Since it is late Sept...our hunting is moving right along...this year I drew an any antelope tag close to home and in one of my favorite areas..also drew two doe permits...missed the opener due to an early season try for mulies..no luck with the mulies, but will hunt them near home in Oct...often the opener is pretty busy, so sometimes I only make a half hearted try or hunt does if I go out, It is the best time to take a good buck if you have the time to spot one and can get on him first thing...Since I have hunted them for almost 40 years, I don't get too anxious to shoot...this year we headed out after the season had been in four or five days...We were looking for a buck, or a doe that would be easy to get out...Have a friend who delights in making extremely long shots with his custom rifles, but he has a son in his 30's built like a bull to drag out the animals if they cannot get close with the pickup..I have no son so I am careful where I shoot... We saw several bucks right off..as well as some does..I wanted to look around a bit before shooting anything..since the hunt for the day would end when we took one because we stop and dress them immediately and then skin them before going on with the hunt..
After checking a couple good spots, we headed on west...we spotted a herd of maybe 15 animals moving down a sage brush filled draw..I knew if I could get ahead of them and out of sight, we had a good chance at taking a doe or a buck if there was a good one...it was getting late in the morning and turning hot...the hunt was about over for the day..I parked the vehicle and crawled to the top of a small hill where I could watch the draw..sure enough in a few minutes they came slicking over a low spot into the upper end of the draw...here they stalled, watching the country ahead of them...I could have killed one with a long shot, but it would also mean a long drag in heavy sage..tough going..so I waited...They began drifting down the draw toward a fenced ranch that would be out of bounds for the hunt...the rancher is a nice guy, but his new wife likes to take photos and so he allows no or very little hunting...but it is a great place to keep seed for next year.....Just as the antelope were nearing a spot that would make getting them out fairly easy, they all stopped and looked down the draw toward the road... it was quite aways below me, but they spotted a pickup sitting there....after watching for a few minutes they turned and moved quickly back up the draw and out of sight over the hill..the vehicle had spooked them..
As I debated my next move, the old Chev. truck turned and drove east then turned off on another 2 track road and headed south toward the antelope....I thought I'll wait here a bit..that old truck must be going around to try and get ahead of the antelope...he will move them back this way...I probably sat for 15 minutes, and here come the antelope..not running or walking fast..just easing back into the draw that leads down hill to an area they want to bed down in..either on the ranch, or out of sight in the high sage...plus there was water in the bottom...they moved along at a fair pace..when the does passed my marker that signaled a point where getting one out would be fairly easy...I looked them over...Didn't want the lead doe as that would leave the herd confused...the buck was too small...Finally trailing along apart from the rest was a big doe, with no fawns near.. She looked like a good choice for jerky...when she passed my marker, I put the 700 's bi pod down and looked though the Burris scope...although she was maybe 225 yards, I could see though the 14 x scope she was in good shape, when she stopped, I put the crosshair on the top third of the shoulders....when the .25-06 cracked the 115 grain Nosler BTBT dropped her in her tracks...she kicked a time or two and it was over...my girl friend met me at the road, and we moved the truck as close as possible...I took my rope, my golden, and my S & W .44 and hiked up to the doe..she was down and out...I filled out the tag and then quickly dressed her and slide her 125 yards down hill to the pickup..my gal took a few shots with her camera...and we loaded the doe up and headed home for skinning...In ten days or so she will be jerky...
Next morning we decided to make another hunt and try for a buck..much of the hunt area was swept clean of antelope on opening day...after the next weekend, it would be even harder to locate a buck..on the way in to skin the doe, we had spotted several antelope in a small area igored by almost everyone...there were several bucks and a large group of does..I had found this little hole while hunting coyotes years ago..So next morning, we elected to check this out first thing...when we stopped, and slipped over the hill to glass we got a real shock..not an antelope in sight...
I figured they had grazed off into another part of the area..we decided to hunt else where for a while, then return at mid morning and see if they had come back to the area for water or to bed down for the day...After hunting for a couple hours we decided to check our spot, and head in because it was getting pretty hot ...we parked the pickup, and hiked back to my honey hole...this time I took my backpack as my Ruger #1 didn't have a bipod on it...we eased though a small trail in willows to look down in to my spot...at first glance nothing...then a doe stood up...she hadn't spotted us she just stoodup...I got down and got the # 1 over the backpack...this drew her attention to us and she trotted off a bit then another doe stood up, and a really nice buck....I decided he would be good enough..I figured the range was at least 250 so put the crosshairs high on the shoulder..I had my #1 in a .300 H & H...the bit I had shot it, I found excellent accuracy..the ammo I had chosen was old Remington factory stuff made in the 1960's...It was a 220 grain mushroom point...the old ammo fascinated me, and when I got the number 1, I wanted to try it on game..now was my chance..I pressed the trigger, and the .300 cracked...the buck dropped as the doe had that morning...in a short time we had him dressed, tagged and headed for the meat shed..he was a nice buck with 15 1/4 inch horns..one of the better bucks I have taken in almost 40 tries. When we skinned him,we found the meat loss from the .300 was much less than with the little .2506 of course the 220 grain bullet helped with that..We have one doe tag left...may try my .25-35 on that one, but it will be after things slow down...hope your hunts are fun,safe, and enjoyable...
