It's been awhile, but I finally got the pictures loaded and a bit of time to post them. My neighbor and I drew a buck and 2 doe tags and BOY came down from ID to join us with 2 more doe tags. We made the drive and the afternoon before the season started stopped in Laramie for provisions and to meet up with Buzz for a bit. Headed out and made camp just as it got dark. Then the rain came. Lots of rain. Opening morning we headed out about 30mins behind schedule. Grrr... It was just getting to shooting light when we got to the turn off we wanted to take that takes us up on a long ridge that we had hunted 3 years before. At that time the road was great! Wide, graded well, and gravelled. Now it was grass more than waist high. What the??? We figured that did not meet the definition of "established road" in the HMA rules so we proceeded on to try to find a way to the ridge top with the shortest distance of walking. **We can to find out that after the oil/gas drilling was done the road was closed and rehabbed. Saw a local getting a ticket scratched for not assuming as we did that it did not meet the definition of "established road".** We made our way around to the other end of the ridge and spotted a couple of bucks feeding in a saddle. We hid the truck behind the hill and my neighbor closed the distance to 309yds. Once the closest one turned broadside...we had the first tag punched!
We hung him up at the truck, got him skinned and on ice then set out to fill more tags. As is usual with me and hunting pronghorns, the rest of the day was filled with failed stalks and a miss at a very makeable shot… Towards the end of the day I went for a bit of a walk. I had just gotten off the phone as I was walking back to the truck when I surprised a doe at a fence. I was in the shadow of a hill and I’m and I’m sure she couldn’t quite make out what I was. I wanted to wait until I filled my buck tag before shooting a doe, but this was close enough to the truck. Tag #2 filled.
The next morning I hiked back into an area I had checked out the evening before and saw pronghorn. I didn’t go after them then as I didn’t have the stuff with me to bone/pack on out. I did this morning. With the sun at my back I spotted a couple of does near where they were the night before. I put a hill between me and them and crept up to a saddle. Just as I peeked over the saddle the doe bedded down. A quick bit of glassing turned up a buck behind her that I hadn’t seen. I crawled up to clear the hill and grass got steady and shot. He jumped up and trotted up the hill not seeming hurt. WTH! Thinking I missed, I put another in the chamber and shot again dropping him. Both shots hit and would have been fatal. The first was just a smidge low. Either way, tag #3 filled.
I got him in the pack and headed toward the truck. Neighbor guy had came over my way and we made it to the truck. As I was loading him in the cooler I looked behind us and a pronghorn was heading our way! He grabbed his sticks, slid around the other side of the truck, knelt and shot! It went wide right! After a few steps the pronghorn stopped and I told him to aim back. Next one dropped it. Tag #4 filled. We got it skinned and on ice and headed for the truck stop as BOY was to be in that afternoon.
We met BOY at camp about 1pm got his stuff set up and everyone took a bit of a cat nap. About 3:30 we headed back out. About ½ mile off the main county road we spotted 3 does feeding. Got the truck hid, BOY snuck around a hill and filled tag #5. That ended the shooting for that day.
The third morning we headed out to a greasewood flat that the pronghorns bunch into when they get some pressure. We dropped BOY off and Neighbor and I headed around to the other end of the valley. Just as we were getting out of the truck we hear a faint shot. Then my phone buzzes, BOY sent me a text saying he has one down and to bring the game cart! Tag #6 filled.
By now the pronghorn were more than a bit skittish, especially from trucks. So Neighbor and I headed back to near where I had shot my buck, but one ridge south after spotting 3 does feeding out below us. As we were watching those, a bunch on the hill above us were starting to feel a bit rutty as the bucks were chasing each other and posturing around each other. It took a while, but a truck driving a road way below the first three we spotted got them moving our way. They went behind a hill and popped out about 90yds away. Just as I was getting on the left most one, Neighbor drops the right most one. They take off to the right and I shoot, missing. A quick dog bark gets them to stop at about 80yds and I whiff again! They circle us and make it out to about 230yds when I bark, again stopping them and this time I don’t miss. Tags #7 and #8 filled! It was a fun 3 days!
We hung him up at the truck, got him skinned and on ice then set out to fill more tags. As is usual with me and hunting pronghorns, the rest of the day was filled with failed stalks and a miss at a very makeable shot… Towards the end of the day I went for a bit of a walk. I had just gotten off the phone as I was walking back to the truck when I surprised a doe at a fence. I was in the shadow of a hill and I’m and I’m sure she couldn’t quite make out what I was. I wanted to wait until I filled my buck tag before shooting a doe, but this was close enough to the truck. Tag #2 filled.
The next morning I hiked back into an area I had checked out the evening before and saw pronghorn. I didn’t go after them then as I didn’t have the stuff with me to bone/pack on out. I did this morning. With the sun at my back I spotted a couple of does near where they were the night before. I put a hill between me and them and crept up to a saddle. Just as I peeked over the saddle the doe bedded down. A quick bit of glassing turned up a buck behind her that I hadn’t seen. I crawled up to clear the hill and grass got steady and shot. He jumped up and trotted up the hill not seeming hurt. WTH! Thinking I missed, I put another in the chamber and shot again dropping him. Both shots hit and would have been fatal. The first was just a smidge low. Either way, tag #3 filled.
I got him in the pack and headed toward the truck. Neighbor guy had came over my way and we made it to the truck. As I was loading him in the cooler I looked behind us and a pronghorn was heading our way! He grabbed his sticks, slid around the other side of the truck, knelt and shot! It went wide right! After a few steps the pronghorn stopped and I told him to aim back. Next one dropped it. Tag #4 filled. We got it skinned and on ice and headed for the truck stop as BOY was to be in that afternoon.
We met BOY at camp about 1pm got his stuff set up and everyone took a bit of a cat nap. About 3:30 we headed back out. About ½ mile off the main county road we spotted 3 does feeding. Got the truck hid, BOY snuck around a hill and filled tag #5. That ended the shooting for that day.
The third morning we headed out to a greasewood flat that the pronghorns bunch into when they get some pressure. We dropped BOY off and Neighbor and I headed around to the other end of the valley. Just as we were getting out of the truck we hear a faint shot. Then my phone buzzes, BOY sent me a text saying he has one down and to bring the game cart! Tag #6 filled.
By now the pronghorn were more than a bit skittish, especially from trucks. So Neighbor and I headed back to near where I had shot my buck, but one ridge south after spotting 3 does feeding out below us. As we were watching those, a bunch on the hill above us were starting to feel a bit rutty as the bucks were chasing each other and posturing around each other. It took a while, but a truck driving a road way below the first three we spotted got them moving our way. They went behind a hill and popped out about 90yds away. Just as I was getting on the left most one, Neighbor drops the right most one. They take off to the right and I shoot, missing. A quick dog bark gets them to stop at about 80yds and I whiff again! They circle us and make it out to about 230yds when I bark, again stopping them and this time I don’t miss. Tags #7 and #8 filled! It was a fun 3 days!
