My wife asked me several months ago what I wanted for my birthday. I gave my typical answer, which was, “I don’t know.”
She said, “You have been talking about a self-guided antelope hunt. Why don’t you plan one and go?”
I picked up my Huntin’ Fool magazines and started researching states that had good antelope populations with public land access. I decided on Wyoming unit 7. I called a lifelong buddy, Justin, and asked if he was interested in going. The answer was an enthusiastic, yes! He invited his father, Mike, along for the trip. I asked another friend of mine, Luke, who had never been out west hunting to join us as well. After combing through the Huntin’ Fool resources for draw odds and license types, we applied as a party for a special license in unit 7. We knew we had good odds of drawing, but just in case, we decided on unit 16 as a backup plan. Thankfully, we had a successful draw for unit 7.
The day before opening day, we loaded up and left southeast Tennessee, ready for the 22-hour drive in front of us and excited about what was on the other side. We drove for a solid 22 hours and arrived at the lodge at 5 a.m. on opening day. No one was available to check us in, so we slept in the car in the parking lot for a few hours. When the lodge opened at 8 a.m., we checked in, changed into our hunting gear, got our packs, and headed out for our first day of hunting.
We used our onXmaps to locate what looked like a good access point into a large tract of public land. Immediately, we located a group of antelope about 1,000 yards out. We snuck down into a drainage ditch and stalked to within 250 yards of a group that had a good buck. Luke was shooting first as it was his first time on a western hunt. He set his gun on the tripod, settled in, and waited for the buck to turn broadside. The buck took a couple steps and turned broadside. The loud bang of the rifle filled the air, and the antelope took off running. It was a clean miss.
We pulled back and relocated to the north end of the unit but did not see any groups of antelope. We drove back to the southern part of the unit as evening was approaching. About 600 yards from the road, a group of antelope appeared. We pulled off the road and quickly snuck down into a ditch. We closed the distance to about 200 yards. Now it was Mike’s turn. He set up his rifle as the buck turned broadside, and then he fired. The antelope took off running over the ridge. Clean miss number two.
The group ran to the next ridge, and we divided into pairs. Justin and I started walking along an adjacent ridge. Luke and Mike walked along the backside of the ridge. We thought one of use would surely be able to get a shot off. As Justin and I were walking, the game warden pulled up and checked our licenses. Mike and Luke flushed the group back to where we would have been if we had not been stopped by the warden. Two misses and a stop by the game warden ended day one.
The second day, we started at the south end of the unit. We saw a good buck with a few does across a wide ditch. We snuck down into a ditch and started to close in. Justin was able to sneak to within 180 yards. After two misses on day one, he filled his tag with a solid shot from 180 yards out. The second day of hunting was cut short by a rainstorm, so we headed back to the lodge and refueled for the next day.
The third day, we again started on the south end of the unit. We saw a single buck that was approachable; however, we could tell that another hunter was already in pursuit. We pulled back and let the other hunter proceed.
We saw a good group of goats with a buck further down from the other hunter and started to stalk. They saw us at about 800 yards and took off running. We pulled back to the truck and started glassing the area. The other hunter from earlier walked up with a good buck strapped to his pack. We told him we saw him working earlier and pulled back. He thanked us for not messing up his hunt, and we drove off. About 300 yards down the road, we saw a pack on the side of the road. We stopped and started going through it to see if the owner had any identification in the pack. The hunter from earlier drove by, and we stopped him. We told him we found a pack on the side of the road. His friend looked in the back of the truck and realized it was his. The hunter told us we had some good karma coming our way since we saved his hunt and found his friend's pack. We said thank you and drove further down.
Further down the road, Luke and I began a long stalk on a group of four bucks. We were starting to close the distance when a truck drove by honking his horn. The group of bucks startled and ran over the next ridge, out of sight. We walked back to the truck, frustrated with how the day was going. We got back in the truck and drove the roads for a few minutes. We saw a group of four to five antelope on private land. We kept driving. Mike said, “Stop! That group is coming this way!” The group of antelope crawled under the fence from private to public land. There was one buck in the group. We pulled off the road, and I slowly eased into the field. I ranged the buck at 280 yards and placed my gun on the tripod. The 143 grain ELD-X instantly dropped him. We packed him out and set out to find Luke a goat.
We drove back to the area where Justin had success earlier. We saw a group of eight antelope with a couple bucks about 2,000 yards away. There were some ridges and brush that we could use for cover, so we got our packs and set out for a stalk. Justin and Luke topped a ridge and ranged the group at 700 yards with a 15 mph crosswind. The group spotted them. The options were to take a shot or pull back and try again tomorrow. Luke placed the 6.5 SAUM on the tripod and took a seated position. The loud crack of a muzzle braked rifle filled the prairie, and the goat fell down. Luke had killed his goat with a perfectly placed shoulder shot from 700 yards away in windy conditions, definitely the shot-of-a-lifetime. We had killed two goats in one day, and it seemed karma was on our side.
The next morning, we got up early, ready to finish the trip with a goat for Mike. We drove to the southern part of the unit and saw a group of bucks out at 700 yards on public land. Mike and Luke walked down the backside of a hill and approached the group from a drainage ditch. They closed the distance to 480 yards. There were four bucks in the group. Mike placed his rifle on the tripod and waited for a buck to stand up. The rear buck stood up and Mike connected, dropping the buck in his tracks.
That evening, we celebrated with other hunters at the lodge and started talking about the next western we would like to do. After meeting some new friends, we decided on a mule deer hunt in Idaho.
Special thanks to Twylla and the staff at the Flying V lodge for helping make our experience awesome!
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