My son convinced me to put in for the Wyoming buck antelope draw. I put in with him in Febuary and more or less forgot about it. Guess-what? We both drew tags! I am sure my son's bonus points put me in the running for a tag and I really appreciate his help and sacrifice.
By the time Fall rolled around we had very little time to hunt as we were in the heat of building his new house. We didn't get to go up for the opening of the hunt in September. We were so busy framing the house we couldn't get away even for just a few days. Late in October, like the 27th, we crept out of Roosevelt, Utah and drove up to Pinedale, Wyoming arriving after 9 p.m. (extra dark) I had my little pop-up camp trailer behind my truck and we followed a dirt road as outlined on a BLM map way after dark and camped on a flat spot just off the road we found.
In the morning we awoke camped on top of a small plateau. We had a good view of the country for several miles in every direction. We drove about one mile to the top of another plateau to the west at 7:45 a.m. From this new vantage point we could see some 10 - 12 antelope further west and a bit north of our location maybe one - two miles away. Dax had his high powered spotting scope with him and he zoomed in to see if there were bucks in the small herd. There were, so we made a plan to drive about 3/4 of a mile toward them and then stalk up to within shooting range.
We parked the truck and walked as quiet as possible toward where the antelope were last seen while keeping down in the little ravines and ducking below the sagebrush. At one point we were within about 450 yards of the herd who had not seen us yet. Dax wanted to get closer. We had to actually belly crawl on the dirt for about 80 yards over the top of a small hill to the next ravine to stay out of the line of sight of the antelope. Dax was anxious to get closer and decide if the bucks were "shooters". We got over the rise on our bellies and then were down in a ravine again. We walked silently but quickly toward the antelope. As we rose up the next hill and out of the ravine we were hidden in we could see the antelope and they didn't know we were watching them. Several were still laying down from their night's rest. I raised my binoculars to evaluate the bucks. There were two small bucks and one fairly large older one. I was looking through my binoculars and said in a quiet voice "the one on the right is a shooter". No sooner had I said "shooter" than Dax's .30-06 rang out loud and clear. He was not looking through his binoculars he was looking through his 9X scope setting. I heard the telltale "ploop" as the bullet hit the largest buck antelope in the chest. He stood up weakly and then gave himself the last rites and fell over dead. It was a 204 yard shot according to my range finder. Ya-hoo! We got one. The other antelope were so surprised they only ran about 75 yards away and stopped to look back at us. We were still laying down hidden by the sage and they really couldn't see us even after the shot.
We walked up to the antelope and took photos and I congratulated Dax on the stalk and the excellent shot. I went back to get the truck and drive to as close as possible to the downed antelope. I wandered around looking for the truck for about half an hour and then walked back to the downed antelope and Dax and told him I couldn't find the truck. He said he knew where it was and went to get it. Yes, I was looking way foolish to have lost my whole pickup truck. I waited near the downed antelope and in about 15 minutes or so there appeared on the horizon my Chevy Silverado. Dax was so kind to not make too much fun of me for loosing my truck. We took photos and loaded up the meat and trophy. We went looking for some snow to store the meat in and keep it cold. NO PROBLEM on the shady side of a low peak we drove up and tied the meat in a tree just out of coyote reach. We returned to camp to eat and relax before the next adventure. We picke up the cold meat before heading home.
Later that afternoon we found a herd of about 20 antelope about 3 miles east of our camp. We tried to figure a way to get close enough to glass them but they were skittish. They had seen us and were constantly smelling the wind and watching for us. We decided to come back tomorrow.
Next morning we went on a big circle drive to the west and saw some antelope. We parked in a valley made an excellent stalk with the wind in our face and keeping low to not be seen. As we finally raised up over the sagebrush hills to evaluate our prey we noticed the animals were all does. We watched for awhile hoping the girls would attract a buck or two but no luck. We stood up and scared the bee-geebers out of the girls. The antelope ran off to the east as fast as their legs could carry them. We went back to the trailer for a camping lunch.
We went for a drive to the east side of our area after lunch. We parked the truck near the asphalt road. {I marked the location on my GPS.} We started a stalk to where the large herd of antelope were the day before. We didn't know where they were exactly but we knew they were in a long north to south running valley 3/4ths of a mile east of where we parked. Dax kept us low and into the wind. We walked a long way it seemed. Finally, we spotted the herd. They were laying about chewing their cud and sleeping out in the flats of the valley. They had no idea we were near. Dax got me to belly crawl again for about 50 yards at the top of a hill over looking the valley. We seemed to not be able to get any closer without exposing ourselves to the antelope. I put up my bi-pod and started to scope out the animals. I saw a maure buck some distance out at 2 o'clock. Dax saw another buck about the same distance at around 11 o'clock. I was setting my scope and targeting on the 2 o'clock buck and Dax told me to wait. We both had dropped our packs for the belly crawl. He belly crawled backwards to the packs and got his 40X spotting scope. He crawled back and we glassed the animals for a good 20 minutes. I had a great angle on the 2 o'clock buck still and was looking at targeting him through my scope. Dax asked if I could get a clear shot at the 11 o'clock buck and I said "yes if I move 2 yards over to the west." He asked what power my scope was on and I said it was on 14X, maximum. He said "trust me, I have a 40X spotting scope and the 11 o'clock buck is better." It was finally the time in life when the son tells the father what to do -- I wiggled over about 2 yards to the west and re-targeted to the 11 o'clock buck laying in the flats. I could tell he was a buck but due to the angle of the sun I couldn't tell if he were even as large as the 2 o'clock buck. I took Dax's word for everything and held the crosshair of my second stadia line on the far right side of the buck as the wind was blowing from right to left and I though he was more than 300 yards out. Of course my lazer range finder was 50 yards of backwards belly crawl behind me. I had lots of time to make the shot. I held my breath and gently squeezed the trigger. Boom! The bullet hit the antelope in the lower chest area and through the heart. He stood up as did all the 20+ others with him and they ran to the east. The mortally wounded buck only walked a few yards to the east and I cycled the bolt and shot again with the same hold. Boom again and he went down for good.
We stood up and walked over to the antelope. I was about 460 paces. I marked the shooting spot with my GPS and again at the downed antelope again. I calculated the distance to be about 440 yards. I thought the hours of shooting practice in Santa Clara had paid off. Both bullets were with in 3 inches of each other and both were mortal wounds. Antelope are tough so I don't feel two shots from a .30-06 is excessive. Dax and I took some photos and I went to get the truck and drive as close as I could. I got out my GPS and headed directly to the truck thanks to modern technology. We had to carry the meat and trophy a short distance but not too far.
Our animals were similar in size and maturity. They scored in the mid 60" range. I thought they were excellent. I really had a great time with Dax over the 3 days we escaped to hunt. The father and son time is great. I hope some day soon my other son can come and even though he is not a hunter, perhaps he could scout and video for us.
