So, after two years of planning and research, a friend and I took the plunge and headed out to Wyoming. We failed to draw last year, but this year we snagged our 1st choice unit. We made the 20hr drive from Kentucky only stopping for gas and food. After taking a short nap at the hotel, we spent the second half of Thursday driving the perimeter of our hunt area. Friday was spent dissecting the interior of our hunt area. We took a play out of Big Fin's playbook and hiked in at several stops to glass for antelope hidden from the roads. We were rewarded with sightings of a couple potential shooters on public. Having never hunted antelope before, our standards were set to shoot any buck that represented the area well. We agreed that we would know our buck when we saw him.
Having said all that here's how the hunt went:
We went to bed Friday with elk bugling in the distance.
The bulls were still talking when we had our morning coffee. Here's what we found when the sun came up. He's one of 3 bulls that we could see.
We decided to hike up where we spotted the elk to get a better look as well as get in a good position to glass for antelopes. We made it up to the ridge top and glassed up several groups of antelope. We were packing up to go get a closer look at one of the herds when we spotted an antelope buck coming over the next ridge. We decided that he was a shooter and got the camera rolling. Glen dropped him at 250 yards.
We were back at camp quartering up Glen's buck, planning out our lunch, when I spotted a lone buck crossing the prairie just below where the first buck was taken. Given the amount of work left to do on Glen's buck, I decided to pass even though the buck looked larger than most bucks that we'd seen over the past two days. Glen quickly talked me out of that and I grabbed camera and rifle and took off after him! It took a good 15 minutes to drop into the ravine and close the distance while putting the wind in my favor. I came up behind the buck about 235yds out and got the camera setup before stopping him. He gave me plenty of time to look him over and I decided he was the one. One shot from the .243 closed the deal and we were officially tagged out by 11:30am.
I'd like to say a big thank you to Big Fin and all of the Hunttalk crowd. The show and forum are an immense resource and I only hope that I can contribute something of value at some point to help pay things forward. Glen and I are most grateful for the tips and tactics we were able to pick up. Western hunting was foreign to us, but now we're both hooked for life. Thanks all!
Having said all that here's how the hunt went:
We went to bed Friday with elk bugling in the distance.
The bulls were still talking when we had our morning coffee. Here's what we found when the sun came up. He's one of 3 bulls that we could see.
We decided to hike up where we spotted the elk to get a better look as well as get in a good position to glass for antelopes. We made it up to the ridge top and glassed up several groups of antelope. We were packing up to go get a closer look at one of the herds when we spotted an antelope buck coming over the next ridge. We decided that he was a shooter and got the camera rolling. Glen dropped him at 250 yards.
We were back at camp quartering up Glen's buck, planning out our lunch, when I spotted a lone buck crossing the prairie just below where the first buck was taken. Given the amount of work left to do on Glen's buck, I decided to pass even though the buck looked larger than most bucks that we'd seen over the past two days. Glen quickly talked me out of that and I grabbed camera and rifle and took off after him! It took a good 15 minutes to drop into the ravine and close the distance while putting the wind in my favor. I came up behind the buck about 235yds out and got the camera setup before stopping him. He gave me plenty of time to look him over and I decided he was the one. One shot from the .243 closed the deal and we were officially tagged out by 11:30am.
I'd like to say a big thank you to Big Fin and all of the Hunttalk crowd. The show and forum are an immense resource and I only hope that I can contribute something of value at some point to help pay things forward. Glen and I are most grateful for the tips and tactics we were able to pick up. Western hunting was foreign to us, but now we're both hooked for life. Thanks all!
