August of the Antelope

[Clarq]

I had a pretty disappointing big game draw season from January through May. I applied for plenty of tags with reasonable odds, but just didn't turn much up. By the time June rolled around, I had one tag with a two-day season in December, as well as a difficult second choice archery deer tag in my home state of Utah.

In a last-ditch effort to draw a tag and start my season a little earlier, I applied for an archery pronghorn tag in the Nevada second draw.

I applied for the Utah antlerless drawing just ahead of the June 19 deadline. One of my applications was for a doe pronghorn tag with an opening date of August 1st. I figured I had about a 50% shot at drawing it at my point level.

On June 20th, I received an email telling me that I'd drawn my first choice pronghorn tag in the Nevada second draw - in a better unit than I ever expected I'd draw.



At that point, it was too late to modify my Utah application. All I could do was wait. On July 3rd, I received an email telling me that I'd drawn my Utah doe pronghorn tag as well. Just like that, I had two pronghorn tags that open August 1st and close by the 21st.

Sure is fun when it's finally your turn to have a little luck. I'm especially pleased to be able to start my hunting season so early. I just hope it's not too much to do in too little time.

Here we go...

 

[Clarq]

Shortly after learning I'd drawn, I took an afternoon/evening scouting trip to the area where I would be hunting for a doe. Unfortunately, I didn't do a great job taking pictures. I was running out of light and more focused on covering country and documenting the trip. I did snap one picture to commemorate the day and the landscape. It's classic oil country - so many roads that you can't escape them.



I drove around for about an hour and a half until I ran out of light. It was encouraging. I marked more than 50 animals in about a dozen different locations. I left feeling like I had a pretty good plan in place for when I return.

 

[WNC2500]

Good luck on the speed goats @Clarq
Looking forward to following along

 

[Clarq]

I should probably state a few things right upfront:

- I've never hunted for inches and don't really even know how to score an antelope. When I score a buck, he's either "small," "pretty nice," or "really nice." That being said, I'd still be somewhat curious on the caliber of bucks I'm finding if anyone wants to take a stab at scoring anything.
- With this being an archery tag, any legal buck is a trophy to me. I'm going to target the biggest buck I can find, but if a small buck finds himself 30 yards away from me and broadside, he's going to be in trouble unless it's still early on in the hunt.

Now, the next scouting trip.

With my time in August at a premium, I took a quick weekend trip to my Nevada hunting area last week to get a lay of the land and see what I could turn up. Between my online research and some tips from a generous HuntTalk member (I'll let him identify himself if he wants to), I had a number of places I wanted to see.

I arrived late Friday night after a crazy work week and slept in a little bit longer than I probably should have. Perhaps that's why I didn't find as many animals as I'd hoped to see on my morning scouting trip. Or maybe I'd just been spoiled by the eventful scouting trip for my doe hunt earlier in the month.

I've been fortunate to hunt cow elk and buck deer in Nevada since I started applying there 8 years ago. In both of those hunts, I probably entered with optimistic expectations for the numbers of animals I would see and how easy or difficult it might be to find them. That desert country is big and barren, after all.



While I was surprised at how much I wasn't seeing the first little while, turning up a pronghorn was much still much easier than turning up a buck mule deer in the southern Nevada desert. I ran into one about 20 miles outside of town.



Not the type of buck I dream about at night, but I was glad to see signs of life.

I found several more herds or individuals as the morning progressed. Unfortunately, none of the bigger bucks wanted to stand still for a photo op. I found what I think was a pretty good one a little bit later in the morning, but he wasn't about to stand still once I got anywhere near him. All I got was a lousy cell phone picture out the truck window. After zooming way in, I actually got a better shot of him than I thought I would.

Anyone want to score this one for me?



I found another on the way back to town with enough curiosity to possibly get himself into trouble. The only view he wanted to give me was straight-on. He was in a spot a little more conducive to hunting him than the others I'd seen that day. The type that would seriously tempt me if the end of the hunt was approaching and nothing else was working out.



I found a few other bucks of similar quality before heading back to town for an early dinner and a nap. I set an alarm to get me up in enough time to hopefully catch the animals in their period of evening activity.

As I drifted off to sleep, I determined that my expectations were probably a little bit out of line once again. This unit group seems to get quite a lot of hype online, after all. Maybe I just needed to put in some more time to find where most of the animals were really hanging out. Regardless, it was a fun morning, and it would still be excited to return even if I didn't find much more than I already did. I was grateful to be out of town, away from the office, and doing what I love most.

 

[gwhunter]

I'm excited to follow along!

 

[David Gough]

You'll need to put in as much time before season as you can. There's plenty of bucks larger than the ones in the clear pictures and I don't even know which unit you're in. Should be a really good year for horn growth.

 

[Clarq]

You'll need to put in as much time before season as you can. There's plenty of bucks larger than the ones in the clear pictures and I don't even know which unit you're in. Should be a really good year for horn growth.

What a great foreshadowing for the afternoon scouting trip...

The alarm rang before I knew it and I was out the door and back out into the desert. Jeez, I was tired. But I didn't drive all the way out here to hang around in a motel room.

I hit the road and ran into the best buck of the trip so far a few miles outside of town. This one got me excited. Forgive the poor photo quality, but it's good enough for me to know he's a buck I'd be happy with. I'm hoping to find him on my next trip.



I watched him for a short while before determining I had better get going if I was going to get to the last area I was hoping to visit on this trip. I'm glad I did. I found a good herd of antelope, including a buck that, in my best estimation, is at least as big as the one in the photo. I wasn't able to get a decent picture of him. I also found a few other herds with a few average bucks.

The sun went down and my scouting trip concluded. The evening trip really made it worthwhile!

Sure is fun to scope things out.

 

[David Gough]

What a great foreshadowing for the afternoon scouting trip...

The alarm rang before I knew it and I was out the door and back out into the desert. Jeez, I was tired. But I didn't drive all the way out here to hang around in a motel room.

I hit the road and ran into the best buck of the trip so far a few miles outside of town. This one got me excited. Forgive the poor photo quality, but it's good enough for me to know he's a buck I'd be happy with. I'm hoping to find him on my next trip.

View attachment 334167

I watched him for a short while before determining I had better get going if I was going to get to the last area I was hoping to visit on this trip. I'm glad I did. I found a good herd of antelope, including a buck that, in my best estimation, is at least as big as the one in the photo. I wasn't able to get a decent picture of him. I also found a few other herds with a few average bucks.

The sun went down and my scouting trip concluded. The evening trip really made it worthwhile!

Sure is fun to scope things out.

View attachment 334168

Looks like a good one.

 

[Aaronf257]

I should probably state a few things right upfront:

- I've never hunted for inches and don't really even know how to score an antelope. When I score a buck, he's either "small," "pretty nice," or "really nice." That being said, I'd still be somewhat curious on the caliber of bucks I'm finding if anyone wants to take a stab at scoring anything.
- With this being an archery tag, any legal buck is a trophy to me. I'm going to target the biggest buck I can find, but if a small buck finds himself 30 yards away from me and broadside, he's going to be in trouble unless it's still early on in the hunt.

Now, the next scouting trip.

With my time in August at a premium, I took a quick weekend trip to my Nevada hunting area last week to get a lay of the land and see what I could turn up. Between my online research and some tips from a generous HuntTalk member (I'll let him identify himself if he wants to), I had a number of places I wanted to see.

I arrived late Friday night after a crazy work week and slept in a little bit longer than I probably should have. Perhaps that's why I didn't find as many animals as I'd hoped to see on my morning scouting trip. Or maybe I'd just been spoiled by the eventful scouting trip for my doe hunt earlier in the month.

I've been fortunate to hunt cow elk and buck deer in Nevada since I started applying there 8 years ago. In both of those hunts, I probably entered with optimistic expectations for the numbers of animals I would see and how easy or difficult it might be to find them. That desert country is big and barren, after all.

View attachment 334024

While I was surprised at how much I wasn't seeing the first little while, turning up a pronghorn was much still much easier than turning up a buck mule deer in the southern Nevada desert. I ran into one about 20 miles outside of town.

View attachment 334026

Not the type of buck I dream about at night, but I was glad to see signs of life.

I found several more herds or individuals as the morning progressed. Unfortunately, none of the bigger bucks wanted to stand still for a photo op. I found what I think was a pretty good one a little bit later in the morning, but he wasn't about to stand still once I got anywhere near him. All I got was a lousy cell phone picture out the truck window. After zooming way in, I actually got a better shot of him than I thought I would.

Anyone want to score this one for me?

View attachment 334031

I found another on the way back to town with enough curiosity to possibly get himself into trouble. The only view he wanted to give me was straight-on. He was in a spot a little more conducive to hunting him than the others I'd seen that day. The type that would seriously tempt me if the end of the hunt was approaching and nothing else was working out.

View attachment 334032

I found a few other bucks of similar quality before heading back to town for an early dinner and a nap. I set an alarm to get me up in enough time to hopefully catch the animals in their period of evening activity.

As I drifted off to sleep, I determined that my expectations were probably a little bit out of line once again. This unit group seems to get quite a lot of hype online, after all. Maybe I just needed to put in some more time to find where most of the animals were really hanging out. Regardless, it was a fun morning, and it would still be excited to return even if I didn't find much more than I already did. I was grateful to be out of town, away from the office, and doing what I love most.

Good luck on your hunt! Antelope are fun to hunt!

 

[prhunter]

Good luck! I'll be following along.

 

[RunNGunSC]

Following, good luck!

 

[kyledoskocil]

Best of luck!

 

[Clarq]

In the motel room and ready for tomorrow morning. I intended to do some scouting this evening, but I arrived too late thanks to a big traffic jam.

Excited to see what tomorrow brings... and excited to be among the first to take part in the 2024-2025 big game seasons. Good luck to any others heading out on August 1st openers!

 

[WNC2500]

Good luck @Clarq

 

[Valley1320]

Go kill a stud!

 

[David Gough]

In the motel room and ready for tomorrow morning. I intended to do some scouting this evening, but I arrived too late thanks to a big traffic jam.

Excited to see what tomorrow brings... and excited to be among the first to take part in the 2024-2025 big game seasons. Good luck to any others heading out on August 1st openers!

Enjoy the hunt. Looking forward to your updates.

 

[Clarq]

On my way home...

 

[Dsnow9]

On my way home...

That’s it?!?! No teaser photo or anything? The first live hunt of the year and your just gonna dangle the carrot and make us suffer.

 

[WNC2500]

Bueller! Anyone? Anyone? Talk to us @Clarq
Day 1 kill sounds fitting.

 

[Clarq]

Perhaps the most important lesson I learned on this trip was to choose your motel wisely. I gambled on a cheap one and lost. Dad and I got there around 9:00 PM and found that our room was scorching hot. Turned on the A/C unit, which wasn't very effective, though it did work eventually. Floors weren't level, beds weren't either, the cold water knob on the sink was missing, and the hot water was scorching hot. I went to bed around 9:30 but didn't get to sleep until past midnight (I don't sleep well when it's hot, which is why I opted for a motel instead of camping...). Then I woke up at 4:00 AM and never got back to sleep. All this after a full work day and a long drive.

Once we were awake, we figured there wasn't much sense hanging around the motel. We drove out to our chosen starting spot and got there about 20 minutes before first light. As the world came alive, I started seeing antelope all around me. I had a doe and a fawn run by inside of 100 yards before it was really light enough to see much. And I had another herd spotted a few hundred yards away. Then another a little bit farther than that. Lots of does, some small bucks. Then a few bigger bucks that were off by themselves or in small groups. We did some driving and found quite a few animals.

The trick was finding one in a spot where I could get close enough for a shot. After some looking, I finally found a doe and a buck bedded together in a suitable spot. Not a huge buck, but he looked good enough. They were just below a rocky outcropping I could use for cover, and considering his location, I decided to make the stalk.

The stalk went just the way I needed it to go. The wind cooperated, the terrain cooperated, and I eventually found myself within shooting range. The shot flew true and he was down quickly. Sure is fun when things actually go as planned! It was even better to have my dad there with me.

I'll confess, there was a little bit of ground shrinkage when I walked up to him.



It felt good to get my doe tag filled. Now I can focus on my archery buck hunt!