I have a weakness. I lack the discipline to pass up easy shots and hold out for a big buck. Well, this was the year to finally exercise some discipline and get a big one. My first hunt was during archery season in August. This was my first archery hunt, so I was viewing it as more of a scouting trip. I saw dozens of very solid bucks, including one I think was over 80 inches. Fast forward to yesterday. I had my kids with me and had them convinced we should look for a big one. I downplayed the size of every buck we saw on the way to the ranch we were going to hunt, telling them something like, "Oh that's just a medium-sized buck. I know a secret spot where there are a bunch of big ones." By the time we got to the ranch, they wanted to pass up every buck we saw. My view of hunting with my kids is to maximize their experience and help them take part in decision-making. So if they insisted on a particular buck, I'd oblige. My subtle persuasion was working. They were passing up bucks. Then it happened, the ultimate temptation, no more than 20 minutes after we arrived. We crested a hill, driving, and there were 3 bucks bedded down no more than 80 yards from the road. "Shoot it Daddy! Shoot it!" I informed them that these bucks were pretty small. "Shoot it!" So I succumbed to the peer pressure and stopped the truck the shortest distance from the road to the truck so they wouldn't cross the road where I didn't have permission to hunt. They did not run. One didn't even stand up. They just looked at me. I slowly got out of the truck, took ten steps away from the road toward the antelope, and chambered a round. The last one to get up was walking away, for a quartering away shot. The other two just stood there broadside staring at me at 70 yards. I've never had antelope just look at me that close during hunting season. They were suicidal. One of them succeeded, receiving a .270 projectile to the heart. It wasn't the big one I was hoping for, but the kids had a ton of fun. They even got to meet the game warden and learn how to age the antelope.
Where he lay:
He's not a Booner, but the trophy is the experience... and the meat!!!
On the way home, my daughter told me she wishes she would have waited for a bigger one. I told her that next year, maybe we'll actually make it to the "secret spot." As we left, the winter storm rolled in, and I was glad I gave in to the peer pressure.
Where he lay:
He's not a Booner, but the trophy is the experience... and the meat!!!
On the way home, my daughter told me she wishes she would have waited for a bigger one. I told her that next year, maybe we'll actually make it to the "secret spot." As we left, the winter storm rolled in, and I was glad I gave in to the peer pressure.
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