exponentialpi
Active member
This year, my father, brother and I put in for Eastern Montana antelope tags as a party. Reaading all the news articles about cutting tags and population counts down had me nervous for most of the summer. A number of buddies didn't draw or drew a doe only tag, so I felt fortunate the 3 of us were able to draw for the area we did.
This is my second antelope hunt and the first one where we traveled some distance to find suitable game. We headed out Friday before opening to cover the ground towards the walk in BMA we intended to hunt.
Saturday morning came bright and early, with us all out the door well before light. The morning was cool and crisp, with no wind following the storm that moved through on Friday. We got to the first area right and shooting light and didn't see much going on. A number of hunters were present and figured more would be arriving as the day wore on. We moved onto the second parcel to hunt and finally spotted some goats. Two different sets of hunters were after the bunch and as we watched, the lone buck and all the does took off before anyone could get a shot off. We moved to the other end of the property and were unable to locate them. As we waited and glassed, another hunter moved down over some hills and set up for a shot. The antelope once again took off and we heard shots but never saw anything go down.
Given the high pressure, we headed back to the first parcel and located some antelope bedded down. As we were making a plan of attack for stalk, a number of other parties arrived, all with the same intention. We decided to flank around behind the herd and hope the other hunters would push them towards us. Once we were able to crest the hill and be in position, we started glassing, but no antelope were to be found. Everyone else was heading back to their vehicles, so we figured they pushed ahead of us. We sat glassing and then saw a decent buck running through the grass. He grabbed everyone's attention and the race was on. I sat back and glassed, watching the old buck dodge hunter after hunter. He crested a small hill and turned into a ghost.
Deciding it was about lunch time, we headed back to the truck. As we were walking, I spotted a lone buck moving towards us. He got to about 300 yards and then moved off into a ravine. We moved over the edge of the hill we were on and I saw him walking at about 300 yards out. My dad handed me the shooting sticks, I lined up and when it was all over, he was down. He is not my biggest buck, but it was the only one we saw in shooting distance during the hunter numbers.
We dragged him back to the truck, with a large dose of help from my dad and brother. We got him loaded, did some more hunting, and then headed back to town for the evening.
We went back out Sunday but didn't see anything worth chasing after, so we headed back home. There is still plenty of the season, leaving my dad and brother time to fill their tags and possibly double up with some deer.
This is my second antelope hunt and the first one where we traveled some distance to find suitable game. We headed out Friday before opening to cover the ground towards the walk in BMA we intended to hunt.
Saturday morning came bright and early, with us all out the door well before light. The morning was cool and crisp, with no wind following the storm that moved through on Friday. We got to the first area right and shooting light and didn't see much going on. A number of hunters were present and figured more would be arriving as the day wore on. We moved onto the second parcel to hunt and finally spotted some goats. Two different sets of hunters were after the bunch and as we watched, the lone buck and all the does took off before anyone could get a shot off. We moved to the other end of the property and were unable to locate them. As we waited and glassed, another hunter moved down over some hills and set up for a shot. The antelope once again took off and we heard shots but never saw anything go down.
Given the high pressure, we headed back to the first parcel and located some antelope bedded down. As we were making a plan of attack for stalk, a number of other parties arrived, all with the same intention. We decided to flank around behind the herd and hope the other hunters would push them towards us. Once we were able to crest the hill and be in position, we started glassing, but no antelope were to be found. Everyone else was heading back to their vehicles, so we figured they pushed ahead of us. We sat glassing and then saw a decent buck running through the grass. He grabbed everyone's attention and the race was on. I sat back and glassed, watching the old buck dodge hunter after hunter. He crested a small hill and turned into a ghost.
Deciding it was about lunch time, we headed back to the truck. As we were walking, I spotted a lone buck moving towards us. He got to about 300 yards and then moved off into a ravine. We moved over the edge of the hill we were on and I saw him walking at about 300 yards out. My dad handed me the shooting sticks, I lined up and when it was all over, he was down. He is not my biggest buck, but it was the only one we saw in shooting distance during the hunter numbers.
We dragged him back to the truck, with a large dose of help from my dad and brother. We got him loaded, did some more hunting, and then headed back to town for the evening.
We went back out Sunday but didn't see anything worth chasing after, so we headed back home. There is still plenty of the season, leaving my dad and brother time to fill their tags and possibly double up with some deer.
