If you are financially able just cut to the front.

Totally agree with Marty. With zero points you don't have any chance of drawing a tag in a unit with a reasonable amount of public land. At this point in the year It's unlikely you'd be able to locate a rancher that allows trespass that isn't already committed. I think if you want to hunt this year you'll need to locate an outfitter in the eastern part of Wyoming that still has opening or you could potentially find an outfitter in New Mexico.

Good Luck!

Yep..Antelope hunting in New Mexico..LOL...Antelope landowner tags are $3.000.00 all day long..However those tags are already bought by outfitters so your hunt before Non-Resident tag is going to be $4.000.00 and up...

Wow.

Plus another loan for Gas to get there

Yep...On the brighter side Non-Resident antelope licenses is only $283.00...The thing to do is put in before next Wednesday for a state tag...However if you draw it can get a little dicey...You can only hunt on state or blm land..Many of these ranches have their deeded land incorporated with state and federal...So..You pretty much have to have ONX apps to keep you straight..Especially dealing with the locked gates that are supposed to be open...Usually a hunt is over in two days though with 100 percent opportunity..Good Luck

Wyoming is also looking at cutting the number of tags issued to non residents deal breaker is the outfitters and landowners want a share for there use.

Come on to Montana. You can get a tag pretty easily, and lots of BLM ground to hunt. An added plus will be you won't have to hang out with all those Coloradan's hunting wyoming!

Been to Montana on a antelope hunt. DIY hunt. Good time, saw many different species and got a decent goat. The problem is the ranches where we hunted have since sold all their rights to the outfitters. No hunting that area anymore.

Someone on here gave me a recomendation a while back and a friend and me applied , both drew a buck tag and I drew a doe tag as well, we seen dozens of Antelope and filled all tags first day. Seemed no one liked out of state hunters, you MUST have GPS & Onx, BLM land and BLM maps no problem.

Wyoming has ranchers that participate in "Walk In Areas" on private land. Look through the Wyoming F&G website or call the main office or any regional office for information.

They have a complete list of all the ranches or private land owners that and what is required to access any of those properties FREE.

Take a lot of planning to get it right. But True^^^

Looks like the incorporation of most private land in the West is about complete. Its like everything else in this country, big money, no matter how it was made, talks and everyone else walks. I'll stick with what I know here.

I just buy $40. Preference points until I want to go....I have 10 for Wyoming Antelope
But this year with Gas prices now the way they are ...I'll probably own 11 or 12 points before I go again

$40 a year doesn't kill a guy.

Sounds like antelope shooting has gone more towards hunting a spot to shoot one. I was less than impressed in 2004 and 2005 when I went antelope "hunting" in Wyoming. We put in for 3 units we had scouted and hunted 2 diff units those years. Both had adequate amounts of state owned land and game and fish land units. It really is just a matter of being able to shoot a rifle over 200 yards. We could sit still on the ground and watch groups of antelope about the entire time. I thought the meat was terrible. Good experience but I have no desire to do it again. I guess people that don't shoot an antelope must not leave the house and just buy a tag - I sure hope they are not that poor of a shot they can't hit one.

No way, I would spend 40 dollars a year for 11-12 times - I'd rather go buy a beef calf and finish it out.

X2

A lot of walk in areas change from year to year no way to know for sure if they will be in the system at the time you draw. As far as the quality of the meat don't touch the hide with your hands and touch the meat. The hair has a very musty smell that transfers to the meat. Also figure how to get your meat cooled off hunting that time of the year we often have 80 degree weather. I see to many folks skin the animals and the ground get that smell all over the meat then stick it in a cooler and drive 15 hours and complain. Well you just marinated the meat in sagebrush and antelope hair. An antelope as we call them are not really an antelope but a goat. If your ever around or handle a goat you will know what I mean. We always carry a game hoist that hooks into your receiver hitch and skin them on that use nitrile glove to skin them then bone the meat and put in a cooler with ice jugs not ice cubes or blocks. The melting water will contaminate meat with any bacteria.

I have used Wyoming's HMA program.
Dug up the landowner info, we went to his house to introduce ourselves and to personally THANK him.
He gave use some tips and go to areas ( he had north of 50,000 acres. His wife told us we could camp behind one of their outbuildings to stay out of the wind. And access to domestic water too.

Afterwards, they told us to not bother with going thru HMA program, just come on out and hunt!
Takes a few years to pull a tag there now.

Sent a buddy and his wife there 3 years ago.
They both tagged out first day.

.maybe if you Enjoyed it immensely like I do. Or if you hunted them differently like Stalking or calling it would be more fun for you.
I've had 2 in 15 bad meat. But it's the getting out West experience that makes me go back
I Raise beef in case you want another hunt like you made . I'll let you hunt one of my finished steers.for your meat hunt.

Where the racks Trophy size? 16" or over?
Sounds like a great place. Glad you had Fun!

You think deer is that much better than pronghorn...? To me, both taste about the same. If its a warm to hot day, the goat gets cut up and meat put on ice. I've seen plenty of field dressed antelope bouncing around in the back of a pick up come Monday when people are heading home from say opening weekend. Yeah, I suspect the meat doesn't taste that good by the time its cut up. Then again,

I shot by first nice (SD nice) buck by 0900 on Sat in 1985, field dressed it, and it hung int he shade of a rancher's out building until we left Sunday afternoon. Went back up to college and cut it up in a friend's garage Monday night. Not overly cold or warm that weekend. Meat tasted fine to me that fall and winter eating it, then again, I was a young college kid and maybe didn't know any better...

Trophy to me, lol.

Biggest we've killed there was 14", but have seen a FEW bigger.
Always have an absolute blast.
Low buck, low pressure hunt.

We still laugh about The Tree.
It's the only thing over 4' tall for miles.
Told a buddy to look for it.
His wife killed a nice buck within view.

Granted, you can see it a LONG way off...

Right of pic, just see it poking above hill.

NonPCfed, I can eat it. Like geese and ducks though I dont 't like it. FWIW I know how to make meat.

Last time I ate antelope was in WY. Superbowl was on at a local bar. They had a huge slow cooker in there with texas chili made with antelope chunks. There was enough chilis in there your face bout caught on fire to eat it. I was hungry and ate a bunch. Those chilis covered up that awful antelope meat taste.

Danny clifton- I never said you didn't know how to handle wild meat or inferred that to anyone else on this forum. But I have seen plenty of pick-ups with gutted antelope at gas stations on I-90 that have been laying around in the sun and dust for a good day or two. Just trying to get my point across, in my opinion, there's isn't a lot of daylight between the taste of deer and the taste of pronghorn. The closest I've ate of wild critters to beef is elk. Again, that is my opinion...

Antelope can be good or bad. Personally never had a bad antelope, and rate it up there with bighorn ewe. More mild than Moose, but not quite as flavorful. I'd take antelope anyday over whitetail or muledeer. But like anything else, it's all about the diet.

Dean Chapel- Does Bighorn, even though its a sheep, actually taste like say lamb--few Americans nowadays have actually eaten mutton, I know I haven't. Or does Bighorn taste more like other, hoofed wild game??

What the heck does this even mean?
NRs have PP in Wyoming , you don't have to buy any to hunt but the areas will be iffy for access with 0 PP. We also have 2 draws but no one gets to cut to the front of the line, you draw based on your PP in most areas. For some areas the more expensive draw has worse odds than the Regular draw.

Pronghorn meat is great if taken care of properly, the multitude of doe licenses sold yearly can attest to that.

Wisconsinteacher do you have any PP? If not your choices are slim but doable. Numbers are down right now, another year or 2 and some PP would help you draw.

As far as a trophy antelope its not about length of horns most of the time its about the mass and where the cutters fall on the main horn and beam. One thing for sure with the drought we are going through horn and antler growth is going to suffer on all are big game animals. Also the production of fawns is not going to be the same in a lot of areas.

I agree with Dean, antelope is fine eating. Between black bear, elk, venison, and antelope, we like antelope best. Like any game animal it has to be handled properly. Pronghorn can be a challenge on a warm sunny afternoon with no shade in sight. I've hunted small walk in areas in Wy, typically 1 or 1 1/2 sq miles, so you are never really far from your truck in that situation. After the kill, immediately field dress, prop it open, and beat feet for the truck. Come back with your cart and a couple of bags of ice. The antelope goes on the cart and the ice goes in the body cavity. It will do a lot of cooling down on the way out. Back at the truck break it down, bag it in game bags and plastic and put it on ice. A hitch hoist makes it an easy one person job but I've done them hanging from a back leg on a 6' wood fence post too.

I've heard a lot of chatter about pronghorn tasting bad if they are eating sagebrush, but all of mine have been in sagebrush. I've never seen pronghorn where there isn't sagebrush and I've read they require sagebrush in their diet. I think those folks that have consistently handled a downed pronghorn properly have enjoyed the meat, and those that have not always handled them properly have had some bad experiences.