sb2017
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https://drive.google.com/open?id=1aR2qkxUvy4DiATKxZS5C7tseZ45q2TMb
Posted this in the Taxidermy thread but thought people might enjoy the story too. I drew this tag last year and made it up to WY for a week towards the end of the season. I had dreams of staying two weeks or more but work and life have a funny way of limiting time in the field. I twisted my dad?s arm and convinced him to come along since he seems to bring the animals with him wherever he goes.
This was my first time ever hunting an antelope, and it was such a fun switch up from deer and elk. By no means am I trying to downplay the challenges of antelope hunting, but I will say it was pretty fun to just drive around the little two-track roads and find what you were hunting over every little hill. We looked over countless bucks, but only one that looked to be pretty big. We chased him for two of our days there, but battled weather and visibility. It seemed like any time we were able to find him and make a plan to get closer, the wind/fog/sleet would overhear us and decide to throw a curve ball.
I had one chance for a clear shot that I passed up on. People on the site may make fun of me for it but I had the buck at 700 yards, and opted out of trying a shot because plain and simple I just didn't feel confident about making a clean shot at that distance. I decided to try and get closer, and he spooked during that approach. We spent the next day looking around for him but didn't have any luck. We decided our best option was to keep looking for other antelope rather than trying to locate that one again. Like I said, finding antelope was not an issue at all, but finding a nice one that stood out among a group of 10 or so bucks was quite a challenge. It felt like every buck I looked at besides the big one we had seen earlier looked the exact same size as the last one we looked at.
We planned on being there for a week, but we ended up calling the trip after 5 days because the weather forecast was calling for it to only get worse. We could hardly glass as it was and we were getting a little worried about the roads getting muddy and messy. We still had another weekend left of the season so we were going to just head home and try to get back for a three day weekend at the end of the season, and keep our fingers crossed that the weather would hold up.
I joked to my dad about shooting the first buck I saw on the way out, but it ended up being true. This guy was with a big group of does and they all spooked over a small ridge as we drove back out towards the main road into the unit. I had already packed all of my stuff up to head home, and the view I got of him was pretty limited but I remember thinking he looked really wide and nice. I decided taking 30 minutes to get my gear back out and walk over the little ridge to look for him was worth the chance of not having to drive 12 hours (round trip) the next weekend to try again. The way the weather was acting was making me more and more nervous about waiting for the next week.
Sure enough, as fate would have it I snuck to the edge of the little sagebrush ridge that he disappeared over and the group had stopped pretty much as soon as they were out of sight of us. An easy 200 yard shot and next thing I know I'm carrying a whole antelope over my back since I had left my knives at the truck. That's the first time in my hunting career that I've been able to carry an animal whole! Ha ha.
Overall, it was such a fun hunt and battling the weather made it more interesting. I'm thankful for the hunt and the memories that were made. I haven't measured this buck and I don't really plan to. I think his width makes him look a lot bigger than he actually is, but I don't care. He is very unique looking thanks to the width, and I couldn't be happier with him as my first buck.
Random side note, does anyone else here think it's so bizarre that antelope are common critters in North America? They are such beautiful animals, but I feel like they are something you would find in Africa instead of here. Finding them in the spotting scope had me feeling like I was out on a safari or something. Anyways, a truly special experience to hunt them with my dad. Already looking forward to my next tag.
Posted this in the Taxidermy thread but thought people might enjoy the story too. I drew this tag last year and made it up to WY for a week towards the end of the season. I had dreams of staying two weeks or more but work and life have a funny way of limiting time in the field. I twisted my dad?s arm and convinced him to come along since he seems to bring the animals with him wherever he goes.
This was my first time ever hunting an antelope, and it was such a fun switch up from deer and elk. By no means am I trying to downplay the challenges of antelope hunting, but I will say it was pretty fun to just drive around the little two-track roads and find what you were hunting over every little hill. We looked over countless bucks, but only one that looked to be pretty big. We chased him for two of our days there, but battled weather and visibility. It seemed like any time we were able to find him and make a plan to get closer, the wind/fog/sleet would overhear us and decide to throw a curve ball.
I had one chance for a clear shot that I passed up on. People on the site may make fun of me for it but I had the buck at 700 yards, and opted out of trying a shot because plain and simple I just didn't feel confident about making a clean shot at that distance. I decided to try and get closer, and he spooked during that approach. We spent the next day looking around for him but didn't have any luck. We decided our best option was to keep looking for other antelope rather than trying to locate that one again. Like I said, finding antelope was not an issue at all, but finding a nice one that stood out among a group of 10 or so bucks was quite a challenge. It felt like every buck I looked at besides the big one we had seen earlier looked the exact same size as the last one we looked at.
We planned on being there for a week, but we ended up calling the trip after 5 days because the weather forecast was calling for it to only get worse. We could hardly glass as it was and we were getting a little worried about the roads getting muddy and messy. We still had another weekend left of the season so we were going to just head home and try to get back for a three day weekend at the end of the season, and keep our fingers crossed that the weather would hold up.
I joked to my dad about shooting the first buck I saw on the way out, but it ended up being true. This guy was with a big group of does and they all spooked over a small ridge as we drove back out towards the main road into the unit. I had already packed all of my stuff up to head home, and the view I got of him was pretty limited but I remember thinking he looked really wide and nice. I decided taking 30 minutes to get my gear back out and walk over the little ridge to look for him was worth the chance of not having to drive 12 hours (round trip) the next weekend to try again. The way the weather was acting was making me more and more nervous about waiting for the next week.
Sure enough, as fate would have it I snuck to the edge of the little sagebrush ridge that he disappeared over and the group had stopped pretty much as soon as they were out of sight of us. An easy 200 yard shot and next thing I know I'm carrying a whole antelope over my back since I had left my knives at the truck. That's the first time in my hunting career that I've been able to carry an animal whole! Ha ha.
Overall, it was such a fun hunt and battling the weather made it more interesting. I'm thankful for the hunt and the memories that were made. I haven't measured this buck and I don't really plan to. I think his width makes him look a lot bigger than he actually is, but I don't care. He is very unique looking thanks to the width, and I couldn't be happier with him as my first buck.
Random side note, does anyone else here think it's so bizarre that antelope are common critters in North America? They are such beautiful animals, but I feel like they are something you would find in Africa instead of here. Finding them in the spotting scope had me feeling like I was out on a safari or something. Anyways, a truly special experience to hunt them with my dad. Already looking forward to my next tag.
