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My kid got his first buck. Story to follow.

In 2013 I remember watching a TV show about Antelope hunting in Wyoming. I vividly remember wanting to go Antelope hunting really badly, but didn’t know how or when I could afford that type of out of state hunt. After a little research I discovered I could buy preference points without having to buy an out of state license. That’s when I recognized I could afford to start accumulating points until I could afford to go out of state and draw a good tag. Fast forward to the spring of 2018 when I finally decided to cash in my 5 points for what Eastman’s calls a “Blue Chip” Unit. Upon receiving the notification I had drawn the tag I immediately called a friend (Cliffton)in Utah to assist me with the hunt. We had talked about hunting together in Wyoming for years. This would finally be the year we could hunt together. For this hunt I was planning on taking my bow, my Ruger Precision and Custom long range Savage Striker pistol. I had spent numerous trips to the range with all three and was very prepared to take whatever type of shot that presented itself. Approximately 3 weeks prior to leaving for my hunt I was having lunch with my boss. While at lunch I reminded him I would be leaving for vacation in 3 weeks. After further discussion we realized one of my key staff members would be gone at the same time. With another key staff member already out on Military leave we both could not be gone at the same time. Knowing my hunt would not be end for several more weeks I decided to cancel the original week of vacation and extend it two weeks later. This extension would cause me to spend additional driving time. The extension would also cut a few days off of my hunting. Upon arriving in Wyoming I would only have 3 days to hunt before having to return home. I would now leave for a family vacation to San Diego & Disney Land on Friday October 28th. We spent 5 amazing days in California with the family! The only issue now is we would be driving home on Tuesday October 2nd. The minute we arrived home I had to immediately leave for Wyoming! We left Disney Land at 7am. We arrived in Phoenix at 2pm and I left for Wyoming within 15 minutes. I knew I wouldn’t make it to Wyoming, but I wanted to make it as far as possible. The plan was to meet Clifton in Salt Lake City the next day and leave for Wyoming ASAP! After a long day of driving I made it to Beaver Utah by 1 am. After a short 5 hour nap I continued my drive to my Clifton’s house. Upon arrival at his house Clifton informed me we would not be able to leave until he and his wife finished laying sod in their front yard. He told me to take a nap inside his house and we would leave as soon as he was finished. Of course I couldn’t let him work without my help so after a few hours of laying sod for the first time we were finally on the last leg to Wyoming. We arrived to Wyoming around 9pm that night. We had a fantastic steak and then an even better night’s rest. With excitement in the air it was difficult to get to sleep, but with 2 days of driving behind me I settled in for a short, but well needed rest. The next day was a beautiful sunny, blue sky Wyoming morning. We had a quick breakfast, filled up the truck and headed into the vast Wyoming prairie to start the hunt. If you have never been to Wyoming I can assure you that filling a buck and 2 doe tags was not going to be a problem. The real challenge would be to find a quality buck that was worthy of waiting 5 years. My buddy had hunted this unit on several different occasions so we had a good idea where to go and what size goat we would peruse. Within 30 seconds of leaving town we started seeing Bucks in my unit. That started the very long day of looking over 200 plus bucks. I know some of you might feel 200 is an exaggeration, but let me assure you, it’s not! We actually counted! I’ve never seen so many Antelope bucks in my life! It was crazy! The day ended with us seeing several great bucks, but nothing worth ending my hunt so soon. I stated earlier that I had planned on taking my bow on this hunt. Unfortunately with having to leave my house so soon after arriving home from Disney Land I forgot my bow. This turned out to be a HUGE mistake. Throughout this hunt we saw numerous Pope & Young Bucks either right next to the road or within a short easy stock. If I could do anything over on this hunt I would have brought my bow and shot my buck and both does with my bow. The second day started much the same as the first day. We immediately started seeing bucks. On this day we looked at the opposite side of the unit to hopefully find a great buck. After looking over 100 bucks by noon we still hadn’t seen anything worth taking. We did see several great Muley Bucks lounging in private alfalfa fields. I’ve never seen such huge bucks with zero fear of humans. It was incredible to see. Nearing the end of the day we located a monster shooter buck in a valley without roads. This buck was definitely over 80 inches and was Amazing! The problem is the buck was on a nearby reservation. The buck was close to public land so we decided to come back to him in the morning to hopefully find him on public. With about 30 minutes left of shooting light we located another great buck. This buck had really tall horns, but was weak on the prongs. He was also on public land and was only 300 yards off the road. We spent a few minutes carefully looking over this buck with the spotting scope, but had a very hard time judging him. The real problem with this buck is we kept thinking about the monster buck from 30 minutes earlier. If we hadn’t seen the monster buck we would have 100% shot this buck. We decided to pass and started driving back to the hotel. Of course we were both uneasy with our decision and began seriously second guessing our decision. This ultimately led me to turn around and attempt to harvest this buck. We arrived a few minutes to late and just in time to watch the buck walk onto private land. This turned out to be the only mistake I had made on this trip. With only 1 more day to hunt I should have shot this buck! The drive back to the hotel that night had a strange somber feeling to it. With only the following day left to hunt we were both a little uneasy about what we would find the next day. Harvesting a buck in this unit or any unit in Wyoming is not hard. What we were finding out is harvesting a Boone and Crocket style Buck was becoming almost impossible! While eating an amazing Prime Rib steak I recognized that I had made a huge mistake and should have shot the tall buck! Unfortunately I let “score” get in the way of “fun”. We ended the night with a solid plan to go after the Reservation buck first thing in the morning and then go after the tall buck if that didn’t work. At first light we were both staring at the Reservation buck. He was chasing does about 200 yards on the wrong side of the fence. We felt he might cross onto public, but with only 10 hours left to hunt we decided to find the tall buck. About 30 minutes later we located the tall buck, but he was still on private land, but was slowly making his way to public land. We decided to look into some other area’s for an hour and come back to see if he had made his way onto public land. We drove away and found numerous more bucks. As it had been the previous 2 days all the bucks were nice, but not worth tagging. It was now noon and my heart was beginning to feel that all too familiar feeling of Dred and regret! We returned an hour later to find the tall buck. Thankfully we found him quickly and on public land. The problem was he was steadily walking towards private land. We quickly attempted to get close, but as it was the previous night he made it onto private land before we could make a move. At this time I was heartbroken! With only 6 hours left to hunt I knew my chances of getting this buck or any nice buck was seriously slim! We decided to look at some completely different country for the next few hours. This ended up being another huge mistake, because this was the only country we didn’t see any antelope in. It was beautiful country, just void of any living creatures. We returned to are of the tall buck at 2pm. Surprisingly we located him bedded about 100 yards onto public land. We quickly made plans and began our stalk. The stalk was going perfectly, until a doe popped up in the general area the buck was bedded. The doe ran off, but we never saw the buck go with her. We continued and got within 100 yards of the last location of the bedded buck. Unfortunately after a few minutes we realized the buck was gone. We never saw him leave and we could only surmise he was bedded close to the doe and she took him with her. It was now 3:30 on my last day to hunt. My buddy could easily tell I was beyond stressed out! I couldn’t believe I had come to Wyoming and would not get a quality buck! I knew I could kill a smaller buck just about anywhere in the unit, but that’s not what I wanted. I wanted a mature buck! At this time I had already made up my mind that I was not going to shoot any buck just to fill a tag. If it wasn’t mature and had the look I wanted I wasn’t going to tag out. Shortly after this realization I suddenly remembered the two bucks in the valley without any roads. The area was only a few minutes away so we decided to try and locate them. Within a few minutes we were fortunate to locate the bucks within 100 yards of where we found them a few days earlier. The bucks were only 650 yards away. I could have easily taken a shot with my Ruger Precision 6.5 creedmoor, but I decided I wanted to end the day and hunt with a challenge. Therefore I decided to take my long range pistol on the stalk. I was very comfortable taking a shot at 400 yards. Thankfully the terrain had enough small draws that enabled us to stay out of view for most of the hunt. We had a plan to get to a particular hill that would hopefully get us within 300 yards. Well, our plan worked a little too well. Upon popping our heads up out of the draw I immediately located the bucks and they immediately located me. That’s because were where within 150 yards. We spent the next 30 seconds attempting to the video camera working and getting me set up for the shot. This proved very difficult to do quietly and ultimately didn’t work. The bucks slightly spooked and ran out to 230 yards. At this time my Clifton told me to forget about the video and shoot when I was ready. I had a pretty solid rest, but not great. I took the shot as soon as the buck stopped. Once I recovered from the initial recoil of the gun I was able to see dirt fly about 3 feet in front of the buck. Clifton immediately said those dreaded words “You Missed”. I was not shocked, because my rest was not really solid. I was hugely dissatisfied with myself and wished I hadn’t taken the shot. The rest of the Antelope ran out to 300 yards and looked back at us for about 30 seconds. I could have taken another shot, but without seeing the second buck in the group I wanted to make sure I missed before attempting another shot. We gathered out gear and hiked up to the area the buck was standing. While hiking up I was filled with emotions. I was sad, mad and disappointed in myself! I was shocked I had just missed my last opportunity at a buck an hour before dark on my last day to hunt! While walking up I tried to keep it together, but with only an hour left to hunt I knew the hunt was over! I walked 5 more steps and I caught a glimpse of something white in the grass ahead of me. That’s when all my sadness and disappointment turned to hopefulness and excitement. Another 5 steps and I could see those beautiful black horns lying on the ground. To say I was excited and elated would be a huge understatement! I had just filled my tag with a really nice Antelope Buck with a pistol. The feeling was Awesome! After taking about 100 pictures we cut up the buck and began the mile hike back to the truck. We headed back to town for dinner and ice and began the long drive back to Salt Lake City. The rest of the trip ended much like the beginning of the trip. A lot of driving! We arrived in Salt Lake about 11pm that night. I continued my drive for another few hours until I reached Beaver again. I awoke the next day to rain and snow. The rain and snow continued throughout the rest of my drive home. At one point I was in a mini blizzard just north of Kanab. The rain continued all the way through phoenix. This trip taught me one very important lesson. There is nothing wrong with working hard to find a huge animal, but the search for a monster did take away a little of the fun. Ultimately I made a few mistakes on this hunt, but the knowledge and lessons learned were invaluable! Thank you very much to all those who assisted me on this adventure!!!!

My 12 daughter was able to harvest her first deer opening morning and my 16 year old son was able to harvest his 4th buck on the first day he was able to hunt due to school and a football game.

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Next week I'm lucky to be going on my 14th hunt in a row, muzzy mule deer this time. Back in 2005 I hunted my first time there with some good help from a fellow cwt member, Redman. I've had several whitetail tags over the years, but have only tagged a few mule deer so far. Looking for my first muzzy deer!

Just wanted to share my 16 year old sister's success with ya'll. Put together this video to remember the hunt. There is a long boring dialogue at the beginning so you might want to skip to about 5:30. Forgive my amateur video skills. Headed out tomorrow with a tag in my pocket so we will see what happens! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_kaq-ZtYys - Bryson

10 days in brine and I pulled the roast this morning, after a good rinse and dry it was smothered in whole grain mustard. Next came the dry rub and then into the smoker for 2 hours at 250. At this point internal temp was about 150 and it was time to wrap tight in foil and back on the smoker at 300 for another 2 hours. Final temp before pulling was 199 degrees. To keep the story short after resting the roast was carved and sandwiches made, fresh rolls with Swiss and homemade Krout. Fresh thousand island dip and some steak fries and maybe a cold beer finished off dinner.

My little girl filled her elk tag on Friday evening. The youth tags were doubled in the unit this year, which made it quite a bit more crowded than we expected. We had to work a bit harder and we were blessed with some really good luck. She shot this cow at 90 yards with about 30 minutes of shooting light left. She had been broadside, but turned quartering towards us. My girl had been ready to pull the trigger, but stopped to ask what to do when she turned. I told her to imagine where the opposite lung would be and shoot along that line. She put the bullet just in front of the near shoulder and it passed through and destroyed the off-side lung. The cow reared up and came down hard. She never took another step. This is her third big game animal in the past year. All three were taken with one shot and we never had to do any tracking. Some of you know the story of how she got sick right after the Kaibab doe hunt last year. When she was two weeks removed from the hospital the good people at Y.O.U. hooked her up with some mentors that helped her fill her pig tag with as little physical effort as possible. Her strength is back to normal now, and she is in remission. She looks as good as ever. We recovered the bullet too. I loaded her 7mm08 down to reduced recoil loads. It was pushing a 139gr interlock at 2440 fps. This is what the bullet looked like after an impact at around 2300 fps and passing through about 2 feet of elk. It retained 119 of its 139 grains. It's a great bullet when not pushed too fast (or too slow)...one of the first harvests I have been a part of where a cup and core bullet was used...I'm usually a Barnes guy, but this did the trick.

Well its bitter sweet! I just sent off my late rifle tag to Arizona Elk Society to be donated. I am moving back to Arizona & starting a new job on the 22nd so not gonna be able to get time off for my hunt. I am super pumped about moving back, but bummed I won't be able to use my tag this year. I am ok with it as I know a wounded warrior will get to use it & have awesome time. I would like to thank Tom Wagner & Arizona Elk Society for helping me complete the tag transfer. What a great way to give back to our vets!!!!!!

opening weekend in 33 and not one single post or picture. What’s happening here guys? Come on.

Congrats. Just made it back from Wyoming myself. No buck tags, but I do have 3 points built up, so I should be guaranteed a buck tag next year. I had 2 doe tags. Killed one at 360 yards and the other at 578 yards. I was hunting unit 73 and this year was more difficult than year’s past due to rain making bentonite dirt roads impassable and significantly shrinking the accesible Hunting areas. Nice buck.

My 14 yr old daughter and 12 yr old son got Jr cow elk tags for 6A/5BS. My sons friend also got drawn, so we had 3 tags. Due to a busy swim and soccer schedule I could only pull off one scouting trip. Needless to say, I was gonna put the boots to the ground and hopefully fill a tag or two. Friday morning was beautiful, heard some late rut bugles and then started hearing shots off in the distance through the forest. I knew we were in the right spot. Nothing turned up so we went to get a hot lunch put on by the AES at the St Joseph’s jr elk camp. Met some great folks even went out with a mentor who, bless his heart tried to put us on some elk but couldn’t locate any due to all the pressure. I did find a beautiful arrowhead, that made my day, elk or no elk. Saturday morning came early and we had pulled over to look at a map when my son said, “dad, are those elk crossing the road?” I look up and catch 2 run by. We park and head toward the direction they are going. I take my 2 kids and my buddy and his son split up because we have 2 different bulls bugling. I head east, he heads west. I get to a small clearing and decide we should sit under a couple of trees and see what happens. My daughter says “ I’m hungry, can I eat my PB&J?” After she eats it, she says I see an elk and it’s walking towards us, I put my binos up to verify and say get the monopod and gun. I range it at 100yds and it stops behind a tree, I asked her to wait for it to turn broadside, of course she says “ I know dad”. It continues to zig and zig between the trees getting closer. I range it again at 84 yds, I get excited and say shoot whenever you’re ready, once again she says, “stop it dad, I know”. As soon as I put the binos up, the crack of the 270wsm goes off. I look frantically to see where it went, I get scared because I can’t find it. I see something move to the left behind a tree, clearly it’s been hit and wobbly. I point it out to her for one last finishing shot. Gun goes off again and it drops. The 3 H’s happened immediately after ( Hootin, Howlering and High-5’s). On the radio to our buddies to get the truck, started the gutless method and had it in the truck within a couple of hours. Got it to the butcher and she was able to pick her meat choices. My son and his friend did not fill their tag but had a fantastic time at the elk camp, shooting BB guns and being outside despite the rain, wind and muddy conditions.

Great job! Thats a great buck. Seems some buck are still in velvet and some not?

First of thanks to Nathan for all of his help and to those here who offered up some advice. We had an awesome time on this hunt even though James tagged out in the first 20 minutes of light on opening morning my younger son Darren also had a tag and missed a few shots he had a blast hearing all the bugles and seeing a lot of elk. I put together a video of the hunt unfortunately I couldn’t get the shot.

I only know a few people who like the old nostalgic rounds.

Came in expecting a saddle to ride pigs with. Leaving disappointed

For the 3 of us who flew, we boned it out, had a guy in town wrap/freeze it solid and the we carried it on as carry-on baggage. I used a Yeti Hopper 30 and it fit one buck perfectly!! Zero issues with TSA as long as it is froze solid!

I have been to Manhattan 5 Times this year for work. It’s pretty easy to stay entertained for 2-3 days. But then it starts to grind on me, the traffic, the noise, the giant buildings all around. I am glad I never had to stay a week. The one thing I never get sick of is the pizza. Oh man that pizza...

We don't really gamble at all, shows, eating, drinking. This we at least get fat and drunk. Just a bunch of lookie Loos. I'd like to do a helio ride or a fishing charter.

Next epidemic will be obesity and type II diabetes with east coast and Midwest deer

How much experience do your wife have with shooting a rifle/shotgun? If the answer is very little I would get her a cartridge that is in a short action. I think most hunters use way more caliber than they need. I would error on the light side. Think in terms of .243, .308, 7mm08, ect. If she is comfortable with bigger guns I would consider bigger rounds like the .270 or maybe a 30-06. No need to go any bigger. I wouldn't worry about weight that much. Lighter guns recoil more.......plus, you should be carrying her gun anyways. Heavy guns will also be more accurate. When the nerves are going a lighter gun moves around more than a heavier gun. Don't be afraid of weight. I'm not a fan of muzzle breaks. They require hearing protection and that doesn't always happen in the field. By all means shoot a smaller round and don't use a break. We have shot many, many, many elk with a .243 and I've yet to have one come back to life. Heck my wife just shot an elk with a 42# bow and that elk tastes great. The guns/bows my wife shoot are fit to her. I think it is very important to have the gun fit to the shooter. She has a .308 and a few 20 gauge shotguns that are her LOP. The comfort and absorption of recoil will be dramatically different if the gun fits her. Practice, practice, practice. I don't know your wife's experience level but I'm guessing she is a novice (which is super cool). Your biggest issue isn't the gun/weapon. Girls don't typically grow up like boys. We had a BB gun in our hands starting at a very young age. We got used to shooting birds, cans, frogs, rocks, windows and everything else. That taught us how to shoot using a variety of different rests or freehand. Your wife probably doesn't understand how to use a tree, hood, pack, kneeling, sticks as a rest. I've spent tons of time setting up cans and having my wife shoot all sorts of stuff getting used to just acquiring the target and hitting it. Actually being able to shoot the gun in hunting situations is by far and away the biggest issue I've seen when getting a woman ready to hunt....... Another huge consideration........keeping her warm. If they are cold you are going home or wish you were going home. I've had a great time hunting with my wife......she has killed buffalo, axis deer, many WT deer, pig, cow elk, bull elk. but it does come with a grip of challenges.

Drink enough and about anything is palatable. Also helps with all of the second guessing that is going on in your mind.

It’s a soup served best with a side of good 90proof and a humble serving of can’t wait til next year.

Sorry...that was rude of me......I can still remember the first night I crossed the old bridge.....there were about 8 cows on the bridge and we narrowly excaped catastophe.......you got your 500 on that one!!! We were living in Flagstaff at the time, newly married and had this great idea to shortcut over Jacobs Lake way to Provo. I had worked all day and I got tired fast driving so my wife said she'd drive. Between the cows on the bridge and all the deer on the highway I didn't get any sleep and finally just took back over the wheel!!!!

Haven't kept up with the thread lately but here is the buck I killed in November with a small drop tine