My 2011 antelope w/PICS Excerpted from a longer version
Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 2:28 pm
I sat watching, keeping track of the lone buck, the group on the ridge and the other hunters. After a while the doe and buck that the hunters had chased off before showed up at the end of the ridge. The buck kind of wandered off and the doe, who seemed to be in heat, wandered over to the lone buck. She led that buck around in a slow circle, at first taking him further away while my heart sank and then swinging him back towards me. I kept praying that she would lead him closer, oh so much closer, but it just didn’t look like it was going to happen. When she started to lead him away again, I decided it was time to do something.
The buck was back to grazing again, generally following the doe. It was facing down hill with its head down at 336yds. I was seated with my back against a nice rock, my right leg was bent and parallel to the ground and my left knee was up. I wrapped my left arm around the left leg at the knee and pulled the forearm of the rifle in tight to the leg. At this point I found out something pretty important, my scope is mounted too far forward on the rifle. I couldn’t get a full view through the scope, when I was most comfortable on the rifle. I had to modify my shooting position. I made the appropriate adjustments and finally got settled into the rifle. It wasn’t the most comfortable position, but it was relatively stable. I got lined up and slipped the safety. At 336yds buck facing down hill with its head down and a slight breeze gusting in from the left, it was a pretty complicated shot. I found it hard to judge elevation. I held in what I thought was eighteen inches and put the crosshair right in line with the leg. The slight breeze should put the bullet right behind the leg, either into the heart or for sure in the lungs. Breathe and squeeeeeeeze.
At the shot, the buck jumped and started to run, dragging the front leg. I worked the bolt and tracked him through the scope. He turned left and started to run towards me. I started to squeeze another shot off, but he started to slow and I felt like he was going to stop, so I waited. He did stop. Facing me, at about 225yds or so. I put the crosshairs at the juncture of his neck and chest and squeezed the trigger once again. The buck dropped as I bolted in another round. I watched through the scope as he kicked the final time and then lay still. I realized I hadn’t been breathing and took a deep breath. It was time to go see what I had done.
I walked down the hill and around the head of the wash then up the other side to where my antelope lay. His horns were neither better nor worse than what I had thought. He was average for the area. He would eat good. As I looked him over I saw that my first shot had hit the front knee, about six inches lower than I had thought I had aimed. That strange angle he had been standing at had really messed with my hold over. I was lucky I could finish him as easily as I had. The second shot had hit its mark perfectly. Right at the juncture of the neck and chest it had pretty well made a mess of the heart and lungs. I thanked the Lord for this day and this antelope and then I started the messy work. Before I got all bloody and messy though I called Charlie and Crew and asked where they were. They were just under an hour from me so I told them how to get to where I was so they could help me drag the goat out. They were only too happy to oblige.
The buck was back to grazing again, generally following the doe. It was facing down hill with its head down at 336yds. I was seated with my back against a nice rock, my right leg was bent and parallel to the ground and my left knee was up. I wrapped my left arm around the left leg at the knee and pulled the forearm of the rifle in tight to the leg. At this point I found out something pretty important, my scope is mounted too far forward on the rifle. I couldn’t get a full view through the scope, when I was most comfortable on the rifle. I had to modify my shooting position. I made the appropriate adjustments and finally got settled into the rifle. It wasn’t the most comfortable position, but it was relatively stable. I got lined up and slipped the safety. At 336yds buck facing down hill with its head down and a slight breeze gusting in from the left, it was a pretty complicated shot. I found it hard to judge elevation. I held in what I thought was eighteen inches and put the crosshair right in line with the leg. The slight breeze should put the bullet right behind the leg, either into the heart or for sure in the lungs. Breathe and squeeeeeeeze.
At the shot, the buck jumped and started to run, dragging the front leg. I worked the bolt and tracked him through the scope. He turned left and started to run towards me. I started to squeeze another shot off, but he started to slow and I felt like he was going to stop, so I waited. He did stop. Facing me, at about 225yds or so. I put the crosshairs at the juncture of his neck and chest and squeezed the trigger once again. The buck dropped as I bolted in another round. I watched through the scope as he kicked the final time and then lay still. I realized I hadn’t been breathing and took a deep breath. It was time to go see what I had done.
I walked down the hill and around the head of the wash then up the other side to where my antelope lay. His horns were neither better nor worse than what I had thought. He was average for the area. He would eat good. As I looked him over I saw that my first shot had hit the front knee, about six inches lower than I had thought I had aimed. That strange angle he had been standing at had really messed with my hold over. I was lucky I could finish him as easily as I had. The second shot had hit its mark perfectly. Right at the juncture of the neck and chest it had pretty well made a mess of the heart and lungs. I thanked the Lord for this day and this antelope and then I started the messy work. Before I got all bloody and messy though I called Charlie and Crew and asked where they were. They were just under an hour from me so I told them how to get to where I was so they could help me drag the goat out. They were only too happy to oblige.