Antelope hunting is one of our family’s favorite adventures. The weather is usually nice, animals are plentiful and if you botch one stalk, you’ll be making another, soon. Most of my antelope hunting over the years has been done with bow, during the rut. But on this hunt, the family headed to Wyoming in late October, capitalizing on late season migrations.
We were hunting north of Buffalo, Wyoming, with good friend and outfitter, Jon Ball (www.jonsoutdoors.com). Jon has access to more than 50,000 acres, and this is where many ant
elope migrate to this time of year. The best part, all of our party’s tags were picked up over-the-counter, when we arrived in Sheridan. Having leftover tags like this is great for planning a last minute hunt, or if you’re unsuccessful in other drawings.
First to hunt was my dad, Jerry Haugen and our friend, Chris Stewart. Dad and I hadn’t hunted pronghorns in WY for nearly a decade, and it was nice to be in the open desert with him, again. Chris is the owner of several Dutch Brother’s coffee shops in our home town, so, after landing in Sheridan and grabbing some Starbucks coffees, we headed out hunting.
Dad connected early the first morning on a wide-framed buck. We’d looked at many nice bucks, but when he saw the nontypical, Dad’s mind was made up. A fun stalk through sage-choked ravines put us as close as we could get, and dad connected on a long shot. He wasn’t a giant buck, but he was unique, and dad was elated…that’s all that mattered! Dad was liking the .257 Weatherby topped with Trijcon’s 5x20x50 AccuPoint; and so would Chris Stewart.
After finding a herd of over 50 head–containing 5 shooter bucks–Chris was fired-up and Jon Ball laid out o
ur plan of attack. After the stalk, it became a waiting game. With all the eyeballs milling around, 500 yards was as close as we could get. After several minutes, however, a buck started chasing a doe. That caused another buck to join in, and seconds later it felt like we were hunting in the rut! Fortunately, the chasing trio came right us…then more bucks started running our direction, including the biggest buck in the herd. Just over 100 yards away, the big buck stopped, and Chris dropped him on the spot. It would be the tallest buck taken on the hunt.
I was up next, and Jon and I put a stalk on a solid buck. The Weatherby roared, and the buck piled-up. You’ll likely not rewrite the record books in this part of Wyoming, but what you’ll see are hundreds of antelope a day.
The next day, Tiffany and Braxton flew in, along with Braxton’s friend, and Chris’s daughter, Macie Stewart. Tiffany was first to hunt, and during the course of the afternoon she made multiple stalks, but a good shot opportunity never presented itself. Finally, we got on a nice buck and made our move. We were out of sight most of the stalk, but when we popped up over a hill, the herd was bedded down. Now it was a waiting game. For oven an hour we waited, a setting sun marking the coming of darkness. Finally, a few minutes before the loss of filming light, the buck stood, and Tiffany dropped him with one shot at just over 250 yards.
The following morning Macie was ready for the hunt, and while she had already tagged a Roosevelt elk (which Braxton filmed for our show) and a dandy blacktail dee, this was her first antelope hunt. Looking over a field with more than 100 antelope in it, the stalk was on…but changed direction three times as bigger bucks kept appearing. At 350 yards Macie connected on a great buck with good mass and beautifully curved horns. She was elated, but I think her dad was more pumped. The father-daughter moment exemplified what hunting, especially pronghorn hunting, is all about.
While Braxton ran a second camera on Tiffany and Macie’s hunts, now it was his turn to get behind the gun. By noon he’d made four stalks on nice bucks, but three were skylined and the other obscured by does in the herd…no shots were fired.
Finally, Braxton and Jon sneaked to within 70 yards of a dandy buck, but when Brax’ got ready to pull the trigger, two bucks moved in behind. By the time they cleared, the herd was off and running…and we were walking, again. Eventually we found a herd feeding below us in a grassy draw. Belly-crawling to 356 yards, Braxton got the gun set solid in the bipod. When the buck turned broadside, he made a perfect shot, anchoring the buck on the spot. Six hunters, six bucks, all with one gun.
We packed the coolers with great eating antelope meat and headed for home late the following day. Antelope, though very lean, is one of the best eating meats out there, but the key to quality taste is quickly cleaning the animal, then getting the hide off and cooling, fast. That’s one reason I love hunting them late in the year like this, it’s easy to get them cooling.
When Kazden, our youngest son, is old enough, you can bet we’ll be headed back to Wyoming. Hunting with Jon Ball, seeing all the land and animals in this part of America, is something I wish all hunters could experience. Here, seeing 400-500 deer a day, and nearly as many antelope, is what hunting in this part of the country is all about…When you’re here, it seems like the good ol’ days of hunting out West are still very much alive!
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