My final antelope hunt of the season LONG

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Snake River Marksman
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Location: Etna, Wyoming

My final antelope hunt of the season LONG

Post by Snake River Marksman » Sun Oct 25, 2009 7:55 pm

Marathon Antelope Hunt

On Friday evening I located the antelope that are normally spread all over the unit, they were herded up in a field in the middle of a roadless area in response to hunting pressure and in preparation for the coming winter. When I located them, it was too late to close the distance and put on a stalk so I left with the intention of returning the next morning. When I got home my neighbor called to tell me that he needed his ATV back and that was going to put a big crimp in my plans to get at the antelope.

In the middle of the night a front moved in and the wind began to howl and the sleet began to fall. Sideways. My neighbor called to tell me that he wouldn’t be cutting firewood, so I could use the ATV if I liked. I checked the weather and found that it probably wasn’t raining in my hunt area so I decided to leave the house at noon and give it a try. Half way to my area, the weather began to clear but the wind was still howling.

When I got down to my area I was able to see the antelope from the highway, so I backtracked to a good jumping off point and unloaded the ATV. I rode down the two track towards the area where I had spotted the antelope, stopping to glass as each new vista presented itself. Near the area where I knew the antelope to be, I spotted two antelope off by themselves. Figuring that two pair of eyes was easier to escape than 100 pair, I decided to give these two antelope a go. When I spotted these antelope they were the better part of a mile away. Just white dots in my binoculars.

I backtracked to a two track that followed a fence line in the direction of the antelope and then parked behind a hill. I figured I’d just climb the hill and glass and see if I could spot the antelope. I left my pack with my shooting sticks, knife, water bottle, rangefinder and most every thing else on the ATV. I took my rifle and ammo and that was it. I climbed the hill but saw nothing. I decided to walk over to the next hill and glass. Nothing there either. At this point I realized that I was a pretty good distance from my gear. I rationalized that it didn’t matter much. I crested the third hill and still didn’t see anything. I went down the back side of that hill and found a deep wash at the bottom of the hill. I dropped into the wash and walked down hill towards the irrigation canal and the flat at the bottom. Examining the flat below me I still didn’t see anything. At this point I really started to think that the antelope had given me the slip. It had been over an hour since I had spotted them and I was pretty sure that I was in the right vicinity but I couldn’t seem to locate them.

Realizing that I was a pretty good distance from the ATV and that it was already past 4pm. I decided to follow the canal back around the bottom of the hill, back towards the ATV. The canal was empty, and mostly dry with mud, and standing water in places. On the side opposite from me there was a two track on the top of the levy. I chose not to walk the top of the levy but to keep to the “rough” side and use the occasional willow thicket to screen me from the flat below. I walked along for about a half a mile when suddenly on the levy road, two antelope appeared. It was a doe and a fawn and this didn’t concern me at all as I had two doe/fawn tags in my pocket. I dropped to my knee and brought up the rifle. The antelope looked at me but couldn’t tell what I was. I had a thin screen of willows on their side of the canal that was providing me with some cover and I was crosswind from them. That screen of willows was also keeping me from pulling the trigger. It was thin enough to tempt me but I just refuse to take a shot like that. Too much can go wrong. After half a minute of standoff the antelope moved off the levy towards the flat. I quickly crossed the canal, which was dry at that point, and crawled (literally) to the top of the levy. I lined up the doe at what I figured was less than 100yds as she was quartering away. I allowed for the wind some and squeezed. I’d later find that she took the shot on he last two ribs. The bullet transected the chest and exited just behind the opposite front shoulder. In the time it took to work the bolt, she dropped out of sight. I lined up on the yearling and was just starting to squeeze when he changed direction. I readjusted, allowed for wind again, and squeezed once more. As I bolted in another round, he wobbled and fell. I watched a moment, picked up my brass, and then walked down to where the antelope had fallen. It was then that I realized that I had shot my antelope in a marsh.

Until I moved to Wyoming, I never realized how much water there actually is in what is reputed to be a very dry state. These antelope had dropped in a couple of inches of water, that lay over a couple of inches of mud, that was covered with grass about 18” high and was hiding my dead antelope quite well, thank you very much. I finally stumbled on the doe, and very nearby I finally found the fawn. I dragged the doe up onto a dry spot in the marsh and then dragged the fawn over to the doe and piled it on top of the doe so that it would stand out above the grass. Remember that I had left my knife and everything else with the ATV. I could have used my pocketknife to field dress the antelope but I had just been using it to cut plastic the day before and it was dreadfully dull and would have been miserable to work with.
Stupidity is expensive

Snake River Marksman
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Joined: Sun Mar 11, 2007 11:52 am
Location: Etna, Wyoming

Re: My final antelope hunt of the season LONG

Post by Snake River Marksman » Sun Oct 25, 2009 7:58 pm

Part II

As I later measured it, I walked 1.8 miles along the levy until I was at the bottom of the ridge where I left the ATV and was at a place where I could cross. I then climbed about ½ mile up to the ATV. I followed the fence back to the two track and then took the two track down to the irrigation canal. I’d been in this area once before and thought I had a pretty good idea of the lay of the land. My vision of the terrain was flawed. I took a wrong track and had to backtrack a ways. In the process I also had to cross two of those seeps and I worried about sticking that ATV. I could see where someone else had done so in the past. Sticking an ATV when you are by yourself can be dangerous not to mention just plain miserable. I also had to drive the ATV 8’ up the steep side of the levy to access the road on top. Once I finally gained the top of the levy, it was just a matter of avoiding badger holes until I got back to where my antelope were.

By the time I got the antelope dressed out, and loaded onto the ATV it was getting dark. By the time I drove the 10miles back to the truck, it was VERY dark. I got the antelope washed out and loaded, and hit the road just after 8pm.

You remember that lousy weather at the start of this tale? Well I ran into it about 5min after I got to the paved road. It was heavy snow. Over 100miles to home, the 4wd is broken in my truck, and it’s snow a blizzard! At first I reasoned that it wouldn’t be too bad. It had been warm and sunny and the snow wasn’t sticking to the road. Yet. Twenty miles up the road all that changed. In a blink, the road went from wet to 2” of snow covering the surface. Something you should know about my part of Wyoming. They don’t plow the roads from 9pm to 5am. There isn’t enough traffic to make it worth the risk. And it is risky. As this snow started after 8, they wouldn’t put a plow and sand truck out until morning. The road didn’t appear slick, and I didn’t get any indications from the oncoming traffic that the road was impassible so I continued on. Once I crossed over the South Rim, the road went back to wet, just as fast as it had gone to snow covered. With the air temp below freezing, I drove the entire way home at 45mph or less. Add in the constant danger of deer, elk, or moose in the road and it was a pretty stressful ride home.

So there you have it. One loooong afternoon of antelope hunting.
Stupidity is expensive

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BlackCoyote
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Re: My final antelope hunt of the season LONG

Post by BlackCoyote » Fri Oct 30, 2009 6:58 am

congrats on filling the freezer!

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AGCHAWK
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Re: My final antelope hunt of the season LONG

Post by AGCHAWK » Fri Oct 30, 2009 9:48 am

Great write up! Sounds like it was a lot of fun too. CONGRATS
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TheGreatwhitehunter
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Re: My final antelope hunt of the season LONG

Post by TheGreatwhitehunter » Fri Oct 30, 2009 10:51 am

Congrats on your success, and great write up.
THE LORD IS MY ROCK

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