Walking In Wyoming

VikingsGuy

VikingsGuy

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My general understanding is that if you draw a tougher unit, or go later in the season, you can improve the number of 'lope you spot if you are "willing to walk". So what does that mean in practice? Walk a mile, walk two miles, walk 5 miles? Hike in for a whole day and camp - and then hunt from there? I understand every situation is unique, but in general, if you are willing to walk in from a road for an hour or so is that sufficient, or do you really need to do a bunch of hiking? I am not talking about the miles you will put in stalking, I am just asking about the "wasted" hiking just to get pronghorns on your binoculars to start planning a stalk.
 
You may have to walk in a ways to get to some decent sized public land. I would say a mile gets you away from most road hunters. Many will not take a mile hike to harvest an antelope.
That is where a spotting scope comes in handy, with a good one you can tell if that buck a mile or so away is worth the effort and hike.
No, I don't just go hike over the far rise so see if there is an antelope over there.
 
last year while with my old man we did it all. Walked miles in public sections to find nothing and walk back. Drove to some spots walk from road to high spot and glass. For my dads buck we walked in a area a mile seeing nothing along the way just to search over the next hill and in doing so we glasses up a small group a mile out and made a successful stalk on a 12.5" buck. My buck I happen to catch a large group waking to a 1 Sq section of public that the road crossed so we used the countour of the land and got ahead of them and waited for the group to cross onto public and made it happen. Right spot right time. You'll see them all day long, they will be out n about. It pays to be mobile but still walk to those areas others overlook cause it's too much work. That's how I found my success.
 
Eric.MN said:
last year while with my old man we did it all. Walked miles in public sections to find nothing and walk back. Drove to some spots walk from road to high spot and glass. For my dads buck we walked in a area a mile seeing nothing along the way just to search over the next hill and in doing so we glasses up a small group a mile out and made a successful stalk on a 12.5" buck. My buck I happen to catch a large group waking to a 1 Sq section of public that the road crossed so we used the countour of the land and got ahead of them and waited for the group to cross onto public and made it happen. Right spot right time. You'll see them all day long, they will be out n about. It pays to be mobile but still walk to those areas others overlook cause it's too much work. That's how I found my success.
Click to expand...

My experience on over a dozen pronghorn hunts in 6 states is that pronghorn will be up and moving the first and last hour of a typical day then often wander into the tall sage and disappear until something bumps them such as a hunter or coyote. Mid-day sunlight also makes it more difficult to spot pronghorn as overhead sun does not cast long shadows as pronghorn move and colors are washed out. Sunlight in general even on a chilly day can create distortions in your optics and make it difficult to judge horns mid-day. So, plan on pronghorn being out all day though you may find not much action mid-day and tougher to judge the critters. Good luck.
 
The more open areas I have hunted the antelope will be up and feeding throughout the day and bedding for short times in the open where they can see for long distances.Action is happening all throughout the day not just dawn and dusk. Tall sage is found in only certain areas of Wyoming and it does hide them quite well.
Heat mirage is a big issue on hot days so getting within glassing distances is a key. Even with mirage you can sometimes tell if he's worth a closer look.
 
If going for "meat" not "inches" do we need anything more than good 10x42 binoculars? I see a lot of talk about the importance of spotting scopes, but I assume the binos are for finding 'lope and the spotting scope is for determining which bucks you might be interested in from an antler perspective.
 
VikingsGuy said:
If going for "meat" not "inches" do we need anything more than good 10x42 binoculars? I see a lot of talk about the importance of spotting scopes, but I assume the binos are for finding 'lope and the spotting scope is for determining which bucks you might be interested in from an antler perspective.
Click to expand...

Those will more than suffice if that is what you want to shoot and not try for a big buck! That is where a good spotting scope is invaluable to save long hikes only to find the buck isn't what you're looking for.
 
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