September wrapped up and I was scheduled for work in Michigan to start out the month of October. Season is open and I’m on a damn plane surrounded by people! I should be crawling through sage brush not staring at mouth breathers in the airport! Anyway I’m still E scouting and talking to friends. Week 1 goes by. Then week 2 I have family plans so that’s a bust. Week 3 takes me to Texas again for work and I’m not starting to get a little concerned.
I’m trying to get this done without having to plan much time off work as I also have an Elk tag in my pocket for November which is really kind of where my mind keeps going to as I know that is going to take quite a bit of effort and I have
@Bluffgruff going along with me and I want that trip to be as prepared as possible. Most have read all about that on the other thread.
So here we go now it’s getting down to the wire and I need to get up there and get this pronghorn done! I get a text from
@winmag that he can go up with me and help get the buck done on Monday and Tuesday but needs to be home Tuesday night. Well damn I am beside myself! I get back Friday night from Texas and let the wife know I will be headed out Monday morning 10/28 after my morning work activities are caught up. She isn’t thrilled but understands. So Monday is here. I’m packed up for some truck camping and headed north. We decided winmag will be entering the unit from a pre determined south point and I’ll enter from the north. We will work our way to the middle and meet up to discuss what we have glasses up on the way in. I committed to him that I would not shoot a buck until we got together and evaluated what we have seen. I made sure the rifle was just out of reach and stayed in my work attire all the way to the rally point in the middle. I passed Multiple groups of pronghorn. All holding bucks that to me seemed good enough but I was good on my word and kept on corse. Typical chilly windy afternoon in Wyoming and got to the meeting point on time. Shortly after I get a text as I’m standing on the side of the road in my undergarments trying to get dressed for the occasion. He says head south about 3 miles I have a group we should go check out and a really good looking buck south that we also might want to re visit if we have time. All the sudden getting dressed turns into what my wife would call a yard sale with clothes all over and me hauling butt southbound!
we meet up and quickly sort out what’s going on and take a walk to see the group. Maybe 500 yards up and over a few sage covered bluffs to find this group has moved on in the cover of shallow ravines between the bluffs. It’s amazing how such flat country can hide these animals so well.
We abort and make fast pace back to the trucks and head further south to where the good looking buck was hanging out earlier. No signs of him but spot a group a mile or more south. Figure why not take a look. We get to 500 or so yards and notice there are quite a few animals here. Keep pushing a mild stalk and get to 300. One good looking shooter buck but he’s already dropped a horn. We hang out and watch till the sun drops. We’re seeing animals just gotta get a game plan and get it done. Find a flat area and park for the night. I suggest that there were a ton of bucks on my way in the unit and we agree it’s worth a drive in the morning to take a look.
The night is cold and out of nowhere we get smacked with high winds rain then snow and lightning right on top of us. At one point lightning hit both sides of the road within hundreds of yards maybe of us. We’ll get some sleep and let’s see what the morning brings us!
