I got home a couple of weeks ago from a Mule Deer/Antelope hunt near Douglas, Wyoming, where I hunted on the Tillard Ranch. The hunt was booked with The Outdoor Pursuit, after I contacted them when I saw an interesting and relatively short-notice hunt on their website. As a Canadian, I had to arrange importation paperwork for my rifle with the BATFE, but everything went fairly smoothly and I drove down at the beginning of October for the hunt.

Weather was not the greatest, with heavy, threatening skies and a fair bit of drizzle and rain. Accommodations at the ranch were a comfy trailer that serves as a bunkhouse when seasonal help is working at the ranch. Meals (delicious!) were taken in the ranchhouse with the Tillard family, some truly delightful folks. I was the only hunter on the place at the time.

This was my first time hunting Mule Deer, and I was able to take a nice buck after my guide Troy and I made a quick stalk up a low ravine that placed us at 191 yards from where he was bedded with a couple of his buddies. The buck rolled over and never got up.
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My Antelope was a nice one that we had spotted earlier in the hunt, and actually drove away from because we were concentrating on the deer first. Troy stated that we would probably be able to find the same Antelope later...I was skeptical, but sure enough on the way back through the area there he was. We watched him madly chasing a few does around a sagebrush flat where he was constantly appearing and disappearing from view. Eventually he stopped broadside, at 263...and everybody (Troy and the ranch hand who acted as our driver) could see him except me! I was lucky enough to get on him before he took off again, and at 263 yards he took a single .308 bullet, dashed off a few yards and then keeled over.



I used a Steyr Scout in .308, which was not my first choice for the hunt, but it was the only rifle approved by the BATFE for importation of the three for which I sent in applications. Not exactly a classic, but a solid, accurate, comfortable gun that I enjoy shooting.

All in all, a great trip, lots of fun and no major problems outside of a few truck-related issues on the way home. Crossing the border was quick and straightforward in both directions. The Euro-mount skulls are smiling down at me from the den wall as I type this.

I'm definitely doing this again!

Good Job! Some fine eating on both of them.

That is a truly wonderful buck. Nice!

Big Congrats on some fine trophies. For your first mulie you did very, very well and your pronghorn looks huge too!

I love Wyoming! Well done!

PS I served back straps on Sunday. Shared deer & antelope with friends. Nothing like those sage fed critters for a delicious meal.

Best regards, D. Nelson

I'm a .308 shooter too! Perfect for deer & antelope!

Thanks, Darin, I certainly can't complain about the results I had with the .308. Oddly enough, I don't really care for it as a hunting cartridge...and I'm not really a huge fan of detachable magazines...and, let's be honest, that is one seriously butt-ugly gun. But that Steyr is so light and handy, fits me so perfectly, has such a nice factory trigger and just shoots so nicely for me that it seems like I can do no wrong with it. Hard for me not to like it.

We also had some antelope the other night...my wife's specialty, Antelope Wellington. I hear some bad things about antelope meat, but we've loved it ever since the first time we tried it. I may or may not go Mule Deer hunting again, but I doubt I'll ever get tired of chasing antelope.

Great report! Congratulations on your hunt. Thanks for sharing.

I am curious though, what are the two other weapons that were turned down by the BATFE? I think they stopped allowing importation of German Panzers a few years ago.

First attempt was for a Haenel model 9, a German single-shot break-action rifle in 7X65R. It is a bit of an oddball that has only been available for a couple of years now (at least up here). Maybe it was too new, and hadn't been on the market long enough to appear on their data base?

The second one they disallowed was a Japanese-manufactured Weatherby Vanguard in .270...the exact same individual rifle that they approved for my last trip to Wyoming two years ago! Go figure.

I know of the exact special you speak of and great looking goat at an excellent price way to go! Any issues with one wanting to bring the cape back for mounting?

Nice hunt. Congrats.
I agree the Styer Scout is a nice shooting rifle but is best viewed through the scope.

quote:

Originally posted by jwm:
First attempt was for a Haenel model 9, a German single-shot break-action rifle in 7X65R. It is a bit of an oddball that has only been available for a couple of years now (at least up here). Maybe it was too new, and hadn't been on the market long enough to appear on their data base?

The second one they disallowed was a Japanese-manufactured Weatherby Vanguard in .270...the exact same individual rifle that they approved for my last trip to Wyoming two years ago! Go figure.

I don't get it; seems like their list should be prohibited rifles, not approved rifles. That is backwards from how things should work.
There used to be a joke about Russia, that anything that isn't allowed is prohibited. I always thought that here, anything that isn't prohibited is allowed.

It's been suggested to me that the denied applications might be in some way related to some large-scale gun thefts that were in the news recently? I have no idea...they said "no" for some reason...

AR MAN, I brought back all the meat from both critters, but only the skulls/horns for Euro-mounting. Absolutely no problems, and I was never asked about the skins, so I get the impression that they could have been brought as well. Both border crossings went very smoothly and quickly; I stated that I had all the required papers, the American and Canadian customs glanced at them, and then I was on my way. I was never asked to show my rifle or anything else.

On other occasions I have been asked to see my rifle, but I don't recall ever having the meat inspected beyond a quick glance into a cooler. I never bring back capes.