Date: October, 2004

Place: Wheatland, WY

Weapon: 243 Win.

Distance: Antelope - 100 yds
Distance: Muley - 125 yds

Guide: Al McCarty - Chairbound Hunters

Here are two more examples of what Chairbound Hunters has to offer.

Thanks to Al McCarty and others I was able to fill both tags on my first trip to Wyoming.

Read below for full story on my hunt for these 2 beautiful animals...

When we left the hotel in Wheatland Wednesday morning to hunt Antelope, Al said "We'll be back in time for breakfast."

I didn't know if Ishould quite believe him or not but I was excited as ever to be going on this hunt. And aboutI ½ hour later we had this guy on the ground. He wasn't even the first nice buck we saw and after our post-shot celebration and photo session we got within 70 yards of an equally nice buck.

As things often times go, though, the deer hunting took a lot more effort.

We drove around scouting until Thursday evening and Al showed me several nice deer that I probably would have never spotted on my own. On one, you could just make out a white spot in some brush that turned out to be a buck just lying there still as a stone watching us go by. The next morning, it was foggy and raining mixed in with a little snow. Not much was moving, (except us), and visibility was terrible. It stayed that way most of the day but I was still optimistic after I saw that Al's nephew had bagged a monster buck on the ranch we were hunting. Saturday morning dawned clear and cold and it was one of those morning that you just knew was going to be good.

Around 7:30 a.m. we saw a young buck at 50 yards that I decided to pass on. He was too small and it was too early. Plus I knew what was out there now. We drove around most of the day and didn't see another deer within 500 yards that I could get a shot at. The few we did see were gone before I got my gun up and I started to regret passing up that first deer. Al took me to every secret hiding spot he had on that ranch and I think we found a few new ones. Finally, late in the afternoon I was beginning to think I had been beaten when we came across this buck. I didn't want this to be on record, but I missed him the first time. My next shot was right on though and I dropped him in his tracks (I think the truck moved or something on the first one). What an awesome hunt.

What's next for me? Maybe a bear hunt or a little something with a muzzleloader.