SC Living Outdoors
Well-known member
Part 1.1 - Wyoming
My wife and I have been building points in Wyoming for deer and antelope for a while now. We decided this was the year to cash them in and go chase some speed goats. I did a bunch of research and picked a unit that had a little later season because of other hunts I had planned. A cool bonus for this hunt was a good friend of ours (we’ll call her K) moved to Wyoming 6 or 7 years ago. She had never killed an antelope so I told her what unit and hunt to apply for and she drew as well. So my goal for this hunt was to get these two ladies their first antelope and get one for myself as well. K and my wife and I all used to go to church together where we served with the youth on Wednesday nights. It was going to be a lot of fun to all hang out again. We’d be able to stay at her house in town because the unit we were hunting was only a 25 minute drive away. It was a nice change of pace to have a comfy bed to sleep in every night. I had 5 or 6 days to Hunt, my wife only had 3 (she was flying out), our friend had some afternoons after work that she would be able to tagalong.
I left SC on November 1. I got to K’s house on the afternoon of the 2nd, but it was a little too late to head out so we just took it easy that evening and talked. The plan for the next day was for me to head out and begin scouting/hunting and K would meet up with me around 1 o’clock.
I headed out early the next morning and began looking all over the unit. It took me until about 10 o’clock to locate my first group of antelope. I passed a few bucks that morning looking for a big one, but also hoping to lock down a few groups for Kaitlin and K. Just before 1 o’clock I located a big buck with a group of does, but I was unable to get a shot under about 750 yards and I didn’t want to try to shoot that far if it could be avoided so I went and picked up K at the gate and we headed in to see if we can make a move on that big buck or what else we could find. When driving back in I saw the big buck again and thought there was a way we could work around to get above him and possibly get a shot. We began driving the long way around to where he was when I spotted a group of antelope. We were watching one group when all of a sudden another group started trotting towards us out of nowhere and there was a nice buck in the group. I told K let’s get set up and see if that buck offers you a shot. I got my rifle on the tripod and put my trekking poles under the back of the gun while we sat and waited. Then the antelope bedded down. So we sat and waited for an hour and a half. Every once in a while one in the group would stand up and I would have K practice dry firing on whichever one would stand up. She said she felt solid and finally the buck stood up at 430yds. She squeeze the trigger and the gun went off. The entire group of antelope took off to the right. When she shot I saw dirt kick up in the background and I was afraid she had shot just over him. However, I was wrong. The bullet zipped right through him and after about 40 yards, he began to slow and then he went down. He was probably on his feet for 10 seconds after the shot.
We went over and found him. He was a really pretty buck. K was incredibly happy. This was her first western animal and tag one of three was punched.
My wife and I have been building points in Wyoming for deer and antelope for a while now. We decided this was the year to cash them in and go chase some speed goats. I did a bunch of research and picked a unit that had a little later season because of other hunts I had planned. A cool bonus for this hunt was a good friend of ours (we’ll call her K) moved to Wyoming 6 or 7 years ago. She had never killed an antelope so I told her what unit and hunt to apply for and she drew as well. So my goal for this hunt was to get these two ladies their first antelope and get one for myself as well. K and my wife and I all used to go to church together where we served with the youth on Wednesday nights. It was going to be a lot of fun to all hang out again. We’d be able to stay at her house in town because the unit we were hunting was only a 25 minute drive away. It was a nice change of pace to have a comfy bed to sleep in every night. I had 5 or 6 days to Hunt, my wife only had 3 (she was flying out), our friend had some afternoons after work that she would be able to tagalong.
I left SC on November 1. I got to K’s house on the afternoon of the 2nd, but it was a little too late to head out so we just took it easy that evening and talked. The plan for the next day was for me to head out and begin scouting/hunting and K would meet up with me around 1 o’clock.
I headed out early the next morning and began looking all over the unit. It took me until about 10 o’clock to locate my first group of antelope. I passed a few bucks that morning looking for a big one, but also hoping to lock down a few groups for Kaitlin and K. Just before 1 o’clock I located a big buck with a group of does, but I was unable to get a shot under about 750 yards and I didn’t want to try to shoot that far if it could be avoided so I went and picked up K at the gate and we headed in to see if we can make a move on that big buck or what else we could find. When driving back in I saw the big buck again and thought there was a way we could work around to get above him and possibly get a shot. We began driving the long way around to where he was when I spotted a group of antelope. We were watching one group when all of a sudden another group started trotting towards us out of nowhere and there was a nice buck in the group. I told K let’s get set up and see if that buck offers you a shot. I got my rifle on the tripod and put my trekking poles under the back of the gun while we sat and waited. Then the antelope bedded down. So we sat and waited for an hour and a half. Every once in a while one in the group would stand up and I would have K practice dry firing on whichever one would stand up. She said she felt solid and finally the buck stood up at 430yds. She squeeze the trigger and the gun went off. The entire group of antelope took off to the right. When she shot I saw dirt kick up in the background and I was afraid she had shot just over him. However, I was wrong. The bullet zipped right through him and after about 40 yards, he began to slow and then he went down. He was probably on his feet for 10 seconds after the shot.
We went over and found him. He was a really pretty buck. K was incredibly happy. This was her first western animal and tag one of three was punched.
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