mcelweed
Member
Saturday was the beginning of the Youth Antelope Hunt in NM. My 13-year-old daughter drew a doe/immature buck tag in NW NM. She has hunted turkeys with me a couple times with no luck.It went much better than my antelope hunt a month earlier (see Caliche, Colds, and Cow Slobber on this forum).
I went up Thursday afternoon to establish camp and do some scouting. The rancher agreed to allow us to camp on his property. I arrived late afternoon and met with the rancher who directed me to a good camping location in a caliche quarry and gave me a rundown of the property. He told me that all the other hunters had already completed their hunts and we would have the entire 21,000-acre ranch to ourselves. He also told me the southern end of the ranch had been hunted hard and the best chance of success was on the northern end. By the time I got camp set up in the quarry it was time for dinner, packing a backpack for scouting the next day and head to bed.
I got up Friday before dawn and spent the first hour scouting around our camp. Because it was in a quarry, it wasn’t visible from the surrounding area. I climbed the berm surrounding the quarry and started glassing; avoiding a skunk along the way. (Sorry I couldn't get the pictures turned right)
I spotted 2 does and a buck to the north, but across the property line. I next moved to another nearby quarry near where I had spotted several antelope the previous evening. They were still there about 700-800 yards from the quarry. I spotted this big buck while I was glassing.
I then decided to drive the road across the north end of the property. I spotted several more antelope as I drove; getting to within 100-200 yards before they spooked. Things were looking good. I spent about a half hour watching a herd of 19 feed and bed just north of a cattle pen beside the main road that cut through the property.
After checking in with the rancher again I checked out the southern end of the property. I only saw a few antelope and they were very skittish, just as the rancher had said. By this time I had made a game plan to have my daughter hunt the water tank on the northern end of the property, specifically the herd of 19 antelope I had watched earlier. I then headed to Santa Rosa to pick up my daughter, stopping in Tucumcari and receiving permission to come back in Nov to fall turkey hunt on a gentleman’s farm, killing two birds with one stone you might say.
When we made it back to camp we got our gear ready and hit the sack excited for the possibility the next day could bring.
Out before sunrise Saturday morning we set up our gear behind a couple fallen trees near the water tank and waited. Shortly after sunrise we began to see antelope, right where they had been the afternoon before about a half mile away from our blind. We watched a group of 4 does slowly feed our direction.
When they got to about 500 yards my daughter said “Here come the cows and they’re running.” Sure enough in runs a dozen cows to the water tank sending the antelope running the opposite direction. It looked like a second hunt would be ruined by cows.
We could still see the antelope north of the cow pens so we formed a plan to move down the road and attempt a stalk. We walked down to the cow pens then back the fence line to align with some juniper bushes for sparse cover. Over the next hour we slowly zigzagged through the junipers moving closer to the herd. We finally closed to about 170 yards on a doe, but she busted us when my daughter moved out for a shot. The doe calmly walked away, turning slightly left and right but never presenting a good shot. I was proud of my daughter. After an hour+ stalk, many first time hunters would have forced a bad shot and spooked the herd or wounded an animal.
We headed back to the truck and drove to the ranch house so my daughter could introduce herself to the rancher. As we pulled off the main road onto the gravel ranch road we spotted a buck and doe about 50 yards off the ranch road. They didn’t pay much attention as we drove by. Although the rancher wasn’t there one of the ranch hands suggested that if the antelope were still there when we left it may be our best shot. Sure enough, they were in the same place as we drove back to the main road.
The mailman was delivering mail as we drove back and the antelope didn’t concern themselves at all. I decided to set my daughter up on shooting sticks about 40 yards off the main road and 20 yards off the ranch road looking south 150 yards at the antelope. They still seemed unconcerned as we set up for a shot, a fatal mistake.
For about 5 minutes we watched as the antelope stood statue still; the buck broadside and the doe facing away. My daughter watched them through her scope, lifting her head every so often to rest her eyes. Finally, the buck began to move away with the doe following. Just like before the doe calmly walked away turning slightly left and right never presenting a shot.
After about 20 yards, now 170 yards out, she final turned to her left presenting a broadside, but she was still moving. My daughter again waited for a shot. As soon as the doe dropped her head to eat some grass, the Remington Model 700 barked and I watched the doe rear back as hit the ground. After a couple high fives and hugs I asked her to hold her hand up. Rock solid! I’ve been hunting 40 years and I still shake more than that and this was her first animal ever.
We walked down to the doe and began to look for where my daughter had hit her. We couldn’t find any blood to speak up. A couple of pictures and a few more high fives and hugs and the job of field dressing began. I soon became apparent the shot had gone through both shoulders, breaking the left shoulder. When I began to extract the heart it became apparent why the doe dropped so fast. A single bullet through the top of the heart and aorta. The doe was dead before she hit the ground. 170 yards, one shot right through the heart from a sitting position with shooting sticks. Just about better than I could have done.
On the way back to Albuquerque that evening we stopped in Santa Rosa for dinner. If you've never been, there's not much selection. We decided to go to the Dairy Queen, since I've been told all great antelope hunters have a DQ cone after a hunt. Isn't that right Big Fin?
This made the epic failure of my hunt worth it. To see the smile on her face, not to mention a little swagger in her walk was incredible. Sunday evening dinner was antelope tenderloins and heart. Can’t wait to do it again.
I went up Thursday afternoon to establish camp and do some scouting. The rancher agreed to allow us to camp on his property. I arrived late afternoon and met with the rancher who directed me to a good camping location in a caliche quarry and gave me a rundown of the property. He told me that all the other hunters had already completed their hunts and we would have the entire 21,000-acre ranch to ourselves. He also told me the southern end of the ranch had been hunted hard and the best chance of success was on the northern end. By the time I got camp set up in the quarry it was time for dinner, packing a backpack for scouting the next day and head to bed.
I got up Friday before dawn and spent the first hour scouting around our camp. Because it was in a quarry, it wasn’t visible from the surrounding area. I climbed the berm surrounding the quarry and started glassing; avoiding a skunk along the way. (Sorry I couldn't get the pictures turned right)
I spotted 2 does and a buck to the north, but across the property line. I next moved to another nearby quarry near where I had spotted several antelope the previous evening. They were still there about 700-800 yards from the quarry. I spotted this big buck while I was glassing.
I then decided to drive the road across the north end of the property. I spotted several more antelope as I drove; getting to within 100-200 yards before they spooked. Things were looking good. I spent about a half hour watching a herd of 19 feed and bed just north of a cattle pen beside the main road that cut through the property.
After checking in with the rancher again I checked out the southern end of the property. I only saw a few antelope and they were very skittish, just as the rancher had said. By this time I had made a game plan to have my daughter hunt the water tank on the northern end of the property, specifically the herd of 19 antelope I had watched earlier. I then headed to Santa Rosa to pick up my daughter, stopping in Tucumcari and receiving permission to come back in Nov to fall turkey hunt on a gentleman’s farm, killing two birds with one stone you might say.
When we made it back to camp we got our gear ready and hit the sack excited for the possibility the next day could bring.
Out before sunrise Saturday morning we set up our gear behind a couple fallen trees near the water tank and waited. Shortly after sunrise we began to see antelope, right where they had been the afternoon before about a half mile away from our blind. We watched a group of 4 does slowly feed our direction.
When they got to about 500 yards my daughter said “Here come the cows and they’re running.” Sure enough in runs a dozen cows to the water tank sending the antelope running the opposite direction. It looked like a second hunt would be ruined by cows.
We could still see the antelope north of the cow pens so we formed a plan to move down the road and attempt a stalk. We walked down to the cow pens then back the fence line to align with some juniper bushes for sparse cover. Over the next hour we slowly zigzagged through the junipers moving closer to the herd. We finally closed to about 170 yards on a doe, but she busted us when my daughter moved out for a shot. The doe calmly walked away, turning slightly left and right but never presenting a good shot. I was proud of my daughter. After an hour+ stalk, many first time hunters would have forced a bad shot and spooked the herd or wounded an animal.
We headed back to the truck and drove to the ranch house so my daughter could introduce herself to the rancher. As we pulled off the main road onto the gravel ranch road we spotted a buck and doe about 50 yards off the ranch road. They didn’t pay much attention as we drove by. Although the rancher wasn’t there one of the ranch hands suggested that if the antelope were still there when we left it may be our best shot. Sure enough, they were in the same place as we drove back to the main road.
The mailman was delivering mail as we drove back and the antelope didn’t concern themselves at all. I decided to set my daughter up on shooting sticks about 40 yards off the main road and 20 yards off the ranch road looking south 150 yards at the antelope. They still seemed unconcerned as we set up for a shot, a fatal mistake.
For about 5 minutes we watched as the antelope stood statue still; the buck broadside and the doe facing away. My daughter watched them through her scope, lifting her head every so often to rest her eyes. Finally, the buck began to move away with the doe following. Just like before the doe calmly walked away turning slightly left and right never presenting a shot.
After about 20 yards, now 170 yards out, she final turned to her left presenting a broadside, but she was still moving. My daughter again waited for a shot. As soon as the doe dropped her head to eat some grass, the Remington Model 700 barked and I watched the doe rear back as hit the ground. After a couple high fives and hugs I asked her to hold her hand up. Rock solid! I’ve been hunting 40 years and I still shake more than that and this was her first animal ever.
We walked down to the doe and began to look for where my daughter had hit her. We couldn’t find any blood to speak up. A couple of pictures and a few more high fives and hugs and the job of field dressing began. I soon became apparent the shot had gone through both shoulders, breaking the left shoulder. When I began to extract the heart it became apparent why the doe dropped so fast. A single bullet through the top of the heart and aorta. The doe was dead before she hit the ground. 170 yards, one shot right through the heart from a sitting position with shooting sticks. Just about better than I could have done.
On the way back to Albuquerque that evening we stopped in Santa Rosa for dinner. If you've never been, there's not much selection. We decided to go to the Dairy Queen, since I've been told all great antelope hunters have a DQ cone after a hunt. Isn't that right Big Fin?
This made the epic failure of my hunt worth it. To see the smile on her face, not to mention a little swagger in her walk was incredible. Sunday evening dinner was antelope tenderloins and heart. Can’t wait to do it again.
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