Late-September Wyoming Rifle-Antelope: What did you bring?

[mthayr]

As the title states, I'm wondering what you brought on a late-September spot-and-stalk rifle antelope hunt. What did you find useful, what would you leave out if you did it again. Obviously... "a rifle", but what else?

Some examples:
What power binoculars did you bring? Did you wish you brought more/less power? Did you bring a spotter, would you bother to bring one again if so?
Clothing systems as well, and were you hot/cold - what might you change?

 

[Kurts86]

For those hunts you have to be prepared for 90 degrees and 20 degrees and snow. I’ve seen both happen. Most of the time I’m in a base layer and mid layer top. I would err towards soft shells and active insulation because you are rarely stationary and weight isn’t a major concern. You have to bring a lot of clothes in the truck and dress for the weather that day.

The most useful gear are leather gloves, pants with knee pads and tweezers to pull out cactus needles.

I’m an optics nerd but I’ve not seen much impact to which glass I’m running. Pronghorn are usually obvious to spot if they are visible. It’s more about moving around to find the hidden ones in small folds or ones that are bedded. At this point I would probably take 10x42’s and a compact spotting scope.

 

[Zdub02]

Bring a tent that can hold up to Wyoming winds. We had a pole snap one night - not fun. 10x42 were enough bino and a spotter was just extra weight unless you are being very picky with what you're shooting. Clothes I would bring layers. Will likely experience a wide array of temps.

 

[TaperPin]

Definitely higher power binoculars and a spotting scope with window mount. Don’t stalk an antelope until you’ve found one worth going after - long days of driving two tracks with a handful of stalks each day is common. We often glass a few hundred goats a day - a window mount is the fastest way to see goats in the distance, stop and get a look at horn size. I see non residents stalking tiny 13” goats from two miles away - don’t do that - do it like the locals do.

Rifle can be anything you shoot well, but this is the one kind of hunting that benefits from a high bipod. Shooting over the top of sage can be a high prone or sitting, depending on what you have, but a low bipod is useless. I’m curious about a shooting tripod and don’t see why it wouldn’t work well. Knee pads and a left hand leather glove pay for themselves quickly if you have a long crawl. At least where I’ve hunted, there are enough stickers and sharp things that nobody I’ve hunted with tries it without gloves. Put one cactus spine in your knee and the next year you’ll have knee pads.

If you want a big goat, don’t shoot a small one because it’s easy. Learn to stalk in the sage early in the trip - force yourself to practice on a few, because you don’t want to be a rookie making rookie mistakes when the buck of a lifetime comes along. Experiment with your rangefinder to get a feel for it’s limitations - more than one big buck has walked away when the sage behind the goat is ranged by accident.

A huge number of antelope are gut shot - don’t shoot at a moving animal unless you have some idea of how much to lead them. That’s a topic in itself.

Stock the cooler with drinks and always bring more snacks than you think.

 

[Soj51hopeful]

Bono’s tripod spotter the usual, and lots of beer. Antelope hunting is a blast.

 

[wapitibob]

12x Leica, knee pads, tweezers, and the same cloths I bring for a Sept Elk hunt.

 

[wyodog]

I’ve spent a lifetime hunting antelope and would the 3 most important items are quality binos 10x minimum, 12x or 15x are better if you can hold them steady, steady is better than more power. A good spotting scope. If you are looking for good buck you need to be able to see them from multiple angles and that can be difficult without a spotter. Also I like to field judge from a ways off as they are less likely to spook. A window mount is very handy. The 3rd must have, is rifle you can shoot well at distance, 400 yards or further.
After those items a range finder with spare batteries.

Other items are pretty much the same as any other hunt. Good tires are important as I’ve seen a lot of guys come highway tread and have multiple flat tires.

Pro Tip: Crustable PB&J are super handy while antelope hunting, weather you are on the move in the pickup or need something quick to throw in your pack.

 

[Mojave]

If you are serious about shifting the big bucks from the ok bucks you need a spotting scope.

If the season has been rolling a bit, and they are spooky it will help a ton. As you may not get the ability to walk up to them when they are stupid.

Opening day hunts it is still important.

8 or 10 power binoculars are fine.

Because of their flag butts they are easy to spot a long way away.

 

[Rackmastr]

Spotting scope and a set of 10x swaros. Spotter is key for really looking at bucks. Im not sure I could ever think of a time I'd want to hunt antelope without one.

One tip is just because a season has been open for a bit, dont overlook the 'easy' spots. You'd be surprised what some people drive by or where a buck might show up after the season gets going.

 

[jjwise97]

I went last year during the last week of September, shot one the first day but it was about as ideal of a spot and stalk hunt as you could hope for. Spent the rest of my time there pretending to spot and stalk on antelope, mulies and elk, so while I wasn’t actually hunting, I still got to use my gear.

First few days had lows around 58 and highs around 75, last few days had lows around 30 and highs around 60. I took plenty of clothes but only ended up using a few things:
Sitka Mountain Pants
Sitka lightweight base layer shirts
Sitka heavyweight base layer hoodie (on colder mornings)
Sitka Traverse Jacket (when not moving)

My puffy jacket never got used. I had some lightweight Columbia hiking pants but never had a day hot enough that I felt like I needed them.

I had 10x binos, no spotter, and was able to easily pick out antelope from over a mile away. Rangefinder is essential IMO. I used a Mystery Ranch Popup 38 pack, after shooting my buck I had all 4 quarters on the meat shelf, plus my jacket & hoodie and all my other gear inside the pack with room to spare. Hope this helps.

 

[wytx]

Pick up a game bird license too. Late Sept ha some sage grouse areas open, you'll need a shotgun to hunt them.
Maybe bring your fishing equipment, spawning trout can be fun to catch.

They have covered about everything else. Once you fill out that license go fishing or grouse hunting- dusky or sage grouse. Might as well enjoy the entire trip.

Spotting scope is great from the truck, saves on loads of boot time stalking only to find a small , young buck.
Decent window mount is needed as well.

 

[TxLite]

Some examples:
What power binoculars did you bring? Did you wish you brought more/less power? Did you bring a spotter, would you bother to bring one again if so?
Clothing systems as well, and were you hot/cold - what might you change?

I brought 10x50 mavens and used them on a tripod with the outdoorsman’s mount. Great for spotting animals, but at longer distances it would have been nice to have a 15x bino or a spotter for judging animal quality.

Wear thick leather boots. Do not bring breathable mesh ones. The cacti will eat your lunch.

It was 75-80 degrees for us but after we left they had a front hit that brought snow. I’d bring gear for both just to CYA.

Download your map for offline use while you have service. It would be good to download several areas, especially if there is a chance you might visit them.

 

[TaperPin]

Almost forgot to add some fun things. Bring a .22 pistola and rifle for plinking around camp - a great thing about antelope camp is it’s usually remote enough you won’t have neighbors to bother. Some of my favorite memories of youth were having a .22 pistol and a couple bricks of ammo at camp to shoot as much
as possible.


Also bring that big .44 mag you always envisioned shooting a bear with, or granpa’s old 30-30 - you never know when a group of antelope will walk by 75 yards away during a lunch break. When you’re resigned to taking a young buck, it can be just as rewarding as a big one if it’s taken with something with iron sights. I still smile like a teenager seeing boobs for the first time when looking at photos of my first pistol buck.

Since antelope often walk over a rise without stopping to look back like a mule deer will, a cow elk call works great to get them to pause. Late in the season after the rut when they bunch up and are more relaxed, I’ve used the call to get a buck to stand up for an easier shot.


I also bring more cash than most, because there are little stores in out of the way places with one gas pump, four bar stools, a small collection of groceries and sometimes the owner’s collection of misc. guns local cowboys have pawned to pay a bar tab. I’ve bought a number of used guns from places completely off the radar. I often ask if the proprietor has any guns for sale - everyone in Wyoming has closets full of old guns, many of which are for sale given enough $$$.

 

[voltage]

Everything above is great advice. Here are my tips:

• Plan for all weather
  • hot, cold, rain, wind, snow
    • It isn't a backpack hunt. You can overpack.
• I usually run 10s on my chest, but plan to run the Sig Zulu6 16s this year
• I believe a spotter with a digiscoping setup is very important. It makes comparing goats easier, especially if you do not have a ton of experience . Most men overestimate by 2 inches on something a couple feet below their eyes, it is easy to do the same on an antelope at 1000 yards.
• I like glassing from truck, but I also like walking 25-200 yards off the road to get an angle that cannot be seen from the road.
• Be ready to shoot in odd ways. I have been present for 8 antelope rifle kills.
  • 4 prone
  • 3 sitting position on top of pack yoke or shooting sticks
  • 1 standing on tripod
• Antelope can (and should) be hunted all day.
• Antelope are strange. Sometimes they run toward you. Sometimes they run for fun.
• Generally speaking, if you see does in late September, there is a buck with the group. The buck might be out of sight for a bit because he is running off another buck. If you see does, don't give up too quickly.
• Define your goals before you go. Do you want a big antelope? Do you care? Mass can be very important for score, but do you care about score?
  • With that being said, be prepared to modify your goals (up or down) based on what you are seeing.
• Don't shoot the first buck you see (unless you have been looking for a while)
• Have a plan for getting cactus out of your body (such as tweezers). Try to remember to look for cactus when crawling.

 

[Dos Perros]

I would take my archery elk gear, minus bow plus rifle, add the leather gloves and fishing gear.

 

[Mojave]

If you get a bunch of rain it will turn those roads into soup. Takes a few days to dry out. So plan on getting rained out, and having enough days to get it done.

 

[Macintosh]

Im that non-resident chasing a little goat that taperpin mentioned. Having made the trip a few times now, Id just add that if you are going in green and you are hunting public in a unit that is easy to draw because it has 1000 tags in that unit alone (or whatever #) and the opener was 2 weeks ago, the situation could be a LOT different than in a unit with lots of public and only a few tags. In a unit where you dont really have the opportunity to be picky Id bring 10’s, ditch the spotting scope, and walk a bit more if theres enough public to do so…it has seemed to me that every goat in that unit that was still alive was just over the last rise in the last section of public that forced you to walk the long way around to even get a look. We’ve had a great time doing this though.
In a unit where a local would bother to hunt, Id listen to taperpin.