nateNAU

Just got a 19b rifle leftover.

After a lot of years of contemplating, I finally decided to bite the the bullet and apply for wyoming. I really wanted to hunt this year and decided on unit 102 becuase of the draw odds and a moderate amount of public land access. I only had 5 days total for travel and hunting which equated to about 2 1/2 days to hunt in a unit I have never laid eyes on before. The opener worked out great with my 5 year olds son's fall break so he came with me on the hunt. A big snow storm rolled in a couple days before the opener but I still decided to stick with opening weekend for our hunt. We rented a little air bnb cabin in our unit and our host was very gracious and gave us hunting permission on his aprox. 100 acres which bordered public to the north. Opening morning we decided to access a big chunk of public land along the big horn mountains. After a few miles along a county road road we hit a huge snow drift that was impassable so we had to hoof it the last mile to our acess point. When we got to the access point there were already numerous trucks there that had come along the county road from the north. We got up to a big knob and could see many other hunters who were clearly looking for antelope along with a lot that were making their way up towards timber who were probably deer or elk hunting. As we got to our high spot my son was complaining about his feet hurting so I told him to take his boots off. Sure enough he had big blisters on his feet. It was my fault as I made him wear brand new snow boots as opposed to his normal hiking boots because of the snow. After glassing for a bit and seeing no antelope and only hunters we decided to head back to the truck. I had to carry him 1 mile out of the hills and 1 mile down the county road back to the truck. We ran into town and got bandaids and electrical tape to try and fix his feet up and we switched to his regular hunting boots that were broken in and much tighter. That afternoon we decided to try the public land that was adjacent to where we were staying. Every access point had multiple vehicles parked at them and every little knoll had an orange hat on it. I was checking my onx, scrambling, trying to come up with a game plan. I found a stretch of public land about only 1/2 mile wide and 1 mile long right a long the highway but though it may not be hit as hard as some of the bigger chunks of land. It had a lot of little rolling hills that could hide an antelope. After about a 1/2 mile walk in this section we saw 3 does running and we made a break to try and intercept them. We went able to before they hit the highway and crossed over into another unit but at least we saw antelope on public. We decided to get on a knob in this area the following day because at least we had it to ourselves. The next morning we were kind of slow to get up and as I got up and looked out our window I saw a string of about 50 antelope on the adjacent private to the west. They and just come off public! We got dressed quick and and walked over the the big chuck of public they had just come off of and got up on a little hill where we could see them. They were acting really skidish and had probably already been shot at at day break. They we still on private but as a vehicle drove past them they turned and started headed back toward public. I was set up and ready to take a shot, but when they got within 50 yards of the fence line the mulled around and bedded down. I waited for about an hour but they showed no intention of crossing the fence. I decided to glass to the west and north in the public section to see if I could turn anything up. After a while I glassed up a head of a doe bedded down to the west at what I guessed was about 1500 yards. I kept watch trying to determine if it was within the boundaries of public when I see a big buck stand up and stretch right next to the doe and bed back down. I'm pretty sure the are on public so we make a bee-line towards them and when we get over there we realize the are 15 yards on the wrong side of the fence. They rest of the hunt was pretty much like this. Close calls but just outside of land we could hunt on. We saw probably 500 antelope in our unit but they very much know where they are safe. It was a great trip with my son and one that I will never will forget. We plan on doing it again next year but the key will be to try and line up some private land access as these antelope definatly know where they are safe.

Every ranch hand I have met on the Bo or Redlands seemed like super solid guys. I would put money that a "hunter", not one of them was the culprit.

Grey fox distress for fox. For bobcat any predator call works but they can be slow to come in so you have to wait past the usual 15-30 you do on a coyote stand. My last bobcat came in just shy of the 2 hour mark.

It's really cool you took that pic down the spiral. Little know fact is that if you look down the spiral you can see the eye. A kudu can see up the center and not have a blind spot caused by the horn from ambush above. Zoom in on your pic and you can see the eyeball!

I was blasting doves at sundown last night at had a nice 6x6 walk into about 300 yards. Stood there and watched as I shot a few more times. I packed up and as I started to drive away I saw him walk down to the water. Away from the peaks out in the cedars. Lots of elk down there.

If you dont find one here I would check f&t. Lot of good fur handling products. I have their fleshing beam that folds up against the wall and it has worked well.

Looking to buy elk antlers in the flagstaff area. Mainly chalk and will pay better than an antler buyer. 1 anter or a pickup bed full.

Thanks for the info!

Bump. All pm's responded to. Still looking for more antlers for gun grips!

Sent you a pm

Me too! My first time applying for wyoming and got a buck and 2 doe tags! Beyond excited.

For 11m cow I would prefer the first week. The cows get sharper as the rut progresses. The bulls get dumber. 11m will be better as the elk will be more vocal and easier to locate. PM me and I would be happy to share some spots. I will be out there helping a co-worker on the same hunt.

I would hands down hunt the second week. The rut in 7e seems to always be slow and weak. Last year on my father in laws hunt we spent the first 6 days without one bugle or seeing any branch antlered bulls and in years I've had the tag, I've had similar experiences.

I would love that. I live and hunt in 7e and would like to see them split. Would probably up the draw odds in 7e if they were.

It's been that way for years. Its 7e and 7w so it's really not too bad.

Boughten Boy I guess you are right.they never thought me that word at NAU. I guess I should ask for my money back.

I drive all the way to work on these nice black surfaces . What are they called?........... oh ya. Roads!

We do dumb a$$.

The points................ that you bought.

Socialism? I would guess you failed civics. I am suggesting being able to spend what is yours. Sounds more like capitalism. I guess you would say I am fairly young at 32 but in my adult life I have seen draw odds in the unit I live in for early archery elk go down from 35% to 18% in under a decade. Something has to change.

All y'all mofos are arguing the wrong points. A strait point system (the kid with zero points draws a sheep tag) or a squared point system ( the geriatric dude who gets preference because he has been putting in since the civil war) is irrelevant if we have a bonus point surplus, which we have since more bps are created every year than are spent. There are only two solutions to that problem. 1. Pool bps. Allow people to pool all species bps and use them on any species they want. In a silent auction style people could use any of their bps towards any hunt. This would more than likely lead to over bp use and create a bp deficit. ( the out of state jo who has applied for elk, bighorn, deer and antelope for 20 years would burn all his points for an almost guaranteed chance at 1 of those tags.) I have suggested this before and it was like talking to the window lickers who ride the short bus. 2. Allow use of bps as currency. Allow bps to be used and spent on things other than draw odds. For example, something like 10 bps and your deer bag limit for deer goes up to 2. Or 20 bps to purchase a lifetime hunt/fish combo liscense. One way or another we need to get into a bp deficit or these problems will increase regardless if we square our points or not.

Was able to take a nice pig in 19b last week. It was the first experience my son had of big game hunting and I think he is now hooked. From camping to hiking and glassing, he seemed to enjoy ever minute.

Try being a Lumberjack