Somewhat random observations from our Wyoming adventure
Covid precautions vary widely from city and state guidances. Wyoming ranchers aren’t really worried about no stinkin’ virus.
Excitement for a successful random draw can be rapidly quashed when your son whiffs on his draw. My 10 a.m. dental patient didn’t understand my mixture of euphoria and sadness, not appreciate that I was 8 minutes late to the treatment room to deliver the numbing juice.
Leftover draws can salve the wound of draw failure.
Tags (cow/calf and antlerless deer) that have traditionally gone unsold into the season sold out well before the season started this year in our zones.
I brought enough food for ourselves........and perhaps fifty of my closest Wyoming friends and family. TOO MUCH STUFF!
Smoke filled skies can make stunning vistas appear sorta pretty.
The herbivores in our area are gonna be under the gun this winter.......drought has burned the pastures and the feed quality is poor.
Father son camaraderie can be greatly challenged by a dad asking the son/navigator for land status at every fenceline as we were driving about to understand where we might find antelope on public lands. Putting the iPhone into the A/C vent phone holder made both father and son appreciate the aforementioned phone holder greatly.
Sons who are very proficient waterfowl and turkey hunters have to think about scent cones and how to play the wind, which at first surprises dads who have hunted “smelling animals” without said son.
Trying for your first big game animal requires a learning curve. Doing it with a crossbow makes the curve steeper.
Even at Interstate speeds, driving 920 miles in one day takes a long time and will numb your keester just a bit.
My son had become quite the man. He was careful to not push me too hard on the stalks, and tried (unsuccessfully) to carry more than his fair share of the full game bags.
Binocular use is a learned skill. I feel lucky to have a @Big Fin garage sale 10x binos, but kansasson’s glass is in need of serious upgrading. Learning little tricks like holding the bill of the ball cap to help stabilize the glass and resting the glass on shooting sticks helped him improve considerably.
Learning to differentiate mule deer v whitetail does is a learned skill. (His tag was good for antlerless whitetail)
I had two antelope doe tags, and filled one of them. Antelope hair smells like Fritos!!
The Gerber knives Randy Newberg EBS (Exchange Blade System) worked amazingly well. I gave Aaron one as a memento of our trip. Wicked sharp and just as strong as a folder (very different from a Havalon) with an easy blade change whenever we wanted (and did it just because we could).
On my successful stalk, I made a tactical error.......leaving the SUV I had my shooting sticks and rifle, leaving my pack behind. I had been carrying some rounds in my pocket and had extras in my pack belt pouch. Leaving the pack behind left me with just enough rounds to take my antelope, including a couple of less than instantly lethal shots.
Sometimes you meet some cool folks while adventuring. We got to hang out with extended family, long time friends and also met salt of the earth ranchers who were uniformly friendly. I also got to meet TopGun 30-06’s long time hunting buddy, who is quite the hunter, but not so much a hunting forums guy.
Antelope is tasty meat!
We are already talking about a return to Wyoming next year. It will be a larger group next year. Son in laws, brother in law and a couple of nephews have all expressed interest in making an effort to have future Wyoming adventures.
Covid precautions vary widely from city and state guidances. Wyoming ranchers aren’t really worried about no stinkin’ virus.
Excitement for a successful random draw can be rapidly quashed when your son whiffs on his draw. My 10 a.m. dental patient didn’t understand my mixture of euphoria and sadness, not appreciate that I was 8 minutes late to the treatment room to deliver the numbing juice.
Leftover draws can salve the wound of draw failure.
Tags (cow/calf and antlerless deer) that have traditionally gone unsold into the season sold out well before the season started this year in our zones.
I brought enough food for ourselves........and perhaps fifty of my closest Wyoming friends and family. TOO MUCH STUFF!
Smoke filled skies can make stunning vistas appear sorta pretty.
The herbivores in our area are gonna be under the gun this winter.......drought has burned the pastures and the feed quality is poor.
Father son camaraderie can be greatly challenged by a dad asking the son/navigator for land status at every fenceline as we were driving about to understand where we might find antelope on public lands. Putting the iPhone into the A/C vent phone holder made both father and son appreciate the aforementioned phone holder greatly.
Sons who are very proficient waterfowl and turkey hunters have to think about scent cones and how to play the wind, which at first surprises dads who have hunted “smelling animals” without said son.
Trying for your first big game animal requires a learning curve. Doing it with a crossbow makes the curve steeper.
Even at Interstate speeds, driving 920 miles in one day takes a long time and will numb your keester just a bit.
My son had become quite the man. He was careful to not push me too hard on the stalks, and tried (unsuccessfully) to carry more than his fair share of the full game bags.
Binocular use is a learned skill. I feel lucky to have a @Big Fin garage sale 10x binos, but kansasson’s glass is in need of serious upgrading. Learning little tricks like holding the bill of the ball cap to help stabilize the glass and resting the glass on shooting sticks helped him improve considerably.
Learning to differentiate mule deer v whitetail does is a learned skill. (His tag was good for antlerless whitetail)
I had two antelope doe tags, and filled one of them. Antelope hair smells like Fritos!!
The Gerber knives Randy Newberg EBS (Exchange Blade System) worked amazingly well. I gave Aaron one as a memento of our trip. Wicked sharp and just as strong as a folder (very different from a Havalon) with an easy blade change whenever we wanted (and did it just because we could).
On my successful stalk, I made a tactical error.......leaving the SUV I had my shooting sticks and rifle, leaving my pack behind. I had been carrying some rounds in my pocket and had extras in my pack belt pouch. Leaving the pack behind left me with just enough rounds to take my antelope, including a couple of less than instantly lethal shots.
Sometimes you meet some cool folks while adventuring. We got to hang out with extended family, long time friends and also met salt of the earth ranchers who were uniformly friendly. I also got to meet TopGun 30-06’s long time hunting buddy, who is quite the hunter, but not so much a hunting forums guy.
Antelope is tasty meat!
We are already talking about a return to Wyoming next year. It will be a larger group next year. Son in laws, brother in law and a couple of nephews have all expressed interest in making an effort to have future Wyoming adventures.
