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Wyoming Antelope Hunting
I had my 14-inch buck by 7 a.m. Saturday morning, following a 50-yard sneak and a 250-yard shot.
About two hours later my son and I were glassing a herd of antelope about 500 yards away when I noticed a buck and doe approaching from our left about 350 yards off. The buck was a good one so my son decided to take the long shot. Bamm! Right through the upper shoulder and out the lower neck — the buck dropped like a rock.
The doe trotted off about 30 yards and stopped. Bamm! I shot and the doe just took off. My son said, "YOU MISSED."
I was right on with my .270, but maybe I did miss. I went back to get the truck and my son walked over to his nice buck. As he made the crest of a little hill there was my doe, dead. Right through the ribs, but when she had taken off, she had looked untouched. We had two bucks and one doe all cleaned and quartered by 11 a.m.
We decided to go into town and get something to eat and let the 'lopes settle down.
We returned to hunting around 1 p.m. As we drove into the hunting area, there was a bunch of antelope off to our right about 600 or 700 yards out, but one doe was within 300 or 400 yards.
I told my son there you go, try to make it to the fence and take your shot. He crawled about 75 yards and after what seemed like an hour, he took his shot. The doe went about 30 yards and dropped. Another good shot right through the ribs. We stepped this one off and it was right at 375 yards.
Now, all we needed was two more does and we would be done. We decided to take a drive to the back side of our hunting area, maybe three miles away. As we approached the end of the road, my son spotted four antelope to our left. We stopped the truck and did a sneak/crawl for 200 or 300 yards. We got to within 300 yards and decided to take our shots. I dropped one doe, hit through the lower neck, the other three ran about 50 yards and stopped to look back. Bamm! My son dropped one of the three, right through the upper ribs.
We were done skinning and quartering, and heading back to the motel around 5 p.m. We were up Sunday morning at 4 a.m. and on our way home by 5 a.m. My son had to be back for a college test Tuesday morning or we would have stayed and done some fishing.
What a day to spend side by side with one of my sons. I just cannot think of anywhere else I would have rather been on this day. It was a lot of work to drag, skin and quarter our kills, but the meat is hanging in the butcher shop and six antelope will fill the freezer. This was the third trip for my son and me, and each one has been a total joy. My son was just 16 on our first trip in 1998. During that hunt, he took his first big game animal — a doe antelope from the Laramie area. Ever since that first trip, my son has outdone me with the biggest buck. Wyoming antelope hunting is a good start for your young hunters.
A lot of people seem to think that antelope are the least tasty of our big game, but these antelope come from the southeast corner of Wyoming, which has lots of grass. The antelope from this area taste as good as some elk I have eaten and are as good, if not better, than some of the deer we have taken.
If you decide to try your luck at antelope hunting, you better make sure that your rifle is zeroed in. The majority of your shots will be over 250 yards, plus it is a must to have a good spotting scope.
Submitted by Cliff McDonald
California
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