My wife and I put in for tags in Nevada every year and she has been waiting for 6 years to get an Antelope tag. This year being number 6. She did not receive an Antelope tag initially when the draw first came out. However, by some stroke of luck she received an alternate Antelope tag after someone turned one in after drawing the tag later in the year. Needless to say we only had two weeks to prepare for the hunt and only would have two days to hunt. Luckily I have hunted this zone multiple times in the last 6 years for Antelope. My family and friends have been lucky enough to draw this zone 4 out of the last 6 years so we know it well.
The Rim fire in California has put a damper on the visibility out here in northern Nevada.
The first day only being able to see roughly 500 yds from the truck we did a lot of walking in the smoke and heat. We saw a ton of Antelope. Over 40 bucks and at least 200 Antelope that day. 1 buck right at last light we found was a very good buck. I put him the the mid 80's but she did not feel comfortable with the shot in the low light/smoke so she passed him up.
That night the wind blew out of control 30+ mph all night and in our tent we did not get much sleep. However that wind help keep the smoke out of the area the next morning and we had much better luck spotting Antelope.
We went for a hike to a water hole that it seemed most of the Antelope and one real nice buck was moving towards.
We got into position 200 yds from the water hole and set up for the Antelope making their way to water.
The larger buck that we were waiting for appeared on the skyline and as he did someone in a vehicle drove down the center of the canyon and right in between us and the Antelope moving him across the valley and over a mountain miles away.
We knew there was multiple bucks and my wife decided with the amount of time we had to hunt that she wanted to wait and get a buck no matter the size as we both really like the meat.
Soon two smaller bucks moved into the area and at about 300 yds the larger of the two bucks bedded down within view of us and the water hole. I have my wife the range and told her if you want him he is a legal buck and he is 300 yds. After staring at him through the scope for a few minutes she decided to take him and with one shot from her rifle she had tagged out and the real work had begun.
It was a great hunt, although very short. My wife learned many lessons on this hunt and was a great experience for her and I.
In two weeks I head off to Idaho for Elk and then in October we both have Mule Deer tags. Hopefully we can have as much luck as we did on this hunt.
The Rim fire in California has put a damper on the visibility out here in northern Nevada.
The first day only being able to see roughly 500 yds from the truck we did a lot of walking in the smoke and heat. We saw a ton of Antelope. Over 40 bucks and at least 200 Antelope that day. 1 buck right at last light we found was a very good buck. I put him the the mid 80's but she did not feel comfortable with the shot in the low light/smoke so she passed him up.
That night the wind blew out of control 30+ mph all night and in our tent we did not get much sleep. However that wind help keep the smoke out of the area the next morning and we had much better luck spotting Antelope.
We went for a hike to a water hole that it seemed most of the Antelope and one real nice buck was moving towards.
We got into position 200 yds from the water hole and set up for the Antelope making their way to water.
The larger buck that we were waiting for appeared on the skyline and as he did someone in a vehicle drove down the center of the canyon and right in between us and the Antelope moving him across the valley and over a mountain miles away.
We knew there was multiple bucks and my wife decided with the amount of time we had to hunt that she wanted to wait and get a buck no matter the size as we both really like the meat.
Soon two smaller bucks moved into the area and at about 300 yds the larger of the two bucks bedded down within view of us and the water hole. I have my wife the range and told her if you want him he is a legal buck and he is 300 yds. After staring at him through the scope for a few minutes she decided to take him and with one shot from her rifle she had tagged out and the real work had begun.
It was a great hunt, although very short. My wife learned many lessons on this hunt and was a great experience for her and I.
In two weeks I head off to Idaho for Elk and then in October we both have Mule Deer tags. Hopefully we can have as much luck as we did on this hunt.
