Wyoming Antelope hunt
09-26-2005, 08:17 AM
#11
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location:
Posts: 6,357
RE: Wyoming Antelope hunt
mnygren:
I hunted unit 23 immediately south of Gillette the third week of October. A drought is currently underway in that portion of Wyoming -- maybe all of Wyoming -- and you aren't likely to have rain. At that time of year, I read, weather can change quickly and it could get cold and snow. This is something to be prepared for, but it is most likely to be sunny, dry, temperatures in the upper60s lower 70sduring the days and getting down to mid 40s overnight. Therefore, you could probably wear tennis shoes and do fine. The only hazard I know is cactus spines or tumbleweed thorns which might be a reason for wearing leather shoes. It looks like unit 32 is just east of Casper, and I think this territory is similar to unit 23.
I was told by the landowner whose land I hunted on -- and he had been a guide for a number of years earlier in his life -- that there is no particular point in trying to be out in the hunting field before sun up. All you are going to accomplish by being out early is running off the pronghorns that you stumble on during the dark. They are going to be standing out or laying out in the open when you get there about 7:30 AM or 9 AM, there isn't any particular reason to hurry to get out there. It isn't like whitetail hunting where if you don't get out early you are liable to miss the movement cycle and the whitetails are all going to be holed up in their beds chewing their cud if you are late.
I have read that the success rate for pronghorn hunters in Wyoming is about 90%. Pretty good success rate. Bagging a pronghorn is not difficult at all. If you get busted on one stalk and the animals run away, you can just locate another herd and start another stalk on them.
Take water to drink during the day. If you are far from town, you might go out each day with ice in an ice chest and get the pronghorn meat on ice quickly after you kill it. Don't put the meat directly on the ice -- which will keep the meat wet and make it more susceptible to bacterial growth -- put it in a plastic bag such as a garbage bag and make sure the melting ice doesn't get inside the plastic bag. There are probably various ways to accomplish this. For example, you could lay the field dressed animal on a tarp, skin one side of the animal, take off the backstrap on that side, the ham on that side, and the front shoulder on that side and put it in ice. Turn the animal over, skin that side of the animal, take off the backstrap on that second side, the ham on the second side, and the front shoulder on that side. That gets most of the big chunks of meat. You could do all that and have those pieces on ice in about 30 minutes if you were quick, 45 minutes if you were slow. This may be useful if you are 3 hours away from town and the weather was warm. Then again, you may have a cool place out of the sun you can hang your carcass up where you can let the animal cool off and then take it to a meat processor. In any case, think through how you will treat the meat after you have the animal down. I think pronghorn meat is especially susceptible to spoilage and tainting, but I don't know why.
Speaking of pronghorn meat, I fed pronghorn backstrap to my family last night and they all loved it. My wife and oldest daughter like it better than venison. I like both about equally, though I tend to agree about the backstraps being better than venison backstraps. There is a little extra spicey dimension in the pronghorn meat that is intriguing and attractive.
I hunted unit 23 immediately south of Gillette the third week of October. A drought is currently underway in that portion of Wyoming -- maybe all of Wyoming -- and you aren't likely to have rain. At that time of year, I read, weather can change quickly and it could get cold and snow. This is something to be prepared for, but it is most likely to be sunny, dry, temperatures in the upper60s lower 70sduring the days and getting down to mid 40s overnight. Therefore, you could probably wear tennis shoes and do fine. The only hazard I know is cactus spines or tumbleweed thorns which might be a reason for wearing leather shoes. It looks like unit 32 is just east of Casper, and I think this territory is similar to unit 23.
I was told by the landowner whose land I hunted on -- and he had been a guide for a number of years earlier in his life -- that there is no particular point in trying to be out in the hunting field before sun up. All you are going to accomplish by being out early is running off the pronghorns that you stumble on during the dark. They are going to be standing out or laying out in the open when you get there about 7:30 AM or 9 AM, there isn't any particular reason to hurry to get out there. It isn't like whitetail hunting where if you don't get out early you are liable to miss the movement cycle and the whitetails are all going to be holed up in their beds chewing their cud if you are late.
I have read that the success rate for pronghorn hunters in Wyoming is about 90%. Pretty good success rate. Bagging a pronghorn is not difficult at all. If you get busted on one stalk and the animals run away, you can just locate another herd and start another stalk on them.
Take water to drink during the day. If you are far from town, you might go out each day with ice in an ice chest and get the pronghorn meat on ice quickly after you kill it. Don't put the meat directly on the ice -- which will keep the meat wet and make it more susceptible to bacterial growth -- put it in a plastic bag such as a garbage bag and make sure the melting ice doesn't get inside the plastic bag. There are probably various ways to accomplish this. For example, you could lay the field dressed animal on a tarp, skin one side of the animal, take off the backstrap on that side, the ham on that side, and the front shoulder on that side and put it in ice. Turn the animal over, skin that side of the animal, take off the backstrap on that second side, the ham on the second side, and the front shoulder on that side. That gets most of the big chunks of meat. You could do all that and have those pieces on ice in about 30 minutes if you were quick, 45 minutes if you were slow. This may be useful if you are 3 hours away from town and the weather was warm. Then again, you may have a cool place out of the sun you can hang your carcass up where you can let the animal cool off and then take it to a meat processor. In any case, think through how you will treat the meat after you have the animal down. I think pronghorn meat is especially susceptible to spoilage and tainting, but I don't know why.
Speaking of pronghorn meat, I fed pronghorn backstrap to my family last night and they all loved it. My wife and oldest daughter like it better than venison. I like both about equally, though I tend to agree about the backstraps being better than venison backstraps. There is a little extra spicey dimension in the pronghorn meat that is intriguing and attractive.
09-28-2005, 08:05 AM
#12
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Rural Kansas... Where Life is Good
Posts: 4,139
RE: Wyoming Antelope hunt
Thanks for all of the great information guys. I'm driving west to Wyoming tomarrow, hunting unit 11, just north of Torrington. The only question I had left was, are the Walk in Areas Marked well? I plan on hunting the Walk in land for the first day and see how it goes. If the pressure is too much, then I may call a local landowner. Thanks for the help guys, and great info.
10-16-2005, 07:00 PM
#15
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 7
RE: Wyoming Antelope hunt
I'mback from my hunt in Wyoming for Antelope. I was great! I've never in my life seen so many animals. I did get a small buck and am having the skull mounted in the European mount style (horns and skull). I was driving along one of the hiways between two BLM properties and spotted 2 does and a buck meandering around. When I finally decided to hunt them, I was so wound up, I just stopped. My hunting partner had to talk a bit of sense into me and drop me off under to cover a rise in the terrain. he drove on to glass a large basin a few miles down where he planned to hunt. I was dressing and having a heart attack at the same time I was attempting to stalk the Antelope that were coming my way. By the timeI had everything in place,the 3 goats were closer thanI had originally seen them. They were walking and grazing in a diagonal that would cross my path. I kept popping up and looking over the small rises as I first crouch walked, then crawled on hands and knees and finally on my belly. At some point, I thought I should drop my back pack otherwise I would look like a turtle and scare the Antelope. I was able to crawl within about 50 yards of the three and put a shot into the buck. He just stood there while the other two ran faster than anything I've ever seen in my life! That on it's own was an incredible sight for me. The buck just kept standing there looking off to the horizon. I thoughtI must have just missed. I reloaded and just asI pulled the trigger, he dropped back onto his haunches and caught the shot in the neck that exited the other side at his jaw. I was shaking so bad and was so excited I had a hard time getting back up from my prone position. I let him lay for a few minutes and went over to find him laying on his side. That's about the time I realizedI needed to start to breathe again. This is my first Antelope and my first buck!
I've talked to a few people about why I was able to come so close to the buck and why he just stood there after he was hit the first time. I was shooting a .270 Remington Core-Lock 150 gr. bullet. Most people said that they believe the slug probably didn't have a chance to mushroom and probably just zipped through leaving the Antelope just wondering why he didn't feel too good.
I've talked to a few people about why I was able to come so close to the buck and why he just stood there after he was hit the first time. I was shooting a .270 Remington Core-Lock 150 gr. bullet. Most people said that they believe the slug probably didn't have a chance to mushroom and probably just zipped through leaving the Antelope just wondering why he didn't feel too good.
10-17-2005, 08:39 AM
#16
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location:
Posts: 6,357
RE: Wyoming Antelope hunt
Congratulations. My son's buck did this too. He shot it. It stood stock still, turned around, walked ten feet slowly, fell back down on his butt, and rolled over, deader than a door nail. My doe did this too.
What BLM properties were you hunting? Did you see other hunters out there? I paid a trespass fee to hunt on a rancher's land because I was afraid there would be too many people crawling over the public land and disturbing any spot and stalk attempts, but I would have preferred to hunt the wide open public land.
What was your weather like? There had been some snow in Wyoming recently, I think. Were you out in the snow?
What BLM properties were you hunting? Did you see other hunters out there? I paid a trespass fee to hunt on a rancher's land because I was afraid there would be too many people crawling over the public land and disturbing any spot and stalk attempts, but I would have preferred to hunt the wide open public land.
What was your weather like? There had been some snow in Wyoming recently, I think. Were you out in the snow?
10-17-2005, 08:35 PM
#17
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 7
RE: Wyoming Antelope hunt
We hunted unit 32 and there were a lot of other hunters out there. I was fairly warm all the days we were there (mornings were chilly). The day I shot my antelope, it was sunny and warm. I took it in right away to a processor. While I was there, I met a outfitter that told me that Unit 32 was a tough area to hunt. I do have to say, I feel I got lucky. The others in my group hunted very hard! They hiked miles to get to secluded locations through high winds, over hills and ridges. I can say without any hesitation that they walked more in one day of hunting thanI did the entire trip. They had a few great stalks and great shots. By far this was the best trip I've been on!
