Spend enough time and effort in the field, even the worst get lucky. This LONG story starts out with me realizing I forgot my cartridges the night before antelope opener on a DIY public land buck antelope hunt in eastern Colorado. Having had a few beers, I could not drive the 2.5 hours home to retrieve the box of .270 WSM 140 gr Nosler Trophies that my rifle loves to shoot. Opening morning slipped away just like that. I blame it on archery turkey, then archery pigs, then archery elk. Truth is I was out of tune, not shooting nearly enough pre-season.
This is where luck starts to turn. I get to the one piece of public land within a few GMUs valid on my tag around noon opening day. There are multiple trucks parked at every entrance into the area. Pissed off at myself, I start the hike in to where I saw a slammer buck last year. I pass by 2 hunters coming out of the area about a mile in. They did not see a single animal all morning, so they say, but the disappointment I saw seemed to confirm the truth. My disappointment also grew.
I start my way down a slight depression that turned into a drainage with cut banks that I could sneak down to the creek valley below. About 2 miles in, I come face to face with a large buck. He wasn’t near the buck I saw last year, but he was a solid buck. 600-700 yards away, I was caught and pinned in the open. I dropped and played peek a boo with him for about 10 minutes. Every time I raised up to look through the grass at him, he was staring at me. The last time I looked he wasn’t there. Poof. Gone.
I continue down the drainage another mile, down to the creek valley, and see 2 other groups of hunters with that buck and his doe ping ponging all across that valley floor. It is absolutely amazing how much ground these animals can cover, even at a trot. And amazing how spooked antelope can run all across the country just to end up where they started. These 2 ended up 450 yards from me on the other side of a rise. I don’t think the other 2 groups of hunters walking around even saw these 2 antelope bouncing around below them. For the 2 hours I come up with a game plan. In that time the 2 antelope find their sanctuary, calm down, reset, and start dropping their heads to graze. I decide to make a slow sneak to get to a place where I can make a shot. Half way there they slightly spook and trot across the valley to the opposite hill where they again reset and start to graze 600 yards away. I watch them for the next 3 hours as I get destroyed by mosquitoes unable to move to swat or get the deet from my pack. Pure misery. As it gets dark, they start to bed, and I start to plan my retreat. I get up to start the hike out after last light and they also get up and start walking away. Not sure if they saw me, but they were walking away slowly as I entered the drainage and climbed my way back up. I make up a plan on my 3.5 mile hike back to the truck.
The next morning I get up 3.30 and start the hike in at 4.30. I am the first person in the area. I hike 2 miles in and stop at the spot I saw the buck first and wait for first light before I go any further. As it gets light, I would walk 10 yards, then glass, 10 yards, then glass, all the way to the valley floor. As the drainage opened up into the valley, it was more like 10 feet then glass. Very slow going. The next thing I know I see that bucks dark head and horns staring at me above the grass 300 yards away. Busted again!
He and his doe remained calm, went back to their morning routine, as I slowly set up for a shot. I get my crosshairs lined up on him and wait a half hour for him to clear the grass and come up the rise about 12”. Then it happened. He gave me a split second glimpse of his vitals, broadside, stopped, 2 seconds later I pull the trigger. I bet my bullet was only inches above the grass. Doe runs off, I decrease scope power, chamber another round, no buck to be seen. I stand up and glass for 10 minutes to make sure he wasn’t limping off. I mark my shot spot and mark a bush high on the hillside above where I saw the buck last and start to track him. I get to where I thought he last was, and there he was, 20 yards directly to my right, piled up. Double lung shot just clipping the bottom of the scapula. Dropped him where he stood.
The moral of this long, probably boring to most, story is how fast things go from bad to good when hunting. And how finding the line between aggressiveness and patience is key. The intent of this story is hopefully there is something for a young or rookie hunter to learn about antelope hunting, or give hope to an old crusty antelope hunter having a tough opener. It can and will happen to anyone. These stories we earn will last forever.
The buck scored roughly 68.5 honest inches and is missing the last 2.5” of horn due to scrapping with another buck.
This is where luck starts to turn. I get to the one piece of public land within a few GMUs valid on my tag around noon opening day. There are multiple trucks parked at every entrance into the area. Pissed off at myself, I start the hike in to where I saw a slammer buck last year. I pass by 2 hunters coming out of the area about a mile in. They did not see a single animal all morning, so they say, but the disappointment I saw seemed to confirm the truth. My disappointment also grew.
I start my way down a slight depression that turned into a drainage with cut banks that I could sneak down to the creek valley below. About 2 miles in, I come face to face with a large buck. He wasn’t near the buck I saw last year, but he was a solid buck. 600-700 yards away, I was caught and pinned in the open. I dropped and played peek a boo with him for about 10 minutes. Every time I raised up to look through the grass at him, he was staring at me. The last time I looked he wasn’t there. Poof. Gone.
I continue down the drainage another mile, down to the creek valley, and see 2 other groups of hunters with that buck and his doe ping ponging all across that valley floor. It is absolutely amazing how much ground these animals can cover, even at a trot. And amazing how spooked antelope can run all across the country just to end up where they started. These 2 ended up 450 yards from me on the other side of a rise. I don’t think the other 2 groups of hunters walking around even saw these 2 antelope bouncing around below them. For the 2 hours I come up with a game plan. In that time the 2 antelope find their sanctuary, calm down, reset, and start dropping their heads to graze. I decide to make a slow sneak to get to a place where I can make a shot. Half way there they slightly spook and trot across the valley to the opposite hill where they again reset and start to graze 600 yards away. I watch them for the next 3 hours as I get destroyed by mosquitoes unable to move to swat or get the deet from my pack. Pure misery. As it gets dark, they start to bed, and I start to plan my retreat. I get up to start the hike out after last light and they also get up and start walking away. Not sure if they saw me, but they were walking away slowly as I entered the drainage and climbed my way back up. I make up a plan on my 3.5 mile hike back to the truck.
The next morning I get up 3.30 and start the hike in at 4.30. I am the first person in the area. I hike 2 miles in and stop at the spot I saw the buck first and wait for first light before I go any further. As it gets light, I would walk 10 yards, then glass, 10 yards, then glass, all the way to the valley floor. As the drainage opened up into the valley, it was more like 10 feet then glass. Very slow going. The next thing I know I see that bucks dark head and horns staring at me above the grass 300 yards away. Busted again!
He and his doe remained calm, went back to their morning routine, as I slowly set up for a shot. I get my crosshairs lined up on him and wait a half hour for him to clear the grass and come up the rise about 12”. Then it happened. He gave me a split second glimpse of his vitals, broadside, stopped, 2 seconds later I pull the trigger. I bet my bullet was only inches above the grass. Doe runs off, I decrease scope power, chamber another round, no buck to be seen. I stand up and glass for 10 minutes to make sure he wasn’t limping off. I mark my shot spot and mark a bush high on the hillside above where I saw the buck last and start to track him. I get to where I thought he last was, and there he was, 20 yards directly to my right, piled up. Double lung shot just clipping the bottom of the scapula. Dropped him where he stood.
The moral of this long, probably boring to most, story is how fast things go from bad to good when hunting. And how finding the line between aggressiveness and patience is key. The intent of this story is hopefully there is something for a young or rookie hunter to learn about antelope hunting, or give hope to an old crusty antelope hunter having a tough opener. It can and will happen to anyone. These stories we earn will last forever.
The buck scored roughly 68.5 honest inches and is missing the last 2.5” of horn due to scrapping with another buck.
