# Doe antelope hunt



## APD (Nov 16, 2008)

I'm thinking of using my 5, now 6 points toward a cwmu hunt the kid could get involved with. antelope creek, deseret and cottonwood ridge look like areas i'd be interested in and should be able to draw. i've hunted the wyoming side of deseret and enjoyed it up there. looks like about 50 tags go that way and only a handful to the other two. anyone here have experience they'd care to share with those cwmu's? are the operators easy to work with and are the herds decent sized or micro herds?


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## brisket (Mar 3, 2015)

PM sent.


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

My vote is for Deseret, but I don't have any experience with the others you mentioned.

The CWMU operator for Deseret is Tom Land - he is a fantastic guy and extremely good to work with.

Here is the link to Tom's outfitting company, Wild Country Outfitters, and the page about hunting doe antelope:

http://wildcountryoutfitters.com/statedoepronghorn


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## Seven (Jan 8, 2009)

I did deseret 4 years ago and my son drew the antelope creek last year. Both easy to work with. Both hunts over by 10. I think I preferred the antelope creek one slightly over the desert. Mainly because there seemed like more organization and rules on deseret. Deseret wanted you there on a specific day and time, had a group discussion with all the hunters, told you were to go on the maps, made you check out and show and record your animal. Antelope creek pretty much said if you can catch them in a farmers field please kill one there other wise have fun. It just seemed more like a hunt.


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## RandomElk16 (Sep 17, 2013)

Deseret will be less than a 1 in 1 for 5 points. Point creep hit it with this group that is now at 5 points. If you have 6, you should draw it. I was a little confused by your "5 now 6". It will require an additional point for each of the next few years (depending if people leave the pool).

From what I have read, with 6 points there are quite a few solid CWMU's with 100% success you could draw. A few are a bit closer to SLC than Deseret, or the same drive. You could head east and get a two-doe CWMU tag. 

I have 4 and don't know what to do with them


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## MWScott72 (May 23, 2011)

Whether it is a macro or micro herd should not matter on a CWMU. With the limited pressure, you should have little issue finding a doe, so long as there are animals present. A quick call to the operator should answer this question and give you some piece of mind.


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## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

It's crazy to me to see how many points it takes to hunt doe pronghorn in Utah. Kind of a sad state of affairs.


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## RandomElk16 (Sep 17, 2013)

Vanilla said:


> It's crazy to me to see how many points it takes to hunt doe pronghorn in Utah. Kind of a sad state of affairs.


Seeing that I have 4 points, which will land you a cow elk almost anywhere in the state, and looking at the doe antelope odds..... it's pathetic.


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## 3arabians (Dec 9, 2014)

RandomElk16 said:


> Seeing that I have 4 points, which will land you a cow elk almost anywhere in the state, and looking at the doe antelope odds..... it's pathetic.


I'm in the 4 doe antelope points camp with you. I'll just buy another point this year cuz I am sitting on 2 golden cow elk points right now. Options ahoy!!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## brendo (Sep 10, 2013)

Vanilla said:


> It's crazy to me to see how many points it takes to hunt doe pronghorn in Utah. Kind of a sad state of affairs.


Seems to be getting that way for everything.. doe antelope, doe deer, and cow elk all are starting to take more and more points. Even Wyoming for the most part has pretty terrible odds for doe pronghorn.


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## RandomElk16 (Sep 17, 2013)

3arabians said:


> I'm in the 4 doe antelope points camp with you. I'll just buy another point this year cuz I am sitting on 2 golden cow elk points right now. Options ahoy!!
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I have 4 of those cow thingy ma-jigs too!


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## MWScott72 (May 23, 2011)

Vanilla said:


> It's crazy to me to see how many points it takes to hunt doe pronghorn in Utah. Kind of a sad state of affairs.


That's why you hunt them in WY. At $49 per doe, it doesn't break the bank, and if you do it right, you should be hunting does every year...every other at worst. 2 animals for $98. Out of state, that is a steal. Put another hunter or 2 in the mix, and you can each shoot 2 animals. Gets fun in a hurry! &#128578;

Shoot, by the time you pay all the app fees in UT and build points, you could have been hunting already. Just sayin....


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## 3arabians (Dec 9, 2014)

MWScott72 said:


> That's why you hunt them in WY. At $49 per doe, it doesn't break the bank, and if you do it right, you should be hunting does every year...every other at worst. 2 animals for $98. Out of state, that is a steal. Put another hunter or 2 in the mix, and you can each shoot 2 animals. Gets fun in a hurry! &#128578;
> 
> Shoot, by the time you pay all the app fees in UT and build points, you could have been hunting already. Just sayin....


Still kicking myself for not making it up there with you a couple years ago.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Brookie (Oct 26, 2008)

There are plenty of Cow elk hunt that will take more than 3 points to draw this year.


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## derekp1999 (Nov 17, 2011)

I've said it before and it bears repeating... friends don't let friends apply for doe pronghorn in Utah.

The doe pronghorn opportunities just across the border are far superior than anything in Utah. Yet I sit here with 4 doe pronghorn points myself. Do as I say, not as I do... I guess. Once I burn these I'll never waste my time buying points for them again. At least that's what I say until the application period opens and there's just $10 standing between me and another point.

And I also sit here with two blessed cow elk points and oogling any number of different units that would be very good odds for myself and also very good odds for my 12 year old son with 0 points in the youth draw.


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## RandomElk16 (Sep 17, 2013)

MWScott72 said:


> That's why you hunt them in WY. At $49 per doe, it doesn't break the bank, and if you do it right, you should be hunting does every year...every other at worst. 2 animals for $98. Out of state, that is a steal. Put another hunter or 2 in the mix, and you can each shoot 2 animals. Gets fun in a hurry! &#128578;
> 
> Shoot, by the time you pay all the app fees in UT and build points, you could have been hunting already. Just sayin....


I'm trying to figure this very system out. It's hard when you have never done it, are from utah, and hunt solo lol.

But for opportunity I sadly have to look out of state.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

No-one in our family has drawn WY Doe pronghorn tags in years.


-DallanC


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## APD (Nov 16, 2008)

RandomElk16 said:


> I'm trying to figure this very system out. It's hard when you have never done it, are from utah, and hunt solo lol.
> 
> But for opportunity I sadly have to look out of state.


i study the draw odds and success rates and hope for the best. sometimes you'll get 2 years in a row that units go undersubscribed but that's the exception. if you're willing to drive to the east or north east part of the state you can draw every year. i'd rather chance it and hunt antelope when i get lucky.

after only hunting for about 5 years in wyoming, i've been lucky enough to draw low success tags frequently. first choice is a craps shoot. better odds can be detemined by looking at the previous years and current tag allotment. 
your second choice is useless if the unit you're applying for was sold out the previous year. second choices are best used on undersubscribed units, so long as you're willing to hunt them. they often have limited public land and sometimes a walk in access program that is limited in number. look for those areas when applying and read their restrictions first.

i hunt solo mostly. i've been trying to get the young kid involved and antelope seems to be the best way for me to do so. hunting solo doesn't hamper the success of the hunt but rather the shared time and enjoyment.

when picking a unit, decide how you want to hunt first (road or walk in) and then zero in on an area with good access and draw odds. type 6 tags usually have lower draw odds than type 7 or 8. those have more restrictions on them, like irrigated lands only, etc. fwiw, all doe tags come with a great chance at seeing only bucks.

opening days during the week are best for seeing doe. weekend openers are best for seeing hunters. after the openers all the lopes are shell shocked and jumpy. they're even jumpy during the early archery season from my experience.

sorry for the rambling. i'm getting distracted by the kids.
good luck and happy hunting.


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## RandomElk16 (Sep 17, 2013)

APD said:


> i study the draw odds and success rates and hope for the best. sometimes you'll get 2 years in a row that units go undersubscribed but that's the exception. if you're willing to drive to the east or north east part of the state you can draw every year. i'd rather chance it and hunt antelope when i get lucky.
> 
> after only hunting for about 5 years in wyoming, i've been lucky enough to draw low success tags frequently. first choice is a craps shoot. better odds can be detemined by looking at the previous years and current tag allotment.
> your second choice is useless if the unit you're applying for was sold out the previous year. second choices are best used on undersubscribed units, so long as you're willing to hunt them. they often have limited public land and sometimes a walk in access program that is limited in number. look for those areas when applying and read their restrictions first.
> ...


I appreciate all of this - very helpful!


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## MWScott72 (May 23, 2011)

Jake -
We'll do it for sure. Let's talk, and maybe we can figure something out.

All good points APD. I like to study the past 3 years of draw stats to see where the trends lie. 2018 seemed to be an anomaly - draw odds went in the tank because of an influx of applicants in the units I keep my eye on. That said, there are units even in the central and nw quadrants of WY that go undersubscribed...mostly these are Type 7 tags, but with an OnX and only slightly more than minimal effort, you can typically find enough land to make a decent hunt of it...even on Type 7 tags. I've hunted antelope (3 buck hunts and probably 5-6 doe hunts) for about 10 years now, and have a 100% success rate to show for it. Wish my deer and elk success rates were even close to that!!

Seriously, I think the Type 7 tags get a bad rap when in actuality, it is anything but. A Type 7 (like a Type 2 for bucks) is simply a tag that limits you to a specific portion of the hunt unit. A Type 6 (like a Type 1 for bucks) allows you to hunt the entire hunt unit. Sometimes, that is the only difference, and often, the Type 7s are issued to knock down herd numbers that are too high in that portion of the hunt unit. IMO, they are not "inferior" tags...far from it!

RandomElk - feel free to PM me if you have questions on the WY system. I feel like that is the one out-of-state option that I really understand and would be glad to help out.


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## APD (Nov 16, 2008)

since i've watched a few units closer than others, i've paid attention to big changes in them as well as the small ones. some years they have both type 6 and 7 tags and others there are no doe hunts at all. that seems to mess with applicants. after the no doe hunt years and high applicant (low draw success) years i seem to draw. the following year people figure it out and its back to high applicant. i'm sure there are people that put in for the same unit year after year without regard to the draw odds. the strange dynamic that's hard to predict are the type 1 NR hunters that also put in for type 6/7 if the draw the type 1. i think some of the large bump in applicant numbers comes from years where more of those NR type 1 guys draw out and get included in the doe numbers too. 

has anyone here put in for two low draw success doe tags and received one but not the second tag? when i draw a first choice tag i always seem to get both or nothing.


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## MWScott72 (May 23, 2011)

I've got to assume (but don't know for certain), that when you draw your first doe tag, they automatically award you with the 2nd tag (if you put in for the same unit) as long as there are available tags to do so. I have always put in for the same draw choices on both tags and have always drawn both doe tags in the years that I have drawn.


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## MWScott72 (May 23, 2011)

I meant to put this in a previous post but forgot, but another thing I try to stay away from on antelope hunts is opening weekend. It's just too busy with hunters riding all over the place. I have started hunting the 2nd week or beyond and the pressure is WAY down. Most of those that hunt the 1st weekend shoot their animals and go home. Sure, they get first crack at the bucks, but there have always been enough to go around after that 1st weekend. Just takes some sorting through a bunch of smaller bucks to find the one that you want.

With does it doesn't really matter. They will be there regardless. I just don't like Bubba running up my tailpipe trying to get first crack at them. I'd rather he get his animal the first week leaving the rest of us the chance to enjoy the hunt later on.:grin::grin:


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## APD (Nov 16, 2008)

well, i waited till the last minute and put in for deseret. i think i'd like the lower pressure of antelope creek but i'm going to look at it as using my points to their fullest. the other units take less points to draw and deseret will lock me into to a few days to get up there and do it. it may help the wife make the decision to take the kid out of school for a day. by then next time i get enough points i can mentor him on the hunt, which will be nice. that is if points creep doesn't put them out of reach before he ages out of the program. 

thanks for all the help. i'll try to remember to post up a few pics after we hunt.


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## APD (Nov 16, 2008)

it is pretty convenient that the wyo results come out 11 hours before the deadline for utah's antlerless application period.


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## APD (Nov 16, 2008)

RandomElk16 said:


> Deseret will be less than a 1 in 1 for 5 points. Point creep hit it with this group that is now at 5 points. If you have 6, you should draw it. I was a little confused by your "5 now 6". It will require an additional point for each of the next few years (depending if people leave the pool).
> 
> From what I have read, with 6 points there are quite a few solid CWMU's with 100% success you could draw. A few are a bit closer to SLC than Deseret, or the same drive. You could head east and get a two-doe CWMU tag.
> 
> I have 4 and don't know what to do with them


well, randomelk called it. my 6 points didn't cut it this go round. points creep is a PITA. maybe next time.

again, thanks for all the help.


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## MadHunter (Nov 17, 2009)

APD said:


> well, randomelk called it. my 6 points didn't cut it this go round. points creep is a PITA. maybe next time.
> 
> again, thanks for all the help.


Not to hijack the thread but..... FULL RANDOM DRAW!!!!!!


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

This is the second year the hunt I drew is offered. Last year the only NR tag went to a guy with 2 points. I applied this year with 6. Wasn't a guarantee, but helped I guess.


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## APD (Nov 16, 2008)

Well I finally cashed in those 6 points for a tag at antelope creek since deseret wasn't a possibility anymore. Points creep was nipping at my heels and it was time to bring the family on a "hunt". 

I spoke twice to george, the operator, to get an idea when he'd like to schedule a hunt. His only reservation was making sure we didn't conflict with the wounded warrior hunts he graciously allowed yearly. The second time I talked to him he said come on up whenever, l and let him know when I was finished. So, we came up the next day. Finding the place was pretty easy and the antelope were waiting just where he said they would be. I was wishing I waited one more year so my kid could be the shooter on a mentor tag. This is a perfect hunt for that sort of thing. As it was, I didn't want to shoot at the lopes without looking around and seeing what was beyond the slight rise, so I continued on the road to get a look. As we continued more antelope started to appear and it was buck watching time. They were rutting so the chase and sizing up games were in full display. We must have watched for 20 minutes before another landowner came up and chatted with us. 

To shorten the story, the hard part was getting a clear shot at one animal without either hitting multiple animals or a buck herding her up. When it finally happened I took a quick 150yd shot thru the lungs. She went 100 yards in 3 seconds and dropped. With help from the family we drug her out to the two track and broke her down. The family got to learn a few things and we're now eating our yearly antelope.

Btw, lunch from the gas station around the corner was great. Can't remember the name but it's about 2 miles away on a side street. 

Thank for all the recommendations in this thread.


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## hunting777 (May 3, 2009)

Congrats! Best table fare out there!


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

Congrats!


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## middlefork (Nov 2, 2008)

Very nice!


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