Antelope sure are fun to chase! Greenhorn and I spent some time in our unit during the archery opener and were able to look over most of the unit and pick out a few bucks that we really liked. Each of us came real close to taking our bucks with our bows, but like Greenhorn said, it wasn't too bad that we didn't because the rifle hunt was a blast and we still got the same bucks.
It was cool to have GH's son along who, as I'm sure you can tell, put a hurting on the local prairie dog population, took one that will easily go 75 pounds, and then used it to bait in a record book coyote that he clipped at 125 yards with his .22. He was plumb tuckered out from all the killing by the end of the day.
My buck was in an area in which he really wouldn't be messed with and they weren't any other hunters around. So for me, the day before the opener was pretty leisurely because I was able to watch my buck in peace. GH on the other hand, had some out of staters camped within 700 yards of his buck and we were certain they were looking at the same buck. He used the local architecture to his advantage to camp out on his buck from afar and keep the other hunters from sitting at his same lookout, which they tried to do. Needless to say, GH was a bit amped up for the morning race.
Opening morning turned out as planned. Tyler watched through the spotting scope while his dad dropped a B&C buck, they threw it in the pickup and headed to my spot where we were able to seal the deal on my buck. Tyler acted as spotter again and gave me the yardage while GH managed to hit standby on the video camera right as I took the shot.
We took both the bucks back over to where GH had shot his to set up for some pictures and ran into the the guys from AZ that we thought were on his buck. turned out they were oblivious to it as well as to the other 80+ buck that had been within 200 yards of their camp all weekend. They shot one that wasn't nearly so big but the hunter seemed happy with it and that's all that really matters.
We were able to meet up with a friend not too long after we finished taking pictures to compare all three bucks and take a few photos. His was incredible as you can see in the pics and also taped out well into the books. Between the three if we could take the height on his, the mass on mine and the prongs from GH's buck then we'd have a pretty amazing antelope.
In the end the hunt was a blast. We got some great trophies and were able to have a great time.
According to my wife I need to work on my trophy smile, she says Kurt has his down pat but I look creepy. I told her that means I need more practice and she didn't say no fast enough so it looks like next year I get to give it another shot.
I want to play too.
