Antelope opening week

opbuckslayer · May 10, 2016

Hey guys, looking for info on the crowds the opening week of antelope season. Is it worth going opening day for less disturbed goats and bigger crowds or should we wait a week or so and have to work a bit harder with less people. First time out so don't know what to expect. Looking at drawing 67 or 75. Thanks

pymulies · May 10, 2016

I think it really depends on what kind of goat you are looking for and what area you have.

If you want a good chance at a possible 80"+ buck I would scout and hunt the first week. If you are just looking for a buck that is a respectable representation of the unit, anytime would do.

The other thing is if the unit(s) have any migratory population fluctuations. If your unit has a bunch of goats that leave for winter, I wouldn't wait too long. If they move into your unit, I would hunt as late as possible.

py

Blank · May 10, 2016

+1 on above answer. Are you where you can scout and make multiple trips easily? If you find a big one, I'd be sitting on him in the dark opening morning. After the first week, pressure drops off to nothing. Then you can look the unit over every couple days, and check quality of bucks moving around. We have found some good ones that came off private property onto BLM in the past that we never saw until 3 weeks into the season.

jm77 · May 10, 2016

Makes no difference except a lot less hunters in the field and a better quality hunt. I know of as many or more big bucks taken a week or more after the opener.

For a resident who has a lot of time to scout a big one for the opener, different story.

Mudslinger · May 10, 2016

We went in 67 a few years ago after the first week and only saw a couple of other hunters. Tons of antelope to look at and took respectable bucks.

HalfAce · May 10, 2016

I hunted one of the units around Casper 2 years ago. I started hunting the day after the opener and will admit it really wasn't bad. I saw a 5 or so trucks out there, and only one guy was ever out of the truck, shooting at a buck half a mile away, lol! Maybe the actual opener was worse because i wasn't there for that. But ill admit it was way better then i thought the hunter pressure would be.

nfh · May 10, 2016

If opening day is between thur-sunday lots of people are out. The area hunt use to have 300 tags 4 years ago and is now 50 or 75 tags given so I see a lot less hunters. Archery is never crowded at least where I hunt

desperatehills · May 11, 2016

We hunted a unit the last 2 years near casper with left over tags. The first year opening day was crowded with people and gun shots everywhere. We hunted it last year after opening week and had a much more enjoyable hunt. This is not a trophy unit but with no hunters around we could take our time looking over bucks and ultimately killed better antelope because we were not racing to the animals.

nontypical · May 12, 2016

Unless you have a buck that you want to kill pre-scouted, hunt late. Much better quality hunting. Like stated above, if you have a big boy pre-scouted, opening day could be your best shot at killing him. But not necessarily.

Two years ago I had an elk tag in a great antelope unit. I set out a few trailcams, and got some pics of a great booner goat. Though I was in the area dozens of times scouting for elk, I NEVER laid eyes on that buck. Big antelope bucks can be tough.

There was another booner in the same area I saw numerous times. One day he patiently waited for a drink at another spring while I changed out SD cards on my cam. Lol. You just never know.

eelgrass · May 13, 2016

Every time I decide to hunt later in the season (yes, every time) the weather moves in on me and restricts my ability to even get around. It can happen early too but the later it gets the odds go up. Or.... the pronghorn gods just don't like me.