Saturday 9-23
We meet in the lobby of the hotel for the free breakfast before heading out to scout for the Sunday, September 24, opener. Sunny and I eat breakfast and Michael and Chet are slow to get moving….I’m seeing a trend here. The biscuits and canned gravy are actually an improvement from the shit we had the day before in Nevada and I can’t wait for a good parking lot cooked MHC meal. We finally get to scouting and there are antelope everywhere. Wyoming must be the center of the antelope universe. Everywhere we look here are ‘lopes. There are in fact so many ‘lopes in Wyoming; I think the locals give them a bad name. We talk with some locals who don’t think they taste very good, but others say they taste great. I’m thinking most people just don’t know how to cook.
Michael drives us around the areas he and Chet scouted while they were there a few months back during Frontier Days. Michael has been coming to Wyoming for years to visit friends and party at the annual Frontier Days, a rodeo and large celebration of everything Wyoming. It was pretty cool to see the lay of the land and pretty sweet to be hunting in a totally different environment than anywhere I had ever hunted. It was totally different from California or Indiana, my regular stomping grounds. We see hundreds of antelope. I’m still sick but don’t care because I’m seriously jazzed after looking around at this new place. We see lots of likely spots, and from all the ‘lopes we see, it looks like tomorrow will be interesting to say the least.
We make spaghetti in the parking lot of the Super 8 parking lot that night. Of course, I forgot all the meatballs[1] I made special for the trip… so we have to stop at a Safeway and Michael ends-up buying some horrible Italian sausages made by Hillshire Farms, which taste more like hot dogs than Italian sausages. Who would think the Safeway in Caspar Wyoming, wouldn’t have good sausages… anyway we eat big piles of pasta knowing that in the morning there will me a lot of dragging and walking.
Sunday 9-24
Go time. Everyone wakes up on time and we meet in the lobby. We hork down some breakfast and are loaded into the truck ready to kill by about 5:00. We get to the spot about 5:30. We are the 3rd or 4th car in the line. It reminds me of hunting the California refuges for ducks. Tons of guys waiting to get into the hunting area on the Eastgate Ranch, jaw jacking and telling lies. The Eastgate Ranch is a privately owned ranch that is part of the state operated hunter access program. The ranch is huge, 15,000 acres plus, and is crawling with ‘lopes. We had to plan in advance to hunt this area and hats off to level headed Clark for doing a lot of the research about this hunt and finding the Hat 6 hunting area. The Hunter access program pays private landowners 16 bucks for each antelope killed on private lands in exchange for opening up their lands to hunters. It seems to work really well as there are a lot of these areas around the state. If you consider doing a Wyoming antelope hunt and don’t really care about the size of the horns, I would recommend these private lands hunter management hunts. Most of them sell out so you need to apply before the season for the tags, usually in Late Winter or early spring.
We wait around and finally the Game Worden shows up, and lets us know the gates don’t open until 7. He is a cool guy and checks to make sure everyone has their permission slips printed out from the internet. I shake his hand and introduce myself and Sunny to him. His name is Brian Olsen (Norse stock from Minnesota), and I can tell right away that he is cool. Totally good guy and he is about to get way cooler than I could ever imagine.
So finally, about 6:30 or 7, the gates on the ranch open and it is on. We are hunting. We follow all cars in front of us. Most of the guys in the other trucks around us have been here before and know what they are doing. We are seeing ‘lopes from the truck. Some rednecks are jumping out of the trucks and going right at the ‘lopes, which is totally legal as long as you are in the hunting area. We don’t really want to shoot anything from the trucks… we keep driving.
We find a good spot and Sunny and I take the high road while Chet and Michael take the low road. There are lots of shots in the distance. About 20 minutes into our hunt Sunny spots a nice looking buck sky-lined a few ridges over. He is more than a thousand yards from us, but already is looking our direction. He also is about to get surprised by Michael and Chet. Sunny and I decide to try and intercept him once Michael and Chet jump him up, and Michael indeed finds him. The plan works…. Michael jumps him up and gets an off-hand shot off at him, but misses. The buck is a nice one and he is running toward us. Sunny needs to get into position one ridge over to intercept him. Sunny sprints to the edge of his ridge… I have never seen a Dego with a Model 70 run so fast. He makes it to the ridge just in time as the ‘lope also makes it…
I’m behind Sunny about a hundred yards or so… I see the buck coming and Sunny gets down to one knee and has his shooting stick ready. I can tell he is out of breath from the 200 yard sprint and getting a bead on the ‘lope is difficult. Finally, the buck stops running and is looking directly back at Sunny and myself. The buck is perfectly broadside. Sunny drops the hammer on him and puts a great shot on a broadside buck at 200-250 yards. He hit the buck well and from the sound of the bullet whack I could tell it was a money shot. The ‘lope runs about 60 yards and piles up. It did a half dead antelope flip and we have the first MHC ‘lope in the bag 20 minutes into our hunt.
After we take a few flicks, I leave Sunny to the gutting duties. I make a large circle around Sunny looking for more ‘lopes. I see some does, but can’t get a good shot off at them. I keep hunting around and see more ‘lopes in the distance. I decided it was about time to start dragging Sunny ‘s ‘lope and I start heading back to where he shot it. I get to about 50 years from Sunny when we get rushed by about 30 lopes… they are running away from other hunters and are hauling ass uphill broadside to us…..
I pick out a nice buck from the group and try a running shot at 200 plus yards. I shoot and hit the buck. It was not a good shot. I knew I hit the buck but not where. I look for my buck, there is no blood. I’m sure I hit it. After the shot the buck ran huge circles around us. He kept getting lower and lower like he was going to fall over, but just kept running. Finally he disappears over the hill. Sunny and I feel he should be just over the hill dead. We don’t find him.
In the mean time Michael finds a buck to shoot and he kills a small buck. He actually thought it was a doe and shot it dead at 200 yards or so. He actually missed it the first time at 300 plus yards and it ran toward him. He had to shoot it out of self-defense. Anyway, he gets it gutted and starts the drag. I keep looking for my buck but it becomes quickly apparent I didn’t hit my buck very well. The Chet has missed a few ‘lopes already and he’ll continue to keep missing for the next few days.
I walk back to the truck and drive to pick-up Sunny‘s and Michael’s bucks. We get back to the parking lot and are admiring the ‘lopes when Brian the warden shows up. He wants to check the goats but needs to find a wounded buck he saw running towards the highway. Brian knows about where the buck is going. I tell him I wounded a buck just down the way and he says…that’s your buck! Get your gun and get in my truck. He says we are going to get your buck. Brian drives rally car style over the graveled ranch roads all the way to the other side of the ranch and then on the paved road approximately 8-10 miles all the way around the ranch. So we get over there and he gets a call about trespassers on the ranch adjacent to the Eastgate Ranch. He takes me to the general area where the buck was. We run into an old timer who also has a buck down. The old timer is actually from Sacramento and it turns out he knows a bunch of the same people I do. The old timer saw my buck on his way out and tells me the general area it went. He also tells me I was successful in blowing its back leg nearly clean off and that the buck is still really moving and he could not get a shot off at it. So, I start after my buck which has crossed onto some private lands. Brian goes to knock on the door of the landowners (who he knows) to let them know I’m out there after a wounded buck. Brian lets me know he is going to hang around for a while and help the old man get his ‘lope out. I hike about 1000 yards from the road and see a buck another 1500 yards up a valley. The buck is in bad shape dragging his hind-leg. I have to crawl to the back side of the valley that will parallel the valley the buck is in. I start fast hiking knowing that wounded buck won’t hold still for long. I get to about where I think he is and he is flushed out of his valley and into mine by some other hunter 500 yards away from him. I shoot him running again, this time hitting him in the spine from about 150 yards. The new .257 Weatherby rips a huge hole in his back. I’m a little annoyed with my shot placement, but at least the tough guy is dead and I’m please he is not suffering. Due to the shot placement much of the best part of the short loin is rendered inedible, which is unfortunate. Brian hears my shot and after a few minutes here he comes with the old timer in the truck. I get the ‘lope cleaned up and loaded up and Brian tells me to get in the back of the truck. He gives me a lift back to the old timer’s truck parked on the other side of the property. I’m riding in the back of and open bed truck owned by the state of Wyoming….I love this state.
I just keep thinking this dude Brian rocks. Now that he has totally helped me out, he says, “Joe now it is time for you to help me out….”
We drop off the old timer at his truck and now it is time to chase trespassers. We make it to the trespassers who are rolling around in a huge white van… they all have huge beards and are wearing Big Smith overalls and they look like they are straight out of deliverance country. I joke with Brian, saying these guys look like they’re from the Ozark’s deep woods. When we get close to their vehicle, sure as shit, they have Missouri plates. Brian writes them 2 tickets for $220 each. I talk with some of the Ozark guys while we take blood samples from the ‘lopes. I could only understand about every 3rd word out of their mouths through the thick Ozark accents. The blood samples are for a graduate student studying the effects of blue tongue on antelope and deer in Wyoming.
Brian and I keep driving around the ranch checking ‘lopes and taking blood samples. Basically, I’m in charge of taking all the data for the blood samples. I fill out the informational sheet for every animal. I record the date, sex, age, name of hunter, and location for each animal. It was actually pretty cool work. We take about 30 blood samples in 2 hours. We finally, get back to where Michael and Sunny are sitting near my truck in the truck’s shade. It is hot. I joke with Brian that the 2 Darryl-lects sitting in the truck’s shade have probably been drinking beers since we left. Brian laughs and says, “well that’s what I’d be doing if I were them….”
Michael and Sunny have already taken their bucks to the processer. We take a few more flicks of my buck and some with Brian.
I’m still sick and after Brian leaves I throw up behind the truck. Michael, Sunny and I decide we better get this ‘lope into the processer as it is almost 80 degrees out. We leave The Chet to keep hunting. I’m not sure how many shots Chet has taken today, but it has been at least 4. We get to Dan’s Meats and meet the skinner Will. Will is a piece of work, built like a tank, not very smart, strong as hell and dumber than a brick. He is a Wyoming meat head like none other. He is apparently hung-over from some party he went to the night before. He is covered in ‘lope blood and has been skinning ‘lopes all day. He takes a huge dip with his bloody fingers… at some point during the multiple trips to the processer he tells Chet he is going to stalk him, Chet is scared for his life. I think if we get into a bar fight in this town I really hope Will is on our side. Will is a piece of work.
So, with 3 ‘lopes in the bag for the first day we head for the hotel. Chet has shot at a whole bunch of ‘lopes today, but has yet to hit one…
At the hotel we make dinner, Michael has a tri-tip and makes homemade mashed potatoes and we grill out in the parking lot of the Super 8. A home cooked meal on the tailgate of the Batmobile with good friends and a cold beer is a great way to close out our first day of Wyoming antelope hunting.
We find a great drive-thru liquor store/bar and grab some yellow-bellies, not my favorite beers but hey, they are wet and it’s hot and we’re trying to save the MHC dollars for lodging and gas. We make a note that the sign for the bar/ drive-thru liquor store has 25 cent wings for football games…..Oh, we will be back. We are all pretty tired and go to bed about midnight. I still don’t sleep. Stay tuned for part 3 in the next few days.
[1] Joe’s Deer Camp Meatballs- Meatballs are great for hunting trips or at home and I make them mostly from game sausage we make during our yearly MHC sausage fest. Anyway, I’ll blog about our next sausage fest sometime after duck season. Meatballs (balls) store very well in the freezer, and I usually make them before a trip and keep them frozen until the trip. Your balls can be made many different ways; you should experiment with whatever you have on hand when the moment strikes to make them. My basic balls recipe( which is very fluid based on what is in the freezer at the time) reads something like this:
1 pound ground game (venison, antelope, elk whatever you have on hand)
1 pound spicy wild boar bulk sausage or spicy Italian pork sausage from store
1 pound spicy sundried tomato, or spicy Italian duck bulk sausage (can be replaced with ground lamb or more game or more sausage)
2 large handfuls bread crumbs
2 eggs
1 Medium onion diced fine
1 bunch flat leaf parsley chopped fine
A few shakes red pepper flakes
A few shakes salt
A few shakes black pepper
4-6 cloves diced garlic
A few dashes dried oregano or a few sprigs fresh.
Mix the balls together well with your hands. Get your hands in the meat and mix it really well. Your hands will be very cold. Now, form the balls no smaller than the size of a racquet ball, but no larger than a baseball. I like a spicy large size meatball. Fry the balls in olive oil or olive oil/vegetable oil mixture on medium high heat until cooked through. Be careful to control the heat and not burn off the olive oil. It is easier to cook with vegetable oil as it will not burn as readily, but olive oil tastes better. When done frying, freeze your balls or add balls to your favorite sauce and serve over your favorite pasta. If you have leftover balls and sauce, eat them on a roll in a sandwich with pepperchinis, red onions and mozzarella cheese yum!
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