Antelope Hunt - met Bowmania, had a great time (lots of pics)

[highPlains]

I drew a good antelope license this year. I heard a Wisconsin guy was going to be sharing camp with us, I had no idea he was a trad guy. I ended up really enjoying Todd's company. We talked a lot of bows, and he has a very nice shooting Voodoo longbow.

I have not heard from Todd (Bowmania) since Wednesday, I hope he gets one and posts some pictures when he gets back!

I am a crummy trophy hunter, and even though I burned quite a few points I chose to shoot a small buck which I could not be more happy with.

Here are some pictures of the hunt. I have lots and I couldn't decide which ones to share, so I'll just share a bunch of them.

Another trad hunter in our group killed this guy.


Got to see tons and tons of does and fawns.

[highPlains]

The first day was super windy and the wind was blowing a lot of water out of the tank. Lots of the antelope chose to drink out of the small puddle instead of the tank.




I put some wire up to try and drive the antelope to one side of the water tank which gave me a better shot. It didn't always work.

[highPlains]

This big one was the first mature buck that came to water, 14 hours after I crawled in the blind. He drank out of the puddle like the one in the pictures above so I had to relocate myself in the blind and shoot off my knees. I had taken my boots off and placed them against the wall, but one of them fell over and my bottom limb hit the boot when I shot. My arrow was practically doing cartwheels and missed its mark. He was a nice buck. Here he is leaving...DANG IT!


I also had a few other visitors.




The third day I was so tired I laid down before it was light enough to shoot. I never do that and intended to just lay there until it was light enough to shoot. I don't know how long I slept but when I woke up this was laying outside of the blind. I hope a big one didn't come in but I guess I'll never know.

[highPlains]

Here's a funky little dude.

[highPlains]

There are a lot of really nice antelope in this area. But three days in a hot blind can do crazy things to a guys mind. With a busy archery store to get back to and a ten month old son at home I started to look a little harder at some of the smaller bucks.

When this guy came in to the water hole I asked myself if I would be happy to shoot him and the answer was a resounding YES!

So I shot at the 41st antelope to drink from my tank in two and a half days. 100 yards later there he lay.
 

Not the biggest out there, but big enough for me! This is my first antelope.
 

I used my Hawk recurve and the big Snuffer, 200gr point. The arrow passed through him like butter. The shot was no more than 15 yards.

There were six guys in our group (four trad shooters) including Todd (Bowmania) and everybody killed a buck by the third day except Todd. Todd had some nice bucks that gave him shooting opportunities as of Wednesday night but he was waiting for something a little nicer.

[DW]

Congratulations and great pics! There is nothing wrong with that antelope!

[ermont]

I hope you are just being modest. That is a great antelope. Congratulations!

[Rick Butler]

Very nice and thanks for posting, that's something I'd like to try someday.

[Mudd]

[Mike Yancey]

I like that !!This is the first year in about 15 that I am not out there.
Mike

[highPlains]

Originally posted by DW:
Congratulations and great pics! There is nothing wrong with that antelope!

Of course, I am very proud. It was a lot of fun and I think I'm going to start looking at Wyoming a little harder. I had an absolute blast and I want to do a lot more of this antelope stuff!

[swamprat26]

Congrats

[ishoot4thrills]

   

Hey man, don't even think about that not being a very nice Pronghorn. It is indeed a very respectable goat for sure. I would've done the same thing as you, but only sooner! I know what ya mean about thinking about the kids and stuff at home while you're out there. Hey, I've got three young'uns of my own. I don't hunt near as much now as I did before the kids were born. I just sometimes feel like I'm missing out if I'm gone from home too much, especially when they're young. Not saying I don't love to hunt, but I just don't go as much as I used to. I do seem to appreciate hunting more now than I ever did and I also get more enjoyment out of it now because my kids are into hunting as well.

Someday I would like to make a trip out west and try my hand at hunting antelope. It seems like it would be very rewarding to bag one with trad gear.

[Outwest]

Good job!!
Thanks for sharing.

John

[DannyBows]

Congrats on a beautiful Antelope! Well Done, and your pics are excellent also. Thanks for sharing with us!    

[KentuckyTJ]

[straitera]

Really nice antelope buck. Thanks for the great story & pix.

[Coonbait]

WOW that's a real nice antelope! Thanks for the hunt along for us eastern boys!
Congratulations
Glenn

[KevO]

Good for you!

[Robert Cunfer]

Thanks for the story and great pics....Bobby