Idaho Rabbit down... Antelope too..

[IdahoBugler]

I wanted to post a little something about my little man before I got to my boring stuff. I'll get to my part of the story later. Ever since last year we have been practicing shooting his single shot .22. He was getting better everytime we went out shooting. After blowing up a few hundred water bottles I felt he was ready for a real hunt.

Last year we tried unsuccessfully to take a rabbit but it just never happened. This year he was determined to get it done. We went for a little scouting/rabbit hunting trip. We headed out to the unknown and about 2 hours into our trip we finally saw what we were after. A beautiful representative of the long eared variety. He was about 30 yards out and broad side. He steadied for the shot and missed him 4 times. |oo He was shattered and after he finally bounded off he broke down and cried. I had to teach him the part of how this is normal and that these will not be his last tears on a miss. Anyway I was really determined to find him one so we headed out again. Less then 10 minutes later we got a break. One jumps up and stops about 15 yards just under a juniper. He tries an off hand shot and misses him. Oh no not again, but luckily he stops and gives him a broadside shot at 20 yards. My quick thinking wife leans over and tells my son to use her back as a rest. He steadied for the shot and smoked him. My son comes unglued yelling and jumping around he was so stoked and I couldn't have been more proud of him. He had the biggest grin on his face the rest of the night and until he finally closed his eyes for bed. Here are a couple of hero shots.

A picture with his proud old man.

Telling me where I need to shot them to drop them in there tracks.

I was content on leaving the rabbit there after the pics but he had nothing to do with that. He grabbed it and threw it on the 4 wheeler and said that he wanted it mounted. So I took care of it and just got done caping him for a rug mount.

 

[IdahoBugler]

Now to my part of the story. With so much going on I wasn't sure how much antelope hunting I was going to do. I put up a trail cam on the watering hole that captain hook hung out at too see if anything was coming in. I went and checked it the day before the opener and no antelope had hit the water for over a week. I bagged opening day and finally decided to go up this last weekend with the family. Kind of a hunting/camping weekend with the fam. We hiked into the watering hole and glassed to see if we could find any antelope, nothing. I pulled the memory card and I left a little disappointed. We headed back to camp and started doing the normal camping routine, fire, hotdogs, marshmellows, etc... About 10:00pm I decided I better look to see if anything was on the memory card. Plugged it into my camera and boom from the day I left it, there were antelope pics every day. Sorry I had to blurr out some of the pic to save the inoccent.

A monster doe and a non-tyipical.

It wasn't hook but a decent 12" buck with about 9 does. Not being picky because of the short time I decided I was going in to take him if he showed up. I huried and readed my stuff for the morning sit. Woke up at 4:45 to give me ample time to setup and wait.
The first two hours were pretty slow except for a bunch of quail coming to water.

At 8:30 I looked up and saw a pretty nice loner buck running the ridge about 150 yards out. I grabbed the bow and got ready. He stayed his course and never came in. Just kept running along the ridge until he was gone. I was bummed because I knew he was better then the buck on the trail cam. It started getting hot and I told my wife that I would be back at camp around 11:00 so I texted her and asked if I could stay until 12:00 since I just saw the buck. It was ok'ed and I waited. About 10:30 just after I started my Primos elk video I looked up and saw a buck under a juniper tree staring down the water. He bolted towards it and I threw my stuff down and got ready for the shot. He came in on a line and walked in front of me (15 yards) but learning from last year I waited until his head was down watering. It was a bad angle, quartering too me and neck down. I went to full draw and decided to take the shot just in the crease between his neck and shoulder. The release was good and so was the arrow. It didn't get great penetration but I knew it was good enough to do the job. He took off like a bullet and I flew out of my blind to see where he went. Just as I got out, I saw him falter 80 yards away and go down. I dropped all my crap and headed up the mountain to get the rest of the family to help with the tracking job. When we got back to the blind I wanted to share a few things with my son about the shot and how it all played out from the blind. We started the tracking job but since we could see the antelope he didn't understand why we were tracking him. About 40 yards into my tracking job I let him take off to see the prize. I really didn't know how good he was until I walked up on him. I was plesently surprised even though he was broken.

I'll wait and post the score later to let you guys give a guess on what he will score.

P.S. When I started hacking away on the goat I found out that I had blown through the shoulder knuckle and a rib. When he took off he broke the arrow and when I went in to retrieve the rest of the arrow, I found the broadhead in the middle of his heart. I guess with him squating down to drink, it brought his shoulder a little farther forward then I expected. The Magnus Stingers performed well and I couldn't be happier with the performance.

 

[bobcatbess]

THATS NICE!!!

BUT I WAS WONDERING IF YOU HAVE ANY MORE FIELD/SHOOTING PHOTO'S OF MS BUGLER???

NICE GOAT!!!

AND TELL THE BOY WAY TO GO ON HIS TROPHY!!!

THIS IS MY NEW GUN,YOU MAY NOT LIKE IT,YOU'LL LIKE IT A HELL OF A LOT LESS WHEN IT HITS ITS DESTINATION!!!

THE ONLY bobcat THAT KNOWS ALOT OF YOU HAVE HAD THIS IMAGE IN YOUR PEA BRAIN BUT DUE TO POOR SHOOTING TACTICS I'M STILL KICKIN!!!

 

[OmegaMan]

Awesome stories! Congrats on the successful weekend for you and the family.

 

[Flatlandr]

Great stories & photos, thanks for sharing.

 

[skyline_driver]

Good goat! With the rabbit and the antelope that will make probably the world record jackalope mount!!

 

[supersider34]

Tell your son congrats on a B&C rabbitt. Looks like he was pretty stoked on the rabbitt. Say one thing never mistake who's son he is.LOL Looks just like you.

Awesome goat also. Gotta love the unexpected hunts. WTG.

 

[slamdunk]

Pretty sweet pictures and memories there bugler!

But shooting in your underwear???......Might just help ya concentrate, who knows??? Lol

Congrats on the archery speed goat, very well done!!

 

[TripleK]

LOL How cute is this? LOVE IT! Very cool. Nice shootin', lil' man. "Dead Rabbit High Five!"

IF not for the blonde hair and lighter skin tone, that kid could be your twin. He is your blonde mini-me. What a cutie!

Very cool post, bugler!
Jenn

 

[browtine]

Big time congrats Bryce!!! Your teaching the boy well too! He put a hell of a shot on that critter.

Later, Brandon

 

[SneakAttack]

Get some pants on that boy! Nice job on the bunny! Sweet goat.

I hear you on the Stingers...those things are wicked.

 

[alpinebowman]

Great story man. What a great way to start a season. I would be tickled pink with that goat also. He looks to be about 15" on one side and about 14 on the other I would put him at about 74" total. What a great goat congrats again.

alpinebowman

>>>---shots that are true pass right through--->

National guard archery staff shooter

 

[Coyote_chaser]

Bugler, what unit were you hunting?

 

[redelkarcher]

Great post man.... Thanks for sharing and congrats on a great goat.
redelkarcher>>>-------------->

 

[TheGreatWhiteHunter]

Good post and nice buck.


THE LORD IS MY ROCK
COLORADO,USA
NRA LIFE MEMBER
HUNTING PASS IT ON

 

[stanley]

The best is the pic of Jr. target shooting in his "Cars" briefs!!! Gotta love the kids (seriously!!)!!!

Awesome buck, and all the better to share it with the family!!!

S.

 

[jagrmystr]

Awesome post, thanks for sharing. Tell the kid good job.

 

[Tuffbucker]

IB,

Good job on the speed goat....and tell the boy congrats on the rabbit.

TUFF

 

[AZbowhntr]

Moosie must be rubbing off on your son. No hand stands yet though. Nice antelope and congrats to your son.

 

[NDBadlandsbucks]

This is probably one of the better posts I've seen. That first picture of Jr. shooting in his Lightning McQueen skivvies is CLASSIC. Sounds like a great hunt for both of you, but I'll bet you remember the rabbit hunt better though. Nice goat even though he's broken I'd be very pleased with him - I'd put him about 75".

Keep the Sun at Your Back and the Wind in Your Face

 

[BreederBuck]

Congrtats to both the mighty hunters, Thats one heck of a rabbit............

 

[falloutwest]

Coyote, don't worry about what unit it was. That is a cattle trough those pictures were taken over. You know you want nothing to do with that.

 

[Coyote_chaser]

I know its sad to watch public resources go to private enterprise. And then at the same time cost the public millions of dollars! How much welfare subsidies did your family milk out of the taxpayers last year? Just curious. I might buy a few cows so I can lower my tax bracket.

Of course I want to shoot an antelope over a welfare trough. Why not Fallout? Hell I helped pay for it might as well get some use out of it right!

 

[IdahoBugler]

I must have missed the earlier post from Coyote_chaser. I shot this lope in the Owyhee's. It is a trough but I have never seen a cow on it in the last 4 years. If you guys were implying that I was on private property you are dead wrong. Anyone can hunt it and a lot of people do.

IB

 

[Coyote_chaser]

No me and Fallout dont really see eye to eye on public land grazing. I wont hijack your post though. Great goat, I am headed up there in the next couple weeks with my rifle.

 

[3blade]

Thats Awesome!! I hope to get my daughter out this winter and hunting next yr. I am sure you'll remember this hunt better than he will in the yrs to come. Nice goat too!

 

[Roy]

Great post! That is a good goat and it is good to see you are teaching him early!

Oh - what look was he going for in that first pic - kind of early 18th century Native American? Too funny!

I wish I could get away with hanging around camp in nothing but Lightning McQueen underwear too!

UTROY
Proverbs 21:19 (why I hunt!)

 

[falloutwest]

IdahoBugler, great goat by the way. I was not implying that you were on public land, just trying to make a point. Coyote hates ranchers, and grazing, and everything about cows, plus he has a 42 loper tag. He is too ignorant to realize that antelope wouldn't be half of what they are in the Owyhee's if it wasn't for a lot of the stock ponds and troughs out there that provide water up on the flats. He and I have been going at it for awhile, hence my post. Keep your boy's interests into hunting sparked and he will enjoy it the rest of his life. I remeber my first rabbit........