Hunting success with pic
Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2010 8:55 pm
Antelope Hunt 2010
At 0500 the alarm goes off, just like it does every other day of the week. Today, I actually welcomed it. Lynne and I were planning on going antelope hunting and there didn’t seem to be anything to stop us. Things had been going well for the hunt for most of the previous day. I had secured the use of a 4 wheeler to be used for game retrieval, I had gotten the use of a small trailer to haul the 4 wheeler in so that I wouldn’t have to remove the 5th wheel hitch from the truck. The coolers were all cleaned out and bleached and the rifles and other paraphernalia were all ready to go. I had even remembered to grab the tags and put them in the truck. While I made the coffee, Lynne got dressed and we then kenneled the dogs for the day and headed out.
It’s a really nice feeling for me, heading out in the pre dawn darkness. I especially like it when I’m going hunting. We stopped at the store at Daniel Junction WY. To get fuel for ourselves and the 4 wheeler and then headed on down to our hunting area. We had been seeing lots of antelope for most of the trip down and my spirits were high.
As soon as we turned off of the high way I pulled over and uncased the rifles and Lynne and I put our orange on so that when we saw antelope, we’d be ready to just bail out, load, and go. We hadn’t gone two miles down the road when I spotted a small band of goats not far off the road. I coasted the truck to a stop under the brow of a hill and we hopped out. I reminded Lynne not to slam the doors. We put shells in the rifles and headed up the hill. I soon spotted the antelope and crouched down as we continued up the hill. In very short order we were far enough up the hill that we could sit and still be able to shoot the antelope. I put the range finder on them and came up with 200yds plus or minus one yard consistently. Both of our rifles are zeroed dead on at 200yds. Perfect!
We each picked out a doe and prepared for a shot but at the last minute all of the antelope turned away except mine, which remained broadside. Lynne said “go ahead and take her”. I lined the cross hairs up just behind the foreleg and right at the line where the white and tan hairs meet and applied some trigger pressure. The rifle cracked and jumped a little and I was working the bolt on autopilot as the sound of the bullet striking registered on my conciousness. The doe went straight down. “Nice Shot!” Lynne exclaimed as the other three antelope in the band headed up the hill. “Watch ‘em” I said. “They may stop before they go over the hill. They didn’t.
We walked up to my antelope and took the obligatory trophy shot.
[Picture]
The bullet had done an excellent job.
[picture}
Lynne stayed with the antelope while I walked back to the truck to get the 4 wheeler. It took me a little while because I had neglected to put the loading ramp in the truck and I had to find a spot in the ditch that was steep enough that I could back the trailer into it and drive the 4 wheeler off. Meanwhile Lynne, who is recovering from a very nasty cold and gets very short of breath just now, had climbed the hill to see if the band had stopped after topping the rise. They hadn’t. Just as I was pulling up to her and the antelope, we heard a shot from over the hill somewhere.
I set about field dressing the antelope and when I was almost done, the buck and one of the doe antelope came back over the hill and headed towards us. They stopped, a pretty good ways up the hill and looked us over. Lynne was lined up but the doe just wouldn’t turn broadside to give Lynne a good shot. We waited, and waited…. And waited. Finally, she turned and Lynne fired, just as the doe took a step forward. At first I thought Lynne had missed clean but then the awful truth was revealed. The doe was hit and not well. Luckily, she only went a short ways and lay down. I watched her and told Lynne that so long as she was laying down, we’d leave her be while I finished with the first doe and then we’d go up and finish off the second. I was just about done when Lynne said “Larry, she’s getting up!” I grabbed my rifle, and got a good steady bead. I fired and heard the hit. Working the bolt on autopilot once more I was just about to fire again when the doe went down. I finished my chore and then headed up the hill. When I got there, the doe was still breathing but was done for. I put a finisher into the head to stop any suffering and called it done.
Lynnes shot wasn’t as bad as I had thought. It was too far back, but still fatal. That old doe was dead and just didn’t know it yet. My shot was good, right through the front shoulder and should have ended it, but again that old doe just wasn’t giving it up easy. Sometimes, antelope can just cling to life beyond all reason.
I had/have another doe tag, but by the time I finished dressing the second antelope it was getting pretty warm and I was tired of blood and guts. Plus we had dogs cooped up at the house and I still had to cut these two up for the freezer, by myself, so I decided to call it a day.
At 0500 the alarm goes off, just like it does every other day of the week. Today, I actually welcomed it. Lynne and I were planning on going antelope hunting and there didn’t seem to be anything to stop us. Things had been going well for the hunt for most of the previous day. I had secured the use of a 4 wheeler to be used for game retrieval, I had gotten the use of a small trailer to haul the 4 wheeler in so that I wouldn’t have to remove the 5th wheel hitch from the truck. The coolers were all cleaned out and bleached and the rifles and other paraphernalia were all ready to go. I had even remembered to grab the tags and put them in the truck. While I made the coffee, Lynne got dressed and we then kenneled the dogs for the day and headed out.
It’s a really nice feeling for me, heading out in the pre dawn darkness. I especially like it when I’m going hunting. We stopped at the store at Daniel Junction WY. To get fuel for ourselves and the 4 wheeler and then headed on down to our hunting area. We had been seeing lots of antelope for most of the trip down and my spirits were high.
As soon as we turned off of the high way I pulled over and uncased the rifles and Lynne and I put our orange on so that when we saw antelope, we’d be ready to just bail out, load, and go. We hadn’t gone two miles down the road when I spotted a small band of goats not far off the road. I coasted the truck to a stop under the brow of a hill and we hopped out. I reminded Lynne not to slam the doors. We put shells in the rifles and headed up the hill. I soon spotted the antelope and crouched down as we continued up the hill. In very short order we were far enough up the hill that we could sit and still be able to shoot the antelope. I put the range finder on them and came up with 200yds plus or minus one yard consistently. Both of our rifles are zeroed dead on at 200yds. Perfect!
We each picked out a doe and prepared for a shot but at the last minute all of the antelope turned away except mine, which remained broadside. Lynne said “go ahead and take her”. I lined the cross hairs up just behind the foreleg and right at the line where the white and tan hairs meet and applied some trigger pressure. The rifle cracked and jumped a little and I was working the bolt on autopilot as the sound of the bullet striking registered on my conciousness. The doe went straight down. “Nice Shot!” Lynne exclaimed as the other three antelope in the band headed up the hill. “Watch ‘em” I said. “They may stop before they go over the hill. They didn’t.
We walked up to my antelope and took the obligatory trophy shot.
[Picture]
The bullet had done an excellent job.
[picture}
Lynne stayed with the antelope while I walked back to the truck to get the 4 wheeler. It took me a little while because I had neglected to put the loading ramp in the truck and I had to find a spot in the ditch that was steep enough that I could back the trailer into it and drive the 4 wheeler off. Meanwhile Lynne, who is recovering from a very nasty cold and gets very short of breath just now, had climbed the hill to see if the band had stopped after topping the rise. They hadn’t. Just as I was pulling up to her and the antelope, we heard a shot from over the hill somewhere.
I set about field dressing the antelope and when I was almost done, the buck and one of the doe antelope came back over the hill and headed towards us. They stopped, a pretty good ways up the hill and looked us over. Lynne was lined up but the doe just wouldn’t turn broadside to give Lynne a good shot. We waited, and waited…. And waited. Finally, she turned and Lynne fired, just as the doe took a step forward. At first I thought Lynne had missed clean but then the awful truth was revealed. The doe was hit and not well. Luckily, she only went a short ways and lay down. I watched her and told Lynne that so long as she was laying down, we’d leave her be while I finished with the first doe and then we’d go up and finish off the second. I was just about done when Lynne said “Larry, she’s getting up!” I grabbed my rifle, and got a good steady bead. I fired and heard the hit. Working the bolt on autopilot once more I was just about to fire again when the doe went down. I finished my chore and then headed up the hill. When I got there, the doe was still breathing but was done for. I put a finisher into the head to stop any suffering and called it done.
Lynnes shot wasn’t as bad as I had thought. It was too far back, but still fatal. That old doe was dead and just didn’t know it yet. My shot was good, right through the front shoulder and should have ended it, but again that old doe just wasn’t giving it up easy. Sometimes, antelope can just cling to life beyond all reason.
I had/have another doe tag, but by the time I finished dressing the second antelope it was getting pretty warm and I was tired of blood and guts. Plus we had dogs cooped up at the house and I still had to cut these two up for the freezer, by myself, so I decided to call it a day.
