Off to Wyoming

np307

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Well, today's the day. Since December of last year when I asked a few buddies if they would be interested in going to Wyoming for an antelope hunt, I've been looking forward to today. I've wanted to go West to hunt ever since I spent a few weeks out there several summers ago.

We started with 5 in the group which was whittled down to three through different circumstances. I'm carrying a buck tag and a doe tag, the other two have 3 doe tags between them.

This will be a completely DIY ordeal. I researched which tags to draw and what public land would be available. No guides or ranches. Because none of us had many preference points (I had only 1) this isn't a highly coveted unit. It did sell out of tags this year though. We will be camping for the week on a piece of BLM land.

Today begins the 1700 mile trek out there. 25 hours of driving in my Camry pulling a little trailer for gear. I'll try to give as much of a day-by-day as possible. Right now our plan is to get out there Sunday, set up camp, confirm zero on rifles, and settle in. Monday will be scouting day. Tuesday through Thursday are full hunt days. Friday we pack up camp, possibly hunt the morning, then drive back. Fairly quick trip, but that's the time constraint we had to deal with.
 
Three buddies on a road trip = AWESOME!
Post pics along the way, not just of WY, please.

Sounds like a great time and Im looking forward to following this.
 
Any emergency communications? Consider a CB radio handheld,
inexpensive but works good channel 9 emergency use and ch 19 is dead center of the band truckers use it.

Have a great time!
 
Good luck and be careful.

I went out there for a motorcycle ride with my wife, my brother and his ex. The area made me feel so insignificant in the big picture because I have lived E of the Mississippi my whole life and it's "different".

A .22 wmr might be a good toy for the prairie dogs.
 
Well we are 500 miles in. Currently stopped for gas. Just about to cross into Kentucky. Thankfully uneventful travel so far. A few pics of the car at departure.
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Awesome! Been thinking about doing this for a few years. Please keep us updated as much as possible, so we can live vicariously through you. Safe travels and have a blast!
 
Dawn has broken on us in Nebraska. Just over the 1400 mile mark total. Hit a few patches of rain overnight and some dense fog, but we made it through. Looking forward to seeing the first antelope of the trip, but also looking forward to getting my cot set up.

Try and stay awake, the drive across Nebraska is a slog.
 
We arrived to where we are camping around 2:15 this afternoon. 30 hours total from when we left NC to when we stopped. It was a long trip to get here, but man is it worth it. There are plenty of prettier places in Wyoming, but this is still gorgeous. Looking forward to scouting some of the more promising areas of this unit tomorrow. There are two other groups that are camping here currently. We already spoke to one group to make sure we aren't in their way. Nice people. Feels good to be off the road. I'm currently sitting on top of a tall hill beside camp since its the only place I foind signal to post from. Totally worth it. I came up here to glass for the evening but may just enjoy looking out in silence and peace. As I'm writing this, I actually just noticed a small buck walking across the plains. Excitement level through the roof now. I'll post some pics of camp and see if I can finagle a picture through my binos of the antelope.
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We arrived to where we are camping around 2:15 this afternoon. 30 hours total from when we left NC to when we stopped. It was a long trip to get here, but man is it worth it. There are plenty of prettier places in Wyoming, but this is still gorgeous. Looking forward to scouting some of the more promising areas of this unit tomorrow. There are two other groups that are camping here currently. We already spoke to one group to make sure we aren't in their way. Nice people. Feels good to be off the road. I'm currently sitting on top of a tall hill beside camp since its the only place I foind signal to post from. Totally worth it. I came up here to glass for the evening but may just enjoy looking out in silence and peace. As I'm writing this, I actually just noticed a small buck walking across the plains. Excitement level through the roof now. I'll post some pics of camp and see if I can finagle a picture through my binos of the antelope.
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This will be my last hunting season stuck in the Carolinas. I transfer to Washington next year and will be applying my 15+ years of preference points towards resident moose tags, but would like to antelope hunt as well. Already had elk and deer there. Hope you enjoy my homestate! The antelope are easy to find, you're lucky you found phone reception.
 
Not going to lie, I’m super jealous right now. A week in the back country is very high on my list of things I want to do soon.
 
We got rained on all morning, 45 degrees right now. We had to sight rifles in and got pretty well soaked, but we are good to go now. On the way to town because I have to take an exam for a grad class, then scouting the rest of the day.
 
This time of year is super volatile. The sun can be hot oppressive during the day, you sweat, it drops below freezing at night and then freeze. Plus there is the off chance you get snow on top.

The environment here is harsh. You have to admire the people that settled/crossed this land before us.
 
Midday update. We had a buck just outside of camp this morning. Made a good stalk and then I completely missed the shot. Hoping that doesn't stick with me. After that we hit the road and found a single doe. Couldn't make a stalk on her. Later, we found a group of 8. Made a good stalk, they were bedded about 300 away from us. We had one more hill we could use to get closer. Then a couple trucks came up by the road and the guys got out to glass the antelope. The antelope booked it.

We did talk to a game warden on the way out. We pointed out a private road sign and we called up the ladder; turns out someone may have moved the road closed sign this morning. That's pretty aggravating if that's what happened.

We are thoroughly soaked. Just went to town for lunch and coffee. Now heading to camp to swap wet clothes for dry. Looks like we may see the sun tomorrow.

Bummed that we haven't put meat on the ground but really enjoying the hunt so far. Hopefully this evening we have some camp meat.
 
Well we gave it the full send tonight. 1 mile back we saw a big group. Used a big draw to stalk up. Ended up stalking another mile. When we came out of the draw, we saw two that were separate from the group. We slipped out of sight and moved side hill to get closer. Then the group saw us and it was all over. They booked it out of there so fast it was crazy. We probably could have set up and they would have walked around to us, but we couldn't see them until it was too late.

All told, we walked just shy of 12 miles today. May sleep in a little tomorrow. Definitely going to double up on ramen and sandwiches. Looks like the weather has mostly moved out, tomorrow we should be able to start drying out.

Looking forward to getting back after it.
 
Recap of yesterday: I missed two more times and a buddy finally filled a tag.

I did end up confirming yesterday that my scope was off. Not sure how that happened but it was way left. I got it rezeroed and now we are back at it this morning. Camp last night was cold. Wind was howling and temps dropped to mid 20s. Currently watching some antelope that are a long ways off but moving towards us. If they get in a good spot, we will make a play on them. Planning on being in the field till we cant go anymore as this is the last day we have.
 
Well, I notched my tag today. Definitely not a giant, but after the work we've put in this week I'm happy. Actually thought it was a doe at first because I couldn't see his cheek. Walked almost on a beeline toward where we were just set up glassing. Right through the brisket. He tipped over right there. So thankful to actually connect on an antelope.

We ended up deciding to pack up camp this afternoon and are already on our way back. We had a ton of fun and learned lots of lessons. The next time we come back, we will know what to expect. Looking forward to when that may be.

Tomorrow I will try to post some pics of the whole journey.
 
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