Folks,

I think I might have found a diamond in the rough. An outfitter I've used for years in Wyoming knew I was looking for more opportunities for mule deer and antelope. he called and told me I should contact Barry Hayden nearby Gillette as he thought he had what I was looking for but had no representation nor had he in the past done any advertising. They had operated buy word of mouth for 30 years.

I called Barry, he said everything I wanted to hear and we made a plan for me to come out and do a hunt. Following that conversation I contacted a couple of people that I knew were looking for this type of hunt and booked Barry's first two hunts of the season.

Sept 30 I left Vegas for Gillette. Travel really was a breeze on United with no gun hassles at all. Barry was at the airport to meet me and after a quick stop for lunch plus picking up some adult beverages we were on our way to camp. On the way we picked up my hunters who had driven up from Texas and the party was complete.

Camp is about 50 miles West of Gillette and a full 30 miles off the tar road along the Powder river. The camp is actually a very nice and well maintained log cabin that sleeps four with two full baths. The guides sleep off site so the hunters have the cabin to themselves. This offers plenty of privacy particularly if a couple wanted to come out as they would have a private room and bath.

The first day dawned very nice and after a pancake breakfast we jumped in the 4 place Ranger and started the hunt. Right off we saw 4 bucks 50 feet off the county road. They were young but showed great potential. We then proceeded up into the very rough and hilly country off the road. Here I should say Barry has 180,000 very wild acres to hunt that is a mixture of private and BLM with almost no public access to the BLM. We saw no one while hunting. That 1st day we saw 25 bucks but Barry didn't see anything he wanted to encourage my hunter Joe to shoot. This was the plan each day and we saw 20 bucks on day two and 18 on day three. Along with mule deer the river bottom was full of whitetails and we saw a couple of dandies. We also saw elk everyday and on day two we saw three six point bulls. The flats on either side of the river have good numbers of antelope and you could pick up a nice 13"-14" goat about any day.

The evening of day three Barry pulled out all the stops as Joe had to leave the next day. Barry and another guide stood in the back of the Toyota Tundra and a third guide drove with Joe in the cab. This was safari style and it worked perfectly. Just before dark they found a very nice 27" 4x4 and Joe took him easily with his 270 Weatherby.

Both Ron another of my hunters and myself had antelope tags and we both filled them on day two. Ron took a pretty 14" goat at 35 yards after a stalk that could only be described as a Laurel and Hardy escapade using his 270 Weatherby. I took mine at 250 yards with a new rifle to me that I picked up from Butch Begnaud here on AR. It's a CZ full stock carbine in 6.5X55 that loves the 125 Nosler Partition and it flattened the antelope.

In addition to the deer and antelope hunting most folks will have a chance at a coyote or two. Joe actually shot two and I missed one. Also the prairie dog shooting is amazing. The last afternoon one of the guides Sam and I took his 17 WSM out and shot over a hundred rounds stacking up quite pile of dogs. The 6.5 also showed off admirably as well with no misses recorded.

At hunt's end Barry got us all lined out at the butchery and taxidermist. We all left feeling meat and horns would be well taken care of.

Barry also hunts the elk but it's a hard tag to draw. The trophy quality is quite good if you do draw though. Barry has 375 B&C bull mounted in his home that came from the ranch.

I can recommend this hunt with no reservations at all and I think it is a bargain for what you receive. The amount of game, personal service, accommodations, equipment, massive hunting area and dedication of the guides is all top notch.

Barry also hunts the elk but it's a hard tag to draw. The trophy quality is quite good if you do draw though. Barry has a 375 B&C mounted in his home that came from the ranch.

The first two hunts are open for Oct '19 should anybody want to contact me about this hunt.

Mark

Pix below are a few from this season and last.

Greetings Mark. I may be interested in a combo hunt. Please send over some info when you get it compiled.

Thanks
Will WHITAKER.

quote:

Along with mule deer the river bottom was full of whitetails and we saw a couple of dandies.

What's the story on hunting the whitetails? How about posting some details on the hunts like dates, cost etc.

Tom,

I'm still waiting on the outfitter to make some decisions for dates and pricing for'19. Barry is not targeting the whitetails but there are box blinds and ladder stands in the creek bottom. I personally saw a couple of whitetail bucks I'd guess were 130-150 B&C while just driving to and from camp across the river.

Mark

Folks,

I apologize if any of you are still waiting for me to post pricing etc for this hunt. The outfitter and I have not been able to reach an agreement so we have gone our separate ways. Sorry if this has inconvenienced anyone.

Sincerely,

Mark

Sorry to hear that you couldn't agree on working together. The hunt report sounds like it is a nice place to hunt

I really thought it was a perfect moderately priced hunt for a nice representative buck that about anybody could do. May have something equally as good in NM but won't know until next year.

Mark