|
|
Last year was such a success, our plan this year was to do the same thing since the plan worked well. We scored 4 antelope out of the blind with 3 making P&Y and one was in the top 10 bow killed Antelope in Idaho ever. So why change? Steve got the blind up early and things were going just fine up until I came out. Steve was seeing Antelope and nothing had alarmed us.
My trip was uneventful the way I like it. Steve and I had his dads trailer! It was the first time he let us use it. It was sure nice. I made a great dinner and we talked about the following morning. As usual Steve and I decided who was going to take the first shot. I wanted him too, he had yet to harvest an animal with me.
Of course sleep came quick after a long trip and so did the next morning. We were up early and I was preparing breakfast. This is always my favorite part of the trip. The anticipation so intense I feel like a kid on Christmas. Every hunt offers so many new and unique challenges that you never know what is going to happen.
Steve and I ate our breakfast and hustled to the truck and hot foot it down the arid desert dirt roads. It is always a fun drive as rabbits dodge the truck, birds fly back and forth, and the night starts giving way to the early sun. We park the truck about a 1/4 of a mile away and hike to our blind. The morning is always crisp, we enjoy it because we know it is going to reach near 100 degrees everyday.
As we reach the top of the road an out of place shape appears. Steve has put a lot of hard work (with the help of his Dad) into the blind. It is carefully painted with sage brush and sticks. Not a bad job! Steve unlocks it, his usual paranoia about others using the blind, and we get ourselves settled for the wait.
As the sun rises we start looking for signs of life. Last year we saw antelope minutes after sunrise. A few minutes pass and nothing. We are far from worried because we know last year was too perfect. An hour passes and we are a bit surprised. Another hour passes, still not worried. It is entering early afternoon and we have yet to see an animal. It is getting warm and we are stumped. Not one antelope. We finally spot some antelope down on the valley floor below us. Our spirits rise and we start keeping a better vigil.
I peek out the back hole and notice an antelope, a decent one, nothing real big, but big enough for me! "Steve, an antelope is coming in, he is not real big, but I will take him if you dont want him!" The buck inches his way towards the waterhole. Steve videos him for a second, gets his release on. I can see him thinking, I tell him I think he can shoot a bigger buck. He looks the animal over, "Hmmm if I am not going to shoot him why do you?" he asks. "Steve, it does not look like we are going to have a whole lot of animals this year. I know he is big enough for me, but you will get a shot at a bigger animal." Convinced, he said if I get a shot I can take him. Still not convinced Steve started taking pictures. I asked him what he was doing? "I just want to get a picture!" He grabbed the video camera and started filming him. I picked up my bow. The antelope was now on top of the waterhole. He was at 33 yards and looking out towards the flat. I drew in anticipation of a shot. As I was about to release Steve whispers, "WAIT for a better shot!" Annoyed I hold off and wait. The buck strolls off a few feet to the right and turns broadside. I release..."Whoosh...thump!" I made a perfect shot into his back ham!
The buck darted off about 75 yards and stoop there for 15 minutes. He was bleeding very good. So we thought I had hit a major artery and he was going to be down soon. The buck laid down and an hour later we could see that he was getting weak. So we decided that I was going to put a finishing shot in him. As I exited the blind the buck saw me and started walking away.
This situation was not good, Steve and I knew we had a long day ahead of us. Our first stalk attempt had me 50 yards away from the buck bedded down. I was in perfect position. Steve was at the blind getting his bow, but I thought he decided to go sit and wait it out. So I made the mistake of trying to get closer! Wrong idea, the buck split between us to the east up a canyon. The second stalk had Steve and I more than a mile away from the blind, we had good position but the buck saw us and headed further up the canyon. Another mile and he did the same thing. This time we lost him for a while. We caught him heading south about a half mile away. We prepared another stalk but it just pushed him further towards the south. Finally he bedded down in a good position were we knew we would have on last chance. Steve remained where he was and I snuck up above him. The buck kept his eye on me the whole time while Steve was able to sneak to within 20 yards. Not aware of how close he was I stood up and made a signal that he was right there! As I was signaling Steve was at full draw and released, putting a well placed arrow into him. To our amazement the buck got up and ran another 100 yards! He ran right towards me and I put another arrow in him and the hunt was over. This buck was amazing in stamina. Steve and I agreed that 99% of antelope would have not made it 20 minutes after the shot. What kept this guy going is a mystery.
The events after the shot took more than 5 hours and 5+ miles. Steve and I were wiped out for the day and agreed it was an amazing chain of events. First, I pulled my shot because I didnt follow through, I wanted to see where I hit the antelope. That is a big mistake, NEVER pull away from a shot, follow through like you would on a jump shot. Next we agreed that we need to come up with hand signals for stalking. Had I known Steve was just getting his bow from the blind he would have pushed the buck right past me ending it there. Finally, the last stalk was like clock work. I dont think a plan could have worked any better!
Overall our hunt together was great. We sat in the blind for 3 days and did not see a thing! Tired and frustrated Steve and I decided to go fishing.  After a few days of fishing Steve and I decided to give it one last attempt in another blind. Right before we decided to head home I looked one last time out of the peephole and saw antelope heading our way. The below picture shows the buck. I pleaded and begged Steve to shoot, but he wouldn’t. He ended up not taking an antelope this year. Another lesson learned, when life gives you lemonade, put some sugar in it and drink it!
My buck scored a lot better than we thought it ever would! One major contributor to this was the fact that it was so thick! One base was over 7" thick while the other was very close to that. The thickness went up and through the whole horn. The only negative it wasnt very tall, 13". Overall the buck scored 73 4/8 P&Y points. Not bad for a "small" buck. I apologized to Steve, who would have though it was going to score that well?
"We learned a lot this year!" was our motto for 1998.
We got this picture from my ICE Blind, if you ever want to have chills run up your spine listen to thunder of wild horses approaching from behind you as the come up over a ridge to find you looking at them.....simply awesom creatures!
|
|