Wyoming Antelope - Story & Pics

[Widgeondeke]

Ok here we go.
Like many other out-of-state trips this one started last year. Many hours of online research and talking with bioligist & Wardens in WY. We decided for our first try Unit 72 offered good odds of getting drawn. Our group consisted of 4 of us; 2 from WA & 2 from CA. My brother & I being the main planners, we both brought along a friend from our state.
We put in as a party for buck tags only. Once we were drawn for those we all decided to get 2 additional doe tags once they were avail.
We arrived in Casper on Monday the 13th at 8am. Went by the fish & game office to ask a few questions. Found out that in WY that you can drive with a round in the chamber (don't recommend this) and you can take 2 steps from the road and shoot em. Heck the warden said if you're shooting coyotes, don't bother getting out of the truck, kill em all.
We set up camp on some BLM land up on a hill in the very few trees we could find.
Started driving around to orientate ourselves to the land. We mainly hunted the Walk-in areas of 7 & 9. More than enough goats and land. Scouted all day the second day, seeing more lopes than we could count. Killed 2 rattlesnakes.
Opening morning we went out in groups of 2. My buddy & I walked about a mile in from the road before shooting hours. Honestly we found this not neccesary; spooked deveral bucks on the way in. Once there we had a small buck & doe come within 80yds of us trying to figure us out.  Never presented a shot and decided he was small. After a couple more hours and no shooters around I hiked a mile back toward where I had seen a decent buck & some does head toward. See earlier comment about not needed to hike in. I made a nice stalk to get at 300 yards. Decided on a new route to get closer; once I popped up again they were at 200 yards, low crawled about 15 yds to a good vantage point and played the waiting game. After about 15 minutes the buck was perfectly broadside. Dropped him in his tracks at 147yds with a broken back. Actually hit high from my point of aim, but I wasn't complaining.
After the tingling stopped in my right foot that fell asleep from waiting in a squat and not wanting to move I walked up to tag my first antelope.
Ended up having to only drag him about 400 yds to the road. Again, didn't need to hike in a mile to get away from the roads.

[C-Money]

Good looking speed goats! Loks like a ton of fun! Congrats!

[lokidog]

Nice animals.  I'd like to try that in the next year or two.  Did a DIY back in the late 80's third week of season, saw a couple , got a young buck.  Congratulations, some good eating when butchered right away.

[carpsniperg2]

man you guys were whackin and stackem them up congrats on a ton of fine animals

[steen]

Nice pile of antelope!  Sounds like a great future hunt.

[Widgeondeke]

By the end of day one we had 2 bucks and 3 does quartered and on ice. My brthers bucks was wide and about 13.5" in length. My buck was 12.25" long.
We were not trophy hunting by any means. Our goal was to put meat in the freezer and the goal was met.
Day 2 was definately a harder hunt. After the opening morning the animals wised up real quick. Steve my partner missed a buck at 220yds around 8:30am. Then he finally got is buck around 2pm. Its funny how instincts take over. The entire first day & 1/2 he was concerned about taking a long shot and wanting to know the range. When we spotted this buck it was running across the field and I didn't have time to use the range finder. He knelt & took the shot at the instant the lope stopped. Ended up being a great double lung shot at 200yds. I moved the truck to a closer road for ease of haul while he went to check on his buck. As he was walking up I told him via radio that he was still alive (should've waited 30 minutes) I took the above pic just as he stood up to run. The buck turned and Steve instantly let loose a perfect heart shot that crumpled the buck. I almost got the perfect picture, but just missed it. The 2nd pic if you look real close shows the buck lying on the ground.
After dropping him and the buck off at camp I went out solo. Decided to try an area outside the walk-in. Blew my first stalk on a doe when a buck (didn't see him) busted me. Drove around some more til I saw a herd of 5 does about 300yds off the road. Had to really examine the BLM maps to insure I was in the right spot. Heard many horror stories about not knowing the boundries. This stalk was a bit easier; had a small knoll that made the first 150yds easy. Once at the top I shed all gear and low crawled again the final 8yds. Took this shot from the prone and again broke her back at 157yds.
I tried to make it a double, but missed the 2nd doe @ 225yds.
By the end of day 2 we had 4 bucks and 5 does down.
Day 3 left me to get my last doe and Steve still needed both Does. That day was windy and the hottest yet, @ 88. Made a couple stalks to no avail in the early morning. The lopes were definately skittish. Finally found a heard of 10 lopes in a small draw. Made a good stalk, but blew the shots. Missed all 3 times between 220 & 250yds.
to be con't

[mkcj]

Good job nice animal's! We are leaving Sat. for Buffalo, WY

[Craig]

Nice pile of lopes. That is a awesome picture with the buck and hunter.

[Widgeondeke]

here's some more pics. The earlier pic showed my partner at about 50yds ready to shoot. The next pic you can barely see the buck is down.
The doe has some nice horns

[Widgeondeke]

Here is another pic of my 2nd doe. On the otherside of the hill behind me is where we get the double the next afternoon.
Our last day had only Steve to get both his does.
We made several stalks all morning to no avail. One miss and a couple blown stalks.
It was 12:30 and I said lets head back for lunch. We came to a T that we had seen animals on before, so we decided to give it a try. Came around a corner and there was a doe at 70 yds. She bolted and never offered a shot. Recalled seeing a small heard about an hour earlier about 600 yds away. Made the stalk and ended up getting above them at 300yds. Sat/laid there and watched for 20 minutes only to have them bed down at 244yds. My partner was leary of a long shot. Finally prodded him into to taking the shot when I said "if I get get prone I'd thake the shot all day" well, he got prone. I ranged them again at 244 and told him they were just over 200 yds. The best shot, other than the buck we couldn't get, was a doe facing directly away from us. I told him to aim at the spine half way up. It took him a few minutes to get in the perfect spot and once he shot, she rolled over and died. Split the spine and went thru the lungs and stopped in the shoulder. After the first shot the other goats all stood up and staired at dead Sally (this seems to be a common occurance) so I said take the other one, make it a double. She gave us a perfect braodsid eshot and he dumped her also. a DOUBLE!!
That made for some great high fives once we got down there.
This was an amazing trip and of course we are already planning a return trip. Plus many of our friends want to join us next time. Also saw some great land.
Overall the weather was perfect. Mid 80's during the day, 30's at night, very little rain (sprinkled one night and one 45 minute thunderstorm). Wind was very tolerable. Only hiccup was my truck battery crapping out on the 3rd morning, no warning, just wouldn't start. An excuse to run to town for more ice & a new battery.

[Bob33]

Very nice.  I had two doe/fawn licenses in 72, two doe/fawn in 73, and one "any antelope" in 73.  Knowing boundaries is an important exercise.  There is lots of public land but you have to know where you are.

I noticed you mentioned hitting two in the spine.  Perhaps that was intentional.  If not, I've done the same.  It is easy to forget that a rifle sighted in 3" high at 100 yards can hit almost 4" high at around 150-200.  On a small critter like an antelope that can result in a spine shot.  Also, since you were hunting at about a mile high that also flattens the trajectory.  I've hit more animals high at 200 than low at 400.  I've adjusted my sights to be only about 2" high at 100 now.  Just a word of advice to those who may be considering a hunt at higher elevations.

Way to go.  Thanks for the great pictures and stories.

[Widgeondeke]

oh yeah. Definately need BLM maps and the Walk-in area maps. The Delorme also helped out greatly. Hardly used teh spotting scopes, mainly used binos. My new Nikon Riflehunter 550 rangefinder   worked great along with my Redfield binos  , very clear picture and not to heavy. GPS wasn't used much except one late night we did use the back track feature to find our way to the main road. Easy to get lost on all those 2 tracks.
the city of Casper Chamber of Commerce, Fish & Game and the biologist were all very helpful. worth the phone calls/e-mails.

that buck at the fence was one of only a few that didn't jump it. 80% percent of the lopes we saw jumped fences, crossed roads, etc.
the glassing pic was after I shot her. Thats the rock we hid behind.

Good Luck to all those that haven't gone yet. It was fun. shoot some more speed goats!

[MuleySniper]

Congrats! I love eating antelope, some of the best game IMO. Wyoming lope is definitely on my to do list in the future.
MS

[Widgeondeke]

Very nice.  I had two doe/fawn licenses in 72, two doe/fawn in 73, and one "any antelope" in 73.  Knowing boundaries is an important exercise.  There is lots of public land but you have to know where you are.

I noticed you mentioned hitting two in the spine.  Perhaps that was intentional.  If not, I've done the same.  It is easy to forget that a rifle sighted in 3" high at 100 yards can hit almost 4" high at around 150-200.  On a small critter like an antelope that can result in a spine shot.  Also, since you were hunting at about a mile high that also flattens the trajectory.  I've hit more animals high at 200 than low at 400.  I've adjusted my sights to be only about 2" high at 100 now.  Just a word of advice to those who may be considering a hunt at higher elevations.

Way to go.  Thanks for the great pictures and stories.

Definately Bob. We never even thought about the fact we were at 5800' elevation until a couple days into it. I don't aim for the spine, but believe that the elevation did effect the trajectory and yes I did sight it at 2" high at 100 yds. Good advice.
We saw guys hunting both 71 & 72 at the same time since road 210 seperateed them and there was plenty of public land on both sides of the road.

[MHWASH]

Widgeon,

 Nice hunt! Thanks for the primer.

 Did you guys see/shoot any praire dogs? How about coyotes? I'm just as excited to shoot both of these as I am the antelope.

[Bob33]

I hate to give away my secrets...but you can now buy a chip that goes into a Garmin GPS and shows exactly where the public/private boundaries are.  You can order them directly from the company or I found them at Rocky Mountain Sports in Casper. 

http://www.huntinggpsmaps.com/wyoming/gpspubliclandownership.html

[Widgeondeke]

I hate to give away my secrets...but you can now buy a chip that goes into a Garmin GPS and shows exactly where the public/private boundaries are.  You can order them directly from the company or I found them at Rocky Mountain Sports in Casper. 

http://www.huntinggpsmaps.com/wyoming/gpspubliclandownership.html

Thanks Bob. Knew that just didn't want to drop the $$ for it at the time. They even offer updates; either free or a small fee depending on how much you spent the first time.
If next year comes to fruitition that'll be a must have.

[Widgeondeke]

Widgeon,

 Nice hunt! Thanks for the primer.

 Did you guys see/shoot any praire dogs? How about coyotes? I'm just as excited to shoot both of these as I am the antelope.

Only saw 2 p-dogs, and one of the guys with us missed a yote. The only yotes I saw were at night. You could here them all night long.

Hope you get a yote or two or more.

[Bob33]

Thanks Bob. Knew that just didn't want to drop the $$ for it at the time. They even offer updates; either free or a small fee depending on how much you spent the first time.
If next year comes to fruitition that'll be a must have.

I did it the old fashioned way this time: with paper maps.  I bought the software after the hunt.  It was amazing how many animals we saw just off the side of heavily travelled highways.  When I checked later, several of them were actually on public land.

[bucklucky]

Talk about putting the smackdown on speedgoats  Nice job guys! Looks like a ton of fun!

[BlackRidge]

AWESOME pics/story!!!!

[MHWASH]

Only saw 2 p-dogs, and one of the guys with us missed a yote. The only yotes I saw were at night. You could here them all night long.

Hope you get a yote or two or more.
[/quote]

 That's a bummer. I hope to shoot every yote that I see. 

[Pathfinder101]

Very cool.  Enjoyed the stories and pics!

[denali]

Speed goats stacked like cord wood       great pics and story.