Ajax2744
Well-known member
I was very fortunate that a good work buddy/ hunting partner of mine surprised me with a doe antelope tag for my birthday. He has hunted the unit we headed to for the past 7 years so he felt confident that we had a shot to fill my tag.
We headed up early Wednesday night after work so we could get a good start on opening day. We got up am hour before sunrise and headed to our first spot of the day. 15 minutes into legal shooting light we had a group of 3 does spotted and I headed on my first stalk. I was able to use the hills to close the distance to 70 yards and I was making my way to a huge sagebrush to close it to 55 when a truck drove by on the main road and caused the group to look up and see me headed right toward them...stalk blown.
In total I got in 4 good stalks on opening day. I was able to get to 35, 55, 80, and 98. Each time wind changed or the spotted me and they were out of there.
Well this morning w had the same plan. Woke up early and went to glass. We found a group first thing of 2 does, a fawn, and a buck. That stalk was basically over before it started as when I got to the top of the ridge to drop down on them they had fed up on top and spotted me. I got back in the truck and we were off to the next spot. On our way we spotted a group of 6 does. A quick check on ONX and they were on blm and stalkable. We parked and I hurried up the ridge to go around and drop down on them. The wind was perfect and once on top of the ridge we watched them feed over the finger they were on and completely out of view. We quietly snuck up to the top of the finger. I peeked over and saw 2 of the does at roughly 60 yards, one broadside, one facing away. Both feeding. I dialed my sight to 60 and got an arrow and release on the string. I stood up and ranged the broadside doe. 68 yards. I quickly dialed my sight down to 68. Drew, aimed, and pulled through the shot. As the shot broke she looked up. Before she could react the arrow made that wonderful SMACK. She stopped 30 yards later looked back and fell over. I officially tagged out my first ever antelope and did it with a bow. Needless to say it was one heck of a day!
We headed up early Wednesday night after work so we could get a good start on opening day. We got up am hour before sunrise and headed to our first spot of the day. 15 minutes into legal shooting light we had a group of 3 does spotted and I headed on my first stalk. I was able to use the hills to close the distance to 70 yards and I was making my way to a huge sagebrush to close it to 55 when a truck drove by on the main road and caused the group to look up and see me headed right toward them...stalk blown.
In total I got in 4 good stalks on opening day. I was able to get to 35, 55, 80, and 98. Each time wind changed or the spotted me and they were out of there.
Well this morning w had the same plan. Woke up early and went to glass. We found a group first thing of 2 does, a fawn, and a buck. That stalk was basically over before it started as when I got to the top of the ridge to drop down on them they had fed up on top and spotted me. I got back in the truck and we were off to the next spot. On our way we spotted a group of 6 does. A quick check on ONX and they were on blm and stalkable. We parked and I hurried up the ridge to go around and drop down on them. The wind was perfect and once on top of the ridge we watched them feed over the finger they were on and completely out of view. We quietly snuck up to the top of the finger. I peeked over and saw 2 of the does at roughly 60 yards, one broadside, one facing away. Both feeding. I dialed my sight to 60 and got an arrow and release on the string. I stood up and ranged the broadside doe. 68 yards. I quickly dialed my sight down to 68. Drew, aimed, and pulled through the shot. As the shot broke she looked up. Before she could react the arrow made that wonderful SMACK. She stopped 30 yards later looked back and fell over. I officially tagged out my first ever antelope and did it with a bow. Needless to say it was one heck of a day!
