I usually just post my hunts as a singular post in one of the other forums but this looks like a fun idea. I will say that I am blessed with too many tags to actually hunt this year which is great in that whatever I don't kill just makes it on to next season. With that being said I have deer and elk tags in ID and WY, a third choice antelope tag in WY, a whitetail buck and two whitetail doe tags in WY, and hopefully will make it back down to MS to hunt a couple of days. More importantly my oldest son has his first ID deer tag and my wife drew a great deer tag for her first hunt ever here in WY.
With three kids and a busy job its hard to get out and scout much but I look forward to getting out a few times. I have two friends coming in late September to WY to hunt elk with me. So overall it will be a crazy year with a few tags possibly not getting hunted.
Finally got to get out and look around a little showing my parents from MS some animals. We were seeing a wide array of animals and catching a few fish.
The only problem so far is some nice bucks that I would love to go after showed up in a place I was not planning on hunting the start of archery season. It is also a more pressured spot but those kickers make me happy.
This past weekend my wife went back to Mississippi to get some time without kids and with her mom so the kids and I loaded up and headed over around Casper to spend the weekend with some friends and scout a third choice antelope tag that I drew. I brought the bow just incase we found a dumb one.
We arrived on Thursday afternoon and went straight out to the few pieces of BLM that you could hunt in the unit. Surprisingly even with the kids we got to around 80 yards a few times on several bucks before they had enough of all the noise and heads popping up on the skyline.
We decided not to hunt and spend time with our friends on Friday and then went back out Saturday morning. We got a late start and didn't get out there until around 9AM. As soon as we arrived we had two ranch hands start following us around on a SxS. We spotted one buck bedded on the edge of the public but rode to the other end of the section before turning around. We pulled off of the main road and went through a gate making sure my tracks were on with OnX as I didn't need any trespassing accusations. As soon as we passed through the gates we spotted two doe antelope just below us. With the kids with me any antelope was in play. I grabbed my bow just as they crested over the ridge below. I walked to the other side of the ridge to see if a buck was with them when I heard the guys pull through the gate on the SxS. I started back toward my car and the does when they floored it toward the doe down the two track we were parked near. I tried to wave them down to talk to them but they just kept looking straight ahead and blew by at 10ft chasing the does and a few other antelope on down to the private ground.
Instead of getting into a confrontation with my kids there, we drove back over the ridge and parked in a valley where they couldn't see our car from the main road. The kids and I stalked up over the ridge to see if we could find a bedded antelope and spotted one 150 yards away. The kids stalked in with me until the last 40 yards or so and thankfully the good Lord let me get a good shot and the buck didn't run 30 yards. We quartered him up and toted him out while listening to the SxS running other trails (I'm assuming looking for us). The human side of me wanted to go rub it in their face but my kids were so excited we had a successful hunt together I didn't want it to end badly. Overall it was a ton of fun getting to stalk an antelope with my kids and I ended up with my first antelope on my first tag. A great start to the season.
So yeah I dropped the ball on this after the antelope hunt. Between a busy hunting season and starting a new job I just really didn't have enough time to get on here much.
It was a great season. We filled our freezer and some friend's and family's freezers. My wife harvested her first animal ever, my boys got their first taste of mule deer hunting, I was able to help several friends harvest some animals, and tagged several bulls, a cow, and a couple muleys. The late cow elk I killed this year was my first elk with a rifle so fun mixing it up some. Anyway, I will try to do better next year but for now this will have to do.
Also want to give a shout out to @wweaver79 for help on my wife's deer tag. I always appreciate everyone on this site who have always been so helpful. Happy 2023 to everyone!
