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4200m
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Iam considering burning my pronghorn points to hunt 61 this year and was wondering how the animals look with the drought and winter? I have been reading mixed reports.
Too early to tell. The winter has been easy, but the effects of drought on the range and the effects of that on the overall condition of antelope is tougher to pin down. My guess is the antelope there are fine so long as we don't get any crazy weather in the next few months. If we get good moisture spring/early summer it could be a good year. If it's like last year, you may have a tough time finding a big buck... If I were you I'd just go hunting.
grosventrehunter
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I too believe it's gone down hill over the past few years. Didn't even put in last year, nor will I again this year. There are better units out there.
marburg
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LAST EDITED ON Jan-27-13 AT 01:10PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Jan-27-13 AT 01:08?PM (MST)
Never hunted 61 but have hunted a couple other supposed "premium" units in the past few years. Based on what I saw I would look at units with plenty of water and low tag allocations. The water issue takes a lot of the desert units off the list. Those areas just haven't seen the moisture they need the last few years.
Never hunted 61 but have hunted a couple other supposed "premium" units in the past few years. Based on what I saw I would look at units with plenty of water and low tag allocations. The water issue takes a lot of the desert units off the list. Those areas just haven't seen the moisture they need the last few years.
First off let me say I'm not a rookie to antelope hunting, I've probably killed 15 to 20 nice pronghorns in my home state of Montana I have just never had a chance at a B&C Antelope. Go hunting! I drew Area 61 last year and after $150.00 in PP, $84.00 in drawing fees and 512.00 for antelope NS Special(my choice). I had 6 years and pushing a $1000.00 dollars invested in a Red desert tag. I started talking to Eli Grimmett of Pronghorn Guide Service right here on MM. He gave me more information than most on this site and definitely more than he ever had to. Eli called me after the drawing to see if I had drawn a tag and we talked some more so I took the plunge and went hunting with Pronghorn Guide Service because I wanted A B&C antelope. I looked at 5 buckS that Eli thought would make the books and we looked for 2 other he thought were in the books but we never found. I ended up going back and shooting the first big buck we saw on the first morning; he officially scored 87 4/8 SCI and 86 4/8 B&C. I know of 6 B&C bucks killed in Area 61 last year, 3 were killed by local Bowhunters out of Rawlins, WY and 3 were killed by hunters with Pronghorn Guide Service. I know there were probably more killed than these. I honestly can't sit here and tell you I could have judged a booner on my own even though I thought I could. Eli Grimmett taught me a lot about antelope hunting. After hunting Mt. and then hunting Wy. I say go hunting. If you need help call Pronghorn Guide Service and talk to Tony and Eli, they are great people, or do a DIY. GOOD LUCK!
grosventrehunter
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Wow $4,200.00 + tag.
LIK2HNT
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Well Shane, If you HAVE TO get a B&C buck and enjoy looking at a $5,000 investment on the wall or nothing else then I would call Pronghorn Guide service as suggested above. Other wise I would go DIY if you do not have the money and would enjoy a great hunt with a decent chance at a B&C buck. I personally would wait a year or two for unit 61 to rebound some. But next year should still be good with some effort. 2011 was suppose to have been a bad horn growth year and I was still able to arrow a nice buck. Look buck in this forum in the archives. Last year my friend had the tag. There were a lot of average bucks and few good bucks seen, but he only hunted 2 days. Horn growth was way down from previous years. If we had the time to of put in a better effort he would have done better. The herd did take a good hit with the drought, but the genes are still there. If you would like pm me you number and we can talk about it.
Bill
Bill
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StripBuckHunter
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LAST EDITED ON Jan-27-13 AT 07:24PM (MST)[p]Guys,
Too many people have a short memory in this society we live in. Let's discuss the claim of 'rebound' in unit 61.
I lived in Casper in 1992. Unit 61 was considered a trophy unit in those years............with 700 buck tags issued.............and I drew it easily as a res and scouted it and hunted it in 92 and 95 as a res. There were goats everywhere in 1992. Many fewer in '95. After the bad winter and severe winterkill of '92/93.........everyone said "oh just wait...........we have a bad winter every few years and the numbers will come back in a year or two." Little did they know.
Seems that nobody anticipated the 20-year drought and poor fawn recruitment that followed that bad winter. The 200 tags that followed that bad winter still remain the quota today. Amazing and unbelievable. Not enough goats to support a 700 buck tag quota since those glory years. One of the reasons the WYGFD is having funding troubles now.....as discussed in other threads on this website. This is the case all over the west given the long term drought with some bad winters mixed in.
My point is........61 is indeed a primo unit given today's standards. But.....today's standards for this and most other hunts in the west are just a shadow of what we had just a couple of short decades ago.
Too many people have a short memory in this society we live in. Let's discuss the claim of 'rebound' in unit 61.
I lived in Casper in 1992. Unit 61 was considered a trophy unit in those years............with 700 buck tags issued.............and I drew it easily as a res and scouted it and hunted it in 92 and 95 as a res. There were goats everywhere in 1992. Many fewer in '95. After the bad winter and severe winterkill of '92/93.........everyone said "oh just wait...........we have a bad winter every few years and the numbers will come back in a year or two." Little did they know.
Seems that nobody anticipated the 20-year drought and poor fawn recruitment that followed that bad winter. The 200 tags that followed that bad winter still remain the quota today. Amazing and unbelievable. Not enough goats to support a 700 buck tag quota since those glory years. One of the reasons the WYGFD is having funding troubles now.....as discussed in other threads on this website. This is the case all over the west given the long term drought with some bad winters mixed in.
My point is........61 is indeed a primo unit given today's standards. But.....today's standards for this and most other hunts in the west are just a shadow of what we had just a couple of short decades ago.
mlchaser
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Looks like plenty of info here already for you. But I also drew this tag last year. I hunted DIY about 8 days into the season due to scheduling. Big bucks were not around every corner, but it sounds like Eli and the guys had a few nailed down. I hunted 4 days and put 150 miles + each day in the unit and lots of time behind the spotter and the Swaro binos.
I admit also, that I am not an expert judge and my usual spotter buddy couldnt make the trip so didn't get the usual conversation on judging them. I have the Grimmet's videos which are a great help, but it takes field time. I ended up misjudging one and breaking my own rule of never shooting an antelope in the last hour of legal - they always look bigger than they are. I thought he had more curl than he did....so some ground shrinkage, but still one of the nest bucks I glassed. Ended up in upper 70s. Still a fun hunt with not too mnay hunters and tons of ground to look over.
The trick was lack of water...most springs were dried up, and if you got more than 1.5 miles from water, you could cover 10 sections of sage pasture without seeing an antelope. Near the water, I saw a ton of "nice" goats that would be game for the trigger in most WY units that you can draw with one point or second choice. But it was tough to sort through that looking for something that took them to that +80 level. My opinion was the lack of water hurt the numbers of lopers you saw and had to have an impact on the horn growth last year for sure.
Congrats to Eli's crew and the hunters for finding and taking those big ones!
I admit also, that I am not an expert judge and my usual spotter buddy couldnt make the trip so didn't get the usual conversation on judging them. I have the Grimmet's videos which are a great help, but it takes field time. I ended up misjudging one and breaking my own rule of never shooting an antelope in the last hour of legal - they always look bigger than they are. I thought he had more curl than he did....so some ground shrinkage, but still one of the nest bucks I glassed. Ended up in upper 70s. Still a fun hunt with not too mnay hunters and tons of ground to look over.
The trick was lack of water...most springs were dried up, and if you got more than 1.5 miles from water, you could cover 10 sections of sage pasture without seeing an antelope. Near the water, I saw a ton of "nice" goats that would be game for the trigger in most WY units that you can draw with one point or second choice. But it was tough to sort through that looking for something that took them to that +80 level. My opinion was the lack of water hurt the numbers of lopers you saw and had to have an impact on the horn growth last year for sure.
Congrats to Eli's crew and the hunters for finding and taking those big ones!
bigbuck1002000
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hunted there couple years ago. nice area. lots of antelope at that time, not a trophy behind every rock, like people seem to expect, but they're there if your patient and persistent. If i were to draw again i would archery hunt it.
ducksbucksandbulls
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I have been in the unit the last 2 years hunting elk in 24.
have seen a couple of great goats... Last year there was a monster living on the edge of Baroil.
The season ends early in 61, closing on the last day of sept...
have seen a couple of great goats... Last year there was a monster living on the edge of Baroil.
The season ends early in 61, closing on the last day of sept...
Horniac
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I had the 61 tag two years ago. It was a fun hunt with lots of antelope and a guy could fill his tag within 15 minutes of arriving if he wanted too. I looked at lots of bucks and couldn't find a "no-brainer" despite hunting it for nearly a week towards the end of the season. I have only hunted pronghorn a couple of times but read and watched everything I could on field judging them including the Grimmet's two videos and do have an 80" NV buck to my credit - though probably do more to luck than skill! Anyhow, after looking at 100's of bucks I was beginning to wonder if I was underestimating the score on some of them. Finally pulled the trigger on one and when I put a tape on him "he was what I thought he was" so I guess my field judging was OK after all for the most part.
LIK2HNT killed a nice buck during archery season and was nice enough to talk to me on the phone about the hunt prior to me going. He said he saw several other big bucks during his hunt. After reflecting on the hunt after the season, I was thinking about what he said he had seen and thought that maybe the earlier hunters killed the majority of the bigger bucks and perhaps I erred by not hunting it earlier in the season. When I was there I didn't see another hunter with a buck tag but there were a quite a few hunters around still with doe/fawn tags...
Horniac
LIK2HNT killed a nice buck during archery season and was nice enough to talk to me on the phone about the hunt prior to me going. He said he saw several other big bucks during his hunt. After reflecting on the hunt after the season, I was thinking about what he said he had seen and thought that maybe the earlier hunters killed the majority of the bigger bucks and perhaps I erred by not hunting it earlier in the season. When I was there I didn't see another hunter with a buck tag but there were a quite a few hunters around still with doe/fawn tags...
Horniac
P
prong_hunter
Guest
I think you hit the nail on the head.
Premier units in Utah could be drawn by a non-res just ten years ago with a few bonus point. No more. Even with 10 pts a non-res in Utah is looking at 27 years to draw a premier unit.
I won't live long enough to draw Utah's best units.
I fear Wyoming is going the same way as Utah. Lots more antelope, to be sure, but tags in premier Areas all require max points now. The reality of it is that I'll never draw Wyoming's "best" units for trophy antelope.
The good news is that Wyoming has many units with trophy pronghorns, all over the State. I've been fortunate to draw 5 tags in the last 5 years, all in good units, producing 3 trophies.
But I needed professional help to do it - couldn't have done it on my own.
One post above said, "Wow $4,200 - plus tag"
When you only have 5 - 10 hunts left, that doesn't seem so unreasonable. When you have but a few, it sounds like a bargain.
Premier units in Utah could be drawn by a non-res just ten years ago with a few bonus point. No more. Even with 10 pts a non-res in Utah is looking at 27 years to draw a premier unit.
I won't live long enough to draw Utah's best units.
I fear Wyoming is going the same way as Utah. Lots more antelope, to be sure, but tags in premier Areas all require max points now. The reality of it is that I'll never draw Wyoming's "best" units for trophy antelope.
The good news is that Wyoming has many units with trophy pronghorns, all over the State. I've been fortunate to draw 5 tags in the last 5 years, all in good units, producing 3 trophies.
But I needed professional help to do it - couldn't have done it on my own.
One post above said, "Wow $4,200 - plus tag"
When you only have 5 - 10 hunts left, that doesn't seem so unreasonable. When you have but a few, it sounds like a bargain.
Wyoming Hunting Guides & Outfitters
Urge 2 Hunt
We focus on trophy elk, mule deer, antelope and moose hunts and take B&C bucks most years.
