My Season is Finished

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11-03-2019, 08:01 AM
SapperDawg

My Season is Finished

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/...stern-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
11-03-2019, 08:05 AM
basedog

Awesome, enjoy your hunting post! Rehab, I've had two major surgeries years ago, but bike riding has helped me more than one will ever know!
11-03-2019, 09:28 AM
SapperDawg

Thanks Base....it really was a great hunt.

I expect to be on the rehab bike in the next couple of weeks. I hit 93 degrees of bend this week, and am right on schedule. Mostly increasing quad/calf strength/mobility with body weight exercise right now.
11-03-2019, 09:42 AM
BrunswickDawg

Sapper, looks like a great hunt. Would love to get out West like that sometime.

Good luck with the knee. Rehab is what it's all about.
11-03-2019, 01:21 PM
Howboutdemdogs

Hate the season ending,,,, good luck on your rehab!
11-03-2019, 03:01 PM
SpeckleDawg

Wow. Amazing hunt and loved the recap. Hate that about the knee, but at least it was after that trip!
11-11-2019, 08:13 AM
SapperDawg

Euro mount came in last week:

https://i.imgur.com/oMog8HXm.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/NFdNX8im.jpg
11-11-2019, 08:19 AM
basedog

Awesome!
11-11-2019, 09:43 PM
99jc

Quote:

Originally Posted by basedog

Awesome!

I used to live near Devils Tower Wyoming. All the pronghorns I shot tasted like sagebrush.
11-11-2019, 09:57 PM
SapperDawg

If I graded these on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being "I just ate sagebrush" and 1 being "just a hint".....these are all a 1.

Now we treated the meat well - had it off the carcass and cooling within a hour of being shot. Didn't let them lay out in the sun, and they didn't run away.

Curious- did you process them yourself?
11-12-2019, 05:25 PM
99jc

Quote:

Originally Posted by SapperDawg

If I graded these on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being "I just ate sagebrush" and 1 being "just a hint".....these are all a 1.

Now we treated the meat well - had it off the carcass and cooling within a hour of being shot. Didn't let them lay out in the sun, and they didn't run away.

Curious- did you process them yourself?

I used 2 different game processors but they both gave me the same results. I did notice soaking the meat in Evaporated milk did remove a lot of the sage taste. It wasn't awful but the other game I shot there just tasted better. Hell of a state to hunt in though. I had a friend who was a guide across the Montana boarder who got mauled by a Grizzly right before I moved back south 3 years ago. Winters just too Brutal for a Mississippi boy.
11-12-2019, 09:24 PM
SapperDawg

I hear that, hunting in griz territory scares the heck out of me and I could do without the negative temps. It's why I'll never do a 4th season elk or mulie hunt. Everyone I know that has used a processor for pronghorn has the same story regarding sage flavor of the meat. Happened to a buddy of mine last year. It's one of the reasons we were dead set on self-processing.
11-12-2019, 09:51 PM
99jc

Quote:

Originally Posted by SapperDawg

I hear that, hunting in griz territory scares the heck out of me and I could do without the negative temps. It's why I'll never do a 4th season elk or mulie hunt. Everyone I know that has used a processor for pronghorn has the same story regarding sage flavor of the meat. Happened to a buddy of mine last year. It's one of the reasons we were dead set on self-processing.

Yeah Grizzlies will stalk you the hunter becomes the hunted. He had been a guide for over 20 years but one got behind him grabbed him and sunk his teeth into his shoulder collarbone area, the bear picked him off the ground from behind lowered his paw just enough for my buddy to get his hand on a 357 he carried. He said he stuck the gun as far behind his ear as he could and started pulling the trigger. He told me he didn't care if he shot himself or the bear he just didn't want to die being eaten alive. He ended up killing the Grizzly but is messed up for life...but still alive.
11-13-2019, 11:09 AM
BeastMan

Dude that’s incredible stuff. Thanks for sharing. This post had it all: hunting, travel, adventure, and cooking. Well done and get well
11-15-2019, 09:16 AM
BrunswickDawg

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeastMan

Dude that’s incredible stuff. Thanks for sharing. This post had it all: hunting, travel, adventure, and cooking. Well done and get well

I'm sure Sapper probably had cigars or whiskey in that story too. Kind of disappointed he left those out.****
11-15-2019, 07:06 PM
SapperDawg

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrunswickDawg

I'm sure Sapper probably had cigars or whiskey in that story too. Kind of disappointed he left those out.****

Totally. Our annual tradition is to grab a bottle of Bulliet bourbon, pack it in and drink in camp. We did that once again, but paired it with Rickey Patel Edge Sumatra and Drew Estate Undercrown Shade grown cigars. I have a great limited edition two set I meant to bring, but forgot it. Next time.
11-16-2019, 05:22 PM
SpeckleDawg

Man, you covered it all just about. Just needed to catch a few fish in there and they would really be EVERYTHING.