First time Colorado Antelope

StronTower

New member
Jun 11, 2019
18
Hey Everyone,


So I have never hunted antelope before. I am last minute deciding to give it a try (mainly because I hear the meat is amazing).


I do not need any specifics about a precise area to hunt. But can anyone give a good recommended unit to try for my first year. I am only looking for a doe tag and one that I can likely draw and have public land to hunt on. I am looking on OnX, and the hunting atlas as well as colorado hunting statistics. But the best units I can come up with are 13,15,18. However, I am not confident in my selection. Any help would be appreciated.


Thanks
 
I would recommend using the CPW Hunt Atlas. That should give you the general ranges of antelope and will also show public and private land. The toughest part about antelope hunting in Colorado is a vast majority of the land they inhabit is private. Think primarily east of I-25 and in the lower regions of the mountains, where again most everything is private. I'm definitely not saying it can't be done, but even doe tags can take a few preference points in certain units.


I honestly have no clue about the units you mentioned and the antelope herds in them, so start with the hunt atlas and see what that shows. The last thing you want to do is draw and tag only to find out the antelope all hang out on private land that is inaccessible to you. Good luck!
 
Thanks CoHunter,


That was my primary focal point (hunting atlas). I saw a majority of the herd is east of I-25. So I looked at walk in access areas and SWAs but overall it seems that those areas are small and I would need a big blessing to actually have antelope stroll through those areas.


I will keep digging and see what happens. At the very least this will be a good educational year.
 
Is there a reason you're tied to Colorado?  For doe tags, Wyoming has several areas that had 100% draw odds and several others that were 75% or better. 

There's also a few areas that did not require a preference point to draw a type 1 (any antelope) tag last year.  You'll likely see the same access issues with those areas, but it can be done. 
 
I'm baffled as to why you thing 13,15,and 18 might be good. I would not consider any of those three for an antelope hunt. Wyoming would be a much better choice than Colorado. Wyo67 had some good advice.
 
I was choosing 13,15 and 18 based on the chance to maybe draw the tag with zero preference points, that there were herds located there based on the colorado atlas and that there was some public land to hunt on. There are units in eastern colorado but that is almost all entirely private land.


I was choosing Colorado based on that I am a resident of CO. I will not have the time to do a long antelope hunt this year, so I am looking for an in state tag that will give me a learning lesson on antelope hunting and also allow me to give it a good solid weekend, as that is all I can afford this year.


I do like wyoming and am looking more into it, but I am not sure I can make it happen this year.


Thanks for the help
 
Good luck.  Most of the guaranteed draw units are in northern Wyoming, but doe tags are relatively cheap and if you do your research for areas with public opportunities versus tag availability, it can be done in a weekend trip.
 
The reason there is a chance to draw those units with zero points is because very few hunters would even consider any of those units. However, there used to be a small herd south of Hayden in unit 13 but mostly on private land.
 
DO NOT LISTEN TO THE "CO...Why?! Go to WY!" PSSSHHHHHHH! Listen, I know tons of units in Colorado, tons that have loads of public access, ones with great draw odds. People literally look at the Colorado map on ONX and just give up on Eastern Colorado.


ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS ZOOM IN ON THE FREAKING MAP!


The Comanche National Grasslands covers like 6 units and has over 250,000 acres. If you can't find a spot to hunt and animals, you just are cruising roads and not trying.


So do not listen to the no CO antelope BS. I have killed 4 and my biggest was just at 78". So yeah, it can happen. and for 0 points! I just cashed in on 4! For the unit with the most public land for a pronghorn unit in CO. So it aint that hard. People just aint willing to work hard.


PM me if you want more details. I have hunted and scouted like 5 different units for pronghorn. Tons of spots, tons of animals.
 

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