Sharing my Utah antelope hunt from this year 2022. I took my son with me on first “tag-along” hunt, he is 7 years old and he asked to come with me on a big game hunt. I did not hesitate to cash my UT points on a muzzy antelope hunt with him in mind. I had 12 points and new that it was futile to chase the limited glory tags in that state, just wanted to find a unit that would make it fun to finds goats and chase them down with an extra challenge of a muzzleloader.
So much anticipation on this hunt and no expectation of a trophy buck in inches, just a trophy in the experience and ultimately sharing a harvest with my son. He does know now where meat comes from. I was thinking that he would be grossed out when we broke down a buck, but he was happy and willing to help me, holding the legs, pulling hide so I could skin it. We weren’t chasing trophies, good thing as the unit was littered with 11-13” inch goats, we did find a 14” that gave us the slip. So happy with the memories made. May be the smallest antelope buck I have ever killed, but one of my greatest trophies.
The buck we got had been injured in the hind quarter a few days earlier, we ran into the hunter as he was breaking down another buck, he stated he and his partner had shot and lost one the day prior in the area. A day later when we made our way to the same area, we spotted this buck looking sick, not moving much, and when he moved, we moved slow and with a limp. I figured it was the same buck the other hunter had lost a few days prior. After a little discussion, we didn’t hesitate to move in closer and harvest him. Glad we did, the bucks left hind quarter was shattered from the other hunter’s bullet, don’t see a way he would have survived a few days longer. After one shot he was ours. Lost the meat in the left hind quarter (looked pretty bad with yellow/green color), but all the other meat was good. Glad that buck did not go to waste.
So much anticipation on this hunt and no expectation of a trophy buck in inches, just a trophy in the experience and ultimately sharing a harvest with my son. He does know now where meat comes from. I was thinking that he would be grossed out when we broke down a buck, but he was happy and willing to help me, holding the legs, pulling hide so I could skin it. We weren’t chasing trophies, good thing as the unit was littered with 11-13” inch goats, we did find a 14” that gave us the slip. So happy with the memories made. May be the smallest antelope buck I have ever killed, but one of my greatest trophies.
The buck we got had been injured in the hind quarter a few days earlier, we ran into the hunter as he was breaking down another buck, he stated he and his partner had shot and lost one the day prior in the area. A day later when we made our way to the same area, we spotted this buck looking sick, not moving much, and when he moved, we moved slow and with a limp. I figured it was the same buck the other hunter had lost a few days prior. After a little discussion, we didn’t hesitate to move in closer and harvest him. Glad we did, the bucks left hind quarter was shattered from the other hunter’s bullet, don’t see a way he would have survived a few days longer. After one shot he was ours. Lost the meat in the left hind quarter (looked pretty bad with yellow/green color), but all the other meat was good. Glad that buck did not go to waste.
