My First Antelope Hunt

I successfully took my very first antelope in Wyoming on a father daughter hunting trip. My Dad and I had been putting in for Wyoming antelope points for years, hoping to draw a unit where we could put in as a party and have a successful hunt. My Dad and I have been planning this hunt for a long time and this year we finally drew the unit we wanted.

We decided to go the last week of the season as we heard the hunting pressure is less after the locals have their tags filled. We woke up early, packed the truck with all of our clothing and gear including my 7mm08 rifle, my Girls with Guns camo, hiking boots and a bag full of snacks. We left my house at 6 a.m. and started driving east. The total drive to our hunting unit in Wyoming was about fourteen hours and we planned to do it in two days. We hoped to make it to The Star Basque restaurant in Elko, Nevada for lunch. This is a popular stop for hunters traveling through and my Dad makes it a point to stop every time he passes through on his way to hunt out of state. We drove through the Nevada desert scenery for hours until we finally reached Elko and got a chance to stretch our legs and get some grub. We had the most delicious steak sandwiches and then got back on the road, our destination- Wendover, Nevada. We stopped for the night and got some rest for another long day of driving. The next morning we were back on the road and in Utah in a couple hours. We drove all the way through the Utah and into central Wyoming. Once we reached the nearest town or Riverton we stopped to get groceries and ice for our ice chest before we headed to our rental. I found us the perfect place to stay on VRBO! It was a cabin on a cattle ranch on the outskirts of town that had two beds, two bathrooms, multiple decks and beautiful scenery including a pond and the nearby Wind river. To get to the rental we had to meet the owners at the end of a gravel road to be let through a locked gate. The gravel road then continued over a very narrow, old bridge. This historic bridge which spans the Wind River had a plaque stating that it was built in 1883 and used to be a railway bridge. This stretch of road gave us a show of the most beautiful fall colors and a spectacular entry to our home for the next three nights. We arrived and got settled in, unloading the piles of gear from the truck and getting organized so we could get up in the morning and hunt.

We decided to get an early start to our first day so we could cover a lot of ground and get the lay of the land. Luckily my Dad had just hunted this same unit the year before for deer so he was very familiar with the roads. Leaving our rental we went through two cattle gates to exit the ranch which led to the adjacent Indian Reservation. We continued on the road through the reservation and out to the main road. We were in our hunting unit within a 40 minute drive past the reservation and out to BLM lands. We drove through the unit on the main gravel road, spotting groups of antelope every so often and pulling over to get a closer look through our binoculars. We were seeing lots of groups in the first two hours of daylight. After turning around and back tracking we saw one large group of does with one larger buck standing nearby up on a hillside. We pulled the truck over and glassed the group in our binos and talked about trying to get on them since there were some hills that I could use to hide behind. I decided to give it a try and make a stalk and get within range. This would by my first time hunting antelope and making a stalk by myself so I didn’t think it would be successful but I figured I needed to practice. I grabbed my gun and shooting sticks and made a move to sneak up on him using a couple hills in between us for cover. I slowly walked up to the peak of the hill and peered over to see the buck was chasing a smaller buck off on a hill further back. He then turned to return to his does on the hill and spotted me so I thought it was over. However he didn’t take off immediately so I decided to push on and used a tactic my Dad had just told me about. I started walking very slowly in the same direction he was trotting, paralleling him back towards the does. He trotted down into a gully at the base of the hill so I ran to the edge of the hill I was on, just out of sight of the does, sat down and got ready. I threw up my shooting sticks, set my gun stock in them and got the does in my sights at about 175 yards. The buck was down in the bottom of the hill and out of sight. I thought he would come back up on the other side of the hill just below those does so I decided to sit tight and wait. Just a few minutes later it happened exactly like I was hoping and he stepped up on the side of the hill directly below the does. I lined up my crosshairs right behind his shoulder and took my shot and hit him perfectly though the heart. He ran about 60 yards and then fell into the sagebrush. I had a little freak out moment to myself and then I radioed my Dad on the walkie talkie and said “He’s down!” Then I just stood there in disbelief that I stalked and took my first antelope all by myself before finally walking over to him. The first moment walking up to the buck I got an overwhelming sense of accomplishment.. I knelled down next to him and felt his fur, admired his antlers and I thanked him for his life. I’m so glad I tagged along on Steve’s Wyoming antelope hunt last year so I had that little bit of experience from watching Steve make many stalking attempts. I was still shocked that I did it but so happy and so so proud. I couldn’t wait to call Steve and tell him all about it.

When my Dad reached me he told me that he was watching from the truck with his binos and although he was unable to see me, he was able to see the buck and watch the shot happen. I was so happy to hear this as I wanted him to be a part of it. i told him every detail of how it went down, we celebrated, took photos and then got to work taking care of the antelope.

After we had the buck gutted and skinned we put the carcass on a blanket in the shade and let the Wyoming wind cool it down. After a couple hours we loaded him up and headed back to our rental. The owner of the rental also runs a hunt club on the property and allowed us to use the gambrel hoist in his shop to hang the meat up. This was so convenient to have and we were thankful for the kindness of the owner. We then got to relax the rest of the afternoon and celebrated our success by grilling up some hamburgers for dinner while watching the sun set.

The next morning we got up early again and went out after it, hoping to have the same luck as yesterday and fill our second tag. We decided to take some different roads we hadn’t been down yet and drove for a few hours turning up a few groups of antelope but not like the day before. We eventually came to the edge of our unit and decided to drive through some new country and after only a half an hour we spotted a nice buck with three does on the side of a hill in the distance. We noticed there was a a dirt road above them and thought we would try and get closer and make a stalk. We drove past them and then around the top of the hill they were on and my Dad jumped out and mad a stalk over the edge of the hill. When he got there he said they were gone and then when turning to return to the truck he ended up staring at the buck from only 100 yards who had just trotted up through the saddle with the does right in front of him. He sat down and slowly got into position and took his shot. The antelope ran back down the hill and then turned and ran back up again before he fell. My Dad radioed me that he was down and I quickly met up with him and we celebrated that our second antelope tag was filled. We took care of this antelope just the way we did the other one the previous day. We sat and had a snack and talked about the hunt while the meat cooled in the shade of the truck before we loaded up and headed back. We only had this rental cabin on the cattle ranch for three nights and this was our last so we had to check out the next morning. We knew we had some work to do in order to process these animals for travel back to California. We set up on some blind stools and the ice chest and skinned and cleaned the heads and got our meat quartered up and put into game bags. On our way out in the morning we grabbed blocks of ice for our oversized ice chest which held all the meat and placed the meat bags on top for the long trip home.

The trip was so much fun and it was great spending time with my Dad doing something we both love. Antelope hunting in Wyoming was awesome and I hope to draw another tag in the future. The excitement of seeing so many animals each day is something we don’t experience here in California often so it was a really nice change of pace and a really fun hunt. I’m super proud of myself for stalking and taking this beautiful buck, and thankful for my Dad for helping me make it all happen. It was an amazing moment that I will never forget.