15 Years Later...

[Carl 9.3x62]

Thanks, all!

Side note- anyone able to get a guesstimate on age?

Sounds like a great hunt! Awesome that your family was with you.

Those teeth look fairly worn. Antelope are easy to age up to 4 years old by looking at their incisor replacement. Hard to say without seeing the incisors, but I would guess he was an older buck. 4+ is what a biologist or warden would tell you.

 

[geetar]

Wow! This is awesome. I hope to take my wife and two daughters along on an adventure like this someday.

 

[huntinsonovagun]

Wow! This is awesome. I hope to take my wife and two daughters along on an adventure like this someday.

Start planning now and make it a priority! My wife said it was one of her favorite trips ever! She loved the “adventure” aspect of it all!

 

[kansasdad]

Way to go and make a dream come true, and you made it a family adventure as well. Congratulations

 

[geetar]

Start planning now and make it a priority! My wife said it was one of her favorite trips ever! She loved the “adventure” aspect of it all!

Good idea. Just need to pick a destination and work towards it. Kids are 1 and 3 so I wanna give them a few years to be old enough to remember it.

 

[Mtnhunter1]

huntinsonovagun,,,,,First, you have a beautiful family. What a great write up and photos! Including your whole family in the adventure, well, that knocked it out of the park for me...Congrats on fulfilling your dream and tagging a nice loper. I really enjoyed your write up and photos. Best of luck to you with your next outdoor family experience.

 

[MarvB]

Great write up, congrats on your hunt and for making your dream something special for your whole family...A+

 

[JLS]

I’m interested in your trailer renovation. Can you please expand on what you purchased and what you did for remodeling?

That black and white photo is just awesome. Congratulations.

 

[huntinsonovagun]

I’m interested in your trailer renovation. Can you please expand on what you purchased and what you did for remodeling?

That black and white photo is just awesome. Congratulations.

It was mostly cosmetic. I am a self-employed “handyman” (hate the term, but that’s how I market what I do). I do higher-end repairs, etc. The trailer has new LVP flooring, painted the walls, lacquered the cabinets, new wood trim/table top. I did replace all of the exterior plastic vents/connections and added a “paint-on” roof coating to the top. I also re-sealed the corners and painted the exterior window and corner trim black to update it a bit. New shower wall panels, new countertops, new faucets, my wife made curtains, we bought new foam and covered them for the bench seats, all new LED running lights. There are a lot of hours in it! Some friends said I should do that as a business, but I’m not sure people would be willing to pay that kind of money—pretty sure you could just about buy a new one for what the updates would cost. They are so cheaply made. I am thinking about coming up with an improved universal corner trim- from what I can tell, they’ve been made like this for YEARS and still are. That’s where all the leaks happen.


Again everyone, thanks so much for the kind comments!

 

[dwatling]

Great write up! Good to see fellow sportsmen that take the whole family with them and not just make it a guys weekend. Those are memories made that can never be replaced! Sweet RV and excellent field photos!

 

[rtraverdavis]

I was just able to finally read all your posts—what an amazing adventure with your whole family. Like others have said, those field photos—especially the black and white—are incredible. My kids are two and four, and I have to say you’ve inspired me. My daughter (the four year old) has been on several scouting trips with me, but never a hunt. How did you and your wife manage it with them when you were actually stalking the buck? Have they been in the field with you while you were hunting before? Whatever you guys did, it’s very cool. Congratulations on a dream fulfilled!

 

[huntinsonovagun]

I was just able to finally read all your posts—what an amazing adventure with your whole family. Like others have said, those field photos—especially the black and white—are incredible. My kids are two and four, and I have to say you’ve inspired me. My daughter (the four year old) has been on several scouting trips with me, but never a hunt. How did you and your wife manage it with them when you were actually stalking the buck? Have they been in the field with you while you were hunting before? Whatever you guys did, it’s very cool. Congratulations on a dream fulfilled!

Well...I’m not sure “how bad” it actually got in the truck while I was stalking. The only time we allow tablets is on long drives (2+ hours) but I’m pretty sure they were utilized during the stalk. Like I said, EVERYTHING aligned more perfectly than I could have ever imagined. I could probably do this trip 10 more times and never have everything line up the way this one did.

I have taken my kids on short walks in the woods and took my oldest boy on a (unsuccessful) squirrel hunt once before. The main thing that I was hoping to achieve was getting everyone to see the whole animal. It was pretty amazing the way it all worked out.

 

[rtraverdavis]

Well...I’m not sure “how bad” it actually got in the truck while I was stalking. The only time we allow tablets is on long drives (2+ hours) but I’m pretty sure they were utilized during the stalk. Like I said, EVERYTHING aligned more perfectly than I could have ever imagined. I could probably do this trip 10 more times and never have everything line up the way this one did.

I have taken my kids on short walks in the woods and took my oldest boy on a (unsuccessful) squirrel hunt once before. The main thing that I was hoping to achieve was getting everyone to see the whole animal. It was pretty amazing the way it all worked out.

Cool. That makes sense. I usually read stuff like your story and wonder—how do these guys make it look so easy? What you described sounds totally manageable and realistic, with a whole bunch of luck involved too. You’ve got my wheels spinning on a possible antelope hunt with my wife and kids next year. Thank you for sharing!

 

[coolhandluke]

Great job. Great pics. Nothing better than having the kids out there. Can't wait to do that with mine.

 

[OntarioHunter]

That is a stupendous antelope in every respect: length, thickness, spread, and even some extra points thrown in. I am not much for hair and glass eyes in the house (though taxidermy is our business) but pronghorn are the exception. They make a fine mount. Here's one my daughter did for a course project. The rack was given to her by an old friend of mine from the aluminum plant days who now owns a farm east of Malta. It's a nice one but no comparison to yours.

 

[huntinsonovagun]

That is a stupendous antelope in every respect: length, thickness, spread, and even some extra points thrown in. I am not much for hair and glass eyes in the house (though taxidermy is our business) but pronghorn are the exception. They make a fine mount. Here's one my daughter did for a course project. The rack was given to her by an old friend of mine from the aluminum plant days who now owns a farm east of Malta. It's a nice one but no comparison to yours.View attachment 155620

That’s funny you’re a taxidermist and don’t like it in your house!

I walked up and knew he was a good one, but still probably don’t have a great idea as to how good he really is, being my first and all. 14.5” horns and 7 1/8” bases.

 

[Deleted member 38069]

We went over to see him and I explained to my kids that I’m going to be the first one to touch him and when their time comes to kill an animal, they’ll be the first to touch their animal as well. As we walked up, I was in awe of the size of this antelope. The first thing I noticed was the huge hooks and the white tips of his horns. I saw some character and what seemed to be good mass on his horns—he was definitely a mature animal. The other thing that struck me was how large they are. Now I know that I only have a sample size of “1,” but honestly thought they would be a lot smaller. I didn’t weigh him, but I would have guessed him 175+lbs on the hoof, certainly larger than most of the Oklahoma deer that I hunt. We took a good half-hour or so to just look him over and take some pictures. His markings seemed so crisp and clean. I think that I literally said that I hate to cut him up. Hunting is a weird thing- we want to kill these really special animals, but then feel bad for doing it. I can’t quite put those feelings into words.

Great pictures! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Idahoarcheryhunter]

Great buck and write up.

 

[Pucky Freak]

Fun story - thanks for sharing!

 

[elkrchr]

What a great family excursion and an absolutely beautiful buck. Thanks for sharing your story.