I just returned from Wyoming with a camera full of pictures.

My partners on this trip were Smiley (the original Wayne Hoffman) and Dennis Castle from Ohio.  We were visiting Vance Brewer on the ranch he manages near Daniel.

None of us had a buck tag, so this would be a hunt for does only.  I like horns as much as the next guy, but I also love to eat, and this was a perfect hunt to fulfill that need.

I'm headed north today to check on bear baits, so won't drag this one out for you.  I'll keep the commentary to a minimum, and just share the hunt through pictures.

My first two days were spent sitting in a blind on a water hole I had hunted last year.  But this year it wasn't being used much, so on day three I moved to the blind that the following pictures were taken from.

Nice bucks that unfortunately you couldn't shoot!  That's the way it usually happens!

good stuff!  love the grouse.  such unassuming little things

I want to do that someday!  

love the buck and grouse pic.

I had purchased two doe tags, so my hunt wasn't quite over.  A day off cutting meat, and I headed to a new spot just west of Vance's home.



This was a willow bottom along a creek, and I suited up in my ghillie for some spot and stalk attempts.  I was into antelope all morning, and after a break for lunch, found a lone doe that I followed until she feed out into a large pasture.

Nothing I could do but wait and see what happened.

I think 2012 might be a very good year!   :D  

Maybe Smiley will have more time than I do and will jump in and tell his story.  But I'll spoil the ending for you.    

 

Perfect shot Joe.  

Love antelope hunting AND antelope eating...

QuoteOriginally posted by KentuckyTJ:
I want to do that someday!      

Big time ditto!

Great photos Joe...and some fine shooting as well.

Thanks for including us!

"none of us had a buck tag"     but y'all started filling the freezer nicely...well done!

Seeing Vance is about a lot more than just hunting.  Food is a major ingredient of any visit.  We ate steaks, grilled chicken, Dungeness crab, and a fantastic standing rib roast.  I was too busy eating to take pictures of most of it, but did manage to snap a couple of the roast as Vance and Sandy did the honors.

 

 

Thats Awesome. Many congrats. Gotta love good friends.

Nice antelope and the prime rib don't look bad either.
Good pictures!!
Mike

Great hunt!
In the last pic of you, do does have "nubs"? Sure looks like very short antlers. Also very deceiving seeing that deep chest and the kill spot being so high.

Kook, some does do have short "antlers", and others don't have any at all.  They are kind of rubbery though, and not quite like those on a buck.  The two that I took both had them, but most I saw did not.

As for the kill spot being high, you must be assuming I hit exactly where I wanted to.   :rolleyes:  

Truthfully, I would have preferred a slightly lower hit, and a little more forward. But as it was, it took out the back lobe of both lungs.

Thanks for the insight. I know nothing of antelope. Just ingrained in my head to shoot behind the joint in the front leg. Then I noticed how low the chest is vs. a whitetail.

Nice cutters on the one buck!! Congratulations on the fine does! Good shooting!!