Was my experience normal...or did I somehow F&#K up?

Lots of water this year has them spread out, but to be brutally honest you did not do that tag justice hunting only 2 days. You essentially wasted the tag. The upside is you will have 3 years to think about what to do next time during your time out. Such is the blessing/curse with FCFS.
 
One thing has not been mentioned. I had a tag in 32 a few years ago. Most of the antelope I saw were not in the flats but up in the canyons. Get off the main roads and drive up in the mountains. You may not see a lot, but that was where I found them. I killed my buck on a hillside that had bighorns grazing on it the day before.

QQ
 
I annually embark on a 30+ hour drive to my antelope, elk, mule deer areas. 9 hours is barely enough to warm up my truck. Same advice as everyone else. Get back out there and hunt that tag and enjoy the grandeur and the learning experience otherwise you may have to change your profile name to something far less aspirational!
 
Most of us hunting our entire lives take for granted having an “eye for game”. We have learned to discern particular shapes or patterns in the landscape from great distances as animals. I’d be willing to bet you were looking right at antelope and just didn’t pick them out. Just need more practice. I stand on top of my truck (when I had a truck) to glass with a tripod. If there is more topography, climb up the nearest hill and glass. If you research what antelope do all day in their habitat, you know where to look for them. They are in particular places relative to water, food, and being shot at from roads. I’d also be willing to wager that you spent 90-95% of your time looking or glassing for antelope where an experienced hunter would know not to waste their time.

Experience is the best teacher. A failure to find a buck is better for you than getting lucky and happening upon one.
 
Not really sure what to say about your antelope situation, but spotting your “first wild beaver” in “virgin valley” seemed appropriate.
I’m starting to wonder if we got trolled for yuks. Or perhaps the OP got “waylaid” from antelope hunting by an unexpected trip highlight. Wild = hasn’t seen a clipper?

Pics or it didn’t happen.

I mean the hunting part.
 
Get out there and find that f'n dog!

So you get put on timeout if you pull a FCFS tag? Do you lose your points? At this point I don't feel bad hijacking the thread since the OP has either gotten off the porch to find that animal or gave up on getting coordinates here.
 
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