November 2, 2011

Latt Durrance made his debut as a pro staffer on Best of the West last year, although he has spent the last few years learning how to guide fantastic hunts from award-winning hunter and guide John Porter. And this hunting season has been a great one for Latt already! So far, he’s bagged a 357-inch bull elk, a nice mature Wyoming mule deer, and two Wyoming pronghorn antelope. (That, of course, is in addition to a stag and a fallow deer from his hunt in New Zealand this summer!)

In mid-October, Latt went out with Four Horse Outfitters in northeast Wyoming, on a mission to bring back an antelope or two. This adventure began Sunday, October 16, with a couple of representatives from Corlane Sporting Goods in Canada, great partners with Best of the West and Huskemaw. This hunt was guided by Matt Burch, co-owner of the Burch Ranch and Four Horse Outfitting, who led the gang to literally hundreds of antelope Monday morning before Greg from Corlane settled on a nice buck around noon. Latt says that Greg made a perfect 456 yard shot with Latt’s Best of the West rifle, in a 10-15 mph wind.

The other Corlane staffer, Ian, had yet to fill his tag, so the group went out again Tuesday morning. They found a herd of antelope feeding on some new green grass in a burn area, and settled in until Ian could get the best shot. Because they were shooting in tall grass, they used the Huskemaw shooting sticks for stability. It was a beautiful, partly cloudy morning, and at about 11:30 Ian made a 300 yard shot on a 77” buck that was just short of the record book by a few inches!

So, both our friends from Corlane filled their tags. End of hunt, right? Hmmm… not so fast…

If you’ve been following the adventures of Latt and Dean, you’ll remember that this summer, the two of them went Down Under to do some long-range hunting in New Zealand with Spey Creek Outfitters. Turns out that Wyatt McBride with Spey Creek was in the states that same day. In fact, he was in Billings, Montana, just a few hours away. And… he had missed his flight. So he called his good buddy Latt to tell him he was in the area, and Latt, nice guy that he is, invited him to spend his newly found free time hunting in northeast Wyoming!

After Ian had gotten his antelope on Tuesday, Latt, Four Horse guide Fonzy Haskell and Wyatt McBride headed out on the 180,000 acre Burch Ranch to find a nice antelope for Wyatt to shoot with Latt’s Best of the West rifle. As they were glassing a nice herd of antelope, Wyatt spotted a big muley buck. Too bad he didn’t have a tag… oh, wait, whaddaya know - Fonzy had a mule deer tag that he hadn’t yet filled! So Latt, Wyatt and Fonzy all switched positions: the guide, Fonzy, became the hunter; Wyatt, the hunter, became the spotter; and Latt, the spotter, became the guide. Fonzy made a fantastic 952 yard shot with Latt’s BOTW shooting system!

However, Wyatt still had an antelope tag to fill. So the next morning, the gang headed out again, and this time, they didn’t have to wait long. Wyatt made a perfect one-shot drop by 7:49 a.m., less than an hour after sunrise, on a beautiful Wyoming morning.

Latt still hadn’t filled his tag, either, and just a couple of hours later he got his shot. And it was a creative one – Latt shot a non-typical antelope at 642 yards… off the top of a stack of hay bales three rolls high!

Latt says that this hunt was particularly memorable, because he got the opportunity to put two successful outfitting companies together – Wyoming’s Four Horse and Spey Creek Outfitters from New Zealand. And to have all five shooters on this hunt come away with success was also a high point – particularly because all five animals were taken with Latt’s Best of the West Signature Series rifle and Huskemaw scope!

This whole adventure should make for an exciting episode of The Best of the West – keep an eye on The Outdoor Channel’s schedule in 2012!