SDBugler
New member
We had a great time on this hunt. My 15 year old son Spencer and I both had tags, and my 17 year old son Braden came along to help with spotting and dragging.
Saturday morning we set on a fence crossing well before shooting time. We were sitting near a couple small bushes about 180 yards off the fence line. At sunrise a guide and his hunter came walking down the fence line from the road. I stood up so they could see that we were set up in that location. The hunter saw me stand up and pointed me out to the guide. They continued walking toward us and they set up 25 yards off the same crossing that we were already set up on. I walked over to where my sons were sitting to make sure they saw the other hunters and to make sure they didn’t shoot in their direction. They had seen the other two guys and were pretty upset. I told them it’s public land and nothing we could do so let’s just make the best of the situation, wait it out, and see what happens. Although I know which outfitter they were associated with (because we later saw their marked truck parked on the highway) I won’t mention their name on here because I don’t want this to become an outfitter/guide bashing issue.
Right away, a 14” buck came within 40 yards of my location and I passed him up. That ended up being the only goat that came within range of us that morning. Several herds came down the opposite side of the fence line from the west but wouldn’t come all the way down to where we were. They would stop, turn around and head back in the direction that they came looking for another place to cross. I don’t know if they saw the other hunters hunkered down near the crossing location. Many of the does crossed at a small opening we had found earlier about a ¼ down the fence line, but the bigger bucks wouldn’t go through it since the opening was so small. We also saw several herds to the north of us including some real nice bucks. We watched some other hunters working those herds but the goats ended up running off away from us. Around noon, Spencer saw a herd of 20 goats coming toward us from the NE about a mile away with a couple hunters following far behind them. The herd went out of sight in a low area and we didn’t see them come out. I told Spencer to stay put in case they appeared again and I would circle around to the side to see if I could either locate them or get into a position if the other hunters spooked them. While circling around them I saw half the herd feed out of the low area and head to the north away from us. The other two hunters turned around and headed back to their truck. Knowing that some of the herd was still in the low area, I kept slowly searching for them. A few minutes later I found the rest of the heard bedded in the low area including a 14” buck. Since this was Spencer’s first antelope hunt, he wasn’t too concerned about holding out for a trophy and said he would shoot any decent buck over 14”. So I motioned for Spencer to come join up with me to see if we could get him a shot. We got to within 205 yards of the bedded buck before they saw something and the herd got up. As Spencer was setting up for the shot the herd took off. I told Spencer to wait as the herd would likely stop before going over the hill. Sure enough they stopped and Spencer took the shot. Unfortunately his shot was just under the chest of the buck.
Here are a couple of pictures that Braden took of us through the spotting scope. The buck looks a LOT closer in the picture than he really was. The picture quality is pretty poor due to the long distance and heat mirage.
Spencer getting set up for the shot (you can see the buck up and to the right of us)……
You can see the smoke from Spencer’s gun as he takes the shot……
After the missed opportunity, we decided to just go sit on the top of a small hill to get a better view of the surrounding area. While we were sitting there, we saw a large herd of goats including three bucks headed toward the fence line from the opposite side. Like the rest they headed toward the crossing location where we had originally set up, but also stopped short and headed back to the west to the smaller opening. However this time a couple of the bigger bucks crossed through the small opening along with the does. One of the bucks that crossed was very tall and wide. Spencer and I lost sight of him in a valley and tried to relocate him but we got busted by him and he ran out of the area. We got back to the original crossing location where Braden had stayed and he told us of some other bucks that had come by while we were off sneaking on the herd.
Within 20 minutes another heard came running up to the fence from the south. This herd also had some large bucks and this time the entire herd went through the other opening without hesitation. We figured the goats had opened up the small opening in the fence and so we decided to relocate to the other crossing location. By now it was early afternoon and the animals had settled down so we didn’t see any more activity. We decided to take a break and headed back to the truck for something to eat and drink.
That evening we headed back to the fence line and I had Spencer set up on the new crossing location while I went to our first crossing location a ¼ mile away. Braden decided to stay back at the truck so that he could watch us and also have a better view of the area to the north of us. Before leaving Spencer in his new sagebrush blind we ranged several rocks and key sagebrush for reference points. About a half hour before sunset I heard Spencer take a shot. I glanced in his location just in time to see him score on his first antelope. Spencer had made a 184 yard shot. The herd had come in so fast that I never even saw them until after hearing the shot. Braden had seen them from the road and watched the whole episode take place and we all met up for pictures and field dressing.
After dragging the goat out, driving back to camp, and getting the meat on ice, it was almost 2 am before we go to bed that night. Three hours later the alarm went off and we headed into day two.
On Sunday morning, I sat at the same location where Spencer harvested his buck. Braden again stayed at the truck to get a better view of the area to the north and Spencer watched from our original set up location. By now the antelope had widened the fence opening to over 3’ x 3’. Several herds passed through early in the morning but no bucks that tweaked my interest. Finally late in the morning I spotted a large herd 2 miles away headed toward the fence line from the south. They were on a line straight toward me with a tall wide buck taking up the rear. As they got closer I decided that I liked the character of this buck even though he wouldn’t score real high and got set up for the shot after they crossed the fence. The herd crossed the fence and kept trotting by me so I let out a short whistle to stop them. I took the shot at 152 yards and buck made a short 100 yard dash before piling up.
Both boys had seen the entire episode take place and they immediately were headed toward me. I made a mistake and decided to wait for the boys to get to me first so we could all walk up on the fallen antelope together. However, by the time Braden walked out to us from the road the sun and heat baked the blood into the hide and we couldn’t wipe it off so the pictures didn’t turn out very well. Lesson learned I guess.
We had a great time on this hunt and met some really nice people while we were down there. It was great to see lots of animals including some B&C class bucks.
We are now getting ready for our next round of hunts including Spencer’s youth ibex hunt in NM, my Colorado mountain goat hunt, and my 16D rifle elk hunt in NM. We are really looking forward to these upcoming hunts.
Saturday morning we set on a fence crossing well before shooting time. We were sitting near a couple small bushes about 180 yards off the fence line. At sunrise a guide and his hunter came walking down the fence line from the road. I stood up so they could see that we were set up in that location. The hunter saw me stand up and pointed me out to the guide. They continued walking toward us and they set up 25 yards off the same crossing that we were already set up on. I walked over to where my sons were sitting to make sure they saw the other hunters and to make sure they didn’t shoot in their direction. They had seen the other two guys and were pretty upset. I told them it’s public land and nothing we could do so let’s just make the best of the situation, wait it out, and see what happens. Although I know which outfitter they were associated with (because we later saw their marked truck parked on the highway) I won’t mention their name on here because I don’t want this to become an outfitter/guide bashing issue.
Right away, a 14” buck came within 40 yards of my location and I passed him up. That ended up being the only goat that came within range of us that morning. Several herds came down the opposite side of the fence line from the west but wouldn’t come all the way down to where we were. They would stop, turn around and head back in the direction that they came looking for another place to cross. I don’t know if they saw the other hunters hunkered down near the crossing location. Many of the does crossed at a small opening we had found earlier about a ¼ down the fence line, but the bigger bucks wouldn’t go through it since the opening was so small. We also saw several herds to the north of us including some real nice bucks. We watched some other hunters working those herds but the goats ended up running off away from us. Around noon, Spencer saw a herd of 20 goats coming toward us from the NE about a mile away with a couple hunters following far behind them. The herd went out of sight in a low area and we didn’t see them come out. I told Spencer to stay put in case they appeared again and I would circle around to the side to see if I could either locate them or get into a position if the other hunters spooked them. While circling around them I saw half the herd feed out of the low area and head to the north away from us. The other two hunters turned around and headed back to their truck. Knowing that some of the herd was still in the low area, I kept slowly searching for them. A few minutes later I found the rest of the heard bedded in the low area including a 14” buck. Since this was Spencer’s first antelope hunt, he wasn’t too concerned about holding out for a trophy and said he would shoot any decent buck over 14”. So I motioned for Spencer to come join up with me to see if we could get him a shot. We got to within 205 yards of the bedded buck before they saw something and the herd got up. As Spencer was setting up for the shot the herd took off. I told Spencer to wait as the herd would likely stop before going over the hill. Sure enough they stopped and Spencer took the shot. Unfortunately his shot was just under the chest of the buck.
Here are a couple of pictures that Braden took of us through the spotting scope. The buck looks a LOT closer in the picture than he really was. The picture quality is pretty poor due to the long distance and heat mirage.
Spencer getting set up for the shot (you can see the buck up and to the right of us)……
You can see the smoke from Spencer’s gun as he takes the shot……
After the missed opportunity, we decided to just go sit on the top of a small hill to get a better view of the surrounding area. While we were sitting there, we saw a large herd of goats including three bucks headed toward the fence line from the opposite side. Like the rest they headed toward the crossing location where we had originally set up, but also stopped short and headed back to the west to the smaller opening. However this time a couple of the bigger bucks crossed through the small opening along with the does. One of the bucks that crossed was very tall and wide. Spencer and I lost sight of him in a valley and tried to relocate him but we got busted by him and he ran out of the area. We got back to the original crossing location where Braden had stayed and he told us of some other bucks that had come by while we were off sneaking on the herd.
Within 20 minutes another heard came running up to the fence from the south. This herd also had some large bucks and this time the entire herd went through the other opening without hesitation. We figured the goats had opened up the small opening in the fence and so we decided to relocate to the other crossing location. By now it was early afternoon and the animals had settled down so we didn’t see any more activity. We decided to take a break and headed back to the truck for something to eat and drink.
That evening we headed back to the fence line and I had Spencer set up on the new crossing location while I went to our first crossing location a ¼ mile away. Braden decided to stay back at the truck so that he could watch us and also have a better view of the area to the north of us. Before leaving Spencer in his new sagebrush blind we ranged several rocks and key sagebrush for reference points. About a half hour before sunset I heard Spencer take a shot. I glanced in his location just in time to see him score on his first antelope. Spencer had made a 184 yard shot. The herd had come in so fast that I never even saw them until after hearing the shot. Braden had seen them from the road and watched the whole episode take place and we all met up for pictures and field dressing.
After dragging the goat out, driving back to camp, and getting the meat on ice, it was almost 2 am before we go to bed that night. Three hours later the alarm went off and we headed into day two.
On Sunday morning, I sat at the same location where Spencer harvested his buck. Braden again stayed at the truck to get a better view of the area to the north and Spencer watched from our original set up location. By now the antelope had widened the fence opening to over 3’ x 3’. Several herds passed through early in the morning but no bucks that tweaked my interest. Finally late in the morning I spotted a large herd 2 miles away headed toward the fence line from the south. They were on a line straight toward me with a tall wide buck taking up the rear. As they got closer I decided that I liked the character of this buck even though he wouldn’t score real high and got set up for the shot after they crossed the fence. The herd crossed the fence and kept trotting by me so I let out a short whistle to stop them. I took the shot at 152 yards and buck made a short 100 yard dash before piling up.
Both boys had seen the entire episode take place and they immediately were headed toward me. I made a mistake and decided to wait for the boys to get to me first so we could all walk up on the fallen antelope together. However, by the time Braden walked out to us from the road the sun and heat baked the blood into the hide and we couldn’t wipe it off so the pictures didn’t turn out very well. Lesson learned I guess.
We had a great time on this hunt and met some really nice people while we were down there. It was great to see lots of animals including some B&C class bucks.
We are now getting ready for our next round of hunts including Spencer’s youth ibex hunt in NM, my Colorado mountain goat hunt, and my 16D rifle elk hunt in NM. We are really looking forward to these upcoming hunts.
