Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game First hunt - 39 yrs old, DIY WY Pronghorn/ Whitetail

Awhile back I asked for suggestions on what would make for a good first time hunt, and the overwhelming response was DIY WY antelope. My brother (also a first time hunter) and I decided to go for it. I flew out from CA, he flew out from MN. We hunted units 27 and 29 in the Thunder Basin area, and also had whitetail tags for deer unit 10 (also Thunder Basin area).

We were welcomed by sunny weather and open roads.



The antelope herd was thin, due to a tough winter in 2011 and a very dry summer. We put in 15-17 hour long days and had many fun chases! The first morning we saw this buck, in a little square of private land.



We hunted the second week of the season on public land, and the pronghorn were very much on edge. With their 8x vision they would often spot us from 2 miles away and then turn tail and run. It was incredible and we had to up our game to get a sneak on. This was the "you're busted!" look.


On the first day my brother spotted a small herd in a basin beyond a berm, in my unit. I snuck behind and crawled up and had a near perfect bench rest (rocks) style setup and made a 216 yard shot with my 1955 Winchester M70 Super Grade 30/06. The 180 grain TSX did its job and I got my first kill. This was just before sunset and so my first field dressing was done in the dark using a headlamp. I used the gutless method after having watched videos on the net. My brother is an emergency vet and was talking anatomy as we went to work. I hit her left lung and exited her opposing quarter.




[img]http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss275/ebm1973/IMG_2309.jpg[/img]
The next day was a wash. We experienced weather from 20 F to 80 F, and wind from zero to 40 mph. The animals seemed to be hiding out and I only spotted a tiny fawn at 78 yards, which I left alone. My brother's unit was particularly difficult with a small number of animals which were usually miles away.

The following day we saw an incredible sunrise.

[img]http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss275/ebm1973/IMG_2324.jpg[/img]

And later in the day, I got my first buck. I spotted him against a large hill a few miles away, with a herd of does. He started tracking away, eating and ambling along, as I raced along the backside of a ridge to try to head him off. I'd occasionally sneak a look and then quickly duck down. It was a cat and mouse game for about 45 minutes before I had a small opportunity to shoot. I was on the backside of a declining hill, and shot in sitting position while using my sling. I connected at 326 yards with my 257 Weatherby. It was a 1 shot DRT bang flop. The 100 grain Spire Point broke its neck. He's a 12 1/2-13", 6" base, and I thought he looked pretty darn cool!

[img]http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss275/ebm1973/buck.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss275/ebm1973/IMG_2404.jpg[/img]

The next day we made chili out of him.



We spent days focusing hard on my brother's unit, to no avail. He had a few shot opportunities but the wind was howling and the animals were often just outside of practical range or were not offering a good shot. The terrain in his unit also seemed more broken up.




We thought we'd turn our attention to whitetail, and hunted the Cheyenne River. We saw 2 muley bucks and about 60 does. They were everywhere. But no whitetails.




I'm now fully addicted and planning my next hunt. I may even try to catch some of the CA deer late season. I'd like to thank the innumerable folks on the fire for their collective wisdom and encouragement, and especially would like to give a special shout out to Oregonmuley (Frank) who answered many dumb questions and helped make this trip possible.

Eric

Well done Eric! Congrats on your first hunt in Wyoming. Glad it was fun and successful for you!And with that wonderful old Super Grade too!

Good for you not letting it become a safe queen!

Congrats on a great hunt and time spent with your brother!

Looks like a good time.

Nice! Welcome to the fold. Now you can spend all your time and $$ planning for the next 360 days....Great job!

Congrats on a great hunt!

congradulations on a fun first hunt!

Good story, and thanks for the pics. Looks like a fun trip!

Big congrats! Great pics and stories. The memories will only get sweeter with time.

Just gonna warn you now, it's an addiction that is more than fun to feed...

Awesome post Eric - you guys did well and it appears you had a great time so thats all you can ask for!! Really nice pictures - oh and glad to help create another antelope addict:)
Congrats again!!

All I can say is, WOW! That's a great hunt for anyone, but its an amazing first hunt, especially for DIY job.

Made my day to read this. Thanks for the post!

Congrats! You are hooked my friend!!


ddj

Eric,

Excellent post! I love antelope hunting, but haven't been able to draw the last 2 years do to declining antelope numbers here in Montana. It seems that all the "know it alls" poo-poo antelope, yet they are the best eating game animal you will get.

Nothing like antelope hunting in October...

Congrats Eric! Looks like a great time. Wyoming is an amazing place.

Well done Eric! Great story and pictures...thanks for sharing.

Great story and thank you a bunch for sharing it with us.

You had a great hunt and a heckova rifle to start out with. Congrats.

Welcome to the club! Looks like you did it right. What are your going to do next?

Thanks everyone!

I had to bring the Super Grade out! I have no safe queens. I think I could do most anything I would need to do in North America with that rifle. It likes to shoot 180 gr. Barnex TSX, which is overkill for pronghorn but is accurate in that rifle.

My brother was using a Savage in 270 Win shooting 130 grain rounds.

I was also really impressed by the kind folks in WY - from the rancher whose cabin we rented, to the processor, the airline workers in Casper, the gun range we used to sight in (outside of Casper), etc. We also had a car issue the night before the flight home (nearly new Ford Expedition triggered its anti-theft system and killed the engine while we were driving on the freeway, and then would not start) and probably had 12+ cars and trucks stop to ask if we needed help. There's no way you would get that in Southern CA.

I have a deer tag for San Diego County and while the success rate for this unit is around 12%, I think I'll get out there. For next year... it would be fun to go back for more pronghorn, and mule deer (!). Elk would also be very cool but I realize that's a whole new ballgame.

Eric