Well we returned from our week long Antelope trip full family of 5 in tow plus Papa and grandma.
The hunt went great if not too fast. Woke up early and headed to a promising spot we had scouted 2 weeks earlier. Originally both the 7 year old and his 5 year old sister wanted to go. Turned out she was not interested in getting up while it was still dark out. The drive was about 45 minutes to the far end of our unit and was honestly pretty disappointing seeing all the people out in this limited hunt, side by sides and 4 wheelers running rampant.
We arrived at the spot I wanted to hike in from and I was relieved to find not parked trucks or atv tracks. We had about a mile hike up and over a ridge to the basin we wanted to glass and arrived just in time as it started to get light.
After about 5 minutes of glassing spotted a promising looking buck about 2 miles off. We made a quick game plan and headed out.
We crept down into a draw and were able to head directly toward him without being spotted. In about 45 minutes we were able to make it up on the final ridge I figured we would be able to spot him again. As hard as we tried could not find him. Just then Papa spots another buck on the hillside above us and about 350 yards.
Too small I said to a disappointed child and Papa.
We decided the bigger buck must be down deeper into the draw than we could see, or bedded down so we needed to creep a little further. I had just started moving again and I looked to my left and he was standing there staring at us from about 80 yards away. I pulled up my rifle, ang got a bead on him. Looked good, couldn't be sure, no time to think, figured son was with me and after the hike already wasn't sure he'd want to go another day... BOOM
I heard a thwack, the buck took off like lighting. He had covered probably 300 yards by the time I jacked another cartridge, As I panned across the hillside following him in my scope, I saw him stumble the tiniest bit. I dropped the rifle just in time to see him summersault and it was over. My boy was going nuts, Papa was slapping me on the back saying something, and all I could think was "crap, I hope I'm not gonna regret that, he looked good, they say don't shoot one the first day, what about the first hour, crap".
We walked toward the spot he fell, I could see the outline of his body. Then some horn. Relief washed over me. We broke him down into 1/4's, I packed the meat, Cole packed the head, and Papa brought out the ribs. We made our way back to the truck and am happy to say Antelope is one of the best tasting game meats I have ever eaten.
He ended up 15" on both sides, 7" on first two mass measurements. Trash points all over. I am beyond happy.
We dealt with meat horns and cape and spent the rest of the week exploring SE Oregon! Amazing times with my amazing family!
The hunt went great if not too fast. Woke up early and headed to a promising spot we had scouted 2 weeks earlier. Originally both the 7 year old and his 5 year old sister wanted to go. Turned out she was not interested in getting up while it was still dark out. The drive was about 45 minutes to the far end of our unit and was honestly pretty disappointing seeing all the people out in this limited hunt, side by sides and 4 wheelers running rampant.
We arrived at the spot I wanted to hike in from and I was relieved to find not parked trucks or atv tracks. We had about a mile hike up and over a ridge to the basin we wanted to glass and arrived just in time as it started to get light.
After about 5 minutes of glassing spotted a promising looking buck about 2 miles off. We made a quick game plan and headed out.
We crept down into a draw and were able to head directly toward him without being spotted. In about 45 minutes we were able to make it up on the final ridge I figured we would be able to spot him again. As hard as we tried could not find him. Just then Papa spots another buck on the hillside above us and about 350 yards.
Too small I said to a disappointed child and Papa.
We decided the bigger buck must be down deeper into the draw than we could see, or bedded down so we needed to creep a little further. I had just started moving again and I looked to my left and he was standing there staring at us from about 80 yards away. I pulled up my rifle, ang got a bead on him. Looked good, couldn't be sure, no time to think, figured son was with me and after the hike already wasn't sure he'd want to go another day... BOOM
I heard a thwack, the buck took off like lighting. He had covered probably 300 yards by the time I jacked another cartridge, As I panned across the hillside following him in my scope, I saw him stumble the tiniest bit. I dropped the rifle just in time to see him summersault and it was over. My boy was going nuts, Papa was slapping me on the back saying something, and all I could think was "crap, I hope I'm not gonna regret that, he looked good, they say don't shoot one the first day, what about the first hour, crap".
We walked toward the spot he fell, I could see the outline of his body. Then some horn. Relief washed over me. We broke him down into 1/4's, I packed the meat, Cole packed the head, and Papa brought out the ribs. We made our way back to the truck and am happy to say Antelope is one of the best tasting game meats I have ever eaten.
He ended up 15" on both sides, 7" on first two mass measurements. Trash points all over. I am beyond happy.
We dealt with meat horns and cape and spent the rest of the week exploring SE Oregon! Amazing times with my amazing family!
