tallbuchholz
FNG
Decided to take the plunge this year and chase some western game with my little brother. Found some units in Wyoming that we figured we could draw with no points, applied, and both drew antelope and deer. Spent the summer picking spots out with on-x and accumulating gear, and finally got to head out last week!
It was immediately obvious that there were tons of animals all around, but that in order to find them on public, we'd need to get away from the roads. We packed in camp a couple miles into a nasty stretch of blm that we figured nobody else would try to get into, and had about 8 thousand acres to ourselves. We had a lot of experience spot-and-stalk hunting for whitetails, so the actual hunting wasn't too different, it was just amazing to see some of the places mule deer bucks would bed. Truly impossible spots to stalk in on, and we got busted a couple times early.
Antelope doesn't seem to be too difficult with a rifle, and we both filled those tags by day 3, without taking a shot over 200 yards. I actually waved to the herd and they came closer to investigate my shiny white hand in the sunlight. They're super cool animals, a blast to hunt, and delicious sauteed with onions and mushrooms (we packed in a little heavy and it was worth every ounce). We had backstraps, tenderloins, and hams for dinner every night for the rest of the hunt.
We packed out on day 4 and drove to a different part of the unit to try and fill our deer tags. We could drive to the new spot, so we camped by the truck and didn't have to deal with the grueling packs in/out. Spotted a bunch of deer on day 5 and made plans to tag out on day 6, but they didn't show up in the morning. Spotted some bucks in a sage flat around 2 pm and started a long, slow stalk that ended with the first deer of the trip.
The second deer was a little easier, as he was down in a steep draw feeding and not paying much attention. We butchered them up that night and put them in the cooler, and headed back to Texas the next morning.
We had such a fun hunt, and even though none of the animals were giants, they're still trophies to us. I will definitely be hunting more public land out west, and if anyone has recommendations for a good combination hunt (deer and another animal) I'm all ears!
I'll figure out how to post the pictures from my phone in a bit.
It was immediately obvious that there were tons of animals all around, but that in order to find them on public, we'd need to get away from the roads. We packed in camp a couple miles into a nasty stretch of blm that we figured nobody else would try to get into, and had about 8 thousand acres to ourselves. We had a lot of experience spot-and-stalk hunting for whitetails, so the actual hunting wasn't too different, it was just amazing to see some of the places mule deer bucks would bed. Truly impossible spots to stalk in on, and we got busted a couple times early.
Antelope doesn't seem to be too difficult with a rifle, and we both filled those tags by day 3, without taking a shot over 200 yards. I actually waved to the herd and they came closer to investigate my shiny white hand in the sunlight. They're super cool animals, a blast to hunt, and delicious sauteed with onions and mushrooms (we packed in a little heavy and it was worth every ounce). We had backstraps, tenderloins, and hams for dinner every night for the rest of the hunt.
We packed out on day 4 and drove to a different part of the unit to try and fill our deer tags. We could drive to the new spot, so we camped by the truck and didn't have to deal with the grueling packs in/out. Spotted a bunch of deer on day 5 and made plans to tag out on day 6, but they didn't show up in the morning. Spotted some bucks in a sage flat around 2 pm and started a long, slow stalk that ended with the first deer of the trip.
The second deer was a little easier, as he was down in a steep draw feeding and not paying much attention. We butchered them up that night and put them in the cooler, and headed back to Texas the next morning.
We had such a fun hunt, and even though none of the animals were giants, they're still trophies to us. I will definitely be hunting more public land out west, and if anyone has recommendations for a good combination hunt (deer and another animal) I'm all ears!
I'll figure out how to post the pictures from my phone in a bit.
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