Jape
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2017
- Messages
- 1,737
Two years ago I was convinced I had experienced my last hunt with my dad. He is aging and it was at his age I had my last hunt with my grandpa. What a treat it was when I found out he was coming along for my antelope hunt! As an added tender mercy, I chose a unit that unbeknownst to me was my grandpa’s old pronghorn hunting grounds. I wish he had been there with us one last time.
I took a scouting trip a month before opener to get a feel for the area. Good access and lots of public land combined with reduced tag numbers due to the 2022 winter promised a fun hunt even if the numbers and class of bucks wasn’t ideal. We arrived 1.5 days early for some additional scouting to find a target buck.
We spotted over 120 pronghorn and 50 bucks scouting. The fawn recruitment is really positive and I am hoping the herd numbers are back to objective in the next 5-10 years. Of the 50 bucks there were 5-6 that stood out from the rest. No monsters but I didn’t expect that either.
We camped near a local lake that I hoped to fish at if we had enough time. I never can sleep well the night before the opener and I don’t think that will ever change.
Opening morning was bright and beautiful. We went to the location we spotted what we thought was the largest buck from the day before and immediately began seeing herds. We stalked in close to two herds that were controlled by a single larger buck with several smaller bucks hanging around the edges. I loved his mass and had him at 450 yards but it was 8 am opening morning and I wasn’t ready for my hunt to be done. We spent the next several hours spotting bucks but nothing we were serious about. It always amazes me how much ground pronghorn can cover when they don’t like you looking at them.
As the day wore on we slowly moved back to the general area we saw the first buck that morning. We found him again but this time managed to get within 190 yards. I watched him through my spotter and decided I liked him better than I had thought. It was time to punch my tag and one round did it with him quartering away.
We celebrated with almond joys to remember grandpa and the shortest pack out of my life: 15 yards. I hope maybe next year I get one more hunt with my dad, and maybe it will be in grandpa’s old spot!
I took a scouting trip a month before opener to get a feel for the area. Good access and lots of public land combined with reduced tag numbers due to the 2022 winter promised a fun hunt even if the numbers and class of bucks wasn’t ideal. We arrived 1.5 days early for some additional scouting to find a target buck.
We spotted over 120 pronghorn and 50 bucks scouting. The fawn recruitment is really positive and I am hoping the herd numbers are back to objective in the next 5-10 years. Of the 50 bucks there were 5-6 that stood out from the rest. No monsters but I didn’t expect that either.
We camped near a local lake that I hoped to fish at if we had enough time. I never can sleep well the night before the opener and I don’t think that will ever change.
Opening morning was bright and beautiful. We went to the location we spotted what we thought was the largest buck from the day before and immediately began seeing herds. We stalked in close to two herds that were controlled by a single larger buck with several smaller bucks hanging around the edges. I loved his mass and had him at 450 yards but it was 8 am opening morning and I wasn’t ready for my hunt to be done. We spent the next several hours spotting bucks but nothing we were serious about. It always amazes me how much ground pronghorn can cover when they don’t like you looking at them.
As the day wore on we slowly moved back to the general area we saw the first buck that morning. We found him again but this time managed to get within 190 yards. I watched him through my spotter and decided I liked him better than I had thought. It was time to punch my tag and one round did it with him quartering away.
We celebrated with almond joys to remember grandpa and the shortest pack out of my life: 15 yards. I hope maybe next year I get one more hunt with my dad, and maybe it will be in grandpa’s old spot!
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