Hello all,
I got drawn for non trophy antelope this year and went out for my three day season last Thursday.
I left home at about 4:00 am as it is about a 3.5 hour drive to the area that I got drawn for. A friend of mine who had hunted antelope several times before was going to come with me but was unable to make the trip so I went by myself. As I reached the area and was looking for a good spot I noticed one antelope in the middle of a cattle pasture along the highway. Pulling out the spotting scope I verify that is is a doe which is perfect for my non trophy tag. At this point I'm thinking I will be home before supper!! I stop in at a farmer's house to see if he can tell me who's land it is so i can get permission. He gives me the names and numbers of all his neighbors so after a couple of calls I have permission on all surroundiong land. I'm good to go now.
Once I spot the same doe again I start to figure out a way to get closer and go for a bit of a walk to get the lay of the land. When I return to my truck there are 3 nice bucks 50 yards from my truck standing there looking at me while I'm thinking son-of-a-@#$%# If only I had the trophy tag. At the same time another truck pulls up and this other hunter comes out, also with a non trphy tag so we both lagh at the circumstance as we watch the three beauty bucks walk away.
I start in on my stalk soon after, what an experience. The land was so flat that I ended up doing a belly crawl for nearly a mile across the prairie with only the 6-8 inch high grass for cover. After about 3.5 hours of crawling I get to with 200 yards but at this point the grass gets to thick to see through properly and I cannot get a clear shot. I decide to try get closer as I could see that the grass got thinner again further along. When I got to the thinner grass where I had a clear shot the doe was laying down so I figured i would just wait until she stood for the shot. I was as calm as could be then she stood up, I looked through the scope and she started walking and instead of taking my time I rushed, jerked the shot and missed. I was so frickin' mad at myself. She took off like nothing you never seen before :lol: As I walked back to my truck I was purely disgusted with myself for having the patience to complete a nearly 4 hour stalk and the screw it up by rushing the last fraction of a second.
Nonetheless by this time I was tired and hungry. I spotted some other animals, mostly bucks again and set up my camp for the night.
The next day found me seeing the same doe in the same field but she was on high alert now. Not much of a chance on her. The morning was quite uneventful as I only spotted a few animals, again bucks. Always when you have the wrong type of tag. Anyways, As i was making my lunch I noticed some spots in the field over a mile away. I set up the spotting scope on the roof of my silverado sat down on my cooler and tried to see what exactly was there. What I seen was a herd of about 15 animals all grazing away. On the far side of the herd I noticed one doe looking at something to my right. Gazing over in that direction I see three more animals, all does, also about a mile away. Perfect is what I'm thinking at this point as there is train tracks that go along side of the field they are in and I can stay behind them nearly all the way to them. That is exactly what I did untill I was even with them. As I crawled up the bank of the train tracks I could tell that I could have a clear shot from there although i did not think that my barrel was clear of the second rail as I was trying to aim. I carefully rolled into the space between the tracks and took a solid rest on the rail. That is better than a bench that is for sure. I found the largest doe in my scope and touched off the shot making sure to not make the same mistake as the day before. At the shot the antelope reared straight up and then fell straight down and did not move again.
I was very happy with the mature female antelpoe that I was able to take. The tenderloins were simply amazing on the barbeque and i can hardly wait to get the rest back form the packers.
I was able to laser range the distance from where she lay back to the tracks were I shot from and it was 241 yards. I was using my 710 (I know, Iknow) .30-06 with the 180 grain accubonds. I know it is a bit much for antelpoe but I know where it shoots and I am very confident with that combination. It did wreck the exit side shoulder but it certainly anchored her on the spot.
All in all it was a very enjoyable and succesful first antelope hunt for me, and I will certainly be applying for future draws. I've got pictures but my pack camera is not digital and I have to finish the film and develop them first. Hope you all enjoyed the story as much as I enjoyed the experience.
Shane
I got drawn for non trophy antelope this year and went out for my three day season last Thursday.
I left home at about 4:00 am as it is about a 3.5 hour drive to the area that I got drawn for. A friend of mine who had hunted antelope several times before was going to come with me but was unable to make the trip so I went by myself. As I reached the area and was looking for a good spot I noticed one antelope in the middle of a cattle pasture along the highway. Pulling out the spotting scope I verify that is is a doe which is perfect for my non trophy tag. At this point I'm thinking I will be home before supper!! I stop in at a farmer's house to see if he can tell me who's land it is so i can get permission. He gives me the names and numbers of all his neighbors so after a couple of calls I have permission on all surroundiong land. I'm good to go now.
Once I spot the same doe again I start to figure out a way to get closer and go for a bit of a walk to get the lay of the land. When I return to my truck there are 3 nice bucks 50 yards from my truck standing there looking at me while I'm thinking son-of-a-@#$%# If only I had the trophy tag. At the same time another truck pulls up and this other hunter comes out, also with a non trphy tag so we both lagh at the circumstance as we watch the three beauty bucks walk away.
I start in on my stalk soon after, what an experience. The land was so flat that I ended up doing a belly crawl for nearly a mile across the prairie with only the 6-8 inch high grass for cover. After about 3.5 hours of crawling I get to with 200 yards but at this point the grass gets to thick to see through properly and I cannot get a clear shot. I decide to try get closer as I could see that the grass got thinner again further along. When I got to the thinner grass where I had a clear shot the doe was laying down so I figured i would just wait until she stood for the shot. I was as calm as could be then she stood up, I looked through the scope and she started walking and instead of taking my time I rushed, jerked the shot and missed. I was so frickin' mad at myself. She took off like nothing you never seen before :lol: As I walked back to my truck I was purely disgusted with myself for having the patience to complete a nearly 4 hour stalk and the screw it up by rushing the last fraction of a second.
Nonetheless by this time I was tired and hungry. I spotted some other animals, mostly bucks again and set up my camp for the night.
The next day found me seeing the same doe in the same field but she was on high alert now. Not much of a chance on her. The morning was quite uneventful as I only spotted a few animals, again bucks. Always when you have the wrong type of tag. Anyways, As i was making my lunch I noticed some spots in the field over a mile away. I set up the spotting scope on the roof of my silverado sat down on my cooler and tried to see what exactly was there. What I seen was a herd of about 15 animals all grazing away. On the far side of the herd I noticed one doe looking at something to my right. Gazing over in that direction I see three more animals, all does, also about a mile away. Perfect is what I'm thinking at this point as there is train tracks that go along side of the field they are in and I can stay behind them nearly all the way to them. That is exactly what I did untill I was even with them. As I crawled up the bank of the train tracks I could tell that I could have a clear shot from there although i did not think that my barrel was clear of the second rail as I was trying to aim. I carefully rolled into the space between the tracks and took a solid rest on the rail. That is better than a bench that is for sure. I found the largest doe in my scope and touched off the shot making sure to not make the same mistake as the day before. At the shot the antelope reared straight up and then fell straight down and did not move again.
I was very happy with the mature female antelpoe that I was able to take. The tenderloins were simply amazing on the barbeque and i can hardly wait to get the rest back form the packers.
I was able to laser range the distance from where she lay back to the tracks were I shot from and it was 241 yards. I was using my 710 (I know, Iknow) .30-06 with the 180 grain accubonds. I know it is a bit much for antelpoe but I know where it shoots and I am very confident with that combination. It did wreck the exit side shoulder but it certainly anchored her on the spot.
All in all it was a very enjoyable and succesful first antelope hunt for me, and I will certainly be applying for future draws. I've got pictures but my pack camera is not digital and I have to finish the film and develop them first. Hope you all enjoyed the story as much as I enjoyed the experience.
Shane
