2020 WY Antelope

[Widgeondeke]

My son @MTBVenison and I went to Wyoming for his first out of state hunt last week to hunt pronghorn antelope
We had drawn doe tags for unit 43 and buck tags for unit 42.
43 has little accessible BLM land, but it does have 2 large Hunter Management Areas. Both HMAs are 40k+ acres and require being drawn for access. Luckily  we were drawn for Diamond Lake.
We had gathered all the gear and done some virtual scouting to include potential campsites. We left on the 19th and planned to hunt for 5 days.

Day 1 - We were hunting the doe unit and arrived to find a small herd with 8 does. After fumbling to get everything ready to shoot they were at 220yds and moving away. In the past I never had to shoot further than 150yds for a lope. My brother the local tells Tristan not to shoot, we will get easier shots  . 30 minutes later they are crawling to get a line on a single doe; no shot as she is at 250yds and "we will get closer opportunities". Well after driving two-tracks, glassing and hiking for the next 7 hours, not another antelope was to be seen    We were kicking ourselves for not shooting the 2nd doe. We were totally down and thinking this unit is not good. My brother was PO'd that WDFG had issued 600 doe tags and we couldn't find one after covering 20k acres.

Day 2 - Tristan and I are on our own and arrive to see the same small herd, but this time they are on the wrong side of the fence(private). We move to another area and after glassing for about an hour we find 2 does and 2 fawns at 900yds. A plan is made and we find a two track that gets us above and behind them. The stalk wasn't difficult, walked 175yds and then crawled the last 25. Getting the last few feet to insure the barrel clears the sage is tough. Of course cactus is to be avoided and you are hoping the sharp eyed does don't catch you moving. We got Tristan in position using his pack as a rest and shooting prone. After watching them move around and making sure he is shooting a "big" one we get a final range of 302yds. He has never shot further than 120yds, so I instruct him to use the 3rd dot on the reticle. Up to this moment he has never missed a deer he has shot at. He gets steady and I am watching through the binos....BOOM...we hear the whack. the other 3 run off to about 400yds while she stands there and meanders a bit. We decide to give her some time as i could see the hit was a lil back. After 20 minutes she is at 365yds and just standing there, so we decide to hit her again. "put the 3rd dot at the top of her back" BOOM...whack....doe down. After 3-5 minutes her head is down.    While Tristan is field dressing his doe I see what I think is a coyote coming in to investigate. As it gets closer to 300yds....thats a speed goat. I range her at 220 and get ready. Their curiousity can be a downfall at times. As she clears a small knoll at 190yds she is walking straight toward us. At this points I decide to take the frontal shot...BOOM rolled her. She got up and ran 40 yards and keeled over.     2 does down   day 2 is much better. Glad I had my personal pack mule. He carried both does 900yds to the truck.

We are both shooting T/C Compass in 6.5 Creedmoor. Boy is shooting Nosler 120gr Ballistic Tips and I am using Nosler 142gr Accubond

[Widgeondeke]

Day 3 - see the same herd first thing, again on private land. Drive two tracks and see a couple lonely bucks, but our buck unit isn't open yet  . After spotting a nice herd and watching them run mach 2 for 1+ miles we come up with a plan to stalk closer. After 2 hours of getting closer, we can't get a clear view/shot. We parrelel them for 45 minutes only to get within 200yds and have them bust us before am ethical shot can be taken. Could only see heads with all those eyes on us, they took off again never to be seen again this day. We hiked and glassed some more only to not see another doe, just bucks.
day 3 equals no more tags notched.

Day 4 - equals pretty much the same as 2. Only difference is we had a pack of coyotes ruin one of our stalks. We saw more antelope, but couldn't get closer than 400yds. They we very skittish. We did find a couple fresh scrapes and boy got lots of practice opening/closing range gates

Weather was nice other than the winds. They were 20-25mph all day.
We averaged 6 miles of hiking each day and the altitude was from 6800-7600'. That definately effects a man. Staying hydrated is key
The Mullen fire smoke can be seen to the SE

[Widgeondeke]

Gonna back up a little. We had done some scouting for bucks the previous days and found a couple shooters. Our campsite was in the buck unit and a nice buck was only 800 yards from camp 2 mornings in a row.

Day 5 - Up before the sun(didn't bother for does) and out of camp before shooting time. Almost exactly at legal time we hear 2 shots and of course the buck we had seen previously was nowhere to be seen(we found him later on private land). Also, we had camp(BLM land) to ourselves for the first 3 nights, but the night before buck opened we have numerous neighbors  time for new plan
We decide to hit a walk-in area only 15 minutes away. after driving/glassing we find a herd to make a move on. Come to find out another hunter had similar idea, but from a different location and the herd busted into the next county  While walking back toward the truck a lone buck pops up outta no where at 170 yards. Both sides were startled and he was at 250yards before we saw him again and not slowing down. We watched him for 45 minutes as he went a mile away and started working his way back toward us. Eventially he snuck by us and won that round. Deciding to hit the only HMA in the unit we make the 45 minute drive all the way through & around the unit. Saw a few bucks, but all on private or running faster than we cared for. just before we reach the HMA we see 2 lopes up on the side of a hill. After glassing them and confiming they are on public land we decide to give it a shot and find a route on BLM land. as we get close to 500yds out they moved out of sight around the hill. seen that move before, but say lets see if they didn't run a mile. As we round the hill we take 2 steps and glass(pretty standard for speed goats). after half hour i see the buck staring at us from 185yds. I pull up my riflre and put the crosshairs on his nose, only can see the head and not gonna take that shot in high winds. Then both lopes move up the hill we can't see the doe, but the buck is facing us and staring again. Only this time i can see from his knees up. I decide I'm confident in this shot as i moved to a kneeling position. Figuring he didn't go far I used 200yds as the range...BOOM...THUMP...he is hit  He turns and slowly goes over the next knoll out of site. Knowing the hit sounded good and not wanting to push him we wait 15 minutes. We made our way to where they were when I shot, no blood     
Make the decision to continue over the hill and after 30 yards see the buck down, but still breathing. We ended up watch his last 2 breathes and the excitement began....BUCK DOWN 
I never focused on the horns, but did notice they were wide. Not thick and a broken prong, but decent length. 
My shot ended up hitting 2" left and destroyed his right shoulder, a lung, 4 ribs and out. Not much blood on the ground until his final resting place. The right front leg was full of blood as was the body cavity.
We tried to get a 2nd buck, but couldn't make it happen. Even told ourselves in the last hour any antelope would do since the type 1 tag is any antelope. Nothing.

Overall we had a great trip and can't wait to do it again.
What we learned: Give ourselves more time for bucks.  The wind is no joke as it broke the canopy that was tied down and would have blown the tent away if not for clothes, cots, sleeping bags. all the stakes were pulled up 

PS - we had a nice view from camp and a kit fox visit us nightly. Night driving on open range...watch out for COWS 

[Sutherland]

Very cool thanks for sharing!
 

[lokidog]

Thanks for sharing.

[Dan-o]

Cool!

[Brushbuster]

Congrats on a great hunt! Great write up of the adventure. 

[Bob33]

I love stories like this. Congratulations.

[Widgeondeke]

As a side note. Another great thing about this site...Tristan's camo clothes, bino harness, rangefinder, scope, knives, day pack and meat pack are all from members of Hunt-WA. Some purchased, some free 

[Karl Blanchard]

outstanding recap! Congrats guys!

[GASoline71]

Congrats and great write up on your WY hunting experience!  We are hoping to do the same thing next year. 

Gary

[ganghis]

Congrats, and nice write up.  Looked like a great trip!  Makes me excited to get out to WY in a couple years - still building up points.

[CaNINE]

Love it 

[CJ1962]

Great story and memories, congrats!

[ShaneTyTrey]

Congrats to you and your son!

[Pathfinder101]

Cool hunt. Congratulations to you and your boy.
My boys and I are leaving this afternoon for our WY antelope hunt. 

[rainshadow1]

What a great trip! Hope to do similar someday soon!

[Stein]

Have you hunted that area before?  I was wondering what you saw relative to last years, many units were supposed to be down pretty significantly from last year and year before.

[RB]

Right on looks like a great hunt!

[Widgeondeke]

Have you hunted that area before?  I was wondering what you saw relative to last years, many units were supposed to be down pretty significantly from last year and year before.

@Stein - never hunted these units before. Went off harvest reports and draw odds.
Talking with both wardens that checked our lopes, the area numbers were way down. Expect next year's tag numbers to be slashed.
PS - when the warden check you, they scan the QR code on your tags and have ALL your info 
The 2nd warden said congrats on the 2 does.

[Bob33]

I'm fortunate to be leaving tomorrow for my 22nd trip to Wyoming. I never seem to tire of that state. Best wishes to everyone already there or heading that way.