SapperDawg
11-03-2019, 08:01 AM
Outdoor Dawgs -
Hope your fall is kicking tail. My season is over, and I am on the shelf. Lifetime of abuse that culminated in one kick of a soccer ball with my daughter. ACL replacement (cadaver ligament) and some meniscus trimming.
https://i.imgur.com/6UobUL4l.jpg
That said, I had an excellent run-up to this event with my first Wyoming pronghorn hunt. This was self-guided on BLM land right outside of Casper. Pics will follow below, but we had six tags - three each. One buck, and two doe/fawn tags. We probably saw close to 1,000 animals total, at least 60% of those were huntable on public land.
We tagged out in three days. The whole story is on the East to West Hunting podcast, episode 86 if you are interested:
https://eastwesthunt.com/2019/10/21/episode-86-2019-pronghorn-antelope-trip-a-great-introduction-to-western-hunting/
My first buck, taken at hour two of hunting on the first day. Our goal was a good, representative animal rather than trophies. Next time, we will spend more time looking up front.
https://i.imgur.com/JfMVupyl.jpg
Classic western spot and stalk on this big doe on Day 2. We saw a doe/fawn and decided to try for them. We ended up walking about 3/4 of a mile in the opposite direction to get in a terrain feature between us and the wind in our face. We walked up the bottom of a drainage and I popped up over a hill to see 35-40 animals within 50 yards. They had no idea I was there. I filled my remaining two tags here with a fawn and the biggest doe in the group.
https://i.imgur.com/1Dl8J9Ol.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/iC3qwWjl.jpg
My partner tagged out the following day, and we spend about half a day processing our kill. Three pronghorn equal about 100lbs of boned out meat. Exactly the weight requirement for two checked bags.
https://i.imgur.com/19I1QERl.jpg
The general knock on pronghorn is they are not good to each. That is 100% false. We cooked a portion of backstrap the morning after our first hunt. Simple prep: seared in butter and lightly seasoned in a cheap skillet in an AirBnB. Result = amazing.
https://i.imgur.com/ayycgXXl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/3rm6Pezl.jpg
Started processing some breakfast sausage when I got home. Once again, nothing wrong with this:
https://i.imgur.com/m2pIWPwl.jpg
Chili con Carne has been a great hit so far as well:
https://i.imgur.com/4GhDIdIl.jpg
Bottom line, if you want to hunt out west, chose this one to start. Tags are cheap and easy to get, and there may not be a better hunt from an access and opportunity standpoint. Travel is easy too, as we did this via fly-in to Denver and drive to Wyoming.
Hail State!
SapperDawg
Hope your fall is kicking tail. My season is over, and I am on the shelf. Lifetime of abuse that culminated in one kick of a soccer ball with my daughter. ACL replacement (cadaver ligament) and some meniscus trimming.
https://i.imgur.com/6UobUL4l.jpg
That said, I had an excellent run-up to this event with my first Wyoming pronghorn hunt. This was self-guided on BLM land right outside of Casper. Pics will follow below, but we had six tags - three each. One buck, and two doe/fawn tags. We probably saw close to 1,000 animals total, at least 60% of those were huntable on public land.
We tagged out in three days. The whole story is on the East to West Hunting podcast, episode 86 if you are interested:
https://eastwesthunt.com/2019/10/21/episode-86-2019-pronghorn-antelope-trip-a-great-introduction-to-western-hunting/
My first buck, taken at hour two of hunting on the first day. Our goal was a good, representative animal rather than trophies. Next time, we will spend more time looking up front.
https://i.imgur.com/JfMVupyl.jpg
Classic western spot and stalk on this big doe on Day 2. We saw a doe/fawn and decided to try for them. We ended up walking about 3/4 of a mile in the opposite direction to get in a terrain feature between us and the wind in our face. We walked up the bottom of a drainage and I popped up over a hill to see 35-40 animals within 50 yards. They had no idea I was there. I filled my remaining two tags here with a fawn and the biggest doe in the group.
https://i.imgur.com/1Dl8J9Ol.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/iC3qwWjl.jpg
My partner tagged out the following day, and we spend about half a day processing our kill. Three pronghorn equal about 100lbs of boned out meat. Exactly the weight requirement for two checked bags.
https://i.imgur.com/19I1QERl.jpg
The general knock on pronghorn is they are not good to each. That is 100% false. We cooked a portion of backstrap the morning after our first hunt. Simple prep: seared in butter and lightly seasoned in a cheap skillet in an AirBnB. Result = amazing.
https://i.imgur.com/ayycgXXl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/3rm6Pezl.jpg
Started processing some breakfast sausage when I got home. Once again, nothing wrong with this:
https://i.imgur.com/m2pIWPwl.jpg
Chili con Carne has been a great hit so far as well:
https://i.imgur.com/4GhDIdIl.jpg
Bottom line, if you want to hunt out west, chose this one to start. Tags are cheap and easy to get, and there may not be a better hunt from an access and opportunity standpoint. Travel is easy too, as we did this via fly-in to Denver and drive to Wyoming.
Hail State!
SapperDawg