Off to Wyoming in a few hours

[Six-Gun]

I'm off to scout for elk with a buddy and fish whatever small creeks I can find. We're building up preference points for an elk hunt that takes about 6-7 years to draw, and being about halfway there, we're starting to explore our prospective area as time permits. It doesn't hurt that I love exploring high country streams and having stretches of water to myself for hours on end. I guess that's the allure of the West, in general. The really nice thing that I didn't even realize until I went to buy my daily licenses is that Saturday is WY's Free Fishing Day, so I only needed to pay for 3 of the 4 days that I'm on the water.

Since I'm staying in Douglas, it only makes sense to drive an hour west and at least try and fish the North Platte River. I'll be wading most of the time and have a half-day guided drift boat trip slotted for June 2. I'm borderline excited for the opportunity. I say "borderline" regarding because, honestly, I have never had terribly good luck drifting or wading on larger, more famous waters out West. Be it the Missouri River in Montana or the Provo River in Utah, it seems that things are always underwhelming as far as catch rate. The pressure that these waters see usually makes fishing a lot more complicated and difficult that it needs to be compared to the smaller streams. Even my lovely float on the Green River below the Flaming Gorge Dam in Utah (a river with a 15,000 fish/mile census last time I checked) resulted in exactly 7 fish landed during a full-day guided drift, and that was better than a lot of folks did that day. Granted, they were big, beautiful browns, but at 4 C-notes + tips for that float made for some mighty expensive fish. You can easily triple that catch count on smaller rivers for nothing more than the cost of gas. Smaller fish, but a lot more of them to hand...

I usually prefer wade fishing when feasible because you can switch locations if things aren't working out in one stream or another. That said, drifting lets you hit otherwise inaccessible water and makes for much easier nymphing. However, my standard warning to folks who have never drifted a big, Western river is that it tends to be an "all or nothing" affair. It's either fantastic or dreadful, and very seldom a split of the two...and therein lies the issue with drifting: if the fishing sucks, you're stuck. You can't just go someplace else. It's a cool experience if you've never done it, so don't let that dissuade you from trying, but as with any fishing, know that you could be in for a long boat ride with no recourse if the bite is slow.

So, hopefully it will be a rewarding adventure, albeit a fairly short one. I get in tonight and leave Sunday. As always, I'll let you guys know how it goes.

 

[foxfire]

Nice!! I'm heading to Wyoming for Pronghorn in October. Was also planning on taking my sticks. My first trip with a rifle - nervous about getting through the airport.

 

[Six-Gun]

Don't be nervous. As long as you are unloaded (*CHECK...TWICE...MAYBE THREE TIMES*) you won't have an issue. I've travelled all over with firearms, including South Africa and never had an issue. Know and print the airline's own rules out in case you get a moron at the counter who wants to give you a hard time. I have never had to take things any further than that.

If you are hunting public land and getting to Wyoming even just 1 day before the season opens, go scout the antelope. I can't stress it enough. The problem with Wyoming's antelope season is that it falls in October, which is well outside of the August rut. The pressure is going to get to them since they are not driven by breeding, so you have to get on them quickly or things get tough in a hurry. By tough, I mean antelope that see your truck coming from a mile a away and are already running for private land. You need to find a herd that isn't already being staked out by other hunters, watch where they lay down at dark and be waiting before daylight the next day. The biggest mistake I have heard people hunting out there make is assuming that "there are just so many antelope out there in Wyoming" and not putting in any scouting effort. They are quickly humbled when they are forced to shoot a dink or eat a tag because they didn't feel the need to work for it.

If you ever get the inclination, start putting in for points in Nevada. It takes longer to draw, but the season is during peak rut (Late Aug - early Sept) and sees MUCH lower pressure than a lot of other Western states. The resulting hunt quality, even on public land, is tremendous. To put things in perspective, I had exactly one day to scout my area after 4 years of putting in for my buck antelope tag. Granted, this is an area that I had worked in for several years before leaving Nevada, but I was not able to watch it at all leading up to the hunt. They only gave out 23 buck antelope tags for the area and I had no trouble finding and picking out a shooter the night before. I showed up the next morning and had my buck down within the first 20 minutes of legal daylight on opening day.

 

[foxfire]

Six, that's the largest antelope rack I ever seen!! I'm actually going through an outfitter that has access to 64,000 acres. I assume most of it is private - certainly not high fence.

Conflicting info - do you or do you not need TSA approved locks on case?!?!

 

[Six-Gun]

If you're with an outfitter on private land, you should have no worries at all. Unless they are overhunting the place (hard to imagine on 64K acres), you should have a relaxed enjoyable hunt with great success. I actually shot that antelope on private land that I asked permission on the day prior to my hunt, but the buck was transiting on and off of public land the day prior and could've just as easily been killed on public. I just want to be sure I had the advantage in case anyone else was scoping him out and asked the rancher if I could shot the buck on his place. It's amazing what the promise of a bottle of whiskey upon the kill will do for permission these days...

The TSA lock question used to be straight forward, but I, too, have heard conflicting info lately. My SKB hard case has the TSA locks built-in and that's never been an issue. I would get TSA-approved locks just to avoid them possibly having to cut them off if they neglect to call you for the inspection. Let the ticketing agent know that you want to wait for the TSA agent to give you a "thumbs up" that your gun/ammo have been inspected and ask them to let you know when they are done. Then there should be no surprises.

 

[foxfire]

The SBK with the TSA locks is the case I've been researching!!! Thanks for the great info. One last question - did you pack the ammo with the rifle or check it separately? I'm taking my .270 so I could probably just buy it out there since I'm flying into Denver. There are two Cabela's close by.

 

[Six-Gun]

No problem. SKB makes a great product and stands behind their stuff. Somehow, the South African baggage handlers managed to put a hole in that beast. It survived the trip, but SKB sent me a brand new one 100% free anyway.

As for ammo, I handload all of my own ammo, so I have to bring it with me every time. I put the ammo and the gun in the same case unless I'm flying international.

South Africa required me to have both the gun *and* amm locked up and seperated. That meant buying a small lockbox to put the ammo in my softside luggage. It's absurd but those are their rules.

 

[foxfire]

Sorry for hijacking your thread. Thanks for the great info. What caliber did you take to Africa?? That's on my list so I've been casually shopping for a .375 H & H, or .416 Rigby.

 

[cjdubya]

I just got back from Saratoga, Wyoming late Tuesday night. Stayed with a buddy who is planning to open a guide service within the next few years. Floated the North Platte twice and had pretty good success chucking streamers at the banks. Water is up pretty good and stained from snow melt but still caught about 20 fish between two of us in two days. Also fished Big Creek and Savery Creek. It was my first time out West and an awesome trip! Hope to return in the future!

 

[Six-Gun]

foxfire wrote:
Sorry for hijacking your thread. Thanks for the great info. What caliber did you take to Africa?? That's on my list so I've been casually shopping for a .375 H & H, or .416 Rigby.

No problem. I value hunting and fishing equally, so you won't upset me one bit by asking about this stuff.

If you're going for plains game, unless younare going for eland or something insanely huge, you won't need anything nearly as big as a .375 H&H, let alone a .416 Rigby. I actually got scolded by my outfitter for asking about taking a gun that large out there. A run of the mill 30-06 would work just fine. I ended up using a 7mm-08 for everything up to and including kudu and gemsbok with no problems.

 

[Six-Gun]

cjdubya wrote:
I just got back from Saratoga, Wyoming late Tuesday night. Stayed with a buddy who is planning to open a guide service within the next few years. Floated the North Platte twice and had pretty good success chucking streamers at the banks. Water is up pretty good and stained from snow melt but still caught about 20 fish between two of us in two days. Also fished Big Creek and Savery Creek. It was my first time out West and an awesome trip! Hope to return in the future!

Thanks a lot and it sounds like you had a killer trip out there.

I just got back from my North Platte float and finally had what was assuredly a banner day. I started with a paid half day trip, but the fishing was so good, I extended to a full day. The water was running extremely high and fast (6,000 cfs) but it still had some clarity and fished extremely well. I ended the day landing 21 fish including a couple 20 inchers. I lost another that approaching 20" if not over it, but it was all good. I'll post a full trip report when I get home since I can't upload my pics from here. I'll just say that the float alone made it worthwhile.

 

[foxfire]

WOW! Beautiful Kudu!! Yeah, I want to do a combo plain game and buffalo. Agreed the big-bore may be too much for the plains but didn't want to travel with two rifles.

 

[Six-Gun]

Yesterday was a small creek stop in the WY mountains and worth every minute of the trip. The place I fished was only an hour from the hotel and produced non-stop rainbows and browns the entire way up the mountain. I stopped counting how many were landed after 25 or so, but the catch didn't quit until well after that mark. Over 10 hours of incredible fishing and didn't see another soul. Another awesome day.

Foxfire - take 2 guns anyway. Your SKB case will hold it and you always want more than one gun that you're familiar with in your posession on a trip that long and expensive. Stuff malfunctions at the worst time, so be prepared.

 

[Sylvaneous]

I'll mirror your comments about being underwhelmed by the catch rate out west. It can be pretty good and it can be pretty abysmal. I've had some very few fish days on the Madison and Yellowstone, and that was with a guide, my friend, John Sniscak. I have caught some remarkable fish and had some really nice 'eats' on big dry flies on the surface. I go there to catch fish on dries, but dropper and drifted nymphs are more productive...if you want to watch bobbers.

But that's just fishing. You report the victories, not the long periods of fishless futility. When you look over the landscape, you see only the peaks and ignore the hollows and plains.

 

[Six-Gun]

The funny thing is, anytime I have stuck to the small streams out West, it's been great fishing almost without exception. When I used to fish Utah, I honestly do not believe I ever left a day on a stream without catching a fish - multiple fish were the norm, even in the bone chilling winter conditions. Double digit catches were completely regular during the good flows of Fall and Spring.

But the bigger rivers? Until this last trip, they have been a complete disappointment. Two floats down the Missouri River in Montana, over two different years, resulted in exactly 3 fish caught between me and two other anglers. I never fished the Madison, but a friend who did saw 2 fish caught over two days of floating with a friend. The Provo in Utah netted just a handful of fish over a full day of wading. The results, for me anyway, have never matched up to those secluded mountain streams that so many people drive right by. If I have the choice, I'll take the small streams the majority of times they're offered over the big water.