Antelope Regular vs. Special

[WITUfan]

I am doing research on antelope areas for myself and some friends. I am in an unusual situation because there are 6 people total with a whole variety of points. Depending on who decides to go next year, we could have an average of between 4.5 and 8.5 points. I know that is a big range what I am trying to do is just create a chart with all our options.

With that as background, I would like opinions from the folks on here who spend a lot of time looking at the drawing odds and know something about the units. As a general concept is going the Special draw route worth the extra money when you are into the 4 to 8 point type unit? Generally, the Special cuts off a point or two. So basically, I guess I am asking is a 7 point unit significantly better than a 5 point unit as a rule?

We have done it both ways in the past. I would always go Special if I could get a top unit or if it is the difference in going at all or not. I’m just really curious how others approach these in between units. I feel like any 6 point unit (where we are most likely to average out, based on who I think will go) will be a good hunt. Is a 6 point Special unit great and a 6 point Regular unit good?

And yes, I know it may depend more on unit X vs. unit Y, but I’m just asking about this as a general concept.

 

[nripepi]

As a general concept you are dead on, but in units with few tags it often gets messed up. Sometimes you can draw the cheaper fee tag with less points

 

[HikeHunt61]

Worth the extra money is the key. The more folks involved, the more complex that answer is of course. Since hunting is my main "vacation" each year, I always viewed the dollars as secondary...

 

[tracker12]

I think there are to many good units that can be drawn on a regular tag rather than pay for the Special.

 

[Bob D.]

Next year the special price may be the only option!

 

[WillHunt]

My approach has been to get the best tag I can get in the Special draw. It's expensive, but if you're flying across the country, eating, lodging, waiting years for points, etc. it seems like the extra money is a way of maximizing your opportunity on what's already an expensive trip. On the other hand, I've never killed a giant and who's to say that my success has been better hunting in a 4.5 point unit than it would have been in a 3.5 point unit, etc.

 

[chipc]

As others have said, in general the rule "follow the money" applies - or in this case "follow the points" especially if you don't have some inside info on a particular unit. Likewise, the special draw usually provides better options. For me, I usually apply in the special draw. the couple hundred dollars is inconsequential in the cost of the trip and if its likely to give me a better experience I'm all in. Good Luck. Chip

 

[littlebighorn]

For me the bottom line is how bad I want to hunt Wyoming that year.
The extra money doesn't really guarantee anything...including a tag.

 

[Buckbrush]

Agree with bighorn

 

[junior]

With a group we look for quantity more so than quality...success rates, amount tags issued vs 5yr average are things we look at. Then comes logistics, and lastly price. Trying to kill several top end trophies is almost impossible unless you do a ton of scouting.
Edit to add we are not trophy hunters, but usually end with a good one to some standards.

 

[pjs78]

Son and I cashed our points (8.5) last year. I am far from a expert
on this but I did do a lot of research. There are 3 things hunters
are looking for in this order. Trophy potential, public land, quality
of hunt ( number of tags).
We decided to use our points on a unit that we were pretty much
guaranteed that had endless public land but not really considered
a trophy unit. We waited to the 3rd week to hunt and had the time
of our lives. Never seen another hunter in 4 days, hunted different
areas each day and still never covered the unit. Glassed bucks until
our eyes were sore but the unit lived up to it's reputation as we
never seen one buck that was even close to a trophy.
We drew this unit in the regular draw and it ended up that the 3
other units we considered in special draw we would have drew in
1 but missed on the other 2.
So I think it comes down to what are you looking for. You looking for trophies? Lots of public? Want a sure draw? The higher points
units will probably give you what everyone is looking for. But if
you are looking for a fun time and like us not basing everything
on trophies there are a lot of good units out there that can be
drawn in the regular draw. There is something special about having a unit to yourself and being covered with animals that
for us at least trumped trophy potential. And you can bet there
were some there just could not find them. Just my opinion. Pat

 

[jims]

It really helps having inside information on units from 1 year to the next! A premier unit may only produce dinky 13" bucks after several years of drought and winterkill while a mediocre unit that is easier to draw may be filled with bucks that didn't have winterkill that same year. Local knowledge and yearly weather and antelope number records are super helpful figuring out which units have the greatest potential for trophy bucks in any given year.

Some guys wait 14+ years to draw a high demand unit. If it happens to be a year after drought, winterkill, etc they may be screwed! Believe me, I learned this lesson the hard way! Just because a unit takes a pile of points to draw doesn't mean it will have multiple B&C bucks to find and look over. Also, a lot comes down to how well a hunter is able to field judge bucks. Antelope are one of the toughest critters in N America to field judge.

As mentioned above, amount of public land available, number of tags issued, historic B&C records/trophy quality, etc vary greatly from 1 unit to the next. If you aren't particularly interested in B&C it may not matter a whole lot.

I've had great luck over the years drawing tags. There are a bunch of great tips in the posts above. Generally speaking the more public land that is available the tougher the draw. Deciding between regular and special draw is a gamble. It really depends on the unit but some units tend to flip-flop a lot between drawing tags with the same pts in the regular vs special. Right when I think I have it all figured out the is a year when all my research fails! In units with few nonres tags issued it only takes 1 group of hunters applying in regular or special to totally screw up trends.

To complicate everything, antelope numbers throughout Wyoming are dwindling. This means fewer tags and higher demand. My guess is this trend isn't going to change in 2022. Pray for a decent winter or antelope numbers could be in the toilet even worse next year! The WG&F cut doe tags this year in a lot of units across Wyo in response to this decline so keep your fingers crossed that this trend doesn't continue.

 

[pjs78]

Jims hit it on the head when he said droughts and winter kill can
have a huge effect on what are considered trophies from year to year. During my research I was fortunate enough to talk to a
state employee who had spent almost the whole summer working
in the unit we hunted. He said he had 6 bucks spotted that he would have shot anytime in any unit. He then applied for and was
successful in drawing this unit the following year the same year as us. I called him the
day before the opener and he said he's been scouting all summer
and the past 3 weekends and has not located a buck he would even think of shooting. Then this spring this unit was listed as
one of the units hit hard by previous winter.
I also forgot to mention that because we waited to hunt our unit
there most likely had some good bucks taken the first 2 weeks. Pat