I definitely read more than post on this site but, I wanted to share a quick recap on my son's first western hunt which was a Wyoming Antelope hunt. I did my only Antelope hunt back in 2010 around New Castle with myself, my brother, and a friend all getting bucks. I have been doing a few elk, mule deer, and black bear hunts since then but decided to try Antelope again in 2021. Much to my suprise, my friend was the only one to draw in 2021 as the point situation changed drastically with more people applying and fewer tags being given. I still went with him and he got a representative buck for this 1-2 point unit. It did take us 4 days to find the one he shot though as the population isn't even close to what it was back around 2010.
Anyway, I had so much fun tagging along on my buddies hunt last year I decided to just get a point for myself and have my son apply for a tag. His 2 points were about 50/50 to draw and he was lucky enough to get a tag. We left on Friday Sept 30th and got to his unit around 3pm on 10/1. We went down a gravel road to a chunk of walk in land and spotted a buck and a doe. We kinda put a sneak on but the buck spotted us fairly quickly. We dropped down to our bellies and hid behind some grass just out of site of the buck. To my suprise the dang thing came running toward us to try and figure out what we were. He got to 50 yards with the safety off and pressure on the trigger when we decided it was too early and he wasn't big enough for the first hour we were in our unit as we hadn't even set up our tent where we were camping. I am guessing 11 inches with very little curl but decent prongs.
We went to a chunk of BLM and set up our tent and got camp situated before making a sandwich and some Ramen. Although there is reception in a lot of this unit the BLM ground is just far enough from the closest town that there isn't any cell service at all. This is no problem for me but was a little shocking to my 21 year old son that has probably never been in a situation without cell service. After a long day of driving we were in our cots by 8 o'clock and sleeping shortly after.
Day 2 was October 1st and I had failed to see when sunrise was going to be at this location so we were up and walking way before daybreak. Since we were camping in the same spot as last year I had a general direction in mind that we had seen Antelope last year. About 1.75 miles from camp we find 5 does about 900 yards to our east and 2 bucks about 600 yards south of us. There was enough terrain that we decided to set up in between the bucks and does. Not more than 15 minutes later a 3rd buck showed up at about 500 yards. As I was trying to decide how big he was he turned and came directly toward us. At about 190 yards he turned broadside and my son made the shot. Between the one we passed on day one and this one he shot on the morning of day 2 my son is thinking this Antelope hunting is pretty easy. I told him it's beginners luck.
Although I probably could have worked the truck closer it would have required going through some washed out roads. I have always wanted to try the gutless method and take an animal out on my back as it hasn't happened on my previous western hunts and definitely doesn't happen on my midwest whitetails. It wasn't perfect execution of the gutless but, I am glad I got to give it a try. Off we went with our one meat hauler holding the meat, head, and hide for a shoulder mount. My out of shape old butt did maybe a quarter mile before my son did the last 1.5 miles or so. Nice to have the young guys for this work.
We spent another night at camp before heading back east to take care of the meat and get the head to our taxidermist. I really could have used a couple more days camped out on this BLM but, I couldn't ask him to pass a second buck just to extend the hunt.
In closing. My son and I do plenty of hunting and fishing together around home but, I was really looking forward to this trip as he is reaching that age where you never know when full time jobs, a wife, and kids of his own might come along and make our time in the field happen less often. I encourage all of you to take an opportunity to get your kids out west if you have been contemplating doing so.
Hope the pictures attach properly. Good luck to everyone
Anyway, I had so much fun tagging along on my buddies hunt last year I decided to just get a point for myself and have my son apply for a tag. His 2 points were about 50/50 to draw and he was lucky enough to get a tag. We left on Friday Sept 30th and got to his unit around 3pm on 10/1. We went down a gravel road to a chunk of walk in land and spotted a buck and a doe. We kinda put a sneak on but the buck spotted us fairly quickly. We dropped down to our bellies and hid behind some grass just out of site of the buck. To my suprise the dang thing came running toward us to try and figure out what we were. He got to 50 yards with the safety off and pressure on the trigger when we decided it was too early and he wasn't big enough for the first hour we were in our unit as we hadn't even set up our tent where we were camping. I am guessing 11 inches with very little curl but decent prongs.
We went to a chunk of BLM and set up our tent and got camp situated before making a sandwich and some Ramen. Although there is reception in a lot of this unit the BLM ground is just far enough from the closest town that there isn't any cell service at all. This is no problem for me but was a little shocking to my 21 year old son that has probably never been in a situation without cell service. After a long day of driving we were in our cots by 8 o'clock and sleeping shortly after.
Day 2 was October 1st and I had failed to see when sunrise was going to be at this location so we were up and walking way before daybreak. Since we were camping in the same spot as last year I had a general direction in mind that we had seen Antelope last year. About 1.75 miles from camp we find 5 does about 900 yards to our east and 2 bucks about 600 yards south of us. There was enough terrain that we decided to set up in between the bucks and does. Not more than 15 minutes later a 3rd buck showed up at about 500 yards. As I was trying to decide how big he was he turned and came directly toward us. At about 190 yards he turned broadside and my son made the shot. Between the one we passed on day one and this one he shot on the morning of day 2 my son is thinking this Antelope hunting is pretty easy. I told him it's beginners luck.
Although I probably could have worked the truck closer it would have required going through some washed out roads. I have always wanted to try the gutless method and take an animal out on my back as it hasn't happened on my previous western hunts and definitely doesn't happen on my midwest whitetails. It wasn't perfect execution of the gutless but, I am glad I got to give it a try. Off we went with our one meat hauler holding the meat, head, and hide for a shoulder mount. My out of shape old butt did maybe a quarter mile before my son did the last 1.5 miles or so. Nice to have the young guys for this work.
We spent another night at camp before heading back east to take care of the meat and get the head to our taxidermist. I really could have used a couple more days camped out on this BLM but, I couldn't ask him to pass a second buck just to extend the hunt.
In closing. My son and I do plenty of hunting and fishing together around home but, I was really looking forward to this trip as he is reaching that age where you never know when full time jobs, a wife, and kids of his own might come along and make our time in the field happen less often. I encourage all of you to take an opportunity to get your kids out west if you have been contemplating doing so.
Hope the pictures attach properly. Good luck to everyone
