Paul in Idaho
Well-known member
I saw something really strange on my last archery pronghorn hunt. When I parked my truck I could see the head of a bedded animal beside a rock a couple hundred yards away. Even using my spotting scope I couldn't tell what it was. It looked to small for an antelope, and the face looked kind of wooly. There's a sheep ranch not far off so I was wondering if it was a lost lamb.
After getting my equipment together I started walking up the road. The animal was bedded about 60 yards to the right of the road. As I approached, it got up. I ranged it at 120 yards. In my binos it looked like an antelope, but something was definitely not right. It was scrawny and small. The color wasn't right - a dusty beige instead of the typical rich reddish tan. The hair around its face was fuzzy instead of sleek.
Surprisingly, it ran toward me, not away. It crossed the road in front of me then stopped. I ranged it at 36 yards. I got a good look at it with my binoculars. It was even more frail-looking than I could see before. It had horns, but they stuck forward, parallel to the ground, instead of up. They were a weird yellowish color instead of black, maybe 6 inches long, and weren't much bigger around than my finger.
As I was considering whether to use my tag on a mercy kill or a maybe a pathology sample for the game department, I realized I didn't have my release strapped on. As I started to get it from my pocket, the pronghorn appeared to suffer some sort of seizure. It fell on its side, legs flailing in the dust. That lasted a few seconds, then it jumped to its feet and started a stumbling run. After a couple hundred yards its pace evened out and I watched it disappear into the landscape.
This ranks way up on my list of weird things seen while hunting. Are there any biologists out there that might have any idea what condition might cause such physical oddities and a seizure?
After getting my equipment together I started walking up the road. The animal was bedded about 60 yards to the right of the road. As I approached, it got up. I ranged it at 120 yards. In my binos it looked like an antelope, but something was definitely not right. It was scrawny and small. The color wasn't right - a dusty beige instead of the typical rich reddish tan. The hair around its face was fuzzy instead of sleek.
Surprisingly, it ran toward me, not away. It crossed the road in front of me then stopped. I ranged it at 36 yards. I got a good look at it with my binoculars. It was even more frail-looking than I could see before. It had horns, but they stuck forward, parallel to the ground, instead of up. They were a weird yellowish color instead of black, maybe 6 inches long, and weren't much bigger around than my finger.
As I was considering whether to use my tag on a mercy kill or a maybe a pathology sample for the game department, I realized I didn't have my release strapped on. As I started to get it from my pocket, the pronghorn appeared to suffer some sort of seizure. It fell on its side, legs flailing in the dust. That lasted a few seconds, then it jumped to its feet and started a stumbling run. After a couple hundred yards its pace evened out and I watched it disappear into the landscape.
This ranks way up on my list of weird things seen while hunting. Are there any biologists out there that might have any idea what condition might cause such physical oddities and a seizure?
