Sisters of the sage; stalking antelope at annual all-women’s hunt
UCROSS—Up and down the Piney Creek Valley they crept, crawled and stalked through the sage. Nearly 50 women — participants in the 2024 Wyoming Women's Antelope Hunt — climbed ridgelines to glass the landscape, followed ungulates on foot for miles, and in many cases, harvested their first-ever animals.
Grace Thigpen was among the youngest hunters. The 16-year-old from Georgia was first exposed to hunting through programming opportunities for kids with cancer, and got hooked. Thigpen finished her three-year treatment for leukemia over the summer — just in time to prepare for her first antelope hunt on her first trip out of the southeast.
Her hunt on Oct. 11 turned into a bit of an epic as Thigpen and her guide, Mike Ellenwood, pursued a buck for several hours through whipping wind and rolling hillsides. Once the teenager finished field dressing the buck — which she admitted grossed her out — she said the experience taught her about a crucial component of hunting: "Patience."
Thigpen's perseverance — both in life and in the field — was emblematic of many participants' experiences. Women at the annual hunt were outdoor lovers and household heads who wanted to fill their freezers. They worked in finance, nursing, municipal government and marketing. They included a veteran, a single mom and 12 scholarship recipients alongside paying patrons. Many hailed from Wyoming, but others made the journey from places like New York, Colorado and Texas.
The Wyoming Women's Foundation launched the event 12 years ago as part of its larger mission to invest in the economic self-sufficiency of women; teaching women how to hunt can help them feed their families quality food.
Most of the 46 hunters were gathered at the Ranch at Ucross to learn or expand their hunting skills. Hunters were on teams or partnered up — all were assigned guides. They learned about field safety, hunting ethics and how to sight in their rifles. The team that hosted the event included volunteers from the region as well as many Buffalo-area land-owners, who opened their properties to participants and in many instances, guided them on that land.
A significant part of the experience involved mentorship — the conveyance of skills that can seem intimidating or inaccessible to newcomers. Hunting also engenders camaraderie, and by the third day of the event, the large gathering tent was buzzing with hunters sharing their trials and triumphs.
All told, 37 hunters harvested animals, and 26 of them did so with a single shot.
Following her harvest, Thigpen sent her buck antelope to a Buffalo taxidermist to be shoulder-mounted so she could have a memento of her first trip to Wyoming. In line with the spirit of the event, the taxidermist who will complete that final task is also a woman.
Katie Klingsporn reports on outdoor recreation, public lands, education and general news for WyoFile. She's been a journalist and editor covering the American West for 20 years. Her freelance work has appeared in National Geographic Adventure, The Colorado Sun, Adventure Journal, 5280 magazine and The Cleanest Line. She lives in Lander with her family.
DISCLOSURE: Author Katie Klingsporn participated in the hunt as a scholarship recipient. She harvested her first antelope with a single shot, and has happily filled her freezer. -Ed.
