2012 Year End Report
Another successful year is in the books for Peak Adventures, L.L.C in Gillette, Wyoming. We had more repeat hunters this year than ever before. Most of our antelope hunting clients opted to for the two buck antelope option which was priced at $2,750. All of these clients where able to take their second antelope buck on their two day rifle hunt.
Archery antelope hunting in Wyoming is as good as it gets. Peak Adventures had five clients in camp this year. Two of our clients brought their wives to participate in the action. This is an excellent hunt to get your wife or kids introduced to hunting.
Jon is a repeat client for us and this year we got the opportunity to meet his wife Randy. Randy is new to hunting. Randy and Jon sat in the blinds together that way Jon could coach her along was his story. I think he was making sure she didn't get a bigger antelope than he did. Randy made two shots on different bucks but wasn't able to connect. She said buck fever sat in when the bucks started to come to the water holes. Randy enjoyed her hunt so much she is planning on coming back out with Jon next year.
Jimmy, a new client to Peak Adventures, also brought his wife Tammy. Tammy and Jimmy are very competitive, therefor Tammy decided to sit by herself on the water holes. After two days of sitting in a blind and watching antelope from a distance she decided it was time to spot and stock. This was Tammy's first time trying this method of hunting and let me tell you she is good at being sneaky. WATCH OUT JIMMY, DON'T MAKE HER MAD!!!!!! She stalked within 47 yards of a monster antelope we ended up killing during the rifle season. On a later attempt she was able to get a shot at another nice antelope but was unsuccessful. She is coming back to hunt with us next year and is going to spot and stalk her Wyoming antelope.
Our mule deer in Wyoming is better than it has been for the last five years. Peak Adventures took one trophy mule deer hunter this year. I guided Warren and we saw more mule deer this year than I have ever seen on our properties. The numbers are up and that encourages us for next year. We are offering a Powder River hunt which is the option of taking one trophy antelope and one deer that has genetics that are not desirable. The reason I mention this is because Warren wanted to harvest a couple of mule deer that would fall under the Powder River hunt. I had to talk him out of three deer! I kept saying "Warren, you paid for a trophy mule deer let's get you a trophy deer." At the end of the day he harvested a great deer. Thanks Warren for your business.
A LOOK AT HERD HEALTH AFTER THE RUT
The deer herd is in a healthy state from what I’ve been able to observe. I didn't’t get to spend as much time in the field filming mule deer this year. I spent seven hours in the field looking this year and unfortunately didn't’t lay my eyes on any monsters. I’m not concerned, we have big deer on our properties, I just didn't’t see them in the short amount of time I had this year. The exciting news is I seen a lot of deer and some amazing young deer that will be absolute monsters if we continue to manage correctly through our hunting practices. The deer hunting in 2013 will be very good. Our trophy deer hunts are booked and we have some Powder River Deer Hunts available.
The winter has been unseasonably warm up to this point. Wyoming is sitting at 83% of normal snow pack in the mountains and in the eastern side of the state, meteorologist forecast the northeastern half of the state will remain in mild drought conditions. As for Peak Adventures, we do think it is healthy to have a mild winter as long as we get moisture in the spring to promote horn growth. If we don’t get spring moisture in the form of rain we’ll be alright but if we get a spring blizzard it will devastate the already declining number of antelope.
As many of you know, Chase Briggs – Head Guide and I live and work on the properties we lease for hunting. This gives us a lot of time to watch our properties and the herds that call them home. On our home place, Roush Ranch, the antelope are dying for no apparent reason. I have contacted the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to voice our concern. The Department says the antelope count, conducted in the spring of 2012, showed an increase in the herd. This may be true for the area but it isn’t true for our leases and the neighboring ranches near our leases.
I have talked with local ranchers about the health of their antelope herd and they have reported the same, numbers are down and seem to be on the decline. The Durham Ranch, a buffalo ranch located 6 miles from our ranch, is over 50,000 acres and reports they will by cutting the number of antelope harvested in 2013 by 75% in an attempt to get ahead of this issue.
Peak Adventures is also going to cut our numbers back. In 2012, we harvested 32 buck antelope and didn’t take any doe’s because we have been seeing this decline in 2011. The reason we didn’t take any does was because our buck to doe ratio was upside down. I made the decision to take an above average amount of bucks to get the ratio back to normal. In 2013, we will be taking 12 buck antelope and no doe’s.
