We started this journey last year after some help from this forum, which helped me to do a public lands hunt in WY. This year my daughter and I applied for our permits and she was awarded a type 7 permit. She was able to pass her hunters safety earlier this year and had been practicing practical positional shooting positions for the past few months in preparation for what was to come. I also decided that I would build an off road camper for us to use so that we could get to any location that we thought it was possible to drive to. I had to call the school and let them know my daughter was going to be missing a few days. When her teachers asked her what she would be doing her reply was that she was going to do a wildlife conservation project in WY. Only one teacher asked the follow up questions as to what she would be doing, and she said yes I am going hunting and fishing for a week. I am still laughing thinking that some of her teachers were excited to hear that she was doing wildlife conservation, as they do not like hunting. So last week we made the quick 16 hr drive from WI to WY and found a place to camp out on BLM land. I thought we had a pretty good location and we only saw one other person hunting in 3 days.
Here is a picture from the first morning of our hunt.
It was 25 degrees at night and 70 during the day and sunny. We got busted close to a dozen time out looking the speed goats on the first morning, however we were having a ton of fun.
Around 1 in the afternoon she spotted one that she wanted to go after. I parked the truck and we made the short 100 yard sneak out into the field. The Antelope just stood there and watched us for what seamed like forever. I was able to get the tripod setup and capture a video of the shot. She got prone and attempted to prepare herself for the shot but couldn't make a clean shot through the grass. I was able to crawl back to the truck and grab my shooting mat and bring it back to our location. I put the mat in front of her and she was able to rest the bipod on it giving her just enough clearance. All this took place while the goat just kept watching us. I couldn't believe that it hadn't run off. This must be the one that is willing to give us an opportunity to fill her tag.
I had her take a few practice shots to ensure that she was ready to felt comfortable. When she was finally ready I gave her a round, took a final yardage of 352 yard, dialed the scope and she broke the shot. It never took a step. She was so excited and shaking so bad, it was awesome. I couldn't have planned or wished for a better outcome.
It took several hours for her to calm down. After we had everything all cleaned up and in the cooler we took the trek to town so that we could get some ice cream in celebration.
I will have to see if I can post the quick short video of the shot. It was a real confidence booster for her to make a single successful shot at that distance. Now she can go back to school and tell all her friends how far out it was and most folks around where we deer hunt don't take shots over 100 yards.
Now it was my turn and I was able to harvest an antelope. I was able harvest one at 550 yards and one at 300. It was an awesome trip and we can't wait to go back next year. Now we have 3 antelope in the freezer and now we have the youth deer hunt back home this weekend.
Good luck to all of you out there and safe hunting.
Here is a picture from the first morning of our hunt.
It was 25 degrees at night and 70 during the day and sunny. We got busted close to a dozen time out looking the speed goats on the first morning, however we were having a ton of fun.
Around 1 in the afternoon she spotted one that she wanted to go after. I parked the truck and we made the short 100 yard sneak out into the field. The Antelope just stood there and watched us for what seamed like forever. I was able to get the tripod setup and capture a video of the shot. She got prone and attempted to prepare herself for the shot but couldn't make a clean shot through the grass. I was able to crawl back to the truck and grab my shooting mat and bring it back to our location. I put the mat in front of her and she was able to rest the bipod on it giving her just enough clearance. All this took place while the goat just kept watching us. I couldn't believe that it hadn't run off. This must be the one that is willing to give us an opportunity to fill her tag.
I had her take a few practice shots to ensure that she was ready to felt comfortable. When she was finally ready I gave her a round, took a final yardage of 352 yard, dialed the scope and she broke the shot. It never took a step. She was so excited and shaking so bad, it was awesome. I couldn't have planned or wished for a better outcome.
It took several hours for her to calm down. After we had everything all cleaned up and in the cooler we took the trek to town so that we could get some ice cream in celebration.
I will have to see if I can post the quick short video of the shot. It was a real confidence booster for her to make a single successful shot at that distance. Now she can go back to school and tell all her friends how far out it was and most folks around where we deer hunt don't take shots over 100 yards.
Now it was my turn and I was able to harvest an antelope. I was able harvest one at 550 yards and one at 300. It was an awesome trip and we can't wait to go back next year. Now we have 3 antelope in the freezer and now we have the youth deer hunt back home this weekend.
Good luck to all of you out there and safe hunting.
