Fortunately I had also applied for a Doe/Fawn tag, almost as an afterthought, because they are not too expensive, and not a big loss if I decide not to go, or even go and not take time to fill that tag.  Well, since it was my only option available, I decided to go ahead and travel to WY, as part of a family vacation with the wife and dog.  I would be hunting alone.

We setup our camp in a very nice BLM campground, situated right on the bank of the North Platte River.  This would be our base camp for the week, and was just a few miles from where I planned to hunt.

After setting up camp, and making sure my bride would be comfortable, I managed to hit the field around midday.  I should also mention that we arrived almost a week after the opening day of hunting, and on a weekday.  There were few, if any, other hunters in the area.  I didn't see anyone else out hunting.  This first afternoon I saw around a half-dozen decent bucks, most within rifle range, but of course those were off-limits to me and my doe tag.  Lots of bucks, but no does on day 1.

It was a beautiful day, and I spent a lot of time glassing.  A view like this is why I drive a thousand miles to Wyoming.  It may be difficult to make out, but there are 3 "shooter" class bucks in the photo below.  I spent hours just watching them wander around and interact.  No does appeared.

On day 2 I hit the hunting ground early, with intention of getting down to business.  Unfortunately the morning turned out to be foggy, but I set up a plan in my mind to use that to my advantage if possible.  Around 9 AM I spotted this small Antelope, checked it out as best I could with the binoculars, and put the smack-down on him with my custom Remington 700 in .257 Roberts Ackley Improved.

Yes, you read that right, I said him.  Between the fog, and the small horns, I mistook this yearling buck for a doe.  Fun little facts here, does often have small horns, but the one thing bucks always have, that does do not have, is a black cheek patch.  So as hunters that is what we try hard to see.  But between the fog, and the yearling having a very small black cheek patch, I mis-identified this animal.  So I called the Game and Fish department to report my mistake.  They were all very nice and understanding. They dispatched a warden to our camp to make a report, and we settled the legal issues.  I kept the buck.

Prior to our week in WY, we spent the previous week near Twin Lakes Bridgeport CA.  I fished every day, and enjoyed a strong bite.  Below are a limit of Rainbow and Brown trout pulled from Lundy Lake.