 This buck came in while Steve sat in the blind the week before the hunt!
 These guys looked thirsty enough to brave the clicking of the camera.
4:45 AM rolls around really fast after a long day preparing the day before. We roll out of bed and stumble to the fridge to grab the milk and prepare a bowl of cereal. The cold milk trickles down, soothing the dust filled throat of this New York hunter. We try and hide our excitement by remembering the past 2 years and how the opening week had shown us the most trying type of hunting...waiting. This hunter was not going to forget the many hours in the hot blind not seeing anything for an entire day, and only looking a mile out to see any antelope. Steve finishes his cereal first. He starts making his P&J sandwiches while I pull out the bottles of Gatorade. We continue to grab our stuff as we stumble to the truck.
The truck turns over and we head towards the blind. The road is filled with very loose dirt that causes a dust trail that looks like we are propelled by jets. The darkness is lit by a full moon that illuminates everything just enough so you can identify the object. Steve has traveled this road enough to do it in his sleep. As he wakes up we arrive to our blind 45 minutes later. After parking we make the 15 minute hike up a boulder-strewn road in record time.
As we close the door to the blind we arrange our bows and stuff so that things have some order. Then as usual we lay down till the sunrays greet the blind and raise the temperature. The minutes turn to an hour and we begin our vigil looking out the peepholes.
At 9:00 I hear Steve raise his voice: "Antelope!" Excited I look to where he points. Sure enough a nice buck is making his way towards us. He is about 13 inches tall with nice prongs, a buck that most would shoot in a heartbeat. This buck is in no rush. As he approached the water hole he begins feeding and skirts the water for several minutes. An hour passes and he heads out of sight.
About 10:30 the buck that had disappeared reappears around the right side of the blind. This time he wants water. As he approaches a young buck comes down from the ridge above us. The older buck watches as he approaches and they decide to come in together. Steve lets me know he isn’t going to shoot him. Knowing we are under time constraints I opt to take the shot if given a chance.
The young buck cautiously approaches the water but you can see he is thirsty for there is no water around for miles. He starts drinking and continues until the older buck approaches, which spooks the smaller one. As the buck approaches the water I ready myself. I know this is going to be a gimme, yet the blood pressure rises and I know he is going home with me.
As he bends his knees to drink I draw. I have plenty of time to set my sights. He is at 16 yards. I aim right where the white meets the brown, my heartbeats in my chest like a pinball, I squeeze the trigger and watch the arrow rip off my rest. As the arrow makes contact I am stunned to find I just missed! The arrow was so close that Steve congratulates me on my antelope. I tell him I missed; stunned he looks at the antelope looking back, unscathed.
Frustrated at the miss I remember that it was the first miss in the last 5 years. The buck wasn’t a monster so the disappointment wasn’t too great.
45 minutes later finds me scanning the back ridge. I quickly catch some movement at the bottom of the ridge. An antelope is heading our way! I tell Steve. I think it’s a pretty good buck. About 20 minutes later the buck shows up about 200 yards away from the waterhole. Steve looks him over. He’s going to go in the upper 60’s P&Y. The good friend Steve is he opts to let me shoot. The process starts over again. This time it is going to be different!
The buck approaches the water with little hesitation. This time the shot is on the left side of the waterhole. He is going to be at 15 yards. He continues his path right to the water. He is a little nicer than we first thought; he may even make P&Y. I draw as he bends down to drink, I aim at the same place knowing the arrow should enter his lungs on the low side, which will quickly dispatch him. I am confident with my anchor...I release.
I hear the thunk of a hit and the antelope turns and walks off about a hundred yards before he beds down. The hit looked real good but to make sure Steve looks at the shot on his video camera. We give the buck plenty of time.
About an hour later as I watch my antelope I hear splashing in the water hole! Quickly I jump to my feet to find a nice buck standing in the water! I hurry over to my sleeping friend and wake him to his feet. Drowsy I put his release on and he grabs his bow. By this time the antelope is done drinking and standing 10 yards broadside! Steve pulls back, sets his site, and releases...THUMP! He nails his buck right where you should and it walks 30 yards before falling over.
Gathering ourselves we couldn’t believe what just happened! It takes Steve a few minutes to realize his hunt is over.
After Steve’s buck dies we decided to get out and take care of it. We know this will spook the buck I hit, but his can’t sit there in the hot summer heat too long. As we get out of the blind, my buck gets up and starts walking off. He is not reacting like a hurt animal. While glassing him I noticed the entrance on the antelope was very low. I am very confident that I didn’t hit any vital organs, and my arrow shows no trace of any stomach matter. I decided to follow him and about 3 miles later after watching come to the conclusion that I gave him a good scare and a reminder about waterholes, but this buck was going to live to see another day.
Frustrated I walk back to the blind to find Steve gone. He was taking care of his antelope. Sitting in the blind I am mad at myself for choking on 2 of the easiest shots I have ever had. The last 3 years my antelope came from 35, 30, and 22 yards. These antelope were at 16 and 15 yards. How could I miss!?!
While scolding myself, about 30 minutes later I see 5 antelope coming off the ridge above me! It’s about 3:00 and I can’t believe I am seeing more antelope after running all over the countryside. One buck has good mass and prongs while the other is real tall and also has good mass. Either animal will make the book.
I watch them for 45 minutes as the two bucks square off and show signs that the rut has started but is still real early. The one buck has 3 does with him and he plays cat and mouse with them as they try his patience. The tall buck decides to leave the game he is playing and get something to drink. As he gets close to the waterhole his path brings him right in front of where Steve’s buck dropped. The buck stopped in his tracks, jumped a foot off the ground, and all 5 antelope leave in a thirsty hurry.
A little later some horses visit the waterhole, as I watch them drink I see Steve driving up. I walk down the boulder infested road to meet him. He is tired from taking care of his antelope and I am defeated by my misses so we call it a day and decide to regroup for tomorrow.
Back at the trailer I take one of the backstraps from Steve’s antelope and fry it up with onions and wild rice I brought just for this occasion. This tops of a bitter sweet day for us.
As I lay in bed I realize how tired I am and let nature take its course and hope that tomorrow brings new experiences...
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