It is now Tuesday, Day four of our hunt, and it is my turn. Our plan is to check all the places we have been seeing antelope on the two hunter management areas looking for a larger buck before deciding where to hunt. We started where we left off yesterday with Yard Dog's buck, and sure enough, our herd of 50 is back around the waterhole. There is also a new bunch of 9 close to the county road. I think the buck is bigger than we have seen, Yard Dog doesn't. The bunch is 100 yards off the county road inside the management boundary, but I am not going to hunt them there with all the houses and cars in the general vicinity. We finally make them nervous, and they start working towards the big bunch, although slowly.
I decide to check out the other areas since we have still not found the bunch of 50 we saw on Saturday on the first hunter management area. Right away we spot a nice bunch in a different location. Takes us about 30 minutes to figure out they are just outside the boundary on private land. Bummer. Then spot 3 antelope with a small buck, then a couple of other small bucks, then a bunch of four, all bucks, one that tempts me a little, but not enough to put the stalk on them. We head back to the county road, the herd of 50 are still around the waterhole, but the 9 have laid down about halfway to them. The hunt is on.
Same plan as yesterday, weather is the same, except that the wind is blowing quite a bit harder. We get in position, I put on the knee pads, and start crawling across the little flat where I can look down on the waterhole. I notice that the wind is blowing much harder than yesterday, but elect to continue. Stupid decision, but in my defense, in the four days we have hunted, we have had lots of antelope downwind, with no apparent effect. I spotted 8-9 antelope straight ahead of me, and continued to sneak forward. Suddenly, about 25 antelope came into view to my right, running across the draw, and across the valley away from me. They had been directly downwind, and obviously smelled me.
Here are some pictures Yard Dog took of that bunch.
This was about half the bunch, and I noticed there were only a couple of bucks in this bunch, so the question was, where did the rest go. Yard Dog and I got back together, and started working forwards, when we spotted the rest. Here is a picture of part of them.
The rest of the bunch are out of sight around to the left. This view is looking north towards the county road, which is by the grove of trees you can see. It is hard to tell in the picture, but the trees are about a mile away.
Our plan is for Yard Dog to circle around and get North of the bunch. I am going to sneak down off the ridge to a small butte that runs North-South. I think I can sneak around the west side of that butte, and get close enough for a shot, but if not, I will find a good spot to sit, and Yard Dog will try and run them back by me. This picture shows me heading down to the butte. This is the last picture I have.
I made it down without incident, and started around the left side of the butte, got half way, and here were antelope looking at me. I backed off, and started around the right side. I was within 5 yards of a little rise that would let me see the entire valley, and the antelope, when here they came, crossing the draw at a full run, and heading up the other side.
I immediately sat down ( on a small cactus), and grabbed my range finder. They were 300 yards, but had turned, and were actually getting closer, moving from my left to right. They were also slowing down, and spreading out. I grabbed my rifle, and saw that the next to last one was a decent buck. The problem was the slope of the hill where I was sitting was wrong, and I was having to swing the rifle across my body to stay on them as they moved.
The truth is, I should not have shot, but the adrenaline has been pumping off and on for close to an hour, and it looks like they are getting away. The bunch has stopped, I am on the buck, and I see they are starting to go again, so I touch one off. Because of the angle I am sitting, the shot knocks me off balance. When I get upright again, the bunch is hightailing it to the North, while the last two, including the buck I shot at, have reversed course, and are sprinting back down the hill to where they had started. The buck did not look hit, was actually quite a bit closer, but really going, so I did not even consider shooting again.
I stood up, walked the five yards to top the little rise, and here standing looking at me at less than 200 yards are the two antelope, plus four others, including two more bucks. Before I can even think about sitting down to shoot, they are off. Of course, they passed below Yard Dog at less than 150 yards.
The only good news I could find in all this was that I had not had a heart attack during all the excitement. Got Yard Dog on the walkie-talkie, and he said he would make a big circle and try to chase the bunch of 9 up by me. I found a great spot to sit, and waited, but never saw another antelope. Yard Dog spent 2 hours trying to chase that bunch, plus the original bunch of 50 back my direction, but he turned out to be a lousy antelope herder.
So, that is my sad tale, but we still have one day to hunt. I will tell the story in "Wyoming Antelope Hunt - Part 4" late tonight.
Scoutdog
Wyoming Antelope Hunt - Part 3
Beamerfish
Linear Mode
