Filler on a rainy day...
I feel compelled to address our antelope hunting situation out here. To say the least, it's different.
Most of us think of antelope hunting as setting up residence in a blind of some sort, strategically placed near a waterhole that's visited daily by hordes of the black horned beasts... That's exactly the way my last antelope hunt near Casper was and what's you'll get most of the time in eastern Wyoming and most of Colorado.
Things go differently in the western part of Wyoming...or at least this part of western Wyoming.
Waterhole hunting works here. It will anywhere there is a scarcity of water. It's just not that dependable here.
Since we've gotten some recent and pretty heavy rains over the last couple of weeks, there are standing pools of water in places that haven't seen water in years.
Lets just say it's unpredictable at best.
The strategy is, as it has been since I've been hunting out here, to make the best of the situation.
What does that mean? Well, it means keeping eyes open for patterns.
For instance...we know that one group of goats likes to stroll right down the middle of a ranch access road. Especially in the afternoon when they are leaving the ranch.
Cover is sparse at best, but there are a couple of "washes" that could provide cover for a well camoed bowman.
Then there is this one little fenced in field that the goats like to frequent. They seem to come at random and don't stay long. Getting there in time to sneak on them is the challenge.
Of course we've been watching the boulder pile. They really like feeding in the gap between it and the hay stack yard.
Of course once I started hunting the spot they seemed to shift to the other end of the stack yard.
It is a little different this year. Last year (with no permit) there were antelope trading back and forth over the entire ranch. Every pasture seemed to hold a half dozen. Not so this year... and we don't know why.
Stalking gets the nod for a large portion of the hunting opportunities.
Ever try to stalk an antelope? As tough as it gets!
Especially if you're overweight and less than flexible.
Most often the stalk ends with the antelope never even knowing you were there. They'll often just pick up stakes and move to who knows where. right in the middle of what you are doing.
It happened to me just last night.
I did move on one other group late yesterday afternoon.
On the way in from the Dr. I spotted a group of does and fawns not far from the road with plenty of cover between us.
Pulling the truck down the road and out of sight I returned to the area and found them contentedly feeding.... when you look closely at the places they feed you have to wonder what the hell they're eating. It looks pretty sparse to me.
The sun was low, but not so much so that I could use it for the old "low sun gambit" and I eased up over a rise to find the antelope standing watching my direction at 50 yds.
I knew it was over at first peak. They added insult to the situation by slowly feeding away from me.
Tomorrow is the first day of deer season here and if there isn't a horde of people up on forest Terry and I will be after them... hell, we'll be after them anyway.
Topic: Blessings of THE GREAT HUNT-pics added page 5 (Read 8996 times)
