Last year with the help of several guys on this site my oldest daughter and I harvested our first antelope in WY. This year we put in for buck tags for both of my daughters and doe tags for my new bride and I. The girls got their buck tags in the desired unit and the Mrs. and I got our doe tags in a unit on the east edge of WY. We decided to start reloading our own .260 ammo for our rifle this summer. It took a lot of tinkering and more help from a friend I met on this site. Thank you Clay O.! After about 130 rounds we had it dialed in and had our distances figured out for our BDC reticle on the scope.
Carlee, the oldest daughter, is now in college and studying "Fisheries and Wildlife" at South Dakota State University. She couldn't miss too much school so we picked her up at 11:00 pm after her evening lab. Her roommate and long time neighborhood friend came along for the ride and experience as well. We arrived in WY Friday afternoon, set up the camper and got out for a couple evening stalks.
Olivia, my youngest daughter, 15, was up first. On our first stalk we had the best buck that we saw all weekend come toward us as we were glassing a different herd. He and his dozen does just kept coming closer and we got Olivia on my pack with the rifle. As the herd moved she had to keep twisting around and got herself in a bad position. When it was time to shoot she was too twisted and flustered and it just didn't work out. The fact that she had about 8 cactus needles in her right hind quarter didn't help!
The next day we made 2 more stalks and we all crawled to 100 yards of a bedded lone buck. Olivia got the rifle on the pack and was waiting for him to stand and make the shot. Suddenly he jumped up and bolted from his bed. She stayed on him and when he stopped at about 175 yards she put one behind his shoulder. He ran another 50 yards, got wobbly and nose dived into the dirt. It was quite a celebration!! I was so proud of her to keep her composure and stay on him in the scope until he stopped and then make a great quick shot. He was a nice average buck and a good first buck for anyone.
Carlee was up next. We made a few more unsuccessful stalks that same day. Sunday morning we went to a chunk of BLM land that we have seen antelope in quite often. We decided to just walk in and see what was there. When we looked into the last draw we found about 10-12 antelope there. We looked at our options of either circle way around and come in from a different direction and hope they didn't move or wait and see what they did next. After only a couple minutes part of the herd started moving down the draw toward us. Carlee laid down prone and had the rifle on the pack for a rest. A buck and 4 does came into sight from behind the hill and worked down the old creek drainage toward us. They stopped to drink from a small puddle and I ranged them at 308 yards. There was a 20 mph cross wind so I told her to hold about 6" left of where she wanted to hit. I was debating on the shot based on the distance and the wind, but she knew which line to use on the scope and she said "dad, I can shoot him, I'm really steady, I'm gonna shoot" , I said OK, as I knew confidence is a big factor and she could do it. One shot through both shoulders and he dropped right in the mud where he was drinking. What a shot and relief! He was a real nice buck with good mass. After another 20 minute photo shoot we got busy boning out her antelope. Carlee wanted to learn how to do it, so she ran the knife on one whole side using the gutless method. I did the 2nd side to speed up the process but I was proud of her for wanting to learn how to do it herself.
The rest of the day on Sunday was spent taking family pictures in the rocks, sight seeing, and shooting a few prairie dogs. We packed up the camper and drove to Laramie in the dark and slept at a truck stop. Monday at 5 am we had the college girls at the airport and sent them back to college. Now it was Dawn's turn to hunt. We drove 2-3 hours north to our unit and set up the camper and got out hunting by 10 am. We spent the entire day glassing and making a few stalks on antelope that were a long ways from the road. The population was a mere fraction of what we saw further west in the girls' unit. As bad as I wanted to see my wife shoot her first antelope, I felt as though I would have felt guilty shooting a doe myself from this unit. They obviously need even further cuts in tag numbers in my opinion. In 9 hours of hard hunting and glassing we saw 13 animals on publicly accessible lands and 20 on private lands. Tuesday am we decided not to hunt and start our 12 hour drive home instead. We met up with Todd K. from this site and got to see the nice buck he shot in WY as well.
I can't even explain how much I enjoy this hunt and look forward to it. It can be a challenge to have 5 of us crawling through the sage and cactus and trying to quietly get in range, but it's worth it when it all comes together and we are all able to share in the excitement together. I highly recommend a WY antelope hunt for anyone that wants to take their children, wives, or friends on an exciting hunt. The best part is the number of animals that they can see, even if most of them are on private lands. They also don't have to be in "marathon runner shape" to do this hunt. Attached are the pictures of the girls and their bucks, the girls that joined in on the hunt, some prairie dog action, and their silly version of Mt. Rushmore
Carlee, the oldest daughter, is now in college and studying "Fisheries and Wildlife" at South Dakota State University. She couldn't miss too much school so we picked her up at 11:00 pm after her evening lab. Her roommate and long time neighborhood friend came along for the ride and experience as well. We arrived in WY Friday afternoon, set up the camper and got out for a couple evening stalks.
Olivia, my youngest daughter, 15, was up first. On our first stalk we had the best buck that we saw all weekend come toward us as we were glassing a different herd. He and his dozen does just kept coming closer and we got Olivia on my pack with the rifle. As the herd moved she had to keep twisting around and got herself in a bad position. When it was time to shoot she was too twisted and flustered and it just didn't work out. The fact that she had about 8 cactus needles in her right hind quarter didn't help!
The next day we made 2 more stalks and we all crawled to 100 yards of a bedded lone buck. Olivia got the rifle on the pack and was waiting for him to stand and make the shot. Suddenly he jumped up and bolted from his bed. She stayed on him and when he stopped at about 175 yards she put one behind his shoulder. He ran another 50 yards, got wobbly and nose dived into the dirt. It was quite a celebration!! I was so proud of her to keep her composure and stay on him in the scope until he stopped and then make a great quick shot. He was a nice average buck and a good first buck for anyone.
Carlee was up next. We made a few more unsuccessful stalks that same day. Sunday morning we went to a chunk of BLM land that we have seen antelope in quite often. We decided to just walk in and see what was there. When we looked into the last draw we found about 10-12 antelope there. We looked at our options of either circle way around and come in from a different direction and hope they didn't move or wait and see what they did next. After only a couple minutes part of the herd started moving down the draw toward us. Carlee laid down prone and had the rifle on the pack for a rest. A buck and 4 does came into sight from behind the hill and worked down the old creek drainage toward us. They stopped to drink from a small puddle and I ranged them at 308 yards. There was a 20 mph cross wind so I told her to hold about 6" left of where she wanted to hit. I was debating on the shot based on the distance and the wind, but she knew which line to use on the scope and she said "dad, I can shoot him, I'm really steady, I'm gonna shoot" , I said OK, as I knew confidence is a big factor and she could do it. One shot through both shoulders and he dropped right in the mud where he was drinking. What a shot and relief! He was a real nice buck with good mass. After another 20 minute photo shoot we got busy boning out her antelope. Carlee wanted to learn how to do it, so she ran the knife on one whole side using the gutless method. I did the 2nd side to speed up the process but I was proud of her for wanting to learn how to do it herself.
The rest of the day on Sunday was spent taking family pictures in the rocks, sight seeing, and shooting a few prairie dogs. We packed up the camper and drove to Laramie in the dark and slept at a truck stop. Monday at 5 am we had the college girls at the airport and sent them back to college. Now it was Dawn's turn to hunt. We drove 2-3 hours north to our unit and set up the camper and got out hunting by 10 am. We spent the entire day glassing and making a few stalks on antelope that were a long ways from the road. The population was a mere fraction of what we saw further west in the girls' unit. As bad as I wanted to see my wife shoot her first antelope, I felt as though I would have felt guilty shooting a doe myself from this unit. They obviously need even further cuts in tag numbers in my opinion. In 9 hours of hard hunting and glassing we saw 13 animals on publicly accessible lands and 20 on private lands. Tuesday am we decided not to hunt and start our 12 hour drive home instead. We met up with Todd K. from this site and got to see the nice buck he shot in WY as well.
I can't even explain how much I enjoy this hunt and look forward to it. It can be a challenge to have 5 of us crawling through the sage and cactus and trying to quietly get in range, but it's worth it when it all comes together and we are all able to share in the excitement together. I highly recommend a WY antelope hunt for anyone that wants to take their children, wives, or friends on an exciting hunt. The best part is the number of animals that they can see, even if most of them are on private lands. They also don't have to be in "marathon runner shape" to do this hunt. Attached are the pictures of the girls and their bucks, the girls that joined in on the hunt, some prairie dog action, and their silly version of Mt. Rushmore
