Moosie
Grand poopa
OK, so it's not a Booner... but still one heck of a Trophy picture day for me.
My son O-Town drew a Doe/Fawn Antelope tag. The day started out right fo' sho' with a quick trip to McDonalds at 5:30 AM.
Then we topped off the Truck and drove a few hours across the state. We met up with a college buddy that lived in the area and has a lot of experience hunting that area with youth.
After we picked him up we started the drive out and Quail flew accross the road. We decided to go chase them. I mean, whats a little detour when hunting..... to go hunt something else !! With Osc' not having a lot of wing shooting time under his belt he couldn't get close to those little Road runners as they ran through the Sage brush. After chasing the split covey far enough we walked back to the truck. A Jack rabbit jumped out and unfortunately I was between O-Town and the Bunny so it lived to see another day. I did want to take the gun at several points just to get some birds for a picture but it was his day. And even had I taken the gun there might still be no birds for the picture unfortunately....
Driving out to the area on a dirt road I saw something. I backed up and saw that it was a 'Yote. I'm guessing he played that game before because when I hit reverse it disapeared in the sage like a Houdini vanishing act. As the day progressed we were to see 2 more Yotes playing the same runnning game.
We saw some 'Lopes on a side hill and layed out a plan from the road. Unfortunately there was a truck parked and 3 people walking out to them already. Athough the road went around and we could have closed the gap and got into place well before them, we showed some sportsman ship and moved on. Hopefully they didn't blow their stalk.
Around noon we got out to the "Never let me down in all my years of hunting 'Lopes" spot. Sure... I've heard that before. The ol' SECRET spot. OOOOHHHHHHH AAAhhhhhhh ...
So we climbed a little ridge and right off the Batt ol' BearMan (from the forums) spotted some lopes. Then another group. Sure as heck he was right !!! We had 2 shots at 2 groups if we needed .
A truck was driving the road from the other direction but the 'lopes were in spots that you couldn't see without getting out and hiking. So we let the Truck go by and started the game plan.... You have to love taking the extra 5 minutes of hiking up a hill to see over to the next valley away from the road.
When we closed the gap to about 230 yards we were pinned. There was open between us and there was a few Doe's that had already bedded down. The shooting sticks didn't make it over the sage and for a 13 year old to poke that type of distance needed a good rest. Heck, I would need a good rest and a wing and a prayer.
Here was the view from behind the shooter. From the time we snuck up till everything went down was almost 45 mins. We snuck from a back buch to a closer buch and waited for the Doe's to stand up and move around.
Me, always forgetting something had forgotten the Good camera. So All I had was the Cell phone. I zoomed all the way in and put it up to the Swarov's Bino's and got a picturte of the 'Lopes.
In the group..... there was a NICE Buck. Unfortunately My boy didn't have a Buck tag so we jsut got to watch it. This sucker was WIDE and tall and had crooked horns. It would have made even someone as Cranky as Big Fin smile ....
The Buck went over the hill and the Young buck (less than 3" horns) stood up and Oscar asked if he could shoot. I said when you are ready go ahead..... Now..... Last year was his first year hunting. It took over 5 mins at 40 yards for him to pull the trigger on a deer. I expected at 220 he'd take a bit and be nervouse but after shooting the Mtn Lion last winter and some time at the range to build up his confidence, it took about 6-8 seconds for him to get a bead on the 'Lope and BANG !!!!
And we looked on.....
And looked on......
I was pretty sure I saw the Lope go down but we didn't want to spook the others out just in case. After the shot the Buck come barrleing over the hill back to us and met with the other Doe's.
After a couple mins I stood up and got a better look and could see the little 'Lope in the sage. We walked over to the spot and I was amaised it went down in one shot.
I admitted to my son I thought he was going to miss..... He admitted he never thought he was gunna hit it either but gave it his best.
FETCHING STOKED is all I have to say.
Driving out we were delayed about 20 mins with the Cowboys moving cattle right down the road. I'm unsed to city driving and it was jsut like morning traffic so we had nothing to do but wait.
Bt we finally made it out and took the LONG drive home. Although the hiking was cake I have to admit, the day was long still. A great ending to the day as I look in the back seat and see my son sleeping....
The day couldn't have gotten any better !!!
My son O-Town drew a Doe/Fawn Antelope tag. The day started out right fo' sho' with a quick trip to McDonalds at 5:30 AM.
Then we topped off the Truck and drove a few hours across the state. We met up with a college buddy that lived in the area and has a lot of experience hunting that area with youth.
After we picked him up we started the drive out and Quail flew accross the road. We decided to go chase them. I mean, whats a little detour when hunting..... to go hunt something else !! With Osc' not having a lot of wing shooting time under his belt he couldn't get close to those little Road runners as they ran through the Sage brush. After chasing the split covey far enough we walked back to the truck. A Jack rabbit jumped out and unfortunately I was between O-Town and the Bunny so it lived to see another day. I did want to take the gun at several points just to get some birds for a picture but it was his day. And even had I taken the gun there might still be no birds for the picture unfortunately....
Driving out to the area on a dirt road I saw something. I backed up and saw that it was a 'Yote. I'm guessing he played that game before because when I hit reverse it disapeared in the sage like a Houdini vanishing act. As the day progressed we were to see 2 more Yotes playing the same runnning game.
We saw some 'Lopes on a side hill and layed out a plan from the road. Unfortunately there was a truck parked and 3 people walking out to them already. Athough the road went around and we could have closed the gap and got into place well before them, we showed some sportsman ship and moved on. Hopefully they didn't blow their stalk.
Around noon we got out to the "Never let me down in all my years of hunting 'Lopes" spot. Sure... I've heard that before. The ol' SECRET spot. OOOOHHHHHHH AAAhhhhhhh ...
So we climbed a little ridge and right off the Batt ol' BearMan (from the forums) spotted some lopes. Then another group. Sure as heck he was right !!! We had 2 shots at 2 groups if we needed .
A truck was driving the road from the other direction but the 'lopes were in spots that you couldn't see without getting out and hiking. So we let the Truck go by and started the game plan.... You have to love taking the extra 5 minutes of hiking up a hill to see over to the next valley away from the road.
When we closed the gap to about 230 yards we were pinned. There was open between us and there was a few Doe's that had already bedded down. The shooting sticks didn't make it over the sage and for a 13 year old to poke that type of distance needed a good rest. Heck, I would need a good rest and a wing and a prayer.
Here was the view from behind the shooter. From the time we snuck up till everything went down was almost 45 mins. We snuck from a back buch to a closer buch and waited for the Doe's to stand up and move around.
Me, always forgetting something had forgotten the Good camera. So All I had was the Cell phone. I zoomed all the way in and put it up to the Swarov's Bino's and got a picturte of the 'Lopes.
In the group..... there was a NICE Buck. Unfortunately My boy didn't have a Buck tag so we jsut got to watch it. This sucker was WIDE and tall and had crooked horns. It would have made even someone as Cranky as Big Fin smile ....
The Buck went over the hill and the Young buck (less than 3" horns) stood up and Oscar asked if he could shoot. I said when you are ready go ahead..... Now..... Last year was his first year hunting. It took over 5 mins at 40 yards for him to pull the trigger on a deer. I expected at 220 he'd take a bit and be nervouse but after shooting the Mtn Lion last winter and some time at the range to build up his confidence, it took about 6-8 seconds for him to get a bead on the 'Lope and BANG !!!!
And we looked on.....
And looked on......
I was pretty sure I saw the Lope go down but we didn't want to spook the others out just in case. After the shot the Buck come barrleing over the hill back to us and met with the other Doe's.
After a couple mins I stood up and got a better look and could see the little 'Lope in the sage. We walked over to the spot and I was amaised it went down in one shot.
I admitted to my son I thought he was going to miss..... He admitted he never thought he was gunna hit it either but gave it his best.
FETCHING STOKED is all I have to say.
Driving out we were delayed about 20 mins with the Cowboys moving cattle right down the road. I'm unsed to city driving and it was jsut like morning traffic so we had nothing to do but wait.
Bt we finally made it out and took the LONG drive home. Although the hiking was cake I have to admit, the day was long still. A great ending to the day as I look in the back seat and see my son sleeping....
The day couldn't have gotten any better !!!
