Antelope unit 16

canyonman · Feb 15, 2014

Hello everybody,
I'm seeking any words of wisdom about unit 16 antelope. It looks like you can draw a buck tag pretty easy. Is it possible to find goats on the Teardrop and Red Horse walk in areas? Is there any other BLM access? Would it be worth a long 300 mile drive? I've looked into the western Wyoming units but they seem impossible to draw. It looks hard to even get a doe tag out west where there is more public land. Any help would be very appreciated. Thank you for your time.

TOPGUN · Feb 15, 2014

The reason you can draw a tag easily is because of the limited access to public land just like in a lot of the units marked with an * in the G&F lists. There is enough public land that touches a legally accessible road in 16 IF you have a good map and a GPS with a landowner chip and are willing to walk a few miles from the small little areas where that access starts and then widens the further you go. If you only have a 300 mile drive to get there, I'd get the tag and have a good pair of well broken in boots and go hunting! Take a good backpack and when you shoot your animal then bone it out and take it back to your truck on your back.

Beamerfish · Feb 26, 2014

Been hunting tracking what's going on in this unit for the last few years but we've since gone in another direction. There are some goats on the walk-in areas but numbers have fallen way off in the last couple years with that big winter kill. This unit has a lot of BLM land but most of it is practically inaccessible and pretty rough and not good antelope habitat. Fair numbers of goats on the private but permission is tough to come by.

godeep · Feb 26, 2014

Canyonman, what state are you coming? Do you have any preference points? Would you be happy with an average buck?

go4steelhd · Feb 26, 2014

I've hunted 16 once. We shot two bucks. But I won't hunt that area again. There are other units with better access. This unit has very little access even though it may have 40% blm. If you still choose to go hunt it anyway, have a gps with a chip showing public and private.
Good luck

canyonman · Mar 2, 2014

Thanks for the response guy?s! I think I'm going to use 16 as a back up unit. I'm coming from Colorado and would love something a little closer to the border. I've changed my focus a little bit and think I will just try for a doe tag somewhere closer. I got a doe tag in 61 in 2011, but it looks like that unit issued very few tags last year. What's up with that? Are the herds not doing well? It looks like the whole state has cut back?
Thanks again for your help, if anyone has any ideas on doe tags close to Colorado with decent access or walk in areas let me know.

TOPGUN · Mar 2, 2014

LAST EDITED ON Mar-02-14 AT 12:56PM (MST)[p]>Thanks for the response guy?s! I
>think I'm going to use
>16 as a back up
>unit. I'm coming from Colorado
>and would love something a
>little closer to the border.
>I've changed my focus a
>little bit and think I
>will just try for a
>doe tag somewhere closer. I
>got a doe tag in
>61 in 2011, but it
>looks like that unit issued
>very few tags last year.
>What's up with that? Are
>the herds not doing well?
>It looks like the whole
>state has cut back?
>Thanks again for your help, if
>anyone has any ideas on
>doe tags close to Colorado
>with decent access or walk
>in areas let me know.
>

***The numbers have been cut due to weather a couple years ago and they've been wacking a lot of does to cut the herds down in some areas too. If that's now your plan, just go into the draw odds stats and see what units have doe tags, the odds for drawing them, and also look at the Final Regulation section for last year to see the season dates and how many tags were issued. When you come up with several units, then go and check the WIHA and HMA section on the website to see what, if anything, is available there. All of that is simple to do in an hour or two. Then come back with a couple specific units and people should be able to help you. The G&F does have an * after each unit they consider as having difficult access, but many units like that can still be hunted with the proper maps and GPS equipment.