Our antelope season came in August 15th but it sure has been slow here.All the does left the property and 30-some bucks just lounged in a mile long,irrigated field,doing little but eating and sleeping.
The plywood shooting shack I was using was setup near a gate between 2 fields but the bucks were content with the field they were in and stayed put.
I set in the shack several mornings and evenings but could only watch goats and whitetails at a distance.
A few days ago,the does came back and one good buck claimed them all.Now the activity picked up a bit.
They were starting to use the gate occasionally.This morning I got in the blind an hour before daylight.I won't be able to hunt this ranch after Tuesday so the presuure has been building a little.
As daylight broke,I could see antelope,whitetails and 3 young bull elk in the field on the other side of the gate,several hundred yards away.Nothing in the field I was in.I had a window cracked to my left and tried to keep tabs on the elk,hoping to find a possible ambush point for another morning.I had to kneel to glass through this opening and when I started to sit back down,I caught movement out of my right hand pothole.It was the group of antelope does and their buck following.I had screwed up.They slipped in on one of my blind sides and one fawn caught a little movement and I saw it's rump hairs flair.
This wasn't good.The rest of the group froze and stared.Just then,through the front window,the only one really setup to shoot out of,I saw the lead doe step into my shooting lane,in front of the gate.She had been ahead of the others but in my blind spot and she hadn't looked back to see what they were doing.I had doe tags in addition to an either sex license so the buck would have to wait.
She was quartering away at 20 yds.I started my draw outside view of the opening and slowly swung into it.She was calm so I completed the draw and made myself pick a spot.I didn't see a hit and she trotted afew yards through the gate and then walked a few yards.Normally,a hit antelope will do a frantic run but she was so relaxed,the others didn't spook.This is where I'm not really sure if I hit or not.Then she laid down and I knew something happened.In a minute,her head went down.She had expired 35 yds from the gate.
I got another arrow on as the group still acted like they wanted to come through,but finally the little fawn prevailed and they made for the far end of the field.
I found my arrow 15' beyond where the doe stood,sunk several inches in the ground.At that point I could see a patch of white in the green stuff ahead.
One beautiful morning.Crisp and cold,almost freezing but the sun came out,unlike many days prior.The bow was a 53# Mojostick,56",shooting Gold Tips and Grizzly 190's.
Topic: Things Are Picking Up (Read 329 times)
