- Details
- Category: Antelope
- Published: Wednesday, 14 September 2011 20:12
- Written by Greg
Rifle Antelope Hunt
It was late morning on the opener of the Wyoming rifle antelope hunt and we had already seen over 20 pronghorn, including several bucks. The clock of the ol’ Dodge diesel read 11:38 am as we made our way along a not-so-well traveled dirt road. From the back seat I heard a “we’re hungry” remark. Obviously the kids were ready for lunch, so I agreed to stop at the top of the next rise so we could eat and glass the sage covered plateau ahead.
No sooner had the truck come to a stop than my son, Dallas, flung open the passenger door and headed for the cooler in the bed of the truck. At that same moment I glanced to my right and out the passenger door something caught my eye. There at 500 yards near the horizon of a small knoll were several out of the ordinary specs. I threw my binoculars up to my face just in time to see several antelope crest the rolling hill and it looked like a nice buck was among them.
Just like that our lunch plans were put on hold. It didn’t appear as if the antelope were scared, so we decided to blaze out across the sagebrush flat after them. After several minutes we had closed the distance, with gun in hand we peered over the small rise expecting the antelope to be right under our noses. Nope, they were already ½ mile further away. And a direct approach would be impossible without being completely visible the entire way.
At that point we really only had two options, head back to the truck for lunch or make a long sweeping stalk which would take us at least a mile and a half out and around; using the natural terrain to conceal our approach. In the end it was the kids who made the decision to forgo lunch and pursue the wary pronghorn.
Even though the hour plus journey was quite long for the hungry 6 and 12 year old boys, we did have a few distractions that helped entertain. We caught and released several horned lizards (or horny toads as we like to call them) and found an antelope shed that the kids kept as a souvenir. Finally we had made the long trek and it looked as if the antelope had disappeared across the vast sagebrush vista. But just ahead in our path remained one last knoll that obscured a small fraction of our view. Was it possible that the pronghorn we sought lay just beyond that butte? The probability seemed slim, but we still had hope.
In single file we ambled our way to the top of the knoll. Dallas was first to get a glimpse of what lay beyond and at that instant he spun and dropped down to his knees and told us he could see the buck. Cautiously we all took turns peaking ever so slightly up and over the hill, yep, there was the buck and he looked nice!
On a positive note, we had just found the buck and he was bedded down. But on the flip side, he was bedded facing directly toward us and we could only see his head. Dallas steadied himself for a shot in the prone position. He assured me that he could make the 283 yard head shot because he was steady as a rock. At the same moment I heard that blast from the .270 Remington, the buck dropped. Dallas had his trophy, not record book, but trophy antelope buck!
Several hours later we spotted another group of pronghorn way out across the rolling sagebrush flats. After another very long (over a mile) stalk, we came upon the herd of antelope. My shot wasn't nearly as spectacular as Dallas', but it was thrilling nonetheless! Needless to say, we were a group of satisfied hunters as seen in the pics!
