I didn't want to muck up the other thread re: unit 7, so here we are.
This was the first and quite possibly last western big-game hunt I've ever taken with my father, so we went in fully prepared to fill our "Any antelope" tags with any legal antelope.
We'd also only ever seen less than a dozen antelope with our own eyes ever in our lives, so getting a sense of relative size and quality was a theoretical line item heretofore.
This was a public land hunt for us. We arrived in-country Thursday afternoon, and despite a 1.5 day stint in the truck, we scouted for a few hours and quickly spotted our 1st Wyoming antelopes.
Friday was another 100+ miles of seat and glassing time where we confirmed that many of the bucks would look just fine on our mantles back in PA, as well as the difficulty in really sussing things out with distances and heat-mirage when they were a good bit off.
We didn't see many folks scouting but knew the larger chunk of public that held the most antelope we'd seen would also attract the most hunters opening morning. We decided to try and use that to our advantage and be in a position over the next rise in the landscape that the animals would bail over once the trucks came down the road in the daylight. Despite my insistence, my dad told me not to pass an opportunity to shoot if he wasn't in a good position (knees and hips not young anymore) or didn't feel comfortable with a longer shot.
We set up the tent for the night, and went to sleep with a few herds within eyesight. That night we got what seemed like ALL the rain that ever fell in Wyoming and on opening morning we found out in earnest about that concrete-like mud we'd heard about; that stuff is NO JOKE.
On opening morning, things got moving quickly; we tried a pair of failed stalks and other hunters started getting some action. Eventually we got about a mile in and I spotted a buck with a small group of does/fawns. Range was under 250, so I felt very confident of a shot opportunity. Unfortunately a pair of fellas on a quad had worked down a 2-track and were in a position that didn't give me a safe shot. They took a shot at another buck nearby and the other group started running our way. The herd crossed the ridge above us at about 150 yds and I whiffed on an off-hand shot. Luckily they continued in a way that gave me a 100yd shot and I connected as he slowed to a trot. 1st buck down at 8am.
This was the first and quite possibly last western big-game hunt I've ever taken with my father, so we went in fully prepared to fill our "Any antelope" tags with any legal antelope.
We'd also only ever seen less than a dozen antelope with our own eyes ever in our lives, so getting a sense of relative size and quality was a theoretical line item heretofore.
This was a public land hunt for us. We arrived in-country Thursday afternoon, and despite a 1.5 day stint in the truck, we scouted for a few hours and quickly spotted our 1st Wyoming antelopes.
Friday was another 100+ miles of seat and glassing time where we confirmed that many of the bucks would look just fine on our mantles back in PA, as well as the difficulty in really sussing things out with distances and heat-mirage when they were a good bit off.
We didn't see many folks scouting but knew the larger chunk of public that held the most antelope we'd seen would also attract the most hunters opening morning. We decided to try and use that to our advantage and be in a position over the next rise in the landscape that the animals would bail over once the trucks came down the road in the daylight. Despite my insistence, my dad told me not to pass an opportunity to shoot if he wasn't in a good position (knees and hips not young anymore) or didn't feel comfortable with a longer shot.
We set up the tent for the night, and went to sleep with a few herds within eyesight. That night we got what seemed like ALL the rain that ever fell in Wyoming and on opening morning we found out in earnest about that concrete-like mud we'd heard about; that stuff is NO JOKE.
On opening morning, things got moving quickly; we tried a pair of failed stalks and other hunters started getting some action. Eventually we got about a mile in and I spotted a buck with a small group of does/fawns. Range was under 250, so I felt very confident of a shot opportunity. Unfortunately a pair of fellas on a quad had worked down a 2-track and were in a position that didn't give me a safe shot. They took a shot at another buck nearby and the other group started running our way. The herd crossed the ridge above us at about 150 yds and I whiffed on an off-hand shot. Luckily they continued in a way that gave me a 100yd shot and I connected as he slowed to a trot. 1st buck down at 8am.
