Wyoming governor's team wins 1-shot antelope hunt

"It is a great country when you can miss your shot and your team can still win," Freudenthal said Monday. "The Wyoming team won, for I think the first time since 1989. I took a shot early in the morning that I shouldn't have taken."

The One Shot Hunt started in 1940 as a duel between Wyoming and Colorado. The event held in Lander has since grown into a premier event that attracts hunters worldwide. Past participants include Hollywood cowboy Roy Rogers and Air Force Gen. Chuck Yeager, the first pilot to break the sound barrier.

Each member of the three-person hunting team is allowed one shot to kill an antelope. The team that kills the most antelope in the shortest time wins.

In Saturday's hunt, none of the eight teams saw all three members kill an antelope in a single shot, which Carl Asbell, president of the One Shot Hunt Club in Lander, called unusual.

"I'd say there's usually at least one team that gets all three," Asbell said.

Freudenthal led the Wyoming team, which included a former state game director and former county sheriff. Both killed their two animals in a combined hunting time of one hour, one minute--faster than the other teams that also killed two antelope.

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter also failed to kill his animal in a single shot.

Aside from ribbing the Colorado team for losing, Freudenthal said he was struck by Saturday's beautiful fall weather.

"After I missed, of course I saw lots of antelope," Freudenthal said. "There wasn't any wind, so the antelope were out. ... It was a picture perfect fall day."