Just got back home to WA on Sunday after three weeks, fishing, backpacking and antelope hunting in WY. To say I had a great time would be an understatement.
I got to Big Piney on Mon afternoon, 4 days before I was going to meet my friend from Up State NY at the Big Sandy TH. I was able to leave my rifle, spotter, bino's and pistol with a hotel keeper in town so I didn't have to worry about them sitting in my truck at the TH. I decided to fish the Green R. out by Daniel Jct. for a few days. I fished the Warren bridge area and camped on the BLM land there. I didn't catch very many fish as I'm not a great fly fishermen in streams and was reluctant to fish nymphs under an indicator which was the right thing to do. Live and Learn. The water was a bit high also, which made it all that much harder to fish. I had fun and shared some grilled quail with a fishing guide I met back at my campsite one night.
Do to flight delays I didn't meet my friends at the trail head until mid morning on Fri. I got there on Thur evening and slept in my truck and had a leisurely breakfast the next morning. We met up and started our 6 1/2 day / 55 mile backpack trip. I've done a fair amount of backpacking and some mountaineering in WA but the Wind River range was more beautiful than I thought it was going to be. And did we catch fish, in every little stream and lake. I caught all mine on dries and had a blast. Thanks again to all the WY residents on this site that helped me with my fly selection. We came out on Thur. morning and they headed to Yellowstone NP and I headed to Thermopolis to fish and hunt antelope.
I got a campsite at the Fountain of Youth campground which had it's own thermal pools which was refreshing after a hard day. I scouted my antelope area and got permission from a land owner to hunt across from his alfalfa fields. Since my area didn't open for 4 days I decided to fish the Bighorn R. I fished around town first but the water was too high to wade safely in a lot of access spots. I stopped in the fly shop in town and a guide told me to fish up at the canyon in the state park or pay the fee to fish on the Res. I fished the state park areas for the $6 daily use fee and caught some nice trout in the 20 inch range fishing a bugger or a San Juan worm under an indicator. I saw a lot of hoppers on the banks and tried one but no takers. I met a lot friendly resident fisherman who gave me tips on what I was doing wrong. One word of caution, don't set your drag too loose. I had my palm get burnt trying to palm my reel on a big rainbow. I won't make that mistake again.
Now for the antelope hunt. I didn't see very many antelope on the BLM I could hunt and the first day it rained hard enough to get my new rig covered in gumbo. I hate that shit, took some back to WA with me. I was real lucky and shot both my animals on private land. I shot my buck on the second day and luckily he was a fairly heavy 14 inch buck but I was ready to take any buck as this was my second choice tag and the GW said I probably would not have a lot of opportunities on that restrictive tag. The Doe antelope should have been easy but not on this hunt. I killed mine on Fri evening and I had to leave on Sat. morning for home. I had to wait until 7 am when the store open to buy some dry ice to ice down my meat. It was in the high 80 when I shot my doe. Some how I drove all the way home in one day, 16 hrs. /985 miles and got home at 11:30 pm. At 67 yrs. old I don't know how many trip like this I have left in ME.
PS: Had some brews at the One Eyed Buffalo brewery in Thermop and they brew some great beer there.
I got to Big Piney on Mon afternoon, 4 days before I was going to meet my friend from Up State NY at the Big Sandy TH. I was able to leave my rifle, spotter, bino's and pistol with a hotel keeper in town so I didn't have to worry about them sitting in my truck at the TH. I decided to fish the Green R. out by Daniel Jct. for a few days. I fished the Warren bridge area and camped on the BLM land there. I didn't catch very many fish as I'm not a great fly fishermen in streams and was reluctant to fish nymphs under an indicator which was the right thing to do. Live and Learn. The water was a bit high also, which made it all that much harder to fish. I had fun and shared some grilled quail with a fishing guide I met back at my campsite one night.
Do to flight delays I didn't meet my friends at the trail head until mid morning on Fri. I got there on Thur evening and slept in my truck and had a leisurely breakfast the next morning. We met up and started our 6 1/2 day / 55 mile backpack trip. I've done a fair amount of backpacking and some mountaineering in WA but the Wind River range was more beautiful than I thought it was going to be. And did we catch fish, in every little stream and lake. I caught all mine on dries and had a blast. Thanks again to all the WY residents on this site that helped me with my fly selection. We came out on Thur. morning and they headed to Yellowstone NP and I headed to Thermopolis to fish and hunt antelope.
I got a campsite at the Fountain of Youth campground which had it's own thermal pools which was refreshing after a hard day. I scouted my antelope area and got permission from a land owner to hunt across from his alfalfa fields. Since my area didn't open for 4 days I decided to fish the Bighorn R. I fished around town first but the water was too high to wade safely in a lot of access spots. I stopped in the fly shop in town and a guide told me to fish up at the canyon in the state park or pay the fee to fish on the Res. I fished the state park areas for the $6 daily use fee and caught some nice trout in the 20 inch range fishing a bugger or a San Juan worm under an indicator. I saw a lot of hoppers on the banks and tried one but no takers. I met a lot friendly resident fisherman who gave me tips on what I was doing wrong. One word of caution, don't set your drag too loose. I had my palm get burnt trying to palm my reel on a big rainbow. I won't make that mistake again.
Now for the antelope hunt. I didn't see very many antelope on the BLM I could hunt and the first day it rained hard enough to get my new rig covered in gumbo. I hate that shit, took some back to WA with me. I was real lucky and shot both my animals on private land. I shot my buck on the second day and luckily he was a fairly heavy 14 inch buck but I was ready to take any buck as this was my second choice tag and the GW said I probably would not have a lot of opportunities on that restrictive tag. The Doe antelope should have been easy but not on this hunt. I killed mine on Fri evening and I had to leave on Sat. morning for home. I had to wait until 7 am when the store open to buy some dry ice to ice down my meat. It was in the high 80 when I shot my doe. Some how I drove all the way home in one day, 16 hrs. /985 miles and got home at 11:30 pm. At 67 yrs. old I don't know how many trip like this I have left in ME.
PS: Had some brews at the One Eyed Buffalo brewery in Thermop and they brew some great beer there.
