eelgrass
Long Time Member
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- 31,509
Well I made it home after the loooong drive from Kali. It poured down rain from SLC into Wyoming and rained all night long in Riverton, so I knew access would not be good starting out. I met 4 guys from Canada at the motel that evening. They had two bucks and I helped them skin them in the motel parking lot that night. Only in Wyoming could you do that.
Plus I wanted to show off my knife from RELH They were impressed.
I met Kilbuc the next morning in Shoshoni and we headed out and found a suitable campsite. After setting up the tent trailer we took a little ride to assess the road situation and to look over some animals. We looked over about 20 different bucks just a few miles from camp but didn't see anything that I was too excited about. The rut was full on and it was fun to just watch.
Kilbuc (Dan), his Yellow Lab Nosler, and I got acquainted and talked about our days together in college back in the 1960's. We didn't know each other then though. We had some of the same professors. One of his favorite was a guy who hated me.
It didn't take long to discover that Dan is one of the most hard core hunters I have ever had the privilege to be around and is a true expert at judging pronghorn. I was lucky to have his help!
The roads slowly dried out over the next couple days and we saw lots of animals, a couple in the 15" class but mostly around 13"ers. They seemed to be the dominate bucks. Nice chunky horns, but lacked length. I wasn't ready to pull the trigger anyway.
I took 3 sacks of groceries to Wyoming and brought 3 sacks of groceries home. Dan had a ton of food and insisted on being the camp cook. I ate and felt like a king. Why would I want to end the hunt too early?
The next day it rained again so we headed over to the paved road and I spotted two bucks on my side. The best one was laying down and we decided to make a play on him. We made a perfect stalk around the hill. Dan said he was at 230 yards, so it was an easy hold for my .300 Win. Mag. He was still laying down with no clue that we were there. I held on the shoulder, but the angle of the shot put my 160 grain Hornady GMX (non lead) through the base of the neck and he never knew what hit him. He flopped over dead. I didn't recover the bullet but it was obvious it held together very well as there was no loss from bullet fragmentation. I was pleased.
We were dragging the buck out and the warden showed up. He walked out to us and after checking my tag he grabbed a horn and helped get the buck to the road! He then gave Dan a ride to his truck about a 1/4 mile away. Thank you Mr. Warden. You and the people of Wyoming are the best! The warden looked at the teeth and said my buck was at least 4 years old, but I already knew that because Dan already checked. Dan had a long career as a wildlife biologist in California.
The weather was cool and a moderate wind was blowing which was absolutely perfect for giving the meat a nice glaze and it all made it home to California in perfect condition. That was very important to me, and I look forward to some fine eating.
I want to thank all my friends here for all the advice on hunting Wyoming. It's a special place and Pronghorn help make it so. May it never end.
Eel
Plus I wanted to show off my knife from RELH They were impressed.I met Kilbuc the next morning in Shoshoni and we headed out and found a suitable campsite. After setting up the tent trailer we took a little ride to assess the road situation and to look over some animals. We looked over about 20 different bucks just a few miles from camp but didn't see anything that I was too excited about. The rut was full on and it was fun to just watch.
Kilbuc (Dan), his Yellow Lab Nosler, and I got acquainted and talked about our days together in college back in the 1960's. We didn't know each other then though. We had some of the same professors. One of his favorite was a guy who hated me
.It didn't take long to discover that Dan is one of the most hard core hunters I have ever had the privilege to be around and is a true expert at judging pronghorn. I was lucky to have his help!
The roads slowly dried out over the next couple days and we saw lots of animals, a couple in the 15" class but mostly around 13"ers. They seemed to be the dominate bucks. Nice chunky horns, but lacked length. I wasn't ready to pull the trigger anyway.
I took 3 sacks of groceries to Wyoming and brought 3 sacks of groceries home. Dan had a ton of food and insisted on being the camp cook. I ate and felt like a king. Why would I want to end the hunt too early?
The next day it rained again so we headed over to the paved road and I spotted two bucks on my side. The best one was laying down and we decided to make a play on him. We made a perfect stalk around the hill. Dan said he was at 230 yards, so it was an easy hold for my .300 Win. Mag. He was still laying down with no clue that we were there. I held on the shoulder, but the angle of the shot put my 160 grain Hornady GMX (non lead) through the base of the neck and he never knew what hit him. He flopped over dead. I didn't recover the bullet but it was obvious it held together very well as there was no loss from bullet fragmentation. I was pleased.
We were dragging the buck out and the warden showed up. He walked out to us and after checking my tag he grabbed a horn and helped get the buck to the road! He then gave Dan a ride to his truck about a 1/4 mile away. Thank you Mr. Warden. You and the people of Wyoming are the best! The warden looked at the teeth and said my buck was at least 4 years old, but I already knew that because Dan already checked
. Dan had a long career as a wildlife biologist in California.The weather was cool and a moderate wind was blowing which was absolutely perfect for giving the meat a nice glaze and it all made it home to California in perfect condition. That was very important to me, and I look forward to some fine eating.
I want to thank all my friends here for all the advice on hunting Wyoming. It's a special place and Pronghorn help make it so. May it never end.
Eel
