As for trophy quality on these lands, some experts contend that if you are looking for a record book antelope, there is no better place to go than public land in Wyoming, particularly southwest Wyoming. One only has to look in the Boone and Crockett or Safari Club record books to substantiate this claim. To be sure, there is a drawback to all this, and that is a scarcity of permits. As regards this year, in fact, there are no permits available, as the application deadline is passed. I'll have more to say about all this in a moment. First, though, why the emphasis on southwest Wyoming? Because that is where the largest block of public land can be found, roughly from just west of Rawlins to the state line and from Lander south to the state line. This region is primarily Bureau of Land Management lands administered by four field offices: Rock Springs Field Office; Rawlins Field Office; Kemmerer Field Office; and Lander Field Office. Collectively, these offices oversee about eight million acres of sagebrush/grassland, saltbush desert and aspen parklands that support thousands of antelope. Each office has what they call "status maps" available for a nominal fee. Similar to a topographical map in some respects, these maps identify private and federal lands and their boundaries. They also indicate roadways and topography.
In addition to public land, the southwest region has more than three million acres of what are........(continued)
