I took a friend from France to Wyoming for Anetleope last fall (he has reciprocated by taking me after Chamois in the Alps). We had great time hunting south of Newcastle in the Niobara hunt area. We are looking at applying for tags again this year.

Does anyone have any firsthand experinece with unt areas 23 and 26 (Pumpkin Buttes and Ormsby)? They seem to have the largest license pools and excellent draw rates. How is the public access? Can anyone recommend private access for a fee?

Anything else I should know about those areas?

I can't help you with those specific areas, but if you check with either the Gillette or Sheridan Game and Fish offices, they'll be able to send you a landowner list that has names, phone numbers and what they have on their ranch. Most charge a modest trespass fee of a few hundred dollars per hunter.

With regard to public/private, most of those units are private, but if you get a map that shows public vs. private land, look for the lands that are held by the public school system. These 'schools lands' can be pretty good, but the downside is that each parcel is generally small and they are broken up and located all over the place. I've killed antelope on these properties, but many of them, literally, are only a couple hundred acres in size.

If you were to hunt west of Kaycee, in unit 30, I can help you with a suggestion about a pretty good ranch to hunt there.

Thanks. I would appreciate the information. Please send me a pm

Chuck