WY Meatfest 2010

[ribka]

Here is a more detailed account of Gasman's and my 2010 WY Antelope safari:

( Disclaimer: This is not a trophy hunt; it is a meat hunt so those offended but lots of dead antelope carcasses better not read this thread)

Well the hunt started last Spring. Gasman and I wanted to do an antelope hunt. We did the research and decided to pick a high percentage draw area in WY. I subscribed to Eastmans and we picked a few high percentage units near Gillette hoping to get drawn. We were drawn and the unit had little available public land so I contacted Wy F&G and requested landowner's list. I called over 30 landowners and decided on a rancher who had 50,000 acres and and lots of does. I called him up and he said not many trophy bucks but many antelope on his ranch and the big plus was that he needed does thinned out on his ranch.

Called gasman and we decided on a meat hunt. We purchased 4 does tags in addition to our buck tags. Last Sunday headed out for our 1,000 mile trip to our lope destination. At that point did not know gasman that well and wondered why he was called "gasman". The mystery was soon solved after 20 hours in the car together after many gas station meals  (BTW stopped in Post Falls, ID Cabelas for a little man shopping on our way out to WY)

I originally wanted to set up an archery hunt for antelope but unfortunately speaking to the rancher he said he did not want archery hunters on his ranch. I hoped that after meeting him he would change his mind and allow an archery hunt on his ranch in 2001. So we both brought our rifles.

First day after checking into the motel we drove out to the ranch to meet the owner and familiarize ourselves with the ranch. It was hot 80 degrees plus!!!

We decided that we needed to drop at least 2 lopes our first day. At that time we had 2 buck tags and 8 does tags. We met the rancher and he showed us around. During the tour he spotted a nice buck  and after we dropped him off we decided to pursue this buck. We went back to the area we initially saw him and I told gasman to take him. Gasman put on a nice stalk and tagged him with is Ruger .257.  9 more to go. And the butchering began. Because of the high temps we decided from the get go to skin and bone-out each animal was we shot them and throw the meat on ice in the cooler in the back of the truck. Gasman, being the clever *censored* that he is,  devised a hanging pole that inserted into the hitch of his truck. Let the butchering begin!!! We decided to use the gutless method. By the 8 antelope we we skinning, quartering and de boning our antelope in 20 min.

[ribka]

And another doe the first day

[ribka]

Day 2 began as another 80 degree plus day. Needed to put down at least 4 animals to keep up with our schedule. We drove out to the ranch and saw many lope in the area. We were getting into our harvesting mode after seeing so many animals

[bowhunterforever]

Congrats guys, Sounds like it was a blast

[ribka]

We spotted some does and the harvesting began....
The hot weather necessitated immediate butchering

[ribka]

Having a day and a half left I started thinking about finding my self a shooter buck. I soon found a decent buck in the spotting scope. He was very tall but could see from over 250 yds away in the spotting scope that one of his cutters was broken. I decided to pass on him at that time. After a an hour of comtemplation  and looking at more bucks through binos an spotting scope talked to gasman and decided to go back and take another look at that buck. We found him again feeding between two deep ravines. I gain spent some time looking at him through the spotting scope and decided to take him and I set up. I ranged him around 250 yds. I decided to try gasman's 257 Ruger for the shot

[ribka]

I could see through my scope that the shot was good and buck was down. He had a lot scars and a good deal of character on his horns. Did not regret picking him

[ribka]

The pack out and of course more butchering..
The .257 did its job

[ribka]

Day 3 began with more antelope spotted on the ranch. It was foggy in the morning

[ribka]

in the fog

[ribka]

Last day and looking to fill 4 more doe tags..
Seeing lots of bucks

[ribka]

We called this guy the "jail bait buck" because of his young girlfriend

[Michelle_Nelson]

5th picture from the top.  The one with 3lopes facing to the left.  Center lope looks like it only has 3 legs.  It looks like it might be there but I can't tell.    I'm to tired to fool with zooming in on it.

[klickriverchromer]

Nice work! I really like the photo of the buck going over the horizon

[Gringo31]

I've killed a few antelope, but I wouldn't be able to not tag that Jail bait buck.  I like him! 

Great pics, thanks for sharing.

[BigD]

Looks like a blast. I need to do that some day.

[boneaddict]

Love the pics!

[Hyde]

This is awesome.  Antelope is so good if taken care of properly. That will be some tasty goat!  What a trip.

[actionshooter]

Looks like fun. 

[saylean]

One of these days I will get to hunt a speed goat...

Cool pics!

[ribka]

Day 3 decided to check out the praire dog hunting as the rancher mentioned an area on his ranch. After an hour of driving we finally found it. We saw p dogs about 300 yds away. Gusting winds made shots difficult. I was using .223 and gasman his .257. It was fun

[ribka]

Because of the gusting wind switched to my 6.5. First shot was a confirmed kill. 6.5 = great ballistic coefficient.


prairie dog town

confirmed kill

Gasman looking for other victims

[ribka]

Now back to work. Four more doe tags to kill and butcher. After driving to a new area of the ranch we ran into more animals. Gasman was first to score.

I soon had my two down. 

[ribka]

A few more pics.

Some deer.

A big shed pile by the rancher's home

A great trip and had a fun time with gasman. Great guy to hunt with. Thanks to those on Hunt WA  who helped with the trip.

[TheHunt]

That is a heck of a shed pile.   Sounds like you had a great time.  Congrats on a great hunt

[gasman]

That was one hell of a fun trip 

P Dog Town was a blast i would love to do it again, soon I hope 



Don't forget to make a copy of those pic for me, Tanya all ready said she would skin me if i don't get copies from you 

(That camera takes some nice pictures)

[bighorns2bushytails]

wow congrats on the hunt!  sounds like a blast!  cant wait to get my first antelope!

--bh2bt

[Rocky]

Well I'm glad to hear you had a good time with my dad & kept him warm at night when my mom couldn't. But man I'll tell you when he got back Thursday night Friday we were butchering from 12:30-9:00 ish 9:30. Friday was a very long day. :] My mom wants to go next year. Woow. Love the pictures  & man is antelope good :]

[ribka]

We only had a small single bed in the motel so had to share bed space

I developed carpal tunnel syndrome from  all of my sausage making and butchering the past 2 days.  If I see another sausage I am going to puke



Gasman will make a disc of photos for you but there is a Gregoire/Murray $5.00 per photo tax for you Westsiders

[Rocky]

XD Well hopefully he didn't squish you at all or make you as a pancake.
Lol. We were eating sausage this morning & nobody puked. :] Man you're missing out

[gasman]

XD Well hopefully he didn't squish you at all or make you as a pancake.
Lol. We were eating sausage this morning & nobody puked. :] Man you're missing out

Hey, you forgot to mention the stew we had tonight with teh antelope in it 

[Widgeondeke]

My entire family is loving the antelope. I don't see it lasting very long. 

Great pics & write up guys.

[elkhuntindad]

Nice Pics, never hunted Antelope before but wanted to, hard because half the people i talk to hate the meat and the other half love it, guess it all depends on who butchers it and what kind cut you had, i have only had jerky and peperoni sticks which were both good, what are your thoughts

[TeacherMan]

That looks like a blast! I really want to give that a shot some day soon. A couple questions because I really want to do this, and if you don't want to answer any of them that's cool. What units did you put in for and could you put a basic cost break down up. If you don't want to that's okay but I would really like to save/schedule this hunt in sometime. Looks like good eatin 

[huntlakewood]

Nice job guys. I never had lope meat before but I bet I will now since I helped gasman cut his up I smell peperoni. With all the stories that gasman told me sounds like fun.

[gasman]

I will try to answer some of you questions Teacherman.
We hunted Unit 23, but did talk with guys that were hunting unit 24 (in the Grasslands)
Lic cost is $272 for a buck tag and $40 for doe tags. We were able to get 4 doe tags this year (the herd numbers are about 4000 antelope higher then they want)
Hotel cost will depends on where you stay and hunt. Much of the eastern portion of WY is private land but there are some public lands that can be hunted. WY has a great program that allows access to privet property's through a few different programs.
First is the HMA, Hunt Management Area. This is mostly private land that is open to public hunting through a draw program. If you get drawn for a specific unit that has HMA in it, you can contact the land manager to get permission to hunt.
Second is WIA ares. Walk In Area. a cross between public and private land that can be accessed by foot traffic only and there is no need to contact the land owner.
There is BLM land all over, you just need to get propper maps and do your research. Knowing how to read a map helps also 

A land owner list can be received from the WY game dept. You can contact the land owners on the list and make arrange ments with them to hunt there property, but know that they will charge a tresspass fee, and the fee varies from land owner to land owner. The Gillette Visitor center also can point you to Public land and private land to hunt. When it comes to the private land, they will be contacted by a land owner that did not get there name on the Land Owner List but have areas to hunt.

All information i have provided is found on the http://gf.state.wy.us/ web site. You can look at tehareas and decide where you want to put in for by draw success or amount of public land to hunt.

The last cost would be food and fuel. If you find a person to split the cost of fuel and lodging, it will reduce the cost.

Hope thsi helps.

Gasman

[Widgeondeke]

To add on a lil bit:
You can also camp on any BLM land for free up to 14 days.
From Everett to Casper and hunting our gas bill was $600 split by 2 guys.
You can easily do this hunt DIY public land for right around $1000 if you split the gas.
WY is great for giving out info. We hunted all public land (mostly WIA) and got 13 lopes between us.
As stated before. Start researching online to find a unit that suirs you and go for it.
I hunted 72.

[Hyde]

Nice Pics, never hunted Antelope before but wanted to, hard because half the people i talk to hate the meat and the other half love it, guess it all depends on who butchers it and what kind cut you had, i have only had jerky and peperoni sticks which were both good, what are your thoughts

I've taken a few antelope in my days.  I was taught long ago that if you get the antelope skinned and cooled down immediately, your meat will be excellent.  If you don't, it won't.  I can't comment what happens when you don't, as all the lopers I ever shot were skinned and on ice within 1-2 hours of being killed.  Consider that a loper is about the size of a german shepherd (body wise), so having a couple of large coolers along with ice each day will make it easy to accomplish.  If you are camping, just have a backup plan to take the meat into town immediately.  No need to hang a loper, you can shoot it and cut/wrap/freeze the same day. 

[DeerThug]

Great antelope hunt.  Reminds me of the trip with me and my son.  10 antelope in 3 days.

Makes me want to go back.  Tough decision - we are planning a senior hunting trip next year.  Cant decide on Wyoming antelope or Peck's Reservour mulie hunt. 

[ribka]

Great antelope hunt.  Reminds me of the trip with me and my son.  10 antelope in 3 days.

Makes me want to go back.  Tough decision - we are planning a senior hunting trip next year.  Cant decide on Wyoming antelope or Peck's Reservour mulie hunt. 

I was a bit leary about lope meat. Everyone said it was gamey and nasty. I called the rancher  before hand for logistics and info and he insisted that we skin and bone-out lope asap. He also suggested soaking meat in salt water with ice. I soaked mine for 24hrs and meat was sweet with no gamey flavor. Wife and 6 of my neighbors tried it and wanted seconds.

Looking at Ft Peck next year as can combine a lope with a deer hunt. 

[PacificNWhunter]

Congrats.

[pods8]

Generally speaking how much meat usually comes off a lope?  When folks are talking about dropping double digits I'm guessing not too much?

[gasman]

Generally speaking how much meat usually comes off a lope?  When folks are talking about dropping double digits I'm guessing not too much?

Completely deboned, we got an average of 25-35lbs of meat.

We both came home with about 120lbs plus each, of just meat.  Ribka, a little more then me, He seemed to always shoot the big does 

[carpsniperg2]

yeah the bucks we have got avg around 40-45 lbs not much

[pods8]

Completely deboned, we got an average of 25-35lbs of meat.

We both came home with about 120lbs plus each, of just meat.  Ribka, a little more then me, He seemed to always shoot the big does 

Follow up - Do you pretty much just get the 4 legs & back straps (neck?)?  I was interpreting based on going gutless and deboning in 20min or so there likely isn't any real meat on the ribs/flank area to go after?

[gasman]

Completely deboned, we got an average of 25-35lbs of meat.

We both came home with about 120lbs plus each, of just meat.  Ribka, a little more then me, He seemed to always shoot the big does 

Follow up - Do you pretty much just get the 4 legs & back straps (neck?)?  I was interpreting based on going gutless and deboning in 20min or so there likely isn't any real meat on the ribs/flank area to go after?

Yeah, thats what we did.

Did not bother with the rib meat. Hung them from teh meat pole, skinned, then deboned with out gutting. The only bad part was getting to the tenderloin with the animal inteh air, but i got pretty good at it 

[pods8]

Cool, thanks.

[Wyoming08]

Nice pics! Looked like an awesome hunt for you guys!