Wyoming adventures, Volume 3 kansasdad and kansasson do the Bighorns
- Thread starter kansasdad
- Start date
Aaron and I drove back to the cabin, and hustled to load up the highlander for one final trip off the mountain. The first wave of predicted rain had already come through as we opened the gate to the cabin compound, and it was going to continue most of the night. Getting packed and off to town, it felt good to turn the heater on as we were thoroughly soaked.
Arriving way after my cousin's bedtime, we chatted in her kitchen (my Great Grandma's old house) about our wonderful Wyoming adventure, and how thankful we were to have made it off the mountain before driving was going to get even more "sporty". The shower felt absolutely wonderful, as the red dirt of the Bighorns and the grey dust of the badlands rolled off my legs and down the drain.
Leaving even before O'dark thirty, the drive from TenSleep to Worland, a distance of 30 miles, I met not one oncoming vehicle. In Worland I saw two law enforcement vehicles and two semi trucks, and then on to Thermopolis I had to dim my bright lights twice for on-coming vehicles, and twice for low lying fog in the cold rain. As I was familiar with these stretches of highway, I spent most of the drive straddling the center stripe to allow myself just a little more reaction time should a deer try to cross in front of us.
We had rain follow us all the way to Shoshoni, and halfway to Casper after that. At one point nearly halfway to Casper I looked south of the highway and for a moment thought I might have been hallucinating......4 elk stood out on the sage flat nowhere near "elk country". I think they were enjoying the rain and the cooler temperatures.
On an all day drive, you can find yourself with lots of time to chat and think. We talked about the highs, the lows and the surprises of our trip. He got his first big game animal. We had fine meals both pre-made, and made at the cabin. We spent time with new (to him) rancher friends, and got to surprise last year's ranchers with the photographer's identity of his favorite photo. It seems like we have secured future access to private land in this "asterisked" hunting unit. We got to experience new parts of the southern Bighorns, tread upon land once home to relatives now long gone, and once again saw a plethora of fauna. The fishing gear never left the car, but with the warmish water might have been the best thing for the fish. I was never on the hunt to try to fill my turkey tag, as the main focus of the trip was to get him a deer. And I experienced horrible failure of self/equipment when it was my turn to try to fill my tag.
Taking a trip is expensive if you count time as currency. I was away from the office for a week. Aaron's job allows him unlimited time off as long as he completes his assigned duties, but his home remodeling and visitors schedules put a crimp in our hunting days. I came home to a wife that was grateful that her two boys could spend time together, but she is asking, "what about me".
Stopping only for gas and "leg stretching" we got back to my house in east Wichita before sunset. Pulling Aaron's gear out of the highlander and moving half of his deer into my freezer for safe keeping until his freezer situation in Kansas City stabilizes, we hugged and wished each other safe journeys.
We are already looking forward to possibilities of a 2023 Wyoming trip. Who will join us from family? Perhaps we will branch out into new units, but more than likely we will continue to stay close to the old stomping grounds. Tag allocation and point schemes will continue to evolve, and I understand that I am a non-resident in 49 or our 50 wonderful states. Last year all OTC tags sold out well before the seasons began. This year, there are still tags available in nearby hunting units......what will happen next year is a wild guess. I hope that Wyoming will smile on us in future draws, and at some point my elk, pronghorn and deer points will be put to good use in another installment of kansasdad Wyoming adventures.
Arriving way after my cousin's bedtime, we chatted in her kitchen (my Great Grandma's old house) about our wonderful Wyoming adventure, and how thankful we were to have made it off the mountain before driving was going to get even more "sporty". The shower felt absolutely wonderful, as the red dirt of the Bighorns and the grey dust of the badlands rolled off my legs and down the drain.
Leaving even before O'dark thirty, the drive from TenSleep to Worland, a distance of 30 miles, I met not one oncoming vehicle. In Worland I saw two law enforcement vehicles and two semi trucks, and then on to Thermopolis I had to dim my bright lights twice for on-coming vehicles, and twice for low lying fog in the cold rain. As I was familiar with these stretches of highway, I spent most of the drive straddling the center stripe to allow myself just a little more reaction time should a deer try to cross in front of us.
We had rain follow us all the way to Shoshoni, and halfway to Casper after that. At one point nearly halfway to Casper I looked south of the highway and for a moment thought I might have been hallucinating......4 elk stood out on the sage flat nowhere near "elk country". I think they were enjoying the rain and the cooler temperatures.
On an all day drive, you can find yourself with lots of time to chat and think. We talked about the highs, the lows and the surprises of our trip. He got his first big game animal. We had fine meals both pre-made, and made at the cabin. We spent time with new (to him) rancher friends, and got to surprise last year's ranchers with the photographer's identity of his favorite photo. It seems like we have secured future access to private land in this "asterisked" hunting unit. We got to experience new parts of the southern Bighorns, tread upon land once home to relatives now long gone, and once again saw a plethora of fauna. The fishing gear never left the car, but with the warmish water might have been the best thing for the fish. I was never on the hunt to try to fill my turkey tag, as the main focus of the trip was to get him a deer. And I experienced horrible failure of self/equipment when it was my turn to try to fill my tag.
Taking a trip is expensive if you count time as currency. I was away from the office for a week. Aaron's job allows him unlimited time off as long as he completes his assigned duties, but his home remodeling and visitors schedules put a crimp in our hunting days. I came home to a wife that was grateful that her two boys could spend time together, but she is asking, "what about me".
Stopping only for gas and "leg stretching" we got back to my house in east Wichita before sunset. Pulling Aaron's gear out of the highlander and moving half of his deer into my freezer for safe keeping until his freezer situation in Kansas City stabilizes, we hugged and wished each other safe journeys.
We are already looking forward to possibilities of a 2023 Wyoming trip. Who will join us from family? Perhaps we will branch out into new units, but more than likely we will continue to stay close to the old stomping grounds. Tag allocation and point schemes will continue to evolve, and I understand that I am a non-resident in 49 or our 50 wonderful states. Last year all OTC tags sold out well before the seasons began. This year, there are still tags available in nearby hunting units......what will happen next year is a wild guess. I hope that Wyoming will smile on us in future draws, and at some point my elk, pronghorn and deer points will be put to good use in another installment of kansasdad Wyoming adventures.
Nice story about a fun sounding trip! Great write-up! Congrats on the various parts that made this a successful trip!
While reading, I thought I remembered you talking about this area, and your last trip confirmed it. Next trip, let’s meet up if you get tags filled early!
While reading, I thought I remembered you talking about this area, and your last trip confirmed it. Next trip, let’s meet up if you get tags filled early!
OntarioHunter
Well-known member
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- Sep 11, 2020
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Proof once again that it's not necessary to fill the truck with horns to have a good time. Thanks for taking the time to share.
Mica Man
Well-known member
Wonderful trip with much history for you. Thanks for sharing.
Irrelevant
Well-known member
Sounds like a great trip. HOpe you head back next year
Super sad phone call a couple of months ago from Cousin Perry. He said that he has made preliminary agreements to sell his mountain paradise. Longtime HuntTalk members will remember topgun30-06, he and his hunting partner hunted this end of the Bighorns for many years. Topgun told me that he had tried to talk Perry into selling, to no avail.
Perry had planned on never selling, but instead one day passing his cabin/land into a trust that would allow family to share in the beauty of the mountain. Too much trouble to set up a plan where someone doesn’t feel slighted and getting harder to ride his horses and care for the cabin, he has decided the best plan was to sell.
I know that we will figure out other ways to continue enjoy Wyoming adventures. Thanks Perry for hosting us Kansas boys these last three hunting seasons. (See you on the mountain in 2024 for the big family reunion!)
Perry had planned on never selling, but instead one day passing his cabin/land into a trust that would allow family to share in the beauty of the mountain. Too much trouble to set up a plan where someone doesn’t feel slighted and getting harder to ride his horses and care for the cabin, he has decided the best plan was to sell.
I know that we will figure out other ways to continue enjoy Wyoming adventures. Thanks Perry for hosting us Kansas boys these last three hunting seasons. (See you on the mountain in 2024 for the big family reunion!)
