I had never been to Wyoming or on an antelope hunt. Then, I won an antelope hunt — offered as a door prize at the Wyoming Business Council meeting at the Shot Show back in January 2010. I was the first woman ever to win this hunt, and knowing that I was representing The Women’s Outdoor News made it even more special. The chance was such a great opportunity for me and my husband, Rick.
Last October we traveled to Wyoming and met our guides Kelly Glause and Casey Miller of Cold Creek Outfitters in Evansville, Wyoming. We grabbed our gear and started our day off by sighting in our rifles. We then started our hunt in area 25 around 9:30 a.m. By this time it was a beautiful clear sunny day, but a little bit breezy.
Our guides made our trip out to the field fun and exciting. It was interesting talking with them and hearing what they had to say about how they got into being outfitters. Kelly is the game manager for a farm with about 80,000 acres available to hunt on in central Wyoming.
We arrived at our first hunting location; we could see the antelope on the range. We started to stalk them down hoping they wouldn’t spot us. We did some walking, kneeling and crawling to try to get in position.
Antelope have excellent eyesight — equivalent to 8 X binoculars. If they see something that is out of the norm, they will raise the white hair on their rumps as an alert to the other antelope and run off. They can run up to 60 miles an hour. So that’s why they are such a challenge to hunt. Unfortunately, on our first stop the antelope saw us first and took off running.
Little setback …
And unfortunately for me, I had an encounter with a cactus out there; I had put my hand on the ground and right on top of one then sat on another. So my first hunting adventure was pulling the cactus thorns out of my hand and my leg. We had to stop hunting momentarily to get them out of my leg. My guide had warned us of the cactus and I was so excited about seeing the antelope that I forgot about them. Those are some wicked things and you definitely want to stay away from them. TRUST ME!! We had a great time tracking the antelope down and observing how fast they can run, but getting stuck by the cactus is not what I had in mind. We put on a few more unsuccessful stalks. The antelope either were too small or just didn’t do what we hoped that they would do.
By this time it was almost lunchtime. We have been hunting now for three hours – walking and crawling over knolls and trying to avoid the cactus. So we started heading towards the archery camp to meet up with Kelly’s son and another group of hunters for lunch. On the way we saw a group of antelope with a nice-sized buck. We stopped and started the stalk. Kelly and I came from around a knoll on the left to sneak up on the group, not knowing that they would came out right in front of us. We ducked down in the high grass hoping we didn’t get spotted. I loaded my gun very quietly, trying not to disturb them. I tried to get comfortable enough to take a shot. I was in my shooting position, bipod adjusted, trying to spot them through my scope, my finger was on the trigger, and I was trying to slow my breathing down. I shot once and it was too low, I shot again and it was too high. Then off they ran!
Here's Lucky.
I was so upset with myself; I guess I was not set right on the terrain and too excited. I was trying my best though. I didn’t realize they were so hard to shoot. I missed my first one, he had a really nice rack and was only 60 yards from us. It should have been an easy shot for me, but when he ran off we decided to name him Lucky.
Then we came across the next group of antelope, my guide Casey and I got out of the truck on the right very slowly. We used the truck as cover as we positioned ourselves to a spot where we could take a shot. I had my eyes on the big antelope; I used Casey’s knee as additional support. My breathing was so relaxed this time I could have heard a pin drop it was so quiet. I slowly pulled back on the trigger on my new model 700 Remington VTR ATAC, chambered in a 308 Win, and shot. My shot hit him in a little far back. He arched his back and just stood there. Casey quickly said to shoot him again. This time I shot him in the intersecting lines of the white and brown right in the shoulder. I was so happy when he went down.
We ranged him at 164 yards and I was so proud of myself for shooting my first antelope. Everyone was thrilled, and I proved to myself that I can shoot long distances. I practiced all spring and summer for this hunt, because we don’t normally shoot these distances when we hunt in West Virginia or Pennsylvania. This was a big success for me!
After lunch, we saw another heard of antelope off to our right. I stayed in the truck with Kelly and this time my husband, Rick, along with guide Casey worked their way up to the top of the knoll. They crawled the last 50 yards on their bellies to get in position to shoot his antelope. We heard a shot go off and I could see them all excited. He shot his antelope at 1:30 p.m, exactly one hour after I shot mine. His shot was at 265 yards. I was so thrilled and excited for him, knowing that we had two trophy-class antelope down within one hour. It was such a wonderful experience for us both.
As we were driving out we once again came across Lucky and his harem of lady friends. This time we shot at him with the camera. He was such a beautiful antelope his horns make a heart shape and he’s still out there waiting for someone else.
Why Wyoming?
I would highly recommend Kelly Glause and Casey Miller of Cold Creek Outfitters to anyone looking for a fantastic time hunting in the wonderful outdoors of Wyoming. We met them as strangers and walked away as friends. They really know their business when it comes down to tracking and hunting antelope. We had so much fun with them and they made the hunt fun and exciting. These are memories that we will cherish forever! Call Kelly Glause of Cole Creek Outfitters for an antelope hunt worth every mile and every cactus poke: 307-234-8940.
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The Women's Outdoor News, aka The WON, features news, reviews and stories about women who are shooting, hunting, fishing and actively engaging in outdoor adventure. This publication is for women, by women. View all posts by The WON
Congratulations on your awesome antelope Georgette it was a lot of fun hunting with you. I can’t wait to get the mounts back for our foyer.
Great story Georgette and CONGRATS on a memorable hunt! I look forward to reading more of these fun times in the field for you & Rick. Kudos too Cole Creek Outfitters – sounds like they did a good job by you. (Sorry though to hear about the cactus – I live in Arizona so I can write stories about those nasty buggers!)