Wyoming was good to Team Road Warrior this year. The three of us, Upper Deck, Grizzly, and I (as well as another friend, John) all drew antelope tags in a good unit. Sept. 21 we left Bismarck early and met Upper Deck in our unit mid-afternoon. I transferred my gear to UD’s truck and we were off.
We were literally in the unit for five minutes and a GREAT buck was 100 yards off the road. We all looked him over, but no one wanted to pull the trigger and be done that quickly. He was a fortunate critter because he was definitely one of the better bucks we saw on the trip. The rest of the afternoon we spent looking over a ridiculous number of antelope trying to get a feel for what was in the unit.
Early evening UD and I were hiking back to the truck after getting a closer look at another nice buck when a truck rolled up. It turned out to be a local rancher. He asked where we were from and what kind of buck we were looking for. I told him we were trying to be selective and find some larger, trophy bucks. He informed us if that was the case, to follow him to his ranch. It turned out to be antelope nirvana! An incredible concentration of antelope and some fantastic bucks could be seen from ranch house while talking to him. He filled us in on some good areas to start and said to “have at it”.
We headed to a hill about ½ mile from the ranch and started to glass. We couldn’t keep up with all of the bucks. About ten minutes into this chaos, I looked into the bottom of a sage filled draw and huge buck had showed up. For UD and I this was a no-brainer. UD was quickly on the trigger and just a few hours into our hunt we had a keeper on the ground. We were both got pretty excited walking up to him. Mass, prongs, and horn length. This one had it all!!
Before the Shot
UD's Buck
Camped under the stars.
The next morning UD and I headed back to the same ranch as there was on open invitation from the rancher to come back and “give’em hell”. Through the morning and afternoon it would be hard to put an accurate number to the multitude of bucks we looked over. A couple of which UD thought I was crazy to pass on.
That evening we climbed a butte overlooking a huge draw filled with chest high sage and it was literally crawling with animals. We looked over all of them and kept coming back to one that was very tall and had a lot of mass. He gave us opportunities to take him, but we couldn’t decide if we were being deceived! During this time another great buck appeared out of nowhere. His prongs and ivory tips sealed the deal and I headed out after him. A quick stalk and two shots later, I had my antelope. UD and I overestimated his height slightly, but no matter I was tickled with him.
My Buck
When we got back to camp that evening, we found out John had taken his best buck ever with a single shot at 275 yards. It was a nice buck with heavy horns and his best to date. That made three of the four tags filled. As UD prepared his famous turkey fajitas, I showed Grizzly some pics of the heavy buck I had passed that evening. I told him if he was interested, I thought we could get on him in the morning. He grinned, farted, and said it was a go!
I was confused if he was pleased with himself about passing gas or the goat, but we had a plan for the morning.
John's Buck
Live pic of Grizzy's buck
As the sun was coming up, UD and John headed out to look over other bucks for Grizzly while he and I crawled up the butte overlooking the area where the heavy buck had been. It didn’t take long to locate him among the other candidates. He was pushing his does in our general area and we decided to leave and get UD and John.
When we all got back, the heavy buck was where we left him. The only problem was he and his does where on a huge flat with no way for us to get close to him. Over the summer I had invested in a Leupold CDS scope and RX-1000 rangefinder. We decided to put them to the test. It took Grizzly a couple of shots/adjustments, but in short order he dropped the buck like a piano had fallen on him from 590 yards. A great shot and a great buck with super mass.
He's out there
A team effort
Grizzly's buck
590 yard's away
Super hero packout in the Mystery Ranch Pack
More pics that evening
This hunt exceeded every expectation we had. It was top notch from beginning to end. The hunt, company, food, and weather were all stellar. There is a lot more that could be added and I am sure the other guys will chime in and add more pictures. Thanks John, Grizzly, and Upper Deck for a memorable time. You’re all great friends and I am looking forward to doing it again soon.
UD can cook!!!
Grizzly's using a "special" tape to score his goat - look close
WY rocks
We were literally in the unit for five minutes and a GREAT buck was 100 yards off the road. We all looked him over, but no one wanted to pull the trigger and be done that quickly. He was a fortunate critter because he was definitely one of the better bucks we saw on the trip. The rest of the afternoon we spent looking over a ridiculous number of antelope trying to get a feel for what was in the unit.
Early evening UD and I were hiking back to the truck after getting a closer look at another nice buck when a truck rolled up. It turned out to be a local rancher. He asked where we were from and what kind of buck we were looking for. I told him we were trying to be selective and find some larger, trophy bucks. He informed us if that was the case, to follow him to his ranch. It turned out to be antelope nirvana! An incredible concentration of antelope and some fantastic bucks could be seen from ranch house while talking to him. He filled us in on some good areas to start and said to “have at it”.
We headed to a hill about ½ mile from the ranch and started to glass. We couldn’t keep up with all of the bucks. About ten minutes into this chaos, I looked into the bottom of a sage filled draw and huge buck had showed up. For UD and I this was a no-brainer. UD was quickly on the trigger and just a few hours into our hunt we had a keeper on the ground. We were both got pretty excited walking up to him. Mass, prongs, and horn length. This one had it all!!
Before the Shot
UD's Buck
Camped under the stars.
The next morning UD and I headed back to the same ranch as there was on open invitation from the rancher to come back and “give’em hell”. Through the morning and afternoon it would be hard to put an accurate number to the multitude of bucks we looked over. A couple of which UD thought I was crazy to pass on.
That evening we climbed a butte overlooking a huge draw filled with chest high sage and it was literally crawling with animals. We looked over all of them and kept coming back to one that was very tall and had a lot of mass. He gave us opportunities to take him, but we couldn’t decide if we were being deceived! During this time another great buck appeared out of nowhere. His prongs and ivory tips sealed the deal and I headed out after him. A quick stalk and two shots later, I had my antelope. UD and I overestimated his height slightly, but no matter I was tickled with him.
My Buck
When we got back to camp that evening, we found out John had taken his best buck ever with a single shot at 275 yards. It was a nice buck with heavy horns and his best to date. That made three of the four tags filled. As UD prepared his famous turkey fajitas, I showed Grizzly some pics of the heavy buck I had passed that evening. I told him if he was interested, I thought we could get on him in the morning. He grinned, farted, and said it was a go!
I was confused if he was pleased with himself about passing gas or the goat, but we had a plan for the morning. John's Buck
Live pic of Grizzy's buck
As the sun was coming up, UD and John headed out to look over other bucks for Grizzly while he and I crawled up the butte overlooking the area where the heavy buck had been. It didn’t take long to locate him among the other candidates. He was pushing his does in our general area and we decided to leave and get UD and John.
When we all got back, the heavy buck was where we left him. The only problem was he and his does where on a huge flat with no way for us to get close to him. Over the summer I had invested in a Leupold CDS scope and RX-1000 rangefinder. We decided to put them to the test. It took Grizzly a couple of shots/adjustments, but in short order he dropped the buck like a piano had fallen on him from 590 yards. A great shot and a great buck with super mass.
He's out there
A team effort
Grizzly's buck
590 yard's away
Super hero packout in the Mystery Ranch Pack
More pics that evening
This hunt exceeded every expectation we had. It was top notch from beginning to end. The hunt, company, food, and weather were all stellar. There is a lot more that could be added and I am sure the other guys will chime in and add more pictures. Thanks John, Grizzly, and Upper Deck for a memorable time. You’re all great friends and I am looking forward to doing it again soon.
UD can cook!!!
Grizzly's using a "special" tape to score his goat - look close
WY rocks
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