Wyoming antelope hunt(all 22 minutes of it)

[billrquimby]

Congratulations, and welcome to Wyoming's wonderful antelope hunting.

 

In 1983, Dave Petzel of Field and Stream Magazine, Craig Boddington then-editor of Petersen's Hunting, and I comprised one of the eight teams competing in the Lander One Shot Antelope Hunt.

 

This is not a trophy hunt. Participants go out with guides, drivers and timekeepers to kill legal bucks of any size in the fastest time possible, and are timed with a stop watch. Anything more than one shot constitutes a miss.

 

I shot my buck in three minutes, Petzel shot his in four minutes and Craig shot his in fifteen minutes. We not only won the event that year, but we also set a record with a consecutive team time of just twenty two minutes. I don't know if our record still stands.

 

As Craig told everyone at the victory banquet, "As outdoor writers we could do no less."

 

In truth, it took a lot of luck in both the hunt and the coin tosses. Dave and I won tosses that allowed us to shoot second to the shooters we were competing against, which meant we already were among the antelope and didn't have to hunt them up when it was our turn. Craig was the first shooter in his group, or we might have posted an even faster team time.

 

Bill Quimby

[az4life]

One thing to consider, for anyone thinking of heading to Wyoming for antelope hunts, is the latest trend is the landowners are charging tresspass fees for antelope moreso than other game. Private land is everywhere and public lands are hard to find with antelope. Many areas that are public are designated as "walk in" only, with no vehicle access.

 

Best if you pland to come here and hunt antelope to verify access before making definite plans.

 

food for thought....

[Dodger2]

Congrats, looks like a pretty speed goat. Its bigger than the one I got there this year and bigger than anything we saw. But they are fun and they taste good.

[Kilimanjaro]

very nice goats!!! Wyoming sure is a nice place to be during pronghorn season..

[fatfootdoc]

Thanks for all the positive replies, the smile on my sons face is my trophy on this hunt He thought it was pretty cool to see his pic on the internet. AG

[billrquimby]

"One thing to consider, for anyone thinking of heading to Wyoming for antelope hunts, is the latest trend is the landowners are charging tresspass fees for antelope moreso than other game. Private land is everywhere and public lands are hard to find with antelope. Many areas that are public are designated as "walk in" only, with no vehicle access. "

 

The eastern half of the state has always had an access problem because there are few public land areas. The "walk-in" only areas on public land must be something new because I've not encountered them in west-central or southwestern Wyoming where I've done all of my antelope hunting. There still are good numbers of antelope on BLM land in the Red Desert.

 

Bill Quimby

[azyoung]

Perfect hunt and with your Son - Congrats!

 

 

azyoung

[az4life]

"One thing to consider, for anyone thinking of heading to Wyoming for antelope hunts, is the latest trend is the landowners are charging tresspass fees for antelope moreso than other game. Private land is everywhere and public lands are hard to find with antelope. Many areas that are public are designated as "walk in" only, with no vehicle access. "

 

The eastern half of the state has always had an access problem because there are few public land areas. The "walk-in" only areas on public land must be something new because I've not encountered them in west-central or southwestern Wyoming where I've done all of my antelope hunting. There still are good numbers of antelope on BLM land in the Red Desert.

 

Bill Quimby

 

Thanks for the info Bill. I have not had time to research the whole state, but it is good to know I can go west, and possibly find more access.

[billrquimby]

"One thing to consider, for anyone thinking of heading to Wyoming for antelope hunts, is the latest trend is the landowners are charging tresspass fees for antelope moreso than other game. Private land is everywhere and public lands are hard to find with antelope. Many areas that are public are designated as "walk in" only, with no vehicle access. "

 

The eastern half of the state has always had an access problem because there are few public land areas. The "walk-in" only areas on public land must be something new because I've not encountered them in west-central or southwestern Wyoming where I've done all of my antelope hunting. There still are good numbers of antelope on BLM land in the Red Desert.

 

Bill Quimby

 

Thanks for the info Bill. I have not had time to research the whole state, but it is good to know I can go west, and possibly find more access.

 

Check the BLM maps of Wyoming for areas around Jeffery City, The Red Desert and the Sweetwater River, and other places with ample areas of public land. It's all good antelope country in that region. We see plenty of antelope around Rock Springs, which is not far from the Utah border and is a couple of hours closer to Tucson, but I have no idea what the access situation is there.

 

My friends and I fly to Salt Lake City (Delta usually has specials if you watch for them), rent a 4x4 and drive into Wyoming, get a motel room, and eat in restaurants. We've found our costs are about $400 each -- including air but plus license and tag -- for three days in North America's best antelope country. Flying saves a v-e-r-y l-o-n-g day of driving to Salt Lake City from Tucson, and another from Salt Lake City home. If you drive, you need to add the cost of food and motels on the way up and back.

 

Bill Quimby

 

Bill Quimby