2011 antelope

[wtrollinger]

I am a non res looking to hunt lopes with a bow. Is it possible to draw a decent tag with no points. I would like to do a diy hunt on public land, or pay a reasonable trepass fee to hunt on private.

 

[bucklover]

LAST EDITED ON Jan-22-11 AT 12:04PM (MST)[p]It is probably pretty tough to draw a tag in a decent area. It would be even harder to find a spot on public ground,that has a water source for you to claim and sit up on. The last few years, every puddle of water gets claimed and a blind is put up well before hunting season. I know of several friends that have had their blinds up and established, only to have some unethical idiot plop their blind right on top of the same source of water. It's becoming very competitive. Unless you plan on spot and stalk, (not impossible but very difficult) you would be better off to find some private ground with owners that cater to this kind of hunting. Or plan to spend a great deal of your summer scouting and planning. Just an after thought: You may be better off to go for a rifle tag. This will give you a year to move around and cover more ground so you can become familiar with an area. Then you can tune into a spot you might want to come back to for a bow hunt.

 

[TOPGUN]

There are only two units in the entire state that are Archery only tags and several that are muzzleloader only! All the rest of the buck tags are Type 1 tags that are applied for between 1/1 and 3/15. If you draw one and want to hunt with a bow in them too, you buy an Archery Permit that costs $30. With that permit you can then hunt the early "archery only" season and then with a gun during the firearms season if you don't fill your tag with your bow. Put in for unit 7 a few miles west of Newcastle and you will draw that permit with no problem with no PPs. There is plenty of public land to hunt, but your best bet is to hunt the approximately 12,000 acres of private land that is under the WIHA program for free access to the public. I was out through that area last year and the goats are there and the early season with a bow should be fun and productive. You can camp on the Federal lands or get a motel in Newcastle. It's a pretty good size town that has anything you will need (motels, food, gas, processor just north of town on hwy 85, etc.).