I just finished unpacking after arriving home from the AR group antelope hunt with Hiland Outfitters in Wyoming. I think it's fair to say that a wonderful time was had by all concerned...I, for one, am looking forward to doing it again.

All told, nine AR members and friends arrived at the snug little cabin on the Wyoming prairie. Some of us recognized the house immediately as the location for the filming of the popular TV series "Little House at the Ass End of Nowhere". It was a source of considerable speculation as to how on earth the entire structure had been moved into position, roughly 25 miles off the pavement over two-track ranch "roads". In any case, it was comfortable and provided a good base of operations for the group. Frank Beller somehow convinced his lovely wife Joyce to come out and cook for the motley crew, and the food was excellent and plentiful. We all likely gained a pound or two during our stay.

Darned urban sprawl!


Those of us in the group who were first-time antelope hunters were taken aback by the numbers of animals seen. In driving and walking around the ranch, there were usually some antelope visible at any given time. The deceptive landscape appeared flat and featureless, but there was actually considerable relief to it, not easily seen until an animal took a few steps and vanished as if by magic. Good thing, too...without these gullies and hills to provide some cover during a stalk, there would be very few antelope taken by hunters. As it was, though, everyone succeeded in filling their tags.

Lots of cover for stalking




The first day of hunting (Thursday) dawned clear and warm, with no appreciable wind, and almost half of us took our animals by noon. By the afternoon, when I took mine, the wind had started to pick up. Friday was much colder, with wind and a mixture of rain and snow all day. On most hunts that I have taken we would have hunted regardless, but the sheer number of antelope led to a less stressful approach. Everybody was there to have fun, and hunting in driving snow didn't really fit the bill, so we stayed in and applied our combined intellectual horsepower to the task of solving the world's problems. We took this mission very seriously...yeah, OK, my wife didn't believe me either when I told her! We had a lot of laughs, drank a wee bit of assorted adult beverages, and amused ourselves watching Frank and Joyce being manipulated by their attack-trained dachshund, Sidney. Sidney is an appealing combination of big forlorn brown eyes and plaintive "please feed me!" grunts, mixed in with a streak of vicious psychopathy. I like her!

The ultimate attack/home-defense/hunting/tracking dog




Saturday and Sunday were much colder, and wind howled. Hunting was tough and shooting was tougher. The last four hunters took their animals nevertheless, with some memorable stalks and tough shots. Between the wind, the distances involved and the supernatural speed of these critters, many of us (most?) needed more than a single shot to seal the deal. My own animal was taken after Frank and I convinced "Miss Pee-Standing-Up" (our guide for the day, Tom's girlfriend Terry) to let us execute a hair-brained tactic that actually paid off perfectly.

My first antelope


Andy Cobb (ghostbird) on left, Larry Sellers on right


The hunt wasn't perfect. Obviously the weather didn't cooperate, and some of Tom Kessel's guides had problems that prevented them from being on hand. If you are looking for hand-holding service, one-on-one hunting and guaranteed B&C trophies...in other words, if you expected a full-on gonzo take-no-prisoners superserious hunt...you might have been disappointed. It was a light-hearted, relaxed experience, allowing the chance to see some beautiful country, stalk and take some lovely game animals and, probably best of all, attach some faces to the names we see here on AR. Simply put, we had fun.

Obligatory sunset photo (actually, sunrise)


Hopefully, others will add posts with more pics. Photobucket has aggravated me sufficiently for one day.

John

ps. I have someone's binocular, which was discovered in my truck by an extremely officious customs officer upon my return to Canuckistan. She was already looking for an excuse to make an example of me, so it's quite fortunate that I still have it. If the owner would contact me, I'll send it out to you.

There's not much I can add to jwm's report. This stands out as one of the most enjoyable hunts that I've ever had. Tom Kessel worked around my bum shoulders and knees by setting me up on a watering hole. Weather was wonderful on the first morning; the temps went from a slight chill to absolutly balmy as the sun rose over the endless Wyoming prairie. Unfortunately, the beautiful weather didn't last.

About an hour into the hunt I heard some strange chirping noises and noticed the small vertical form of a prairie dog about 60 yards away. It took all of the dicipline I could muster to resist squeezing off a round at the rodent but my restraint was rewarded a short time later when 5 antelope trotted right towards me. The biggest one of the bunch was a buck, not a trophy by any means but a legal buck nonetheless. One easy 120 yard shot with my .270 put him on the ground. This was my 13th antelope but the first one that I've been able to kill with one shot. As I waited for Tom to pick me and my prize up, I noticed a black truck headed my way. It was the game warden. I experienced one of the most pleasant and friendly interactions I've ever had with a law enforcement officer.

I booked this hunt because I didn't want to stay in a motel and, being a city kid from an non-hunting family, I wanted to have a more tradtional hunting camp experience. Naturally, with 9 strangers in camp, I was concerned about how the 'group dynamics' would work out. There was no need to worry, it was like I was among lifelong friends. Many of the guys in camp had been to Africa and I was definitely the 'poor boy' of the group but there was not the slightest hint of snobbery. Gentlemen one and all.

Thanks, everybody, for a great time! God willing, I'll be back.

I'm glad to see that you guys had a good time. I'm patiently waiting for the pictures.

Here's my antelope. I only wish I would have taken some pictures of the scenery.

Thanks guys, we really enjoyed having you in camp!

Thank you, Tom, for providing a great hunt. I especially appreciate you accomodiating my physical limitations. I was lucky to find this hunt (just in time) after the New Mexico outfitter I had been working with for over 10 years decided he no longer wanted me for a client.

We had a good AR group hunt in Wyoming. It was nice meeting a few of the guys from here on AR. Tom Kessel, Hiland Outfitters, was a great host and fellowship & fun was had by all.

It was very, very windy most of the hunt.


Beautiful country around these parts.


... and lots of antelope.


We left the blacktop, and after a long drive on the unimproved road and two track we arrived at the Medicine Bow base camp. It was a very comfortable old farmhouse that was a perfect setting for the hunt.


I bowhunted from blinds on waterholes on the first day and spotted antelope off in the distance, but none visited the water. Some of the other hunters faired better and five antelope were killed the first day.

Late in the day the weather started rolling in and we had snow and rain the following day. We sat out hunting that day waiting for the two track roads to dry out.


With the 30-40 mph winds all night, the roads dried nicely and the hunt was back on. With the high winds and abundant water I switched over to a rifle. After a couple of good stalks, Tom got me on a group of antelope down in a draw out of the wind.

The area I killed my pronghorn in.


Cattle dog grave on a point overlooking the prarie.


Tom glassing for goats.


A good stalk down a dry drainage got Tom & I in the middle of a herd. A 70 yard slam dunk shot from the Model 70 .243 was all it took for me to connect on my first antelope.




Larry with his pronghorn.


Frank looks happy with his antelope.


John & Joe


Andrew battling the wind at the skinning pole.


It was nice hunting with all you guys. Thanks Tom for hosting such a great time and thanks to Joyce for feeding us all so well.
... and thanks Joe for helping drag my antelope uphill to the truck.

Congrats on your hunt!

Right out the front door:

The Three Amigos:

She who must be obeyed:

Many thanks to Tom Kessel for a job well done. With two of his guides not showing up with literally no notice at the last minute, Tom worked some magic and ALL AR hunters filled their Antelope tags. Terry pitched in and did a great job helping fill the guide gap. With such a great group of AR guys, patience prevailed and we all had a successful hunt. Joyce Beller really outdid herself with some totally fantastic meals. I gained 4 pounds on this trip and enjoyed every ounce of it!!

First day was nice weather, but then if came to an abupt end. Second day, wind, snow, rain and such. Lots of stories shared, snacks consumed as all of us stayed undercover at the homestead.
Third and fourth days were really windy 35 to 50 mph gusts that made shooting a real chore.

I'll go into some detail on the hunt and firepower used and hope others will chime in on this as well. My stalk started early on the last day with Tom K and I making a 3/4 mile stalk, that ended with an additional 200 yards of crawling to a shooting position. Sitting and shooting from my Bog Pod tripod, a 264 yard measured shot was made and my Antelope DRT. I was shooting my HS Precision Pro Series 2000 SA in 270WSM. Prior to the hunt I had played with some 110gr Barnes TTSX bullets that shot well and were plenty fast. With the 50mph winds I was glad that I opted for the heavier 140gr Nosler AccuBond bullet at 3000fps.

Really an awesome trip as I spent two days camping out in the mountains of Western Colorado on the way up to Wyoming and was great meeting and hunting with some of our good folks here on AR.

Larry Sellers
SCI (International) Life Member

PS - May post a few more pics if I get that part figured out??

Thanks for fleshing out my report, guys...and thanks especially for the added photos. I especially love your trophy shot, Andrew (analog-pen). Andy, that shot of the dog grave is beautifully evocative.

Larry, since you started the ball rolling with details of individual stalks, I'll describe mine. Frank, Terry and I had discovered a largish band of antelope that always seemed to disappear just when we thought we had them pinned down. We drove all the way around the one-mile square area in which they were first spotted, looking for a way to set up a stalk. We were pulling out our hair in frustration...and neither Frank nor I have any to spare! Finally, I suggested that the truck leave me at the spot from which they were visible a mile away, so that I could monitor their evasive tactics. I exited the vehicle, slipped gracefully through a barbed-wire cattle fence and got up as high as the terrain allowed, getting into a comfortable, low-profile seated position in the sage. The truck slowly moved away, following the same route we had already traveled at least twice before. The herd observed it with interest, and when the truck turned onto the two-track which would eventually bring it closer to their position, they actually moved a bit closer to it. As the truck approached them, one of the almost-imperceptible rolling swells in the terrain began to obscure it. At its closest approach, I suspect that it was no more than 200 yards from the animals. The truck trundled along, invisible to them and to me, but they were obviously well aware of its presence and location. Finally, it reappeared far off in the opposite direction.

This time, however, Terry stopped the vehicle as soon as I became visible to her and Frank. This made the goats nervous, and they milled about, then set out at a trot which quickly developed into that unbelievable high-speed gallop, more or less quartering towards me. The range rapidly decreased from a mile to merely a few hundred yards. They disappeared under the hill upon which I was sitting, still moving a mile a minute to my right. I scanned with my binocular, then dejectedly looked back towards the truck, still unmoving a mile away. Assuming that they could see something I couldn't, I crawled cautiously toward the spot where the herd had disappeared from view. They came into view almost immediately, at roughly 225 yards. When the single buck stepped clear, I fired once, a 130gr Fusion load from my Weatherby Vanguard in .270Win. The wind blew my bullet a little, but it blew me and my rifle a lot...I hit 'way too far back. As I shifted my position slightly, the horseshoe that I apparently had up my butt was driven a little higher...the goats took off in high gear...quartering towards me! I missed two running shots (I always miss running shots!) and then, as all 31 does in the herd streamed past me, the buck slowed and stopped, broadside, in the clear, less than 100 yards away. My fourth and final shot dropped him.

It all happened faster than it takes to read about it. What a rush! It was incredible to see how well the animals knew the lay of the land, and how well they used it to their advantage. I definitely see more antelope hunts in my future.

John

Hey group, take a look at the weather map for today in the area we just left. 29 degrees and wind gusts to 50 would seem like a heatwave now!! Guess we didn't have it so bad afterall?

Larry Sellers
SCI (International)Life Member

Ten inches of snow in the area now.

Has anyone put the e-mail list of everyone on the hunt together yet? Thought maybe I had missed it?

Larry Sellers
SCI (International) Life Member

I just sent out the group contact info. Check your email and ping me if you haven't received it.

Fond memories - thanks for posting! Loved the picture of the grave marker - I got my buck last year from the plateau edge just a few yards from there!

Congrats on the good time had by all.
All the "flavors" of Wyoming in just
a few short days.

Congrats to all,
That's what this sight should be about !!!

quote:

Originally posted by Thunder Head:
Congrats to all,
That's what this sight should be about !!!

This ^^^ exactly! Like any internet site, this one has its share of threads that degenerate into pissing matches when opinions differ. Saeed's extremely high level of tolerance, and his expectation that people will behave like civilized beings, occasionally lets things get out of hand...although it's far preferable to the over-moderated, over-regulated atmosphere of many other sites.

Like Bill (bigasanelk) I was a bit concerned before going on the hunt. We all know how easily a single person can ruin the experience of an entire group...but that particular person didn't show up here! To a man, everyone was a gentleman, even when all of us spent a day cooped up together due to the weather. The chance to meet such a varied group, all of whom share a common passion, is definitely one of the most wonderful aspects of AR.

John

Great pics!!