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Old 09-07-2013 | 09:24 AM
  #13  
1874sharpsshooter
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Originally Posted by 1874sharpsshooter
Update coming soon
Ok here's the update. While i wait to get muzzleloaders sighted in and get another kid ready for a mentor hunt ,I have been bow hunting for antelope. The one in the beginning of the post was around off and on but I found a lop horned one that was very unique. He must have gotten injured. His one horn turned down and was growing down the side of his face. Really cool looking.I really wanted him and I made 6 unsuccessful attempts. I did get with in 59 yds once, 70 twice and after that I never got closer than 250. I havent shot my bow 250 yards yet so I decided to look elsewhere. I found a nice buck just 1/2 mile from the house but struck out there also. I was able to get within 40 yards but only the back half of him was visible . The 6 does with him busted me and they were standing at about 500 yards within seconds. That ended that.
I went back to where the original buck in the post was and sure enough he was still hanging out in the area.
I am not hunting from a blind, not hunting over a water hole and not hiding behind a horse or anything so it is a big challenge to get within bow range. I am hunting open prairie in just a ghillie suit.
If you have never tried it then you might not understand how difficult it can be.

I will shorten the story by saying that I made 2 unsuccessful stalks on him. I was about to give up when Friday after work I decided to give it one more try . The temp. was 101. very hot to be hunting. I went to where he has been coming into a summer fallow field. .I didn't see him but decided to sit and watch for a while. There was only some tufts of grass and a few wild sunflowers, not much to hide behind.. I snuggled up into them the best I could..Then I noticed he was in the stubble field about 300 yards away staring my way.I just sat there as still as possible and he wandered around for a while then headed east. I figured that was the end of that but I stayed put. After ½ an hour I got up on my knees and was going to head east to see if I could spot him when I saw him coming right toward me. I quickly ducked back down . . I stayed frozen for what seemed like forever. Then I tried to peek again. He was staring right toward me. I just sat there. A vehicle was coming down the road and he was very close to the dirt road. When the car passed by he jumped and ran even closer to where I was. He kept staring intently my way and slowly walked into the path that would give me a shot. He was only about 45 yards away. I was breathing so hard and my heart racing. I just knew he could hear me. I slowly eased back to full draw. I had to shoot from a sitting position, there was no way to even get to my knees. I didnt have time to check the range for sure but guessed around 35 or 40 yards,. I released and heard a whack. He bolted and stopped at 110 yards away. He just stood there. Not a good sign. He stood for about 30 or more minutes. It seemed like forever. Then he finally layed down. I knew I should leave him and come back but it was so stinking hot out. Just at dusk since he was facing away from me I decided to try to sneak up on him and finish him off. Bad idea. I stood, took 3 steps and he jumped and ran. I decided to come back later, so I left. I went back at first light and checked the back field where I last saw him run to. Nothing. Then I saw a patch of white in the middle of the field. He had went right back to where he had been hit and layed down and died. Easy recovery thankfully. The shot turned out t be way to far back. I don't know if I just plain screwed up and made a bad shot or if he jumped the string. Doesn't really matter, it was bad either way but ended happily. I got him dressed out .I have to admit I'm a little concerned about the meat as the low was only 70 degrees . Here's a pic of him. He is the one in the beginning of the thread.





I consider archery antelope ,just spot and stalk , to be the ultimate challenge. Now its time to prepare muzzleloaders while i wait two weeks for archery deer to start.
 
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