Sorry about the second post. First time at this.....
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Dad's 2006 buck
Dad is gone now. He died two year ago come December. But that trip will forever be with me simply for the time that we shared and the memories we made.
Now, fast forward to 2023. That first trip was special and I felt that it was time for a repeat.......with my son. Ben was grown now and works as an officer in Charlotte, NC. At 25 and having grown up in the country he has seen a lot of things in the past few years that most don't see. And I try to find opportunities for he and I to do some hunting in order to make some memories and allow him time to decompress. This hunt was to be a memorable time for both of us regardless of the outcome.
Due to issues with air travel currently we decided that we would drive out to Wyoming instead of flying and see some country. And that we did !!! Arriving at the Werner ranch brought back fond memories. I recognized that place driving in where dad shot his buck and remembered his excitement when he told his story about that afternoon. After settling in the hunters for that week draw a blind number out of a hat which is the blind that they will hunt from the coming week. I was really surprised when I learned that out of all the blinds on the ranch property Ben had drawn the blind that I hunted years earlier.
Of course that next morning was filled with anticipation and excitement with thoughts about what the day would bring. We were dropped of at our blinds for the day and would be checked on from a distance to see if any of the four hunters in camp had been successful. The first day went by with both does and buck in the area but nothing taken. Still, talking with Ben about his day I could tell he was having a great time as was I. He had seen a nice buck which stayed some distance away from the blind and just wouldn't commit. On day two we went back to our blinds to see what might happen. Around mid-morning I noticed a buck some distance off along with a doe. The doe milled about for a couple of minutes and then dropped off into a bottom area. While I felt that the buck would follow I noticed that he was sticking around. He was about 250 yards off and I watched him for some time as he would just stand there in one spot for awhile and then feed around back and forth. I watched him made several scraps as he began working his way a bit closer in my direction. It took about an hour but it seemed that he was finally committing to come to water.
It was indeed a slow process as he would take about 20 step and stop and just stare in my direction As he got closer I started to look at his head gear. While not the biggest buck I have seen I am a believer that you probably need to take any game when given a chance that you would take on the last day. This buck was certainly one of those and given the opportunity I knew I would be more than happy if I were to be blessed with him. And I was.....
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After arriving back at the ranch I learned that Ben had also been successful hunting from the same blind that I hunted back in 2006. What I also learned was that he had taken a really unusual buck. While this buck had not been hanging around in that area, for some reason he had moved over to that range. What made this buck so unusual was that he had at some point gotten tangled up in some bailing twine which made him look like he was wearing a blonde wig. The rancher and his family had dubbed this buck the King; perhaps because he looked like was wearing a crown?
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To say that we were both happy would be an understatement. We each had a nice antelope and plenty of meat for the coming months. But most of all, we now have the memories.
Topic: Antelope II again (Read 1016 times)
