T Bone
Well-known member
SD antelope rifle opened yesterday. My son and I had a great time.
We were in the NW corner of the state and the winterkill really pounded the antelope this spring. There were still enough antelope to keep it interesting. I bowhunted this area earlier this year and had found one buck that was nice. It's public access and we expected lots of pressure.
We left Friday afternoon and slept in the truck. We walked in 3 miles in the dark and waited for light. At light we found we had the place to ourselves. Plenty of orange guys out closer to the roads. We located a herd bedded and with the assistance of Moo Cow we got within 200 yards. Nathaniel laid down for a steady shot. His 30-06 boomed followed by the hollow thump of a hit. But the buck tore off after his does. ???? We went and checked for sign and found white hair, but no blood. We followed the trail in the mud for 150 yards or so, then saw the antelope about 1/2 mile out milling around. The buck was chasing does. I gave him a clean bill of health and put on another stalk.
The morning proceeded with miss after miss after miss. He's good on paper, but not so good on animals. He was getting frustrated.
Here he is after missing an 80 yarder.
Shortly after the pic above a herd meandered by at 250 ish and Nathaniel took a prone shot and the scope got his nose good....and he missed. From that point on he was afraid of the gun. I'd yet to see a buck that I wanted to put a tag on.
As the day went on, more opportunities presented themselves and his shooting form continued to degrade, which led to another smack on the face from the scope. He was done and I was out of patience and understanding so we threw in the towel and started heading out the 4 miles to the truck. We swung by the area of the 1st buck at first light. I stopped to glass one more time and.....tucked back in a little cubby hole was a buck! The buck from this morning acting sick! We circled and ended right on top of him at 20 yards. We put him down and sat down and enjoyed the moment. We were discussing the turn of events when two little fawns came running by at 100 yards. When they saw us, they ran right to us.........I concluded that the doe had been killed and since we were already getting our hands dirty...might as well make meat out of them. The fell within 30 yards of the buck.
Closest white dot is the buck. Behind you can see the other 2.
A handsome buck. Nothing but luck finding him. He was about 150 yards from where we shot at him. I back tracked him and found he'd done a tight circle after being hit. The other buck which I'd assumed was him was obviously not the same animal.
We boned out the critters, put them in the packs and headed out. It was heavy, but not too bad.
3.2 miles later, Nathaniel was really excited to see the truck at last light.
My buck tag is good through Saturday.....I may go back. I'm getting frustrated with finding a nice buck this year. Haven't seen a single buck that would clear 13 inches, but we've had a good time.
We were in the NW corner of the state and the winterkill really pounded the antelope this spring. There were still enough antelope to keep it interesting. I bowhunted this area earlier this year and had found one buck that was nice. It's public access and we expected lots of pressure.
We left Friday afternoon and slept in the truck. We walked in 3 miles in the dark and waited for light. At light we found we had the place to ourselves. Plenty of orange guys out closer to the roads. We located a herd bedded and with the assistance of Moo Cow we got within 200 yards. Nathaniel laid down for a steady shot. His 30-06 boomed followed by the hollow thump of a hit. But the buck tore off after his does. ???? We went and checked for sign and found white hair, but no blood. We followed the trail in the mud for 150 yards or so, then saw the antelope about 1/2 mile out milling around. The buck was chasing does. I gave him a clean bill of health and put on another stalk.
The morning proceeded with miss after miss after miss. He's good on paper, but not so good on animals. He was getting frustrated.
Here he is after missing an 80 yarder.
Shortly after the pic above a herd meandered by at 250 ish and Nathaniel took a prone shot and the scope got his nose good....and he missed. From that point on he was afraid of the gun. I'd yet to see a buck that I wanted to put a tag on.
As the day went on, more opportunities presented themselves and his shooting form continued to degrade, which led to another smack on the face from the scope. He was done and I was out of patience and understanding so we threw in the towel and started heading out the 4 miles to the truck. We swung by the area of the 1st buck at first light. I stopped to glass one more time and.....tucked back in a little cubby hole was a buck! The buck from this morning acting sick! We circled and ended right on top of him at 20 yards. We put him down and sat down and enjoyed the moment. We were discussing the turn of events when two little fawns came running by at 100 yards. When they saw us, they ran right to us.........I concluded that the doe had been killed and since we were already getting our hands dirty...might as well make meat out of them. The fell within 30 yards of the buck.
Closest white dot is the buck. Behind you can see the other 2.
A handsome buck. Nothing but luck finding him. He was about 150 yards from where we shot at him. I back tracked him and found he'd done a tight circle after being hit. The other buck which I'd assumed was him was obviously not the same animal.
We boned out the critters, put them in the packs and headed out. It was heavy, but not too bad.
3.2 miles later, Nathaniel was really excited to see the truck at last light.
My buck tag is good through Saturday.....I may go back. I'm getting frustrated with finding a nice buck this year. Haven't seen a single buck that would clear 13 inches, but we've had a good time.
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