Thomas and I left about two weeks ago.
We loaded up the pickup, and hit the road with high hopes.
We crossed the Wyoming line and were greeted with fresh snow and dangerous driving conditions.
I had a tight grip on the wheel as destructions surrounds us....
Musta seen fifteen wrecks along the way.
Antelope along the highway teased Thomas as his tag burned a hole in his pocket...
After many hours on the road we finally reached the mountains we were to hunt.
We spent the night in the back of Hotel Chevrolet , awoke to a beautiful crisp morning.
Stinging wind and a fresh blanket of snow greeted us at the trailhead.
We strapped on the backpacks and started our adventure....
We were freezing our bunnies off till we started our hike in...
We were teased by numerous small bulls as we made our way into the mountains..
We made it in about three miles, found a semi sheltered area and set up our dome tent.
The view from the front door...
The evening before the opener,I glassed a big buck in a remote canyon.
Thomas had a buck tag and tossed & turned all night dreaming of that nice buck.
Opening morning we hunted the buck hard, but it's sixth sense kept him alive another day.
We returned to camp and regrouped.
The following morning I watched a decent six point bull feeding on a ridge opposite our camp.
We descended our ridge and tried to cut him off.
Swirling winds and bad luck kept us from intercepting him, but it was close.
dejected we headed for the tent for a mid morning break.
Violent winds had the snow melting rapidly making water hard to come by.
We were starting up the last steep hill before camp and movement to my right catches my eye.
I see the big body and antler tips of a good buck.
All I do is point and whisper "SHOOT HIM"!
KABOOM!!!!
In a fluid motion Thomas lowers his 7mm 08 model 70, fires a well placed shot and the buck crumples to the ground less than 50 yards away.
High fives & hugs abound.
Thomas unloads his gun as we are sure the buck is down for good.
OMG!
Seven points on each antler PLUS four inch eyeguards!
UNREAL.
It is the very same buck I glassed the night before the opener!
Oh yeah Baby!!!!
After a big celebration, I caped the buck, boned him out and packed him back to camp.
While I was working on the buck a hostile windstorm had me worried that the douglas fir overhead was going to crash down on me.
I was glad to get out of there.
The adrenaline pushed me up the hill like I was 30 again.
We returned to the tent to find it demolished by the violent wind.
We gathered up our necessities and moved into an old Indian cave that we had found.
It proved to be a great camp, warm, cozy and completley out of the viciously, relentless Wyoming wind.
As the weather warmed, I saw fewer elk, but had opportunities at decent bulls.
I just didn't find it neccessary to shoot a small one, I have plenty of meat at home and really didn't want to orphan Thomas by trying to pack one out three or four miles unless it was a true trophy.
We moved out down to the lower sage country so Thomas could get a crack at an antelope.
After figuring out where the public ground was and extensive glassing we found a herd on a sage covered knoll about a mile away.
Thomas was excited about the possibilities and the stalk was on.
Using the lay of the land, he belly crawled to close the final yards.
Pop!
I hear the distant shot as I watched the whole thing unfold from behind my Swarovski's.
I then see Thomas raise his arms in Victory!
ALLRIGHT!!!!!!
I go to the back of the truck and empty my backpack and race out to the sagebrush knoll.
More high fives!
What a beautiful animal.
A spiritual moment never to be forgotten.
Several times on this adventure Thomas says to me "Dad, you are the best dad in the world".
That was my 400 bull right there.
I've been a lot of places, done a lot of things in the outdoors.
This one was special...
The ride home was long , but there is always time to wet a line....
What a fantastic trip.
What a year, and I never punched a tag......
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