NV antelope, elk and deer
Mark
8/24/08 9:05am
Our 08 archery season has ended with 3 out of 3 tags filled.
Our first hunt was for my youngest son's antelope in the desert country in north western NV. We hunted 3 weekends in a row in extreme temperatures. On opening morning, 1 hour into the hunt, a nice mid 80" buck was 12 yards behind the blind. We got the shooting window situated and when Derek turned to make the shot he sat his stool down on a water bottle! No shot there. We had a few other close calls but the bucks just never presented a good shot angle.
On the 6th and last day of the hunt (August 17) this buck gave Derek a 20 yard broadside shot and he made a perfect shot. This buck ran less than 75 yards and went down. I've got some video footage taken from a blind 300 yards away that I'll try to post at another time.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v602/mjones7300/antelope2.jpg " alt="" />
Two days later we found ourselves in the high country of north eastern NV for deer and cow elk. Derek had the deer tag and the cow tag was mine.
On the second day of the hunt, after finding no elk in the lower elevations, I hiked 4 miles up a canyon and over a high ridge to an elevation of 10,700 feet. I immediately found elk. Unfortunately, they were all 100 yards downwind from me. I blew out 14 cows and a few spike bulls, along with several calves.
I started stalking upwind to another location where I have seen elk the past 4 years and sure enough, there were cows bedded there again. I stalked to within 40 yards when this cow stood up. She had no idea I was there and my arrow went where I wanted it to go. She went 50 yards and piled up. I called my boys on the radio and they hiked up and helped me get her off the mountain. After 7 hours of hard work we had her off the mountain into camp.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v602/mjones7300/cow1.jpg " alt="" />
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v602/mjones7300/cow2.jpg " alt="" />
Derek had several good stalks on some incredible bucks but couldn't quite close the deal. He got within 40 yards of a nice 5X4 but didn't have a clear shot. A smaller buck busted him and off they went. We've got some excellent video of that stalk. Again, I'll post that when I get a chance to edit the footage.
On the last day, with only 20 minutes of shooting light remaining, this doe walked past us and Derek made another good shot. She was quartering away uphill and he came in about 6" in front of the hindquarter and out through the vitals. She tipped over after about a 40 yard run. Done. Three tags, 3 animals!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v602/mjones7300/dereksdoe.jpg " alt="" />
Elk/Deer camp 2008...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v602/mjones7300/elkanddeercamp08.jpg " alt="" />
A little time to fish...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v602/mjones7300/fishing.jpg " alt="" />
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v602/mjones7300/wildtrout.jpg " alt="" />
Our first hunt was for my youngest son's antelope in the desert country in north western NV. We hunted 3 weekends in a row in extreme temperatures. On opening morning, 1 hour into the hunt, a nice mid 80" buck was 12 yards behind the blind. We got the shooting window situated and when Derek turned to make the shot he sat his stool down on a water bottle! No shot there. We had a few other close calls but the bucks just never presented a good shot angle.
On the 6th and last day of the hunt (August 17) this buck gave Derek a 20 yard broadside shot and he made a perfect shot. This buck ran less than 75 yards and went down. I've got some video footage taken from a blind 300 yards away that I'll try to post at another time.
Two days later we found ourselves in the high country of north eastern NV for deer and cow elk. Derek had the deer tag and the cow tag was mine.
On the second day of the hunt, after finding no elk in the lower elevations, I hiked 4 miles up a canyon and over a high ridge to an elevation of 10,700 feet. I immediately found elk. Unfortunately, they were all 100 yards downwind from me. I blew out 14 cows and a few spike bulls, along with several calves.
I started stalking upwind to another location where I have seen elk the past 4 years and sure enough, there were cows bedded there again. I stalked to within 40 yards when this cow stood up. She had no idea I was there and my arrow went where I wanted it to go. She went 50 yards and piled up. I called my boys on the radio and they hiked up and helped me get her off the mountain. After 7 hours of hard work we had her off the mountain into camp.
Derek had several good stalks on some incredible bucks but couldn't quite close the deal. He got within 40 yards of a nice 5X4 but didn't have a clear shot. A smaller buck busted him and off they went. We've got some excellent video of that stalk. Again, I'll post that when I get a chance to edit the footage.
On the last day, with only 20 minutes of shooting light remaining, this doe walked past us and Derek made another good shot. She was quartering away uphill and he came in about 6" in front of the hindquarter and out through the vitals. She tipped over after about a 40 yard run. Done. Three tags, 3 animals!
Elk/Deer camp 2008...
A little time to fish...
3,214
This was my 14 yr old son's 2nd year hunting with a bow. So far he's shot at 3 animals and killed all 3 of them cleanly. He's feeling pretty good about 2 kills in less than a week.
He really wanted to kill a big buck this year, but we ran out of time. I felt kinda bad about taking up a day and a half of his hunting time with my elk. We spent a day getting her off the mountain and a half day running for ice.
All said and done, he really isn't that concerned about antlers. The antelope is going on the wall and he's good with that.