airlocksniffer
Member
I drew two antelope tags this year, the first ones I've held in some time. My prior go to for goats hasn't really recovered from the winter of 2012 so I put in and drew a new area. I spent opening day chasing goats but with the only accessible ground being BMA's, I had lots of other folks to contend with. I wasn't sure I'd have time to give it another go but my awesome wife was cool with it. I headed out around 5 am and spent the 45 minutes prior to shooting light sitting in the truck as it rained. On opening day the antelope seemed to go further and further from the access points so I figured I'd hike as far as I could to hopefully find some areas where they were holed up. Within 20 minutes of hiking I saw about 8 goats about 1/2 mile away on private property. I made a mental note to come back that way in case they moved onto the BMA. I reached my destination at the far side of the BMA about 9 am, 2.5 miles from the truck. The weather was pretty unsettled, alternating between sleet, hail, rain and peeks of sun. It was also getting a bit windy, I guess gusting between 20-30 mph. With nothing spotted, I worked my way north. Not 10 minutes later I spotted 4 antelope feeding in the distance, with at least 1 buck. I found one of the only low spots and worked my way towards them. I creeped within about 200 yards, threw up my binos and found the buck staring right at me, still bedded down. I took my pack off and started to get setup and all four got up and started running. As has happened before, they ran a circle around me, eventually stopping long enough for me to range and take a shot. I had ranged 234 yards but unfortunately I had a strong crosswind and missed cleanly. They took off back towards the truck, eventually stopping about 2 miles away and started feeding. I assumed I would feel worse about missing but it was such a pretty day I had a hard time feeling bad.
I started to work my way back towards the truck and saw 5 antelope feeding east about 1 mile ahead. I wasn't sure these were the same ones I had bumped earlier. I sat and watched them for 20 minutes as they fed up and once they were out of sight, I started to move in. It started to rain/sleet/hail and forgetting my rain pants, I was starting to get wet and cold. I popped up to see if I could relocate the antelope and saw them bedded about 400 yards away. I moved back down in to the draw and moved forward. I slowly crept up to where I thought they were bedded and saw black horn tips about 100 yards directly in front of me. I back down a bit, pulled off my pack and crawled about 25 yards to get a better look. In prone position I could see the buck's head but not much else. Recalling horror stories of antelope running off with their jaw blown off, I grabbed my water bottle and stacked it on my pack for a few more inches of height. Now I had the about the head and 6 inches of the neck in my crosshairs. Figuring this was as close as I was going to get, I aimed for the neck and fired. The buck dropped immediately and the other 4 does/fawns got up, ran about 15 yards and stood broadside trying to figure out what happened. Having two tags, I picked out one of the goats and shot. This one took about 5 steps and tipped over. Two goats on the ground in the space of about 20 seconds. Score!!
I was approaching meat crisis levels at home so putting two critters down took off a lot of pressure. It turns out the "doe" I shot second was actually a little buck, probably a year old with 2 inch nubs. This classifies as an antlerless antelope so I was good to go. I was about one mile from the truck and lacking a game cart or sled and not feeling the necessity to quarter it I started dragging the buck back. I loaded up the buck and walked back out for the other critter. Not having any horns to grab onto and drag, I figured I'd give the Stone Glacier Solo a good work out and loaded the entire animal between the frame and the pack and hiked it back to the truck.
I stopped by the gas station and got some blocks of ice that I put into trash bags and put into the cavities and drove back home. My family was pretty excited to get some antelope in the freezer, which IMHO is one of if not the best eating animal. We fried up the heart and in honor of Meat Eater on Netflix, ate the nuts. My wife would dare try the balls but the kids and I ate them. Actually pretty good.
Two tags filled and six more to go. Looking forward to the elk opener this weekend.
I started to work my way back towards the truck and saw 5 antelope feeding east about 1 mile ahead. I wasn't sure these were the same ones I had bumped earlier. I sat and watched them for 20 minutes as they fed up and once they were out of sight, I started to move in. It started to rain/sleet/hail and forgetting my rain pants, I was starting to get wet and cold. I popped up to see if I could relocate the antelope and saw them bedded about 400 yards away. I moved back down in to the draw and moved forward. I slowly crept up to where I thought they were bedded and saw black horn tips about 100 yards directly in front of me. I back down a bit, pulled off my pack and crawled about 25 yards to get a better look. In prone position I could see the buck's head but not much else. Recalling horror stories of antelope running off with their jaw blown off, I grabbed my water bottle and stacked it on my pack for a few more inches of height. Now I had the about the head and 6 inches of the neck in my crosshairs. Figuring this was as close as I was going to get, I aimed for the neck and fired. The buck dropped immediately and the other 4 does/fawns got up, ran about 15 yards and stood broadside trying to figure out what happened. Having two tags, I picked out one of the goats and shot. This one took about 5 steps and tipped over. Two goats on the ground in the space of about 20 seconds. Score!!
I was approaching meat crisis levels at home so putting two critters down took off a lot of pressure. It turns out the "doe" I shot second was actually a little buck, probably a year old with 2 inch nubs. This classifies as an antlerless antelope so I was good to go. I was about one mile from the truck and lacking a game cart or sled and not feeling the necessity to quarter it I started dragging the buck back. I loaded up the buck and walked back out for the other critter. Not having any horns to grab onto and drag, I figured I'd give the Stone Glacier Solo a good work out and loaded the entire animal between the frame and the pack and hiked it back to the truck.
I stopped by the gas station and got some blocks of ice that I put into trash bags and put into the cavities and drove back home. My family was pretty excited to get some antelope in the freezer, which IMHO is one of if not the best eating animal. We fried up the heart and in honor of Meat Eater on Netflix, ate the nuts. My wife would dare try the balls but the kids and I ate them. Actually pretty good.
Two tags filled and six more to go. Looking forward to the elk opener this weekend.
