- Details
- Category: Antelope
- Published: Thursday, 12 October 2017 00:37
- Written by Greg
60 - 70 mph - Speed Limit, Wind Speed, Speed of a Speed Goat?
Is the 60 - 70 mph referring to the speed limit or the wind speed or the speed of a speed goat or maybe all three…
This year Carson turned 12 and had his first opportunity to put in for Wyoming pronghorn. We were both pleased as punch when he drew an October antelope tag for both a doe and a buck!
Up to this point our hunting season was in full swing. Carson had already bagged his first big game animal with a gun and had an archery buck deer to his credit, but hunting Wyoming had him excited for the calendar to finally flip to October!
At last the first school week of October finished up. If we hustled we could make the five hour drive to antelope country before dark. That way we could try for a doe late Friday afternoon and then drive another four hours in order to make it to our antelope buck area for Saturday morning. And off we went. About thirty minutes before we arrived at our first destination, overhead freeway signs warned of high winds. The current winds were constant at 40 mph, with gusts possible to 70 mph, the signs read. We had already encountered a few high profile vehicles that had blown over, definitely not ideal hunting conditions.
We arrived at destination one with forty five minutes to go before sunset and found antelope. The lay of the land was perfect for us to put on a stalk and shoot with our backs to the wind. The risk was that our scent might blow toward the antelope and spook them. However, everything worked out perfectly and Carson dropped his antelope with one shot! Possibly the wind currents were so swift that our scent dissipated before reaching the antelope, who knows. Whatever the case may have been, Carson had his doe and our journey continued across the Wyoming frontier eastward.
Carson and Woodie with first Wyoming antelope
We awoke to howling winds. Without an anemometer, I guessed the wind to be whipping across the prairie at 50 mph, with gust much harder at times. No joke, it was impossible to stand still. Several times I found Carson distracted from hunting. I’d instead find him leaning headlong into the wind, attempting to fly as if he were a kite. I can’t say I blamed him, I was skeptical that we’d find a buck, let alone get a shot until the turbulence subsided.
Saturday afternoon dumped a few ducks from scarce water source
With one hand holding our hats to our heads, we now walked down off the butte that we ascended fifty minutes ago. Toward the bottom we rounded the leeward side and spotted a buck antelope cutting sideways across the hillside toward us! With barely ten inches of yellow stubble grass to conceal us, we quickly backtracked and dropped downhill a little ways and crept into a small depression that provided minimal cover.
Hiking along, not a lot of cover Hat pulled tight and a thumbs up...just spotted a buck!
Attentively the wary pronghorn periodically tested the wind, surveyed its surroundings then continued to mosey along in our direction. At 200 yards we normally would have set up for a shot, especially since the buck had stopped and began to feed. After ten minutes of watching the antelope move no more than a couple of feet, we weren’t sure the antelope would come any closer. But we exercised excruciating patience until the buck finally began to meander our way. At 75 yards the buck turned parallel to us, I knew it was now or never. At any second the buck was going to spot the out-of-the-ordinary mass that was us. Carson already had his gun leveled across the shooting sticks and aimed at the buck as it walked broadside with the wind. I had been coaching him on where to hold since we spotted the buck and now I flashed 5 fingers, which he converted to inches of hold into the wind.
At the muffled pop from the .270, the antelope whirled and ran off another 100 yards and lay down. The wind was blowing so hard that I couldn’t initially tell whether the buck was hit or not. But the fact that it bedded so quickly let us both know that it was.
All smiles on his 2nd shot, secured his first antelope buck
I looked at my phone, 8:56 a.m. We waited about 20 minutes then decided to back out since there was no way to get closer for a second shot without bumping the antelope. It took us just over an hour to circle around the buck from the opposite direction. Then using a ravine to conceal our approach, we began to sneak closer in case a follow-up shot was necessary. As we inched over the rise 120 yards from the antelope, we spotted the buck motionless, flat on its side. We stood up – but so did the wobbly buck. Carson quickly dropped to the ground and put another round into the buck; this time a perfect heart shot!
Proud father and son! Carson was insistent upon dragging out buck himself