Live Hunts - Wyoming Archery Antelope Hunt - September 21

Live Hunts - Wyoming Archery Antelope Hunt - September 21 - Day 5

September 21 - Day 5
Wyoming Archery Antelope Hunt

Friday A.M.
This morning I went back to the area where I saw the buck fight yesterday. Immediately I started glassing antelope in their usual series of draws and flats. I determined today that if I was going to spook any, I wanted to spook them towards more public land, instead of towards private, so I went a circuitous route on the road to get behind them. The wind was also better from that direction.

I marked the location of a group and dropped off in a ravine to gain some distance. After about 500 yards I spotted a decent buck running a doe down from the ridge I was headed towards, so I decided to try and close in on them. I was able to get below the cover of a side hill and gain some distance, but when I came slowly around the corner they saw me from about 200 yards and stopped to stare. The vision of antelope is sometimes quite frankly mind-boggling. I was moving slow as a snail, with sagebrush in my hat too, and they still saw me. I sat still hoping they would forget they saw anything, but it was not to be. They ran and disappeared over a small bank.

The buck I saw chasing a doe

A decent buck standing sentinel on the ridge

A pretty nice mulie shed I found

I followed them, hoping I might get on them in the distance. I got to the top of the bank and peeked over and they were feeding about 150 yards away, apparently thinking they had left me behind. Right then I heard a commotion and some antelope "vocalizations" of some sort up on a ridge to my right. I looked to see a very nice buck chasing a smaller buck, but he was still a pretty good one. Once the big buck had run the small buck off a ways, he slowly walked back in the direction he had come and I switched my focus to him. He appeared to bed down, but I couldn't tell for sure. He was fairly approachable, as far as antelope go. He was on the top of a pretty steep hill, and the wind was in my favor to come up the back side.

I crouch-walked for about 100 yards and when I got to the bottom of the hill I got on hands and knees. Went that way very slowly for another 100 yards, then as I neared the top I started doing a belly crawl. I was expecting to see his horns (hopefully) any minute now, as I was nearing the last place I had seen him. I didn't see him where he had been, but I kept slow and low hoping he was just a little bit further away with does. I got to a point where I could see over the ridge and immediately saw him, with 5 does, about 60 yards away. He was looking to the side. I slithered a few yards closer, and amazingly he saw me, must have seen the sage in my hat waving, as there was little wind right at that moment. He must have immediately thought I was another buck coming to cut in, and right away he started running towards me.

Sweet Harvest

I knew things were about to happen quick. Right when I first saw him looking to the side, I took out an arrow. Now, as he was running towards me, I knocked it, got my release on, and by the time I started my draw he was 15 yards away. When he saw me draw he immediately did an about-face and started trotting back to his does. I whistled at him 3 times, and on the last time he stopped and turned to me at about 40 yards. I have passed up other 40 yard shots on this trip and the previous one in Montana, but I was so focused on this buck I decided to take the shot. At the shot he slightly moved (started to crouch, I'm guessing) and my arrow hit him in the spine behind the shoulder, putting him down immediately. I went up to him and although he was dying and losing a lot of blood, I put another shot in his heart/lung area and ended it. What an exciting experience, especially for the last day of my hunt!

Hunt Conclusion
This was a good hunt that I really enjoyed. I saw lots of animals, and a variety of animals, including elk, mule deer, fox and bobcat. I never cease to be amazed at the eyesight and wariness antelope have. I was fortunate to have just the right situation to make it work on this hunt. Isn't that what we're all looking for?

I apologize for the erratic nature of the updates on this hunt. As on my recent Idaho Elk hunt, our camp on thishunt was 60 miles from town, and not the best roads all the way there, so Internet access wasn't readily available every day. I hope you enjoyed the hunt. We have one more Live Hunt coming your way on this trip, starting probably on Sunday or Monday of this weekend. We'll be hunting Mule Deer in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming. Check back then for another exciting hunt!

Trip Notes
This hunt takes place about 60 miles northeast of Douglas, Wyoming. I'll be hunting public land on the Thunder Basin National Grasslands. This is a self-guided hunt. When looking for an area to hunt, my criteria were: lots of public land, good numbers of antelope, and broken terrain for stalking. I don't have the patience to sit all day every day at a water hole, so I'm starting this hunt out as a spot and stalk hunt. I have my ICE blind and may resort to using it at the end of the hunt if I've not had much success stalking and decoying. I believe they should be in the rut right now and hopefully responsive to a decoy. I'm not holding out for a trophy, just an average buck would make me happy. Like each of the last 3 Live Hunts, in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, this is new country that I've not previously hunted. I've hunted antelope in Wyoming, but nowhere near here. As always, it's very exciting to hunt new areas.

Equipment
I'm shooting a Martin Jaguar bow, set at 72 lbs. Arrows are 29-inch Easton 3-60 ACC's, with Wasp 125 gr. 3-blade SST Hammer broadheads. Depending on the terrain, I'm wearing almost exclusively Predator camoflauge. I have Fall Gray, Spring Green, Fall Brown, and Evolution with me on the trip, and will probably use all of them. Predator is awesome, and particularly in the Rocky Mountain West. I've also got a new Master Guide backpack made by Crooked Horn Outfitters that I'm eager to try out.

Equipment
This section is to tell you about some equipment that I've used extensively and highly recommend. I'm not a paid representative of any hunting product manufacturer, so these are honest-to-goodness reviews of quality equipment. In case you're interested in trying out some of this equipment for yourself, I've made links to places on the Internet where you can buy them at good prices. Just click on the photo or the name of the product.

Bausch & Lomb® 7x42 Binoculars	I've had a pair of B&L 7x42 Discoverer's for 5 years and have given them a real beating in a large variety of climates and conditions. I am very impressed with the overall quality. Compared side by side with Swarovski Binoculars in the field, the only noticeable difference was the price. They will cost you about $500 less than Swarovski's.
Garmin® GPS 12	Buying a Garmin GPS 12 was one of the best purchases I ever made. It has so many uses, and is so easy to use. In unfamiliar hunting areas, just mark your vehicle, hunt anywhere you want, and at the end of the day, get back to your vehicle with no problem. It's also great for marking downed animals to return to later. My GPS goes with me on EVERY hunting outing.
Wasp Hammer SST 125 Gr. Broadheads	I've used probably 10 different makes and models of broadheads in the last 10 years. The Wasp SST Hammer is the best Fixed, Replaceable blade broadhead I've ever used. I used to use Thunderheads, and took several animals with them. On a friends recommendation, however, I tried the Wasp. That was 2 years and a dozen or so animals ago, and I haven't tried another broadhead since. The Wasp has given me better blood trails, by far, than any of the other heads I've tried. They are tough, penetrate well (complete pass-throughs on all but one animal) and fly great. What more could you ask?
Double Bull Titan I.C.E. Blind	There is no question that hunting from my Titan blind has made my success rate as a bowhunter much higher. The Predator Deception pattern fairly melts into the brush. I've shot animals less than 5 yards from the blind. Also the best thing for Turkey Bowhunters since the Box Call. Light, very portable, strong, and conceals movement very well. Great for increasing the amount of time you spend in the woods.
Olympus D-450 Zoom Digital Camera	If you're interested in getting a very high-quality Digital Camera, the Olympus D-450 or one of it's successors is a great choice. I've had my D-450 for about 3 years now, and have taken all of the photos for all my Live Hunts with this camera. It's not cheap, but this is one instance where you definitely get what you pay for. I highly recommend this camera.

e-mail Joshua Flournoy

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