[attachment=32462:attachment][attachment=32459:attachment][attachment=32460:atta
chment][attachment=32460:attachment]As posted earlier I had drawn an antelope tag for the 021-022 areas of Nevada. I left early Friday morning to do some scouting of areas I hadn't had a chance to look at yet. I saw one buck in the morning that would have been a borderline shooter. In the afternoon I found a real nice buck with a single doe. I watched him for about an hour and decided I would go after him in the morning. I was able to camp fairly close to the area I wanted to hunt so I could hunt right out of camp.
At first light I started glassing the area I had seen them the night before. I saw nothing but four different coyotes. I hunted the flats most of the morning and they had simply disappeared. I went back to my camp for a quick snack when I noticed a couple wild horses over a mile away. While I was looking at them through the binoculars I notice an antelope trotting around them. I started heading up the hill for a closer look. About halfway up I glassed the area again and saw an antelope buck walking down the ridge. I used the mountains to mark my direction after him. When I got up to the area I thought he was at, there was nothing in sight. I moved higher up to a fenceline and glassed all down below me and still nothing. I moved along the fenceline which was littered with antelope scrapes, tracks and scat. All very fresh! I followed the fenceline for about a mile and just could not believe I couldn't find them. The area had lots of rolling mounds and culverts with some thick sage, so I figured they must be bedded. The fenceline cut to the last mound before it dropped into the flats and I sat on some rocks to glass below. I was there about 20 minutes, still in disbelief that I couldn't find them.
I looked to my right and and an antelope buck and doe walked out of a small culvert about 150 yards away. The buck was fairly small and I knew it wasn't the one I had seen the night before. I rolled off the rock and started glassing them. About a minute later three more bucks walked out of the culvert. One had an extremely wide spread, but his horns were not that thick with small cutters. Two were very similar in length, but one looked much thicker and had real nice cutters, he also had a much bigger body. I had a real difficult time judging how long they were because both had horns that hooked inward to perfect heart shapes. I guessed that the biggest one might go 15 inches. I really wanted a big buck since this is a very limited draw area. The more I watched this buck, the more I became convinced I was going to take a shot at him. He chased a couple of the other bucks around, raked a sage bush and made a scrape. I decided that he was the one. I propped my shooting sticks and turned my scope up. In looking at him through the scope my pulse caused the crosshairs to dance. I was so calm up to the point that I decided to shoot him. I couple deep breaths settled me down and I waited for him to turn broadside. He did so as he raked another sage, and I squeezed off the shot. He dropped like a stone and barely even kicked. The other antelope milled around and didn't even run until I got up to go see him. I ranged the shot at 157 yards and drilled him through the ribs and out the opposite shoulder.
It was about 10:45 and I had a very long drag ahead of me in 90 degree heat. Thank God it was mostly downhill, but I didn't reach a road until almost 3 pm. I was one tired but very happy hunter! He measured out right at 14 inches.
chment][attachment=32460:attachment]As posted earlier I had drawn an antelope tag for the 021-022 areas of Nevada. I left early Friday morning to do some scouting of areas I hadn't had a chance to look at yet. I saw one buck in the morning that would have been a borderline shooter. In the afternoon I found a real nice buck with a single doe. I watched him for about an hour and decided I would go after him in the morning. I was able to camp fairly close to the area I wanted to hunt so I could hunt right out of camp.
At first light I started glassing the area I had seen them the night before. I saw nothing but four different coyotes. I hunted the flats most of the morning and they had simply disappeared. I went back to my camp for a quick snack when I noticed a couple wild horses over a mile away. While I was looking at them through the binoculars I notice an antelope trotting around them. I started heading up the hill for a closer look. About halfway up I glassed the area again and saw an antelope buck walking down the ridge. I used the mountains to mark my direction after him. When I got up to the area I thought he was at, there was nothing in sight. I moved higher up to a fenceline and glassed all down below me and still nothing. I moved along the fenceline which was littered with antelope scrapes, tracks and scat. All very fresh! I followed the fenceline for about a mile and just could not believe I couldn't find them. The area had lots of rolling mounds and culverts with some thick sage, so I figured they must be bedded. The fenceline cut to the last mound before it dropped into the flats and I sat on some rocks to glass below. I was there about 20 minutes, still in disbelief that I couldn't find them.
I looked to my right and and an antelope buck and doe walked out of a small culvert about 150 yards away. The buck was fairly small and I knew it wasn't the one I had seen the night before. I rolled off the rock and started glassing them. About a minute later three more bucks walked out of the culvert. One had an extremely wide spread, but his horns were not that thick with small cutters. Two were very similar in length, but one looked much thicker and had real nice cutters, he also had a much bigger body. I had a real difficult time judging how long they were because both had horns that hooked inward to perfect heart shapes. I guessed that the biggest one might go 15 inches. I really wanted a big buck since this is a very limited draw area. The more I watched this buck, the more I became convinced I was going to take a shot at him. He chased a couple of the other bucks around, raked a sage bush and made a scrape. I decided that he was the one. I propped my shooting sticks and turned my scope up. In looking at him through the scope my pulse caused the crosshairs to dance. I was so calm up to the point that I decided to shoot him. I couple deep breaths settled me down and I waited for him to turn broadside. He did so as he raked another sage, and I squeezed off the shot. He dropped like a stone and barely even kicked. The other antelope milled around and didn't even run until I got up to go see him. I ranged the shot at 157 yards and drilled him through the ribs and out the opposite shoulder.
It was about 10:45 and I had a very long drag ahead of me in 90 degree heat. Thank God it was mostly downhill, but I didn't reach a road until almost 3 pm. I was one tired but very happy hunter! He measured out right at 14 inches.
