Two weekends ago several guys travelled up to the middle of Wyoming for our now annual Antelope hunt. There were four of us on that trip. Two of us had buck and doe tags (Virgil and I), two had doe tags (Justin and Nick). Within our first hour of getting to our area Virgil had his buck and he filled his doe tag the next day.

This was Nick’s first hunt and he filled his doe tag on the second day of the hunt (after having a shot at 150 yards he didn’t take because he couldn’t settle down ). I wasn’t actually there (Virgil was his “guide”) but I hear it was a nice shot and it was a good-sized doe.

Justin wasn’t able to fill either of his doe tags (VERY unusual for this hunting area…just wasn’t his year I guess). I filled my doe tag on the second day. I had a shot on a buck the first day as well as the second day, but missed on both shots!! I could not believe it (and the first one was a very nice buck). We had to leave a little early because of some weather that was moving into the area (they actually got quite a bit of snow so it was a good decision).

However, that left me without a buck (since I couldn’t hit one to save my life). So, I went back this past Saturday to give it one more try. Another buddy of mine (Brett) was up there as well. I hunted alone in the morning with no luck and met up with Brett t about noon. I had one more stalk left so I headed out while Brett packed up his camp (he had shot his buck the morning prior).

Long story short…after a 2 hour stalk on a group of 75 antelope I finally got my first buck ever. The pack-out was brutal but in the end it’s always worth it. I didn’t have a camera with me in the field (couldn’t find it before I left) so here are some shots from home (not the greatest, but you get the idea):

He’s about a 12 inch buck (not great, but not bad either). I dropped him off at the taxidermist yesterday to get mounted (you gotta mount the first right?). The bad news? I get him back in about a YEAR! But the wait should be worth it. We (Justin, Nick and I) head out to Craig in two weeks for our deer hunt so hopefully there is a monster buck in my near future.  And if not, I’m sure there will be plenty of tales to tell.

One week from today I will be in the middle of Wyoming hunting antelope for 5 days (hopefully it will only take 1 or 2).  This is my second year hunting (you can see the results of last year’s hunt here) and my first year with a buck tag. There are five of us going on this particular hunt this year and I can’t wait to get up there and get started!

I officially have hunting fever…I am so ready to hit the road and get started. Hopefully I come home with some meat for the fridge and something like this to hang on the wall (in the garage of course):

I will have all the details (along with pictures) when I get back. Until then I’ll have to live with my fever…the anticipation is killing me!

Had a great time Elk Hunting at Blue Gravel Ranch in Craig, CO this weekend with my buddy Justin. We had the PERFECT opportunity the very first morning, but mis-judged the distance horribly so we missed (thought is was 300 yards, turned out it was 150). Didn’t see anything else we could get to the rest of that day (and not for lack of effort).

Sunday we hit the trail again (snow showing a total of 7-8 miles over the span of 2 days…dog tiring!). We didn’t see anything until late morning–a herd of15 or so on the next ridge that ran into another property. We finally got close to a group of 5 that some other hunters pushed our way. Took some shots from what I thought was 200 yards (turned out to be 450 yards…still learning to use the range finder). But they kept walking towards us and we both got one as they were about to jump a fence. If you want the whole, sordid (and probably boring story) just ask and you’ll get t.  =0)

Here are 2 photos of the end result (you can also check out our Flickr account for a few more):

My Elk
(man these things are big!)

Justin’s Elk
(close up to keep down the carnage)

Justin and I are off on our third hunt of the year–this time for Elk on Blue Gravel Ranch in Craig, CO. It is currently snowing up there and the day-time high is supposed to be about 28d with a good chance of more snow. Great weather for seeing Elk and for getting frostbite!

Here’s the scorecard so far:

1. Antelope: Two each
2. Deer: Don’t get me started…didn’t see a single living creature aside from a squirrel
3. Elk: TBD

I’ll have all the gory details when we get back…until then…

I know it’s an odd combination, but it’s been awhile since I provided an update. I’ll start with fantasy football.

Here’s the simple, plain truth: My Team Sucks! With just three games left in the season I am now 3-7, assuring myself that I can do no better than 6-7 (and that would frankly take a miracle since I couldn’t even generate 30 points last week in a league where the top score every week has been above 100). My best hope now it to try and win the Toilet Bowl and save some of my pride. I thought I had a good plan for the year–the players just didn’t get it done when I needed it. Already thinking about next year!

So hunting must have been better right? Wrong! Justin and I travelled 4 hours to Merideth, CO and saw absolutely nothing (not a single deer). The same weekend there was a 5×5 buck hit by a car in the heart of Parker but we didn’t see anything. I see more deer every Sunday on the way to church. I do know that it wasn’t just us…nobody in the area saw anything. So we’ve paid some dues and look forward to the Elk hunt in January.

As mentioned in previous blogs, last weekend was my first hunt of the season: Antelope just south of Casper Wyoming (see the pics here). There were a total of 7 guys that went on the trip–6 of use were hunting. It was a crazy weekend with 3 of us getting our first taste at the hunting gig (myself included). We had just about every kind of weather you can imagine in 3 days: Sun, wind, rain, snow (3 inches of it), and fog (hard to hunt in that stuff man)–and the temperature swings to go with it. But it was still a blast! Nothing like hanging out with the guys and doing something truly manly (keep the jokes to yourself)!

So, here’s my first hunting story…

Justin, Alex and I went out on the hunt right after getting camp set up on Friday afternoon. We spotted a couple of herds of antelope and began what has now become known as “The Death Stalk”. I’m guessing it was about a 3 mile hike in total. We work around one ridge only to find the antelope had beaten us to the next ridge…but we kept trudging on. It’s what we had expected and hoped for (we weren’t looking for the easy shot–at least not this early).

Finally we had a small herd in our sights. We crested a ridge and had several antelope ahead of us–about 200 yards away in the valley. We had decided that Justin would be the primary shooter, but he couldn’t get the 3 antelope he was tracking to stand still long enough. While we were waiting I got the angle on a nice doe–she was dead to rights. Alex told me to take the shot as Jsutin’s groups still hadn’t settled down and we were going to lose them soon.

So I lined up for the shot…got her in the cross-hairs…took a deep breath…and squeezed the trigger…

That’s when I heard the worst sound ever…”CLICK”!!!

The hammer came down just like it’s supposed to, but the gun didn’t fire! I was in complete shock! We’ve been to range numerous times and I’ve shot off over 80 rounds in preparation for this hunt–all with no issues. My first game is in my sights, I pull the trigger and get rewarded with…”CLICK”.

I couldn’t believe it! And by the time I regained my composure and was ready for the next shot the antelope were gone. Un-freaking-believable.

But at least I have a good hunting story now. And the next day both Justin and I got our first antelope (or any game for that matter)…and those shots where better than we could have planned (no more deafening “clicks” this time). Two shots on the same herd and two antelope safely in our refrigerators.

And we are heading back up next weekend to fill our second tags…here’s to more memories!

More to come on the entire trip, but here are the two photos that matter:

My First Kill

My Buddy Justin’s First

Both Antelope came on the same hill. I shot mine first and Justin shot his about 2 seconds later. More to come with the details.

It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged…sorry about that. It’s been a crazy busy couple of weeks. And with the busy comes the stress…but I’ve got a stress reliever coming in a week.

About a year ago, Justin Monk and I started talking about learning to hunt so that we could someday teach our boys how to hunt…you know, a “pass on the tradition” kind of thing. So we started to talking to some guys at work who go hunting every year and began the year-long journey of getting ready for the first hunt. We’ve spend months now getting all of our gear collected (neither of us had much to start with), practicing shooting, getting our tags, and dreaming of the day we’d head out with the guys and kill something!!  ;o)

That day is just around the corner. Our first hunt starts next Friday (October 5th). 8 of us are heading up to Wyoming to “harvest” us some antelope. I’m sure nobody will get shot…but you never know.

We have our second hunt in November for Deer and our third in January for Elk (both in Colorado). Of course I am going into each hunt with high expectations (everyone fills every tag right? Nobody comes home empty handed I’m sure). However, while I do hope to get some game meat for the freezer…it’s not just about killing something (although that would help in the “learning” category)…it’s also about getting away for some R&R.

There will be more to come on this topic….including some picture I hope. So stay tuned…