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2017 Hunt Report and Meat Pole Contest - Win a $300 or $100 Gift Certificate
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<blockquote data-quote="brant89" data-source="post: 1362423" data-attributes="member: 49553"><p>My apologies as this is going to be a long post...</p><p></p><p>Two years ago my stepdad and I embarked on our first western big game hunt, chasing antelope in eastern Wyoming. Our only regret was that we didn't take my mom and my wife, so this year we decided to remedy that. With a one year old daughter and my pregnant wife going back to school, the logistics of this trip were a bit of a headache and my wife would only have two days to hunt, but more on that later.</p><p></p><p>Since my stepdad and I both had deer tags as well, we set off on our 20 hour drive from southern Michigan to Wyoming a couple days early to get some scouting in before opening day. I had done some internet scouting with onXmaps and was able to locate an area that looked like a perfect travel route for deer through the open plains, and sure enough we located a shooter mule deer in the exact location I had marked from 1200 miles away...two days before opening day. We watched him until the light faded and never saw the deer again. The day before the season opener we located multiple antelope and mule deer bucks, and were feeling pretty good about the week ahead.</p><p></p><p>On opening morning we spotted the same group of antelope from the day previous, and they bedded down about 1100yd from our vantage point. We decided to put a stalk on them knowing it was a longshot due to the steep terrain between us and them. Long story short, our fears were confirmed and after 40 minutes of hiking there was not an antelope in sight. So we hiked the 3 miles back to the truck and headed to the area I had killed my first antelope two years ago. As we crested the first hill we noticed a doe and a small buck in a large bowl headed our way, with a nice shooter trailing close behind. The antelope closed to within shooting range but the tall sage brush prevented us from getting a clear shot. Although they had spotted us, their curiosity got the better of them and they continued to close the distance. Finally after several position changes, some belly crawling, and no less than a dozen cactus needles in my knees, elbows, and thighs, my mom connected on her first antelope with a 6.5 Creedmoor at 225yd.</p><p></p><p>With an antelope in the freezer we turned our sights on deer. In the next couple of days we were able to locate a few small mule deer bucks but nothing worth putting a stalk on. We were <div style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 14px"><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="color: rgb(20, 20, 20)">getting a little discouraged and since there was a break in the wind we decided we should see about stretching the legs on my new 300 win mag and look for some antelope. We went back to where my mom had killer her buck and spotted some does just out of reach at about 900yd and a definite shooter buck that was way out of range at 1400+. We decided again to make the stalk on the big buck and had just packed our gear back up when a hunter across the valley jumped a beautiful whitetail buck and doe that were headed our way. At about 5-600yd out we lost sight of them behind a hill, so we set up an ambush for them when they crested the ridge which should have provided a 300-350yd shot. Due to a slight oversight in the terrain (there was only one place to cross the ridge and we were on it) the deer popped up 60yd in front of us. I swung quickly, centered the crosshair on the bucks shoulder, and just as the trigger is about to break I remembered; I never chambered a round. I'm sure you can guess the rest, while working the action the deer bolted down the valley and disappeared. After beating myself up for a few minutes we decided to chase after them. A short distance down the ridge we noticed the far group of antelope that we had originally set out for were now making their way towards us. They were covering ground quickly so I did what any hunter SHOULD do; I chambered a round. The larger buck of the group trailed behind three does without even the slightest consideration of us being there. He paused for a moment to rest, and at a little over 200yd my 300 win mag rang out. He bolted, front leg dragging as proof that the 200gr ELD-X made its mark, and he expired quickly.</span></span></span></div> <div style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 14px"><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="color: rgb(20, 20, 20)"></span></span></span></div> <div style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 14px"><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="color: rgb(20, 20, 20)">With brutal winds ripping across the plains we decided to hike the hills and stay in the trees to search for mule deer. This proved to be extremely effective and saw about a dozen mule deer, but nothing we were interested in taking. On our way out we crested a ridge and I spotted a buck thrashing a pine tree about 80yd away. We could tell from the height of his rack that he was the size we had been looking for. I have never experienced the level of ground shrinkage as I did on that day when my stepdad squeezed the trigger on his 6.5, but we were successful nonetheless and we had our first taste of mule deer in our packs.</span></span></span></div> <div style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 14px"><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="color: rgb(20, 20, 20)"></span></span></span></div> <div style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 14px"><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="color: rgb(20, 20, 20)">The next day we spotted elk, a coyote, and a porcupine but no deer; which provided a nice day of rest since my wife and daughter were to arrive in Casper at just before midnight that night. My daughter did wonderfully on her first plane flight and everyone arrived safely. The clock was now ticking with only two days to get my wife on an antelope which were growing increasingly weary. We went back to were my mom and I had killed our two bucks earlier that week. The area that had a seemingly endless amount of antelope was now barren, save for one little buck that kept about 1000yd between us and him at all times. With no time to waste we decided to change locations. On our drive we spotted a herd of antelope that had been bumped by a group of deer hunters about 450yd off the road, contemplating their next move. We stopped at a location where we were out of sight and began our stalk. This herd seemed extremely nervous and we found ourselves changing direction several times during our 100+ yards of belly crawling. I should also remind you that my wife is just starting to show at this point which makes any crawling on her part an impressive feat. We finally get a clear line of sight on the herd that is now moving nearly straight away from us. We are unable to locate a big buck in the group, but I remind my wife that it may be now or never. We dial the scope up 3.5MOA, she scans the group one last time and picks out a small buck near the back of the herd. I remind her to hold 1MOA right as she is settling the 300 win mag into the rear bag. At the time I did not know which animal she had chosen, it became immediately apparent when the rifle cracked and the buck hit the dirt at 366yd. My wife had killed her first antelope and had bragging rights for the longest kill on this particular hunt.</span></span></span></div> <div style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 14px"><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="color: rgb(20, 20, 20)"></span></span></span></div> <div style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 14px"><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="color: rgb(20, 20, 20)">With all four of us tagging one buck each, the hunt was a great success and we are so grateful to have been able to share the experience as a family.</span></span></span></div></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="brant89, post: 1362423, member: 49553"] My apologies as this is going to be a long post... Two years ago my stepdad and I embarked on our first western big game hunt, chasing antelope in eastern Wyoming. Our only regret was that we didn't take my mom and my wife, so this year we decided to remedy that. With a one year old daughter and my pregnant wife going back to school, the logistics of this trip were a bit of a headache and my wife would only have two days to hunt, but more on that later. Since my stepdad and I both had deer tags as well, we set off on our 20 hour drive from southern Michigan to Wyoming a couple days early to get some scouting in before opening day. I had done some internet scouting with onXmaps and was able to locate an area that looked like a perfect travel route for deer through the open plains, and sure enough we located a shooter mule deer in the exact location I had marked from 1200 miles away...two days before opening day. We watched him until the light faded and never saw the deer again. The day before the season opener we located multiple antelope and mule deer bucks, and were feeling pretty good about the week ahead. On opening morning we spotted the same group of antelope from the day previous, and they bedded down about 1100yd from our vantage point. We decided to put a stalk on them knowing it was a longshot due to the steep terrain between us and them. Long story short, our fears were confirmed and after 40 minutes of hiking there was not an antelope in sight. So we hiked the 3 miles back to the truck and headed to the area I had killed my first antelope two years ago. As we crested the first hill we noticed a doe and a small buck in a large bowl headed our way, with a nice shooter trailing close behind. The antelope closed to within shooting range but the tall sage brush prevented us from getting a clear shot. Although they had spotted us, their curiosity got the better of them and they continued to close the distance. Finally after several position changes, some belly crawling, and no less than a dozen cactus needles in my knees, elbows, and thighs, my mom connected on her first antelope with a 6.5 Creedmoor at 225yd. With an antelope in the freezer we turned our sights on deer. In the next couple of days we were able to locate a few small mule deer bucks but nothing worth putting a stalk on. We were [LEFT][SIZE=14px][FONT=Verdana][COLOR=rgb(20, 20, 20)]getting a little discouraged and since there was a break in the wind we decided we should see about stretching the legs on my new 300 win mag and look for some antelope. We went back to where my mom had killer her buck and spotted some does just out of reach at about 900yd and a definite shooter buck that was way out of range at 1400+. We decided again to make the stalk on the big buck and had just packed our gear back up when a hunter across the valley jumped a beautiful whitetail buck and doe that were headed our way. At about 5-600yd out we lost sight of them behind a hill, so we set up an ambush for them when they crested the ridge which should have provided a 300-350yd shot. Due to a slight oversight in the terrain (there was only one place to cross the ridge and we were on it) the deer popped up 60yd in front of us. I swung quickly, centered the crosshair on the bucks shoulder, and just as the trigger is about to break I remembered; I never chambered a round. I'm sure you can guess the rest, while working the action the deer bolted down the valley and disappeared. After beating myself up for a few minutes we decided to chase after them. A short distance down the ridge we noticed the far group of antelope that we had originally set out for were now making their way towards us. They were covering ground quickly so I did what any hunter SHOULD do; I chambered a round. The larger buck of the group trailed behind three does without even the slightest consideration of us being there. He paused for a moment to rest, and at a little over 200yd my 300 win mag rang out. He bolted, front leg dragging as proof that the 200gr ELD-X made its mark, and he expired quickly. With brutal winds ripping across the plains we decided to hike the hills and stay in the trees to search for mule deer. This proved to be extremely effective and saw about a dozen mule deer, but nothing we were interested in taking. On our way out we crested a ridge and I spotted a buck thrashing a pine tree about 80yd away. We could tell from the height of his rack that he was the size we had been looking for. I have never experienced the level of ground shrinkage as I did on that day when my stepdad squeezed the trigger on his 6.5, but we were successful nonetheless and we had our first taste of mule deer in our packs. The next day we spotted elk, a coyote, and a porcupine but no deer; which provided a nice day of rest since my wife and daughter were to arrive in Casper at just before midnight that night. My daughter did wonderfully on her first plane flight and everyone arrived safely. The clock was now ticking with only two days to get my wife on an antelope which were growing increasingly weary. We went back to were my mom and I had killed our two bucks earlier that week. The area that had a seemingly endless amount of antelope was now barren, save for one little buck that kept about 1000yd between us and him at all times. With no time to waste we decided to change locations. On our drive we spotted a herd of antelope that had been bumped by a group of deer hunters about 450yd off the road, contemplating their next move. We stopped at a location where we were out of sight and began our stalk. This herd seemed extremely nervous and we found ourselves changing direction several times during our 100+ yards of belly crawling. I should also remind you that my wife is just starting to show at this point which makes any crawling on her part an impressive feat. We finally get a clear line of sight on the herd that is now moving nearly straight away from us. We are unable to locate a big buck in the group, but I remind my wife that it may be now or never. We dial the scope up 3.5MOA, she scans the group one last time and picks out a small buck near the back of the herd. I remind her to hold 1MOA right as she is settling the 300 win mag into the rear bag. At the time I did not know which animal she had chosen, it became immediately apparent when the rifle cracked and the buck hit the dirt at 366yd. My wife had killed her first antelope and had bragging rights for the longest kill on this particular hunt. With all four of us tagging one buck each, the hunt was a great success and we are so grateful to have been able to share the experience as a family.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE][/LEFT] [/QUOTE]
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