Congrats To George Dvorchak on Winning 2011 Antelope Hunt!

Georgette Wood, 2010 Antelope Hunt Winner; George Dvorchak, 2011 Antelope Hunt Winner; Annie Wood, Wyoming Business Council (Photo taken by Rick Wood)

I won the hunt last year from the Wyoming Business Council Meeting.  Annie Wood announced my name as the winner, and  I was so shocked.  It was my first time going to the meeting to represent Women’s Outdoor News.  I was very impressed that so many people came over and congratulated me on winning. Rose Marie Dvorchak was one of the women to come over to congratulate me on winning the antelope hunt.  She was happy that a girl won this hunt, and informed me that I was the  first girl to win it.

Georgette Wood with winner George and Rose Marie Dvorchak-Congrats to you for winning the Antelope Hunt for 2011! (Photo taken by Rick Wood)

I sat there in the front row of the round table and was just amazed on how beautiful Wyoming really is.  I watched the video of Wyoming and thought WOW!  I would love to go there sometime.  I have never been to Wyoming or to Colorado at this point in my life. I had no clue that I would be the next winner to go see beautiful Wyoming and Colorado so soon.

The Wyoming Business Council Meeting was held on Thursday the week of Shot Show.   It was my turn to speak about how my hunt went with my husband Rick. I was so nervous about speaking in front of a large crowd that I was almost in tears and my voice was all nervously speaking.   I don’t get the opportunity to speak in front of big crowds of people; if I did I may not have been so nervous. My wonderful husband Rick, bailed me out. We together told our hunting story and had the crowd laughing.  By the time we ended our story, I was so relaxed and thought that wasn’t so bad.  I could probably do that again!

I tell you this story, because I get to pull the winning name out of the basket and guess who wins the 2011 Antelope Hunt from the Wyoming Business Council.  George Dvorchak is the name I pulled out; He is the writer for The Varmint Hunter Magazine.  His wife Rose Marie came over last year to congratulate me on my winning the Antelope Hunt for 2010.  He sat in the same seat as I did last year when I won the hunt, and just one more common denominator they are from Pennsylvania close to wear my husband and I grew up. How Bizarre? His name is George too!

I’m so happy for George and Rose Marie for winning the Antelope Hunt. I know they will have a great time just like Rick and I did. We had so much fun with Kelly Glause and Casey Miller with Cold Creek Outfitter.  We had a fantastic vacation shooting our trophy antelope, and touring Wyoming.  We even made time to meet up with our WOMA member Stacey Huston with Focus on the Wild in Cody, Wyoming. We tasted some delicious Buffalo Steak and my husband Rick kept saying this is like a second honeymoon. So I’m so glad that they both hunt and can enjoy their special time together just like Rick and I did. I wish them good luck on their Antelope Hunt in 2011!

Annie Wood, Wyoming Business Council with George Dvorchak (winner of the 2011 Antelope Hunt) with his wife Rose Marie (Photo taken by Rick Wood)

Hers “N” His First Antelope Hunt

Our Trophy Antelope

Our First Antelope Hunt

I was so excited about going out West to hunt Antelope.  I have never been to Wyoming or on an antelope hunt. The chance was such a great opportunity for me and my husband.  I won an antelope hunt for two offered as a door prize at the Wyoming Business Council meeting at the Shot Show  back in January 2010.   I was the first girl to ever win this hunt, and knowing that I was representing The Women Outdoors Media Association (the WOMA) makes it even more special.

The outfitter that put the hunt up was Kelly Glause of Cold Creek Outfitter in Evansville Wyoming.

Georgette Wood with her first Antelope, Casey Miller and Kelly Glause of Cold Creek Outfitter

We were having breakfast when Kelly and Casey met up with us in the lobby at the Super 8 Motel in Casper, Wyoming.    We grabbed our gear and started our day off by sighting in our rifles. We then started our hunt in area 25 around 9:30a.m.  By this time it was a beautiful clear sunny day, but a little bit breezy. 

Our guides Kelly and Casey made our trip out to the field fun and exciting.  It was interesting talking with them and hearing what they had to say about how they got into being Outfitters.  Kelly is the game manager for a farm with about 80,000 acres available to hunt on in central Wyoming.  

We arrived at our first hunting location; we could see the antelope on the range.  We started to stalk them down hoping they wouldn’t spot us. We did some walking, kneeling, and crawling to try to get in position. Antelope have excellent eyesight, it is said that it is equivalent to 8 X binoculars. If they see something that is out of the norm they will raise the white hair on their rump as an alert to the other antelope and run off. They can run up to 60 miles an hour. So that’s why they are such a challenge to hunt.  Unfortunately on our first stop the antelope saw us first and took off running.  I had an encounter with a cactus out there; I had put my hand on the ground and right on top of one then sat on another.  So my first hunting adventure was pulling the cactus thorns out of my hand and my leg. We had to stop hunting momentarily to get them out of my leg.  My guide warned us of the cactus and I was so excited about seeing the antelope that I forgot about them. Those are some wicked things and you definitely want to stay away from them.  TRUST ME!! We had a great time tracking the antelope down and observing how fast they can run, but getting stuck by the cactus is not what I had in mind.  We put on a few more unsuccessful stocks. The antelope either were too small or just didn’t do what we hoped that they would do.

By this time it was almost lunch time and we were all getting hungry. We have been hunting now for three hours walking and crawling over knolls and trying to avoid the cactus. So we started heading towards the archery camp to meet up with Kelly’s son and another group of hunters for lunch. On the way we saw a group of antelope with a nice sized buck. We stopped and stared the stalk, Kelly and I were coming around a knoll from the left to sneak up on the group not knowing that they would come out right in front of us. We ducked down in the high grass hoping we didn’t get spotted. I loaded my gun very quietly trying not to disturb them. I tried to get comfortable enough to take a shot. I was in my shooting position, bipod adjusted, trying to spot them through my scope, my finger was on the trigger, and I was trying to slow my breathing down. I shot once and it was too low, I shot again and it was too high. Then off they run! I was so upset with myself; I guess I was not set right on the terrain and too excited. I was trying my best though. I didn’t realize they were so hard to shoot. I missed my first one he had a really nice rack and was only 60 yards from us. It should have been an easy shot. As he ran off we decided to name him Lucky.

Then we came across the next group of antelope, my guide Casey and I got out of the truck on the right very slowly. We used the truck as cover as we positioned ourselves to a spot where we could take a shot. I had my eyes on the big antelope; I used Casey’s knee as additional support. My breathing was so relaxed this time I could have heard a pin drop it was so quiet. I slowly pulled back on the trigger and shot. My shot hit him in a little far back towards the stomach. He arched his back and just stood there. Casey said shoot him again. This time I shot him in the intersecting lines of the white and brown right in the shoulder. I was so happy when he went down. We ranged him at 164 yards, I was so proud of myself for shooting my first antelope. Everyone was thrilled, and I proved to myself that I can shoot long distances.

Rick giving me my congrats kiss for getting my first Antelope down

After taking photos and loading him up in the truck. We were traveling around back to go to the archery camp to eat lunch; we saw another heard of antelope off to our right. I stayed in the truck with Kelly and this time my husband Rick and Casey walked quietly to the top of the knoll. They crawled the last 50 yards on their bellies to get in position to shoot his antelope.  We heard a shot go off and I could see them all excited. He shot his antelope at 1:30p.m exactly one hour after I shot mine. His shot was at 265 yards. I was so thrilled and excited for him knowing that we had two trophy class antelope down within one hour. It was such a wonderful experience for us both.

As we were driving out we once again came across Lucky and his harem of lady friends. This time we shot at him with the camera. He was such a beautiful antelope his horns make a heart shape and he’s still out there waiting for someone else.

Kelly Glause and Casey of Cold Creek Outfitter were very pleasant and professional.  I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a fantastic time hunting in the wonderful outdoors of Wyoming. We met them as strangers and walked away as friends.  They really know their business when it comes down to tracking and hunting antelope. We had so much fun with them and they made the hunt fun and exciting. 

You can reach Kelly at:

Cole Creek Outfitter

P.O. Box 797

Evansville, WY 82636

(307) 234-8940.