January 19

Western Big Game Hunting-Part 1

The aura of the American West is something that has always intrigued me, so naturally I have also wanted to hunt big game in some of the most scenic areas our country has to offer.  I started to seriously consider planning a hunting trip out west after I won a .243 rifle at a local NWTF banquet.  I was excited that I had won a gun, but I really didn't know what I would use it for.  After doing a little research, I discovered that a .243 would be a very nice caliber for hunting pronghorn.  My friends Jason and Andy had also expressed interest in hunting western big game so it was an easy sell to them. 

With the question of "what am I going to hunt?" answered, next came the question of "where are we going to hunt pronghorn?"  Naturally we were drawn to Wyoming, where pronghorn out-number people and the state boasts the most entries into the the Boone & Crockett record book.  The Boone & Crockett record book not only recognizes trophy harvests, but it is also a good measure of quality habitat and management practices.  We had our game picked-Pronghorn, we had our location-Wyoming, so we jumped in head first and applied for the top pronghorn units the state had to offer.  This seemed like a reasonable plan for a few greenhorns who knew nothing about the western hunting tag process.  We quickly got an education on the draw process, preference points, and land access.  

We did not get drawn for any of our first three choice units but we still wanted to go hunting. Wyoming sells any remaining tags first come first serve online/over-the-counter.  We found a unit that appeared on the map to have a good chunk of public land in the Thunder Basin National Grassland.  At the time we did not realize that much of this public land proved difficult to access.  We saw some nice bucks, unfortunately all on private land. Having quality maps and a GPS are essential out west, and we learned a very valuable lesson that has since paid dividends on other trips to Wyoming. 

Our first trip ended with both of our tags unfilled but we gained invaluable experience and had a ton of fun.  We were bitten hard by the western hunting bug.