where, SE Wyoming
weapons: cooperjd: bowtech destoryer 340 (quickly learned that in the wind and lack of watering holes, not going to work); T/C Dimension in .243, factory barnes ammo with 80gr TTSX bullets. Nikon monarch 4-16x42mm scope
dad: "bad bob", his old, trusty weatherby vanguard in .270win, nikon 3-9x40 scope with factory remington 130gr swift scirocco ammo.

It was that time of year again when me and my pops head up to WY to chase antelope DIY style. we have been going every two years with my good friends since 2010.

we were successful in '10 and '12, with 4 bucks taken; in '14 we both ate tag sandwiches mostly due to a really short hunt i think, and pops not quite being able to close the deal on a couple of close encounters.

This year we were armed with a little more time on our hands.

We arrived in wyoming and got settled, headed out thursday afternoon to our usual spot on a few square miles of blm/state land. i think we saw 13 people, no goats...not a good sign. we've never seen it this busy. in our 3 previous trips, we may see one other truck a day, maybe. discouraged, we called it quits before dark and headed in.

the new game plan was to head to some areas we had hunted before that required a good hike in, as most folks do not hike in very far for antelope. as we were driving in friday dad wanted a quick change of plan and to go back to the spot from yesterday, but since it was early, we would drive in a good ways and hike in all the way to the northern boundary, thinking the goats were pushed that way. no dice, we just watched more people get in there again.

we ran to town to talk to my friend and made sure i knew where i was going for the walk in area, and off we went.

dad's knee is pretty terrible. he's had surgeries on both knees, but the left one is really bad, and really needs replacing. so hills are difficult for him. unfortunately, this walk required us to climb a steep hill, actually a couple, to get back to the flats. this is why noone antelope hunts this area, its over a mile of hills to get back to where you might actually see some goats. this is certainly mule deer country. i think we counted 24 total deer this day. no good bucks, but a few that will be decent in a couple more years if they stick around.

we finally make it back to the flats and spot a decent antelope buck with two does. they are a very long way off so we are forced to sit tight and see which way they are working before making a plan to stalk. luckily they are heading for us, so we just sit and wait. they work in to about 400 yards or so and bed down. with really high wind gusts a shot was not an option at this point.

we watch them for about an hour and finally decide we can circle around a bit and use the terrain to get much closer. it works beautifully. dad led us to a big rock pile that we could hide behind 140 yards away from the bedded goats. now the only problem is the buck's angle. he is laying really low, and is severely quartering to us, and dad didnt feel comfortable with the shot. so we wait again. and wait. and wait. thinking they have to stand up at some point.

all of a sudden two really small bucks run over the hillside from our right straight towards the bedded goats. the buck gets up gathers his does and hauls ass. hunt over.

after the walk back dad's knee was really hurting so we spent the rest of friday hanging out and resting...and going to the local high school football game to watch our friends son play.

saturday morning. pop's knee is in bad shape. hills are not going to happen this morning...so we have another walk in area, its a long'ish walk, but pretty flat. so we try for this one. we get back there and walk around a while glassing, and after about 3 miles of walking, he's ready to call it quits and head back to the truck when we spot a buck. unfortunately we are both caught out in the open, and he spots us as well. we move to a small rock pile to get a good rest, and range him at 361 yards. i always let dad shoot first, and his last antelope was taken at 387y, so its go time. the wind is not too bad, and my .243 hits the bipod to back him up in case he misses.

the buck is quartering to us pretty hard so we have to wait until he turns. i put down the rifle for a second and show him my Montana Decoy to see if that'll make him move or ease towards us. it made him turn broadside, good enough! i put down the decoy and get back on the rifle, as dad squeezes off a shot. unfortunately for him he pulled it and shot right under him. the buck hopped a few steps and was quartering away a bit heading back up the hill he came from when i let one fly and dropped him. now to be honest, i did not allow for quite enough wind drift. we were pretty close to a hill as well to our backs and i think the wind i felt was not as strong as the wind blowing across the flat. due to his quartering angle; i really only missed by 6-8" to the right, but lucky for me, the buck's head was in the way, and my 80gr ttsx went right though his black cheek patch. so i missed as well, but i happen to hit him in a good spot on my miss.

we loaded him in my pack frame whole (well, gutted), dad took my day pack, and we packed him out 1.7 miles back to the truck. luckily it was flat and very slightly downhill.






from this photo we had to slightly re-adjust him in my pack for a better carrying experience, as he was pulling me back pretty hard.

skinned, quartered, and into coolers; and dad went back to his hotel to soak in some epsom salt.

sunday morning...
back to the ol' stomping grounds where we saw all the people. this time, however, we parked on the very eastern edge of the BLM and hiked in. everyone else drives in on the western boundary. on the eastern edge are some large draws (or ditches where i'm from) where the goats will go hide in when pressured. this was also a short walk in for dad, as his knee was just about to give out for this hunt.

we cross one draw and head up the opposite side, walk a little ways and spot a couple goats out on the flat. they are far enough i can't range them, and with no way to get closer, we sit down and wait to see what they are going to do.

the lay of the land is such that if we sit down we're out of sight, if we stand most of the way up we are in sight of the goats, so we sit down and peek up on occasion to check their location. dad peeks up, gets back down quick, and says they're coming! something has spooked them and they are hauling ass towards us. another quick peek, he drops down and gets "bad bob", his .270 ready. in a few seconds the two does are in sight, they see us, but we are dead still, and stop to investigate. the buck is lagging behind, and we're worried that the does will spook and run and the buck will never stop.

finally he trots into view, and as soon as he stops to see what these funny shapes are the .270 sends a swift scirocco into his neck and down he goes. they came in from very far to 78 yards at the shot.

he's definitely not the biggest buck around, but we're hunting for fun, not trophies in this area. we loaded him up on my frame pack for the 3/4 mile journey back to the truck. with a couple lessons learned from my goat, this one gets packed tight and it was a breeze to carry.





skinned, quartered, and meat for the freezer, and another great hunt with dad in the books. can't wait to see what next year brings us; although it may bring a knee replacement soon, so hopefully he can go a little better next year.

Outstanding hunt with your Dad! Thanks for sharing.


.

Congrats, there's nothing more fun than family antelope hunts!

My brother and I (with some friends) also had our biannual antelope trip this year. We don't make it an annual trip because our livers and waistlines couldn't handle it.

quote:

Originally posted by just-a-hunter:
Fun hunt! Nice bucks!

Tell your Dad to go a head and get that knee replaced. My Dad had his knee replaced at 60 and my Grumps had both of his replaced at 81. They are both like new men.

Todd

I had my left knee replaced three years ago and my only regret was not doing it sooner. Tell your Dad that the immediate relief from the constant pain is amazing. My knee hurt less the day after surgery (with no pain meds) than it did the day before the surgery..

John:
Great story, thanks for sharing it with us.

I second the knee replacement. I've fought torn up knee's since Aug '70, many a time I've begged to get them replaced just to be told "they're not ready yet, still space left". Nonsense the way they hurt.
Those folks that have never had bad knee pains can't imagine how much they can hurt.

Nice bucks too. Whole lotta walking for goats though.

George

thanks guys. good to know about the knees. he's had so many surgeries (spinal fusion, broke his pelvis into 6 pieces from a treestand fall, scoped both knees) he is not in a hurry for another. the hip will have to be replaced in a few years as well from the fall, there's no cartilage left in part of the socket.

he elk hunted with me the last week of CO archery elk season and between that hunt and this one i think it's showing him that if he wants to continue to come out and hunt the mountains with me, he's going to have to get the knee replaced. walking in flat TN for training is one thing, in the rockies is something totally different.

i'll show him this to see your positive comments on knee replacements. thank you.

CONGRATS! Looks like a ton of fun!