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Wyoming Pronghorn and mule deer same time

4002 Views 12 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  BugleB
My wife has enough points to draw unit 93 for pronghorn and unit G for Mule deer. I was curious if we could find mule deer in the same terrain as pronghorn in this unit. It would be unit 135 for deer. We will do it if we have a shot at seeing mule deer while hunting pronghorn. She has never shot a pronghorn so that is our first priority but it would be cool to have a mule deer tag in her pocket. But don't want to burn her deer points if we cant find both while hunting her pronghorn.
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It is possible to hunt both, but i would not do it. I hunted unit 93 in 2012 and found a lot of antelope near Fontanelle Res. area and never saw a deer. I think you would need to move camp into the Wyoming range to get into better deer country. I would focus on one animal at a time and make the most of your points and enjoy the hunt. Having two tags in your pocket can put unwanted pressure on a hunter. It will be many years before you can hunt that area again for deer and antelope.
Area 93 is awesome for trophy antelope! If you wanted to maximize opportunity for filling the deer and antelope tags, I'd focus on the edge of 93 near Hamm's Fork. Getting her a nice buck antelope shouldn't take more than a day or two--and that's being pretty picky!
Interesting, my brother from Illinois and I are looking over the same combo. He's had antelope 93 and deer G tags before, but never the same year and before the two hunt seasons overlapped.

First, I have to commend the WY Game & Fish for extending the antelope season so it coincides with deer and elk. Something we've been lobbying for a long time. It's only been that way for a few years now. And hey, hunting is a game animal population management tool so what difference does it make if you "manage" antelope populations another month longer thru October 31st? There's still the same number of tags.

Like provoflyfisher said I'm not a fan of hunting more than one big game species at the same time although if I was a nonresident and drew antelope 93 and deer G the same year I might change my mind. And the way the nonres point creep is going in Wyoming, the 93/G might be a once-in-a-lifetime combination.

Antelope and mule deer often share the same habitat and where the sagebrush steppe meets the aspen/serviceberry country is, IMO, the best habitat combination. As far as close to the Wasatch Front goes, the 93/G combo is probably the best and then 98/G, and 100/K running close behind.

I can't count the number of days I've spent in the 93/135 combo. There are places up there where, if you know where to go, you can run into antelope, deer, elk, moose, sage grouse, pine grouse and ducks all on the same hike. You might even see a wolf if you get far enough away from the main roads.

I could get you down to a couple hundred yards of a antelope/deer combos in 93/135 that took me 30 years or more of hard walking to find, but I won't.

My picks:

  • Where the BLM meets the National Forest on the Hams Fork
  • The south end of Commissary Ridge on BLM
  • Along Oyster Ridge east of Commissary Ridge on BLM
That narrows it down to about a million acres. :)

Good grief, I'm bailing out of this thread before I start posting pictures.

Good luck
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I shot at and missed one of the 5 biggest mule deer I ever seen in my life in 93/135 and ran into a nice herd of antelope on the walk back to the road; Oct 1, 2011.

uh..."walk" would be the key word here.

That's it, I'm done.

.
So the next day, Oct 2nd, I go up after the big buck. I gotta cow/calf elk tag in my pocket. I walk all day; can't find the big buck. On the walk out I run into a small herd of elk and I picked on a nice fat calf. A herd of antelope stood on the hill above grazing and watching me as I field dressed the elk:


Same place:


Leave me alone. :)
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Beautiful pictures. We are all for the adventure. I have never hunted Wyoming but will be putting lots of time in if she gets the tag. She is a hiking fool. I am more excited for her pronghorn hunt. She has put meat in the freezer on antlerless hunts but never put down a buck of any kind. She hunted 18 days in the hot desert one year chasing mule deer with her bow and came home empty handed after several attempts. So i will be one happy guy to see her get a pronghorn. We might have to try for both tags and hunt pronghorn and then go into some deer country. Thanks for the advice. I was hoping to hear from wyogoob. She has 4 points for both so going with the special tag should get us close.
I missed a great buck in 135 last year, had antelope all around me. Spooked a couple of moose from the same area, didn't see any elk that day.
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I'll throw my $.02 in keeping in mind that I don't have near the experience of Bug or Goob. Here's my opinion........a combo hunt is absolutely doable and would be lots of fun if you have some time to spend doing it. If you would be happy with a decent deer and a decent pronghorn then The combo would be fun and success would be likely. Here's the caveat.......there are some huge deer running around in G and some monster pronghorn potential in 93. If the trophy thing is important to you then I would concentrate on one species at a time. Without some dumb luck you will have to work pretty hard to get an above average animal on either hunt. Personally, I would split the hunts up and savor the opportunity to hunt in some awesome country two years in a row.-----------SS
Thanks Springville for your comment. We will have lots of time to scout and hunt I think we will break the hunts up so
We get to hunt more. Not for the chance at a trophy but to have the chance to hunt Wyoming back to back years together. We both have 4 points this year for pronghorn and deer. But 100% focused on getting her a goat and letting her have a fun hunt. I have two girls getting of hunting age in a few years and so for them to see mom having a good time will go along ways. Pronghorn is the perfect hunt for this.
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PS......make friends with Bugchucker. He lives in Kemmererer and is like the third nicest guy I know. ;-)------------SS
Dont listen to him^^^^^. If you do get up here and get a hold of me I can how you a couple of spots where I saw some nice lopes last year.
If I were you, and your wife really is a hiking fool, I would hit the high country in G for deer and not waste all my hunting time in the "women and kids country" of 135. My 2 cents worth.

The high country is much more scenic and has more good bucks.
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