First antelope story for this year
Snake River Marksman
9/11/08 9:42am
2008 Antelope hunt
Despite years of hunting experience, I still cannot sleep the night before a hunt. I usually toss and turn, sleeping but not resting in one hour stints till just before the alarm clock goes off. I hate alarm clocks but MAN I love hunting!
After dressing, I grabbed my coffee and the rest of my gear and walked over to the neighbor, Billy’s house, just as he was coming out to the truck. I threw in my gear and we started on the hour and a half drive to Billy’s hunt area.
We pulled off the highway onto the county road that borders the hunt area and stopped to put ammunition in the magazine of Billys rifle. We started up the road, and within 5 minutes spotted a buck antelope standing on the side of the road. We stopped and got the glasses on him and gave him a real good look. He was on the small side of average, prongs at the top of the ears, average mass, but with a nice curve to the horns that would add some length that wasn’t readily apparent at first glance. We discussed him for a couple of minutes, then decided we could probably do better. We started forward and bumped his buddy from out of a dip in the landscape. Some time on the glass with him showed him to be straighter and taller than his friend, but not any bigger. Again, we thought we could do better. After all, it was only 7 am. We drove a mile or so up the road and pulled up to a vantage point that I often use. We got out and looked into the valley below. Billy took a quick look and declared there were no antelope below. I knew better and put the glasses to my eyes. A quick sweep, and I spotted two bands of goats below. I pointed them out to Billy, and we started to pick out bucks. One or two caused me to bring out the spotter, and we decided one of them needed a closer look.
We drove down the road to a closer vantage point and put the spotter back on him. Yep, that’s the one we wanted. We grabbed our gear and bailed off the back side of the knoll out of sight of the herd. We came around the end of the knoll, where we should still have been out of sight, but ran right into the herd as it was meandering down towards the bottom of the valley. We were still over 300yds away, and busted. We backed off and moved down and in. When we were in close enough, we popped over the rise, and found…….NOTHING! The antelope had disappeared. Apparently they had changed direction and bolted after they had seen us. Looking around, we spotted another band down near the water course in the bottom. Billy and I headed for the water cut that came down from the top to use it for cover.
We reached a shallow area and took a look around. The band we had seen below us was feeding away from us, but we quickly spotted a group of 3 does and a very decent buck. I ranged them at over 400yds, but the arroyo we were in would take us much closer. We got low, sometimes even crawling, and cut the distance to 230yds. Billy wanted to cut that some more, but our arroyo had petered out. He decided to belly crawl closer. He cut ten more yards off, but had to stop his crawl, as the antelope, which had spotted us some time earlier, were starting to get a little nervous. Billy rested his 270 on a short sage bush, and promptly missed his antelope. It was his first shot at big game, and I’m betting he got a little buck fever.
We watched the band as they went up the far side of the valley and over the top, where another band of antelope met up with them, and they finally disappeared. We headed over to the spot where they had been, and checked for any sign of a hit. We found nothing. Billy and I climbed the far valley wall and found a small mesa, we had walked half way across the mesa top, and got busted by a doe antelope. We froze till she FINALLY disappeared over the far edge of the mesa. I noticed she was heading towards the end of the mesa, and would likely be circling back to right about where we had found them. We checked the valley at the far side of the mesa, saw a large band of antelope nearly two miles away, but, I decided there was a closer approach to them from the road. We reversed course, and headed back across the top of the mesa.
When we reached the edge of the mesa, I swept my binoculars across the valley and spotted the small band that we had seen before, including the buck that Billy had shot at. The band had grown by two, another doe and another buck had joined up with our original 4 antelope. The antelope were making a bee line, straight up the far side of the valley towards the road at the top. If they crossed the road, there was only a very narrow strip of BLM land on the other side, and then they would be safely on private property.
There was no way that we could out race the antelope, and also no way that we could cross the valley un-observed, so we just hiked our way across and headed for the truck. Both Billy and I assumed that the antelope had gone on up the hill and across the road, because that’s what they appeared to be doing when we last saw them. We got to the truck, drank water, ate an orange and discussed our options.
We decided to head on down the road some more till we reached the edge of the ranch ahead, then turn around and head over to another little spot that I know of that usually holds a couple bands of goats that aren’t molested too much. We headed out, spotted a truly dinky buck that was well within range, but didn’t merit any consideration whatsoever. We were traveling back down the road, looking to the far side, over towards the private land where we thought the antelope had gone, when I happened to look over to where we last saw them, when lo and behold, there were those darn antelope, right where I had last seen them. Billy stopped the truck, (bad idea!) and got his binoculars, (another bad idea. He shoulda been grabbing his rifle!) and the antelope started to trot around the hill to the right. I told Billy to pull forward, under the back side of the hill. He grabbed his rifle, bailed out of the truck, and we walked up over the brow of the hill. I crouched down and tried to keep my silloette low, Billy strode boldly to the top and said “There they are!” “Billy, get down!!!!” I said. He dropped to sitting. “There’s our buck!” I said. “Front or back?” Billy said. “Front!” Says I. “How far?” says Billy. “Close! Lay down and shoot him!” I says. Billy got prone, and whole band began to trot from right to left. The buck paused, and Billy fired, knocking the antelope two feet sideways. “He’s done, nice shot” I said. The buck tried to make a dash but the 130gr ballistic silvertip had broken both front shoulders, and he didn’t make it ten yards.
I offered Billy my congratulations, and he asked me how far that shot was. I looked it over as I was pulling the Leica from my pocket and said, “About a buck and half to two hundred.” I lased it and came up with 196 to where the buck lay. Considering the down slope, the true distance would probably work out to 160yds or so.
Billy and I walked down to check out the goat, then scouted a way to get the truck closer. We took the trophy photos and Billy got a lesson in gutting out big game. At this point, we were racing a NASTY looking thunderstorm. We hurriedly carried the antelope the 75yds to the truck, went back for jackets, camera, knives, etc. and raced back to the truck. We got back to the gravel, about one minute before the first raindrops started to drum on the roof of the truck. (If you ever go to Wyoming, and you are driving on two tracks, or just across the prairie, DO NOT let it rain on you. Your vehicle will very likely be stuck, right where it is, till the mud dries enough to drive it out. The ground is mostly powdered clay, and it is incredibly sticky and slick! Keep a very close eye on the skies! You have been warned!)
The rest of this story is short and sweet, we drove to the convenience store, got some refreshments and Ice, stuffed the ice in the chest cavity, and headed across to the area where I have a doe tag. We were able to hunt a small area, just on the edge of the storm. We saw antelope, but they were either decidedly on private property, or close enough as I didn’t want to risk shooting one on the wrong side of an unmarked property line.
Game and Fish taped Billys buck at 14” and aged him at 4 years. I didn’t measure the prongs, but I’d guess they were right at 5 inches or so. That puts him right at the high side of average, for that unit. We could have spent the whole day looking for a bigger buck, and likely, we would have found one. But for a first goat, or for anyone other than a true trophy hunter for that matter, this is a very nice goat, and Billy is very pleased with him. Myself, I had more fun on this hunt, getting Billy his first ever big game animal, than I have had in a long time.
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Despite years of hunting experience, I still cannot sleep the night before a hunt. I usually toss and turn, sleeping but not resting in one hour stints till just before the alarm clock goes off. I hate alarm clocks but MAN I love hunting!
After dressing, I grabbed my coffee and the rest of my gear and walked over to the neighbor, Billy’s house, just as he was coming out to the truck. I threw in my gear and we started on the hour and a half drive to Billy’s hunt area.
We pulled off the highway onto the county road that borders the hunt area and stopped to put ammunition in the magazine of Billys rifle. We started up the road, and within 5 minutes spotted a buck antelope standing on the side of the road. We stopped and got the glasses on him and gave him a real good look. He was on the small side of average, prongs at the top of the ears, average mass, but with a nice curve to the horns that would add some length that wasn’t readily apparent at first glance. We discussed him for a couple of minutes, then decided we could probably do better. We started forward and bumped his buddy from out of a dip in the landscape. Some time on the glass with him showed him to be straighter and taller than his friend, but not any bigger. Again, we thought we could do better. After all, it was only 7 am. We drove a mile or so up the road and pulled up to a vantage point that I often use. We got out and looked into the valley below. Billy took a quick look and declared there were no antelope below. I knew better and put the glasses to my eyes. A quick sweep, and I spotted two bands of goats below. I pointed them out to Billy, and we started to pick out bucks. One or two caused me to bring out the spotter, and we decided one of them needed a closer look.
We drove down the road to a closer vantage point and put the spotter back on him. Yep, that’s the one we wanted. We grabbed our gear and bailed off the back side of the knoll out of sight of the herd. We came around the end of the knoll, where we should still have been out of sight, but ran right into the herd as it was meandering down towards the bottom of the valley. We were still over 300yds away, and busted. We backed off and moved down and in. When we were in close enough, we popped over the rise, and found…….NOTHING! The antelope had disappeared. Apparently they had changed direction and bolted after they had seen us. Looking around, we spotted another band down near the water course in the bottom. Billy and I headed for the water cut that came down from the top to use it for cover.
We reached a shallow area and took a look around. The band we had seen below us was feeding away from us, but we quickly spotted a group of 3 does and a very decent buck. I ranged them at over 400yds, but the arroyo we were in would take us much closer. We got low, sometimes even crawling, and cut the distance to 230yds. Billy wanted to cut that some more, but our arroyo had petered out. He decided to belly crawl closer. He cut ten more yards off, but had to stop his crawl, as the antelope, which had spotted us some time earlier, were starting to get a little nervous. Billy rested his 270 on a short sage bush, and promptly missed his antelope. It was his first shot at big game, and I’m betting he got a little buck fever.
We watched the band as they went up the far side of the valley and over the top, where another band of antelope met up with them, and they finally disappeared. We headed over to the spot where they had been, and checked for any sign of a hit. We found nothing. Billy and I climbed the far valley wall and found a small mesa, we had walked half way across the mesa top, and got busted by a doe antelope. We froze till she FINALLY disappeared over the far edge of the mesa. I noticed she was heading towards the end of the mesa, and would likely be circling back to right about where we had found them. We checked the valley at the far side of the mesa, saw a large band of antelope nearly two miles away, but, I decided there was a closer approach to them from the road. We reversed course, and headed back across the top of the mesa.
When we reached the edge of the mesa, I swept my binoculars across the valley and spotted the small band that we had seen before, including the buck that Billy had shot at. The band had grown by two, another doe and another buck had joined up with our original 4 antelope. The antelope were making a bee line, straight up the far side of the valley towards the road at the top. If they crossed the road, there was only a very narrow strip of BLM land on the other side, and then they would be safely on private property.
There was no way that we could out race the antelope, and also no way that we could cross the valley un-observed, so we just hiked our way across and headed for the truck. Both Billy and I assumed that the antelope had gone on up the hill and across the road, because that’s what they appeared to be doing when we last saw them. We got to the truck, drank water, ate an orange and discussed our options.
We decided to head on down the road some more till we reached the edge of the ranch ahead, then turn around and head over to another little spot that I know of that usually holds a couple bands of goats that aren’t molested too much. We headed out, spotted a truly dinky buck that was well within range, but didn’t merit any consideration whatsoever. We were traveling back down the road, looking to the far side, over towards the private land where we thought the antelope had gone, when I happened to look over to where we last saw them, when lo and behold, there were those darn antelope, right where I had last seen them. Billy stopped the truck, (bad idea!) and got his binoculars, (another bad idea. He shoulda been grabbing his rifle!) and the antelope started to trot around the hill to the right. I told Billy to pull forward, under the back side of the hill. He grabbed his rifle, bailed out of the truck, and we walked up over the brow of the hill. I crouched down and tried to keep my silloette low, Billy strode boldly to the top and said “There they are!” “Billy, get down!!!!” I said. He dropped to sitting. “There’s our buck!” I said. “Front or back?” Billy said. “Front!” Says I. “How far?” says Billy. “Close! Lay down and shoot him!” I says. Billy got prone, and whole band began to trot from right to left. The buck paused, and Billy fired, knocking the antelope two feet sideways. “He’s done, nice shot” I said. The buck tried to make a dash but the 130gr ballistic silvertip had broken both front shoulders, and he didn’t make it ten yards.
I offered Billy my congratulations, and he asked me how far that shot was. I looked it over as I was pulling the Leica from my pocket and said, “About a buck and half to two hundred.” I lased it and came up with 196 to where the buck lay. Considering the down slope, the true distance would probably work out to 160yds or so.
Billy and I walked down to check out the goat, then scouted a way to get the truck closer. We took the trophy photos and Billy got a lesson in gutting out big game. At this point, we were racing a NASTY looking thunderstorm. We hurriedly carried the antelope the 75yds to the truck, went back for jackets, camera, knives, etc. and raced back to the truck. We got back to the gravel, about one minute before the first raindrops started to drum on the roof of the truck. (If you ever go to Wyoming, and you are driving on two tracks, or just across the prairie, DO NOT let it rain on you. Your vehicle will very likely be stuck, right where it is, till the mud dries enough to drive it out. The ground is mostly powdered clay, and it is incredibly sticky and slick! Keep a very close eye on the skies! You have been warned!)
The rest of this story is short and sweet, we drove to the convenience store, got some refreshments and Ice, stuffed the ice in the chest cavity, and headed across to the area where I have a doe tag. We were able to hunt a small area, just on the edge of the storm. We saw antelope, but they were either decidedly on private property, or close enough as I didn’t want to risk shooting one on the wrong side of an unmarked property line.
Game and Fish taped Billys buck at 14” and aged him at 4 years. I didn’t measure the prongs, but I’d guess they were right at 5 inches or so. That puts him right at the high side of average, for that unit. We could have spent the whole day looking for a bigger buck, and likely, we would have found one. But for a first goat, or for anyone other than a true trophy hunter for that matter, this is a very nice goat, and Billy is very pleased with him. Myself, I had more fun on this hunt, getting Billy his first ever big game animal, than I have had in a long time.
6,786
The story was great too. Thanks for taking the time to share it with us.
I should be out there in less than a month and can hardly wait....
Good luck,
Randy
MuleyMadness, I should get out more so that I would have more to write about!
Thanks again.