92xj Posted September 22, 2011 Report Share Posted September 22, 2011 I cant hold out any longer and decided to start a thread of my upcoming adventure with Steve B. After a few years of getting to know everyone on RT, seeing and reading about hunts with Steve B and asking, Steve invited myself to come and do a hunt with him. While talking with him, he said to invite a buddy with me so I would have someone to hunt with incase he could not make it out a day or two while I was there. The first and most important person to come to mind was my Father. He started taking me hunting when I was 3 and did everything in his power to get me in front of deer and have the chance to see them. So, it was an easy choice to invite him to come along. Growing up in North and South Carolina, all we have ever hunted was whitetails so this hunting out West thing is totally new and different for me. Ever since reading Dakotas thread about his hunt for speed goats I knew I wanted to hunt them one day and now is the time. After calling around and getting permission to hunt some places in Wyoming Dad and I applied for our tags, One deer tag and one Antelope tag a piece. Results come back and Dad and I got our deer tag but did not draw a goat tag. Let down.... After many more talks with other forum members and Steve we put in for a left over goat tag and got them. Then realized we will have way better luck in another unit so we applied again and got a second tag for both of us. So, Dad and I both have 1 deer tag and two goats tags. Thats a lot of tags to fill in a week. haha. So, anyhow, finally got the tags squared away and after a couple of "No's" from ranchers we secured a place to hunt and are good to go. This weekend I will be getting everything ready and will have some sleepless nights. I will be leaving Friday morning around 3am to drive to Gillette and meet Dad at the airport around 4:30 pm when his flight arrives. Meet up with Steve and hopefully a Rancher or two to get a game plan for the week. Thinking we will deer hunt the first couple of days and try and get Dad and myself our first muleys and then spend the rest of the time chasing goats. So, there's my long intro to our hunt coming up in 8 days. I will keep this updated with pics and post to kind of keep a journal of our first "out west" 4 legged animal hunt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PotashRLS Posted September 22, 2011 Report Share Posted September 22, 2011 Very cool. Hope you and Dad have the time of your lives hunting together. Can't put a price tag on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texastrophies Posted September 22, 2011 Report Share Posted September 22, 2011 Sounds like everything is coming together. I know I getting exciteabout my upcoming hunt. Getting packed and what have you. You are going to have a great time. Listen to Steve, I think he knows what he is doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pointing_dogs_rule Posted September 22, 2011 Report Share Posted September 22, 2011 Good luck. I'm headed out this Sunday and will archery hunt the 5 days before rifle season. On Oct 1st the gun comes out. Have fun on your adventure. the dog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted September 23, 2011 Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 Definitely listen to Steve, you are in for a great time. Hope the weather is better for you all this year than it was for us last year. Best of luck to you and your father Ben, will be looking forward to hearing stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92xj Posted September 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 Another question for you guys that have done multi-day hunts far from home. What did you do with the meat? I plan on loading up the truck bed with multiple coolers. Figure if we get something early on I will just leave the meat on ice with the drain open so the water constantly drains out and will keep putting new ice in. Will this work for days at a time before getting home and processing it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted September 23, 2011 Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 if you can keep the coolers packed enough to keep the meat at 36-38 degrees it should be fine for a week and a half maybe. it'd keep the boned out meat sealed up in bags though, so it's not sitting in water at the bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted September 23, 2011 Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 Another question for you guys that have done multi-day hunts far from home. What did you do with the meat? I plan on loading up the truck bed with multiple coolers. Figure if we get something early on I will just leave the meat on ice with the drain open so the water constantly drains out and will keep putting new ice in. Will this work for days at a time before getting home and processing it? A couple coolers is a good idea for sure. We had two fairly large coolers. If you plan on using a processor, they may work out for you to keep your meat there until you leave. We picked up the deer and antelope Christina killed the night before we left to come home, and packed that in dry ice in one cooler and it was good til we got home. The antelope I killed was the last day we hunted and there was not time for processing with a processor, I quartered it in the field and we packed it in ice from the hotel in a seperate cooler and I bought ice I think once on the way home(18 hour ride) drained it a few times when we stopped for gas along the way and it was fine. If you plan on bringing heads back with you, might want to check or double check your own states regs for you and your dad both to see about cwd on the deer and see if they have any specifics on how they want the head/heads brought back. Another note, deer here has to be completely deboned, dunno about your regs. Antelope you can stuff in a tote in a bag and pack with ice. I wanna go back so bad I cannot stand it. To be able to do this hunt with your dad is really special. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92xj Posted September 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 Yeah, Im for sure going to avoid any water at all in the coolers. I'm thinking I will just pull the plugs on the bottom of the coolers so as the ice melts the water will just drain out and will continue to add ice daily to keep it cold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92xj Posted September 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 A couple coolers is a good idea for sure. We had two fairly large coolers. If you plan on using a processor, they may work out for you to keep your meat there until you leave. We picked up the deer and antelope Christina killed the night before we left to come home, and packed that in dry ice in one cooler and it was good til we got home. The antelope I killed was the last day we hunted and there was not time for processing with a processor, I quartered it in the field and we packed it in ice from the hotel in a seperate cooler and I bought ice I think once on the way home(18 hour ride) drained it a few times when we stopped for gas along the way and it was fine. If you plan on bringing heads back with you, might want to check or double check your own states regs for you and your dad both to see about cwd on the deer and see if they have any specifics on how they want the head/heads brought back. Another note, deer here has to be completely deboned, dunno about your regs. Antelope you can stuff in a tote in a bag and pack with ice. I wanna go back so bad I cannot stand it. To be able to do this hunt with your dad is really special. Thats an idea I havent thought of. If Dad and I get animals early in the week we could use a processor there and have the meat done by the time I head back home. Dad wont be taking any meat or heads back home since he will be flying so I will bring everything with me. I need to look into the regs and see about transportation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted September 23, 2011 Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 Thats an idea I havent thought of. If Dad and I get animals early in the week we could use a processor there and have the meat done by the time I head back home. Dad wont be taking any meat or heads back home since he will be flying so I will bring everything with me. I need to look into the regs and see about transportation. Kind of a big deal here in our handbook about cwd and transportation of animals in from cwd states. May not be so where you are, but worth checking into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92xj Posted September 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 Just checked into it and since wyo is considered a CWD state it is somewhat of a big deal. Deer have to be deboned and antlers off the head. Antelope it doesnt matter and I can bring them back however I want. Just talked to the taxidermist as well and have heads and capes figured out. Now, I just need to figure out the meat for the deer. It would be nice to get our deer early and have them processed in wyo while we are antelope hunting. Who did you use to have it done and what was the price, if you remember? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted September 23, 2011 Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 Guessing Steve will want you to hunt deer morning and afternoon and hunt antelope mid day. That was how we hunted for the most part. Problem we had was that the deer were just not cooperative. There were some good deer there. Warmer than average temps while we were there did not help. Ranch we hunted had good deer, rancher told me on the phone we would have to work for them and he was right. I did pick up a nice shed the next to the last day, that was where we were headed when I shot my antelope the last morning we hunted. If you hunt that ranch, the gps coordinates I gave you before would put you in that area, but guessing Steve will have you go somewhere else for deer. Deer have to be deboned and antlers off the head. Antelope it doesnt matter and I can bring them back however I want. Just talked to the taxidermist as well and have heads and capes figured out. Now, I just need to figure out the meat for the deer. It would be nice to get our deer early and have them processed in wyo while we are antelope hunting. Who did you use to have it done and what was the price, if you remember? Correct on the antelope, they do not carry cwd. We used Olds processing in Gillette, can get you the phone number for them if you like. They were who Steve suggested and they did an ok job. We had them cape the deer and my daughters antelope. Deer cape here had to be clean, no meat on the skull plate either. We did not do anything special on the processing, debone the deer and cut it into steaks and loins, no grinding. Antelope was not deboned steaks and loins and again no grind. Prefer to trim and grind our own meat. Price was kinda high I thought for what we had done, was like $310 for those two animals, the dry ice, and that was also with the caping. If I had it to do again I would use a processor only for deer due to the deer having to be deboned. Antelope are pretty easy/quick to quarter and get in the cooler, only problem you run into there is keeping the head/cape cool. If I was there for a full week and tagged out on deer the first day, I would probably consider cutting up the deer myself and taking the head to be caped out by the processor. If you take a saw(butcher type, or recip saw) that is NOT real rigid, be sure to pack extra blades just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvertip_co Posted September 23, 2011 Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 Steve's one of the greatest guys I ever shared an elk camp twice with. You'll do well I'm sure. Good luck to you all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texastrophies Posted September 23, 2011 Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 I would add something, but I think William covered pretty much all of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92xj Posted September 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2011 Thanks William and Jeff. You two have been a huge help and I appreciate all of it. If you think of anything else I might need or am forgetting as I post my pre hunt stuff, please let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddyboman Posted September 24, 2011 Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 I'm jealous.....hunting out west with your dad.....what could be better??!! Good luck to both of you and I can't read the updates and see the pics!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dakota Posted September 24, 2011 Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 Hey, Ben! Have a great time, buddy! As to the meat, I prefer to butcher it myself...but I ended up getting sick out there so I had my buck processed and my doe I butchered myself. Make sure you have a few good coolers and keep it on good ice. Have fun antelope hunting! It's a blast and you couldn't have a better guide than Steve. Good luck, buddy, and post pics! Dakota Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92xj Posted September 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 Hey Dakota! Glad to see you're still around and seem to be doing well! If you're on the west side of the state sometime next week, let me know and i will meet you somewhere for dinner. I dont have a grinder or any processing stuff at the house yet, but plan to buy one very soon. So, I think I will take the deer to get deboned and then frozen and just bring back the lopes quartered and once home debone them and go purchase a grinder. Went to the range one last time this morning and the 270 and 300 are both hitting perfectly so I should have no excuse if the shot presents itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dakota Posted September 25, 2011 Report Share Posted September 25, 2011 Hey that sounds like a good plan for taking care of the meat. Shoot, I wish I could get out there and meet you, buddy, but I'm stuck here in the southeast corner of the state what with school, work and a new internship. We didn't even draw our 'lope tags this year, either. Good luck, though! Dakota Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruttinbuc Posted September 26, 2011 Report Share Posted September 26, 2011 Ben, you are in for a good time hunting with Steve B. Wishing you and your dad the best of hunts! That is pretty darn special! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebohio Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 keep us posted ben. will be looking forward to updates. good luck and dont let dad show you up,lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHISKEYSWAMP Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 Good luck on your hunt!!! I took my antelope to Koehlers meat processing not far from Steve's house. I think it was around $150 to process and cape to have shoulder mounted. It was a little pricey but much more convenient than buying bags of ice and leaving them in coolers for a few days. I picked it up the morning I left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 I hope you and your father have one heck of a time my friend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dakota Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 Good luck on your hunt!!! I took my antelope to Koehlers meat processing not far from Steve's house. I think it was around $150 to process and cape to have shoulder mounted. It was a little pricey but much more convenient than buying bags of ice and leaving them in coolers for a few days. I picked it up the morning I left. Yep, did the same thing with my buck. He also did my bull back in 2006. The guy does good work. Dakota Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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