2013 Archery Antelope - Wyoming
Sept 24, 2013 8:47:23 GMT -5
Woody Williams, goosepondmonster, and 14 more like this
Post by lawrencecountyhunter on Sept 24, 2013 8:47:23 GMT -5
I went on this hunt during the second week of September, during Wyoming's archery antelope season. It was a semi-guided hunt with 88 Ranch Outfitters, about 40 miles outside of Douglas, Wyoming. 88 Ranch Outfitters is a family run outfit that offers hunting on their 42,000 acre ranch. Antelope, mule deer, whitetail, and elk live on their land year-round, although they guide mainly just for antelope and mule deer. The entire family was very interesting and fun to be around, the food and accomodations were great, and I would definitely recommend them to anyone considering this kind of hunt.
Here are some details about my trip, and some pictures I took along the way:
I left work at around 2:00 PM on a Monday and headed west, making it to the ranch by about 5:00 PM Tuesday (3:00 PM in Wyoming). I could not hunt until Wednesday, so the evening was spent settling in to my room, shooting my bow, and getting to know the family and the 1 other hunter that was there at the same time as me.
There were about a dozen of these racks on the wall, all about the same size, of elk that the family had taken from their property over the last few years...
Wednesday morning, I was dropped off at a windmill supplying water to a waterhole about 30 minutes before daybreak. The summer had been unusually wet, and the temperatures for the duration of my hunt were predicted to be unseasonably cool (highs of around 60). This can make for tough antelope hunting over water, since the antelope don't water as much when it's cool, and it was so wet they had lots of choices on where to get their water. For this reason, and also because I had never killed any antelope before, I decided I would take the first decent buck I had the opportunity at for fear I wouldn't get a second chance.
I didn't see any antelope for about the first hour of daylight, just several muley does and fawns browsing in the sage around me. At around 7:00 AM, I saw my first group of antelope (while hunting) crest a hill about a half-mile away from my windmill. From then on, there were always antelope within sight, although none came within 500 yards or so until around noon. Then several does and fawns began coming in to water, but no bucks. I watched a group of 16 does and fawns come to within about 500 yards of my windmill, where they were joined by a good looking buck (the rut was just starting to swing). I watched these antelope stay in the same general area for about 4 hours, during which time another decent buck came in with 3 does and presented me with several perfect 15 yard shots. The other buck with the big group of does looked a lot better to me though, so I went ahead and let the smaller buck walk.
Finally, 13 of the 16 does with the bigger buck came in to water. The buck started to come in with them, but angled around to come in downwind. He came to about 50 yards and I could tell he smelled me; he acted just like a whitetail, staring and stomping his front feet. After a few minutes of this he retreated back to the remaining 3 does, about 500 yards away. About the time he got there, they decided it was time for them to come in for a drink. Again, he came in and circled downwind, smelled me, and proceeded to stare a hole right through me up in the windmill. This time, though, as he started to retreat I made a MAAAHHH sound to stop him. He turned broadside to look, and my arrow hit him perfect with a double lung shot. He dropped right where I hit him.
I gutted it out, and a short time later the outfitter came along to pick me up. He said it was definitely a mature buck, and probably at his peak. That's all that really matters to me; I am more than happy to take a mature, representative animal. I will be getting the head mounted as a wall pedestal as a reminder of the experience. I don't know how long it will be before I get to go antelope hunting again, but I do know that I defintely will be back to Wyoming at some point to try my luck again.
Here are some details about my trip, and some pictures I took along the way:
I left work at around 2:00 PM on a Monday and headed west, making it to the ranch by about 5:00 PM Tuesday (3:00 PM in Wyoming). I could not hunt until Wednesday, so the evening was spent settling in to my room, shooting my bow, and getting to know the family and the 1 other hunter that was there at the same time as me.
There were about a dozen of these racks on the wall, all about the same size, of elk that the family had taken from their property over the last few years...
Wednesday morning, I was dropped off at a windmill supplying water to a waterhole about 30 minutes before daybreak. The summer had been unusually wet, and the temperatures for the duration of my hunt were predicted to be unseasonably cool (highs of around 60). This can make for tough antelope hunting over water, since the antelope don't water as much when it's cool, and it was so wet they had lots of choices on where to get their water. For this reason, and also because I had never killed any antelope before, I decided I would take the first decent buck I had the opportunity at for fear I wouldn't get a second chance.
I didn't see any antelope for about the first hour of daylight, just several muley does and fawns browsing in the sage around me. At around 7:00 AM, I saw my first group of antelope (while hunting) crest a hill about a half-mile away from my windmill. From then on, there were always antelope within sight, although none came within 500 yards or so until around noon. Then several does and fawns began coming in to water, but no bucks. I watched a group of 16 does and fawns come to within about 500 yards of my windmill, where they were joined by a good looking buck (the rut was just starting to swing). I watched these antelope stay in the same general area for about 4 hours, during which time another decent buck came in with 3 does and presented me with several perfect 15 yard shots. The other buck with the big group of does looked a lot better to me though, so I went ahead and let the smaller buck walk.
Finally, 13 of the 16 does with the bigger buck came in to water. The buck started to come in with them, but angled around to come in downwind. He came to about 50 yards and I could tell he smelled me; he acted just like a whitetail, staring and stomping his front feet. After a few minutes of this he retreated back to the remaining 3 does, about 500 yards away. About the time he got there, they decided it was time for them to come in for a drink. Again, he came in and circled downwind, smelled me, and proceeded to stare a hole right through me up in the windmill. This time, though, as he started to retreat I made a MAAAHHH sound to stop him. He turned broadside to look, and my arrow hit him perfect with a double lung shot. He dropped right where I hit him.
I gutted it out, and a short time later the outfitter came along to pick me up. He said it was definitely a mature buck, and probably at his peak. That's all that really matters to me; I am more than happy to take a mature, representative animal. I will be getting the head mounted as a wall pedestal as a reminder of the experience. I don't know how long it will be before I get to go antelope hunting again, but I do know that I defintely will be back to Wyoming at some point to try my luck again.
