dcopas78
Well-known member
My nephew, father and I just returned tonight from our successful Wyoming antelope hunt. It was my nephews first trip past Indiana so everything was new for him and I think he is itching to get back. I made it a point to go through the Black Hills of South Dakota/Wyoming (my personal favorite area) so we could see the Badlands and Mt. Rushmore, although it was fogged in heavily and he didn't get to see the actual monument. It turned out to be a really quick trip for a few different reasons.
We got to Wyoming on Saturday to set up camp and have a scout day on Sunday. It ended up staying dry long enough for us to get our camp ready before drizzling around the rest of the day Saturday. I managed a little fly fishing before the cold/rain drove me back to the tent. I caught a 14" rainbow before that time.
All Saturday night through Sunday was pretty much a steady course of rain that turned the roads into a quagmire of slop. We did manage to drive around some of the unit and locate some really nice bucks before fog covered the plateau and you couldn't see much past the hood of the truck. I was pretty excited about the prospects for us all getting really nice bucks even with the forecast for snow for the first morning of the hunt. Then things changed....
I woke up Monday morning to get ready for opening morning when my InReach chimed and I saw I had a message from my wife. I knew right away this wasn't good news as my wife never contacts me before the evening. I picked it up and read the message "Just caught someone robbing our cars" CRAP....... Anyways, I woke my dad and nephew, told them I was going to drive a couple of miles up the road to where we got signal on the cell phone and see what was going on.
She literally caught them in the act by looking out the upstairs window and seeing them in the cars. Keep in mind, we live in the country so she was pretty much alone with our 3.5 year old. She called the cops, got out her compact 9mm opened the window, pointed it out into the ground, fired a round and yelled to them the next one was for them...true bada** my wife. Anyways, I could tell by her immediate reaction that "no you don't need to come home, I'm fine" that my place was on my way home to her. She would never say it, but I knew she was scared.
I drove back to camp, contemplated not even going and just packing up camp while my dad and nephew went out and tried to fill their tags. Dad talked me out of it, and said we would all lower our standards for the hunt, take some meat home and be happy we had the opportunity to hunt a new area, and that with any luck we will draw the tag again some day and give the unit the time and effort it deserves. I'm thankful that my wife and son were not hurt, and for good parents. My mom spent the next two nights with my wife until I got home. It was a grand adventure to say the least.
Badlands Big Horns
Opening Morning
Nephew's First
All three antelope
We got to Wyoming on Saturday to set up camp and have a scout day on Sunday. It ended up staying dry long enough for us to get our camp ready before drizzling around the rest of the day Saturday. I managed a little fly fishing before the cold/rain drove me back to the tent. I caught a 14" rainbow before that time.
All Saturday night through Sunday was pretty much a steady course of rain that turned the roads into a quagmire of slop. We did manage to drive around some of the unit and locate some really nice bucks before fog covered the plateau and you couldn't see much past the hood of the truck. I was pretty excited about the prospects for us all getting really nice bucks even with the forecast for snow for the first morning of the hunt. Then things changed....
I woke up Monday morning to get ready for opening morning when my InReach chimed and I saw I had a message from my wife. I knew right away this wasn't good news as my wife never contacts me before the evening. I picked it up and read the message "Just caught someone robbing our cars" CRAP....... Anyways, I woke my dad and nephew, told them I was going to drive a couple of miles up the road to where we got signal on the cell phone and see what was going on.
She literally caught them in the act by looking out the upstairs window and seeing them in the cars. Keep in mind, we live in the country so she was pretty much alone with our 3.5 year old. She called the cops, got out her compact 9mm opened the window, pointed it out into the ground, fired a round and yelled to them the next one was for them...true bada** my wife. Anyways, I could tell by her immediate reaction that "no you don't need to come home, I'm fine" that my place was on my way home to her. She would never say it, but I knew she was scared.
I drove back to camp, contemplated not even going and just packing up camp while my dad and nephew went out and tried to fill their tags. Dad talked me out of it, and said we would all lower our standards for the hunt, take some meat home and be happy we had the opportunity to hunt a new area, and that with any luck we will draw the tag again some day and give the unit the time and effort it deserves. I'm thankful that my wife and son were not hurt, and for good parents. My mom spent the next two nights with my wife until I got home. It was a grand adventure to say the least.
Badlands Big Horns
Opening Morning
Nephew's First
All three antelope
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Glad things at home turned out well.
