Home from WY deer hunt!!!

wisconsinteacher

Handloader
Dec 2, 2010
1,965
244
Well my first mountain hunting trip is in the books and it was everything I imagined and then some.

We pulled on to the road we wanted to camp and hunt off only to see 20 camps set up. When we talked to a group of guys, they said you can try driving on the road but if you get stuck, no one will help you for being stupid. With that being said, we set up camp next to some other guys. When we were done, it looked like we were at a rock concert campsite. To say I was worried about all the people was an understatement. But what can you do when there is snow up the road and you can't drive a truck past the first 1/4 mile of road.

After we set up camp, we took the UTV and went to the area I had studied and planned to focus on. We set up on a high ridge for the last 2 hours of light and saw a 3x3 and 7 does/fawns. The next morning we went to a new high spot only to be greeted by sleet that pounded your skin and 3 ATVs in the bottom of the draw. We sat for an hour and left because of all the people below us. We knew we had to get to the bottom of this huge draw to have a chance at a deer. With that as our goal, we set off on a hike. We stayed high and still hunted in a mile and a half. We saw 3 does doing this and were feeling better about our approach and were committed to staying on the mountain till dark to see what would come out to feed. At 6pm, my brother in law waved me over and said he had spotted 2 bucks. They were 700 yards away so we put he sneak on them. At 246, he put his 270WSM on my pack and dropped his buck. We were pumped. After breaking the deer down and hanging 1/2 of the meat, we packed the other half off the mountain back to the UTV. We were back at camp later than what we figured we would be but we were feeling good.

The next morning we decided to sneak hunt into the rest of his deer and see what would unfold. The plan was to be off the mountain by noon because the forecast was calling for 3-5" of snow and the trail in was in rough shape already. As we started the hike the snow started to pound on us and as we make it half way to his deer and spot 10-14 deer in a big draw. As we glass, them one of the deer has antlers. He looked nice to me and with the forecast we knew this was the last time into our spot. I ranged him at 253 and took that shot as the snow was pounding down on us. At the shot, I knew I hit him but he didn't drop. He ran 200-300 yards and bedded in the sage. We knew he was hurt but needed to get closer to him. As we got closer to him, he stood up and I shot again from about 250 yards. At the second shot he went down. From that point the work started and we were limited on time with the blizzard coming down on us. After 4-5 hours of packing, we had both deer at the UTV. The ride back over the mountain to camp was one of the scariest things I have ever done. We got the UTV stuck twice and I had to walk ahead of the machine so my brother in law could stay on the trail. It was a complete white out and the trail was covered up. The worst part was the wind driving the sleet into our faces. It felt like were being sandblasted. As we turned the last corner and saw camp, I was excited to our home and knew the heater would be going in a few minutes.

When we got up the next morning to pack camp and head home, the road to our spot was drifted in and I don't think we would have made it in without a lot of work and energy wasted. Our bucks are not the biggest but considering the elements we are happy with the results.









 
Great report. Congratulations on getting your deer. The adventure of this hunt will stay with both of you for years to come. In the future, you will have other, more exciting hunts with even greater success. However, this will be the hunt you will always remember. Congratulations.
 
Congratulations. Now you are hooked and must come back for more! Glad you had a great trip. Sounds like you went on the opener. It's usually crazy then with a lot of folks out. If you wait a week or two into the season, not sure how long Wyoming's season is, then try it and the crowds will be a lot less. Again thanks for the report.
 
Congratulations and welcome to hunting the west where if you don't like the weather you can always wait 15 minutes as its likely to change! And wind, I have never experienced wind like in Wyoming!
As Dr. Mike said, you will never forget this trip! Its the trip you realize you CAN do it! Great job on a couple of great bucks!
 
Congratulations on a successful hunt. Great story and photos. Love to hunt those muleys.
 
Congratulations on your successful deer hunt.

JD338
 
Congrats to you both WT! Nothing wrong with those trophies.... Id be hangin' up either of those racks and tellin' the story for years :) . Ya done good. CL
 
So happy to hear you guys had a great time and successful hunt. I could not help but notice that you were a little down when arriving and finding so many other hunters in camp. It would be easy to get discouraged. Instead of giving up you hit it hard and came up with two bucks. Not bad at all guys!

ps. That attitude of yours will serve you well
 
Great hunt! Nice "representative trophys"...which is all that really matters, that and the excellent meat. They are both worthy of having mounted and will keep your hunt fresh for years! what rifle/load did you take for this hunt?
 
We both used new Tikka's and Redfield 4-12 scopes bought this year. Mine was a 7mmRM with 150 Partitions and my brother in law used factory 270WSM ammo with 140 AccuBonds. I love my Tikka smooth but yet, I don't cry if I put a few scratches on it.
 
Excellent! You should be proud to have filled both tags so quickly on your first trip into an area that you had never hunted before. I know many, many people that can't pull that off. Started planning next years hunt yet?

I was rooting for you after following all of your frustrations with the old A-Bolt. Glad the Tikka is working well to for you. The 7 Rem Mag is a fine deer round.
 
Haha, I started planning the next trip yesterday. I don't know where or what but the gears are spinning in my head. Thinking about deer in CO or elk somewhere.
 
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