QuazyQuinton
Well-known member
Indeed, we drove to Nevada to hunt antelope, and we only saw 4, but there is a happy ending.
As usual, application season came to a close, and then I started thinking about additional opportunities. I started with the Colorado reissue list, and I was looking at that the other night, but nothing was really working out. I also had my phone open with my 15-year-old son's account on the Nevada FCFS page, and a rifle pronghorn tag popped up. (I'm still in the pronghorn penalty box.) I popped it in my cart and took a quick look to be sure it wasn't too far from home. Basically anything north of I-80 seemed reasonable to me. So he had a tag and we made plans to leave on Friday. My BLM maps arrived a whole day before we left, and I finally got a chance to call the NDOW biologist on the morning we left.
We rolled across the state line with about 20 minutes of daylight left Friday evening and turned in on the first road onto public land we found. We made it in a couple miles and then drove back to sleep near the highway. The biologist had said that antelope are found throughout the unit, so we decided to start where we were and explore as far as necessary from there.
Yesterday we woke up, drank some cocoa, and started driving back in and glassing. Within a mile I found 4 antelope back toward the highway. One was a buck, and we both thought he looked pretty good. We glassed from that spot, then out on the highway, then drove in behind and hiked a mile to another vantage point, but they were hanging out in a huge grassy flat with no way to approach. Finally we were back near where we had originally spotted them, and they started running toward us. Just antelope being antelope, but they came straight at us. We thought they would cross the dirt road we were on, but they turned left and then right and popped up on a hill about 300 yards away. My son rested over a wooden fence post and let one fly, but I saw the dust puff up in front of the buck. Quite disappointed, we headed back to camp for lunch and a break.
After a nap, we headed out to the highway to try to glass the herd up again. They were back in the grassy flat but very near the vantage point we had hiked to in the morning. So back around and hike the mile in again. This time we crawled over the edge of the hill and found them bedded 200 yards below us. The buck was lying down facing us, and he could see us, but we were pretty well concealed. Finally he stood up facing us and stared some more. In the mean time, the highway is a mile behind him, and I don't feel good about shooting unless the highway is clear, so I'm timing the cars and picking gaps where it's safe to shoot. Now the buck is following the doe in circles and my son is scooting back and forth trying to keep a clear shooting lane in front of him. The buck stops quartering toward us in the clear. One quick look at the highway, and it's clear. "Shoot when you're ready." BOOM! And down he went.
I know people like pictures of big trophies, but I like telling stories where we made a solid plan, followed that plan, and the plan worked. Hunting with my son is rewarding as I see him learning and doing and being successful by using the skills he has acquired. This buck is not too shabby, either. 13 3/4" and nice and heavy in the bases and cutters. I told him it was nice, but not quite as big as the one I have on the wall until we carried it inside the door and took a look. Now I'm a little nervous about measuring them to compare scores.
And so we drove home having seen only 4 antelope in the state of Nevada....
QQ
As usual, application season came to a close, and then I started thinking about additional opportunities. I started with the Colorado reissue list, and I was looking at that the other night, but nothing was really working out. I also had my phone open with my 15-year-old son's account on the Nevada FCFS page, and a rifle pronghorn tag popped up. (I'm still in the pronghorn penalty box.) I popped it in my cart and took a quick look to be sure it wasn't too far from home. Basically anything north of I-80 seemed reasonable to me. So he had a tag and we made plans to leave on Friday. My BLM maps arrived a whole day before we left, and I finally got a chance to call the NDOW biologist on the morning we left.
We rolled across the state line with about 20 minutes of daylight left Friday evening and turned in on the first road onto public land we found. We made it in a couple miles and then drove back to sleep near the highway. The biologist had said that antelope are found throughout the unit, so we decided to start where we were and explore as far as necessary from there.
Yesterday we woke up, drank some cocoa, and started driving back in and glassing. Within a mile I found 4 antelope back toward the highway. One was a buck, and we both thought he looked pretty good. We glassed from that spot, then out on the highway, then drove in behind and hiked a mile to another vantage point, but they were hanging out in a huge grassy flat with no way to approach. Finally we were back near where we had originally spotted them, and they started running toward us. Just antelope being antelope, but they came straight at us. We thought they would cross the dirt road we were on, but they turned left and then right and popped up on a hill about 300 yards away. My son rested over a wooden fence post and let one fly, but I saw the dust puff up in front of the buck. Quite disappointed, we headed back to camp for lunch and a break.
After a nap, we headed out to the highway to try to glass the herd up again. They were back in the grassy flat but very near the vantage point we had hiked to in the morning. So back around and hike the mile in again. This time we crawled over the edge of the hill and found them bedded 200 yards below us. The buck was lying down facing us, and he could see us, but we were pretty well concealed. Finally he stood up facing us and stared some more. In the mean time, the highway is a mile behind him, and I don't feel good about shooting unless the highway is clear, so I'm timing the cars and picking gaps where it's safe to shoot. Now the buck is following the doe in circles and my son is scooting back and forth trying to keep a clear shooting lane in front of him. The buck stops quartering toward us in the clear. One quick look at the highway, and it's clear. "Shoot when you're ready." BOOM! And down he went.
I know people like pictures of big trophies, but I like telling stories where we made a solid plan, followed that plan, and the plan worked. Hunting with my son is rewarding as I see him learning and doing and being successful by using the skills he has acquired. This buck is not too shabby, either. 13 3/4" and nice and heavy in the bases and cutters. I told him it was nice, but not quite as big as the one I have on the wall until we carried it inside the door and took a look. Now I'm a little nervous about measuring them to compare scores.
And so we drove home having seen only 4 antelope in the state of Nevada....
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