- Details
- Category: Antelope
- Published: Wednesday, 31 August 2011 20:18
- Written by Greg
Archery Antelope Hunt
Aermotor Windmill sold its first windmills way back in 1888. And now more than 120 years later, my son and I sit here staring off across the high sagebrush plains of Wyoming all because the Aermotor delivers a small trickle of water to this dry vast barren country.
Sitting for hours in silence, listening to the sounds of the strained creaking windmill parts all working together, we wait in anticipation of an antelope buck’s visit to this desolate water hole. Just yesterday a lone doe antelope showed up just moments before sunrise. At 250 yards we first spotted her as she crested the sage brush ridge, silhouetted against the eastern morning sky, before she made her way toward us. And then it wasn’t more than a few minutes later when three doe and one buck antelope appeared from the west. Suddenly this little oasis was buzzing with activity from sage grouse and antelope. But unfortunately the pronghorn buck just wasn’t the buck we were looking for.
But today we have been sitting in our ground blind for almost twelve hours since last seeing an antelope. The antelope from this morning’s close call was an encounter with seven pronghorn, one of which was a “shooter” buck. Have you ever had one of those moments where nature calls at an inopportune time? Well that’s what happened to me this morning. It was only 8:05 AM, but I couldn’t wait any longer. Believe-me-you, I attempted to make sure the coast was clear before exiting the blind…
Ground blind near windmill Ground blind on bank of waterhole
Our blind is situated along a little seep where the water makes its way from the windmill trough to a water hole some 30 yards away. The position of our blind is just down off the bank of the water hole where our panoramic view of the landscape is unobscured for approximately 340 degrees. The far edge of the water trough is 35 yards to the northwest, while the far side of the water hole is 40 yards due east. So the only part of our view that is blocked is the area due west of us, but any animal that comes for water will eventually appear within sight.
So what happened at 8:05 AM? I announced my impending exit to my son, but not before thoroughly scouring the landscape from all sides of the blind. The coast was clear…I had only taken three steps outside the blind, slightly uphill and due west, when my eyes met the stare of seven antelope not 30 yards away…and the one and only buck was big! I quickly ducked and scurried back to the blind and in an excited and probably too loud whisper, told Dallas to “get your bow, there is a buck right here next to the blind!” Needless to say, by the time Dallas got out of the blind with bow in hand, the antelope had trotted off and out of range. Now it was Dallas reminding me of what my dad had always said, don’t go anywhere without your bow/gun because you just never know when or what you might see.
It is now just after 7:00 PM, the sun will be setting soon and our long day will end. Dallas is fully engrossed in his book and I sit scanning the sagebrush countryside. Suddenly a buck appears only 120 yards away on the near skyline.
Before I can reposition myself away from the middle of the blind, Dallas says “he’s running”. I turn to look thinking that the buck surely must be running away, only to find that the buck is actually running towards the water hole. Dallas scrambles to get his bow and arrow and just as he gets an arrow knocked the buck arrives at the far edge of the water hole, a mere 40 yards away! Dallas’ first shot somehow falls short; the buck runs up the hillside. Moments later the curious pronghorn makes his way right back down to the water’s edge. Again Dallas’ shot hits at the buck’s feet. Unsure of what’s just happened, the buck runs back uphill. Curiosity gets the best of the buck and he makes his way right back down to the water. “Hand me another arrow” Dallas says in frustration. “How am I missing it?” We finally decide that the mesh covering the open window of the blind must be interfering, so I whisper “aim at the top of the antelope’s back”. The next shot also goes askew and hits just in front of the buck. At this point we decide to remove the “shoot through” mesh. Unfortunately the loud ripping sound of the Velcro tearing away from the blind scares off the buck for good.
Come to find out, the “shoot through” mesh on this borrowed blind isn't meant to actually show an arrow through like we were told. Guess we rookies shouldn't believe the rookie that told us since logic says otherwise. The hunt was over; time to head back to work and the real world…guess you can’t win them all.
