Quest For A First Antelope

[Trayball20]

My youngest son turned 12 this year. He has been able to hunt our farm land in Nebraska the past couple of years and last year when we went out to hunt he was given his first hunting rifle which is a Remington Model 700 long range 7mm.
His new hunting rifle.

 

[Trayball20]

Over the Winter him and I worked on getting a load that would shoot well out of his new rifle.
Helping reload


After a few attempts we settled on a load that shot 140 grain Nosler Ballistic tips well.


Once we got it sighted in we had to find out how fast we were shooting so we could get the CDS dial for his scope.

 

[Nick87]

Following! Hold on tight to that gun kid!

 

[Trayball20]

After the draw results came out it was time to start scouting. During our scouting trips he learned how use a spotting scope. I left it completely up to him on what he liked. In the last spot we check on our first scouting trip he said, "Dad that one looks really big." I took a look and said that is the best one we have seen.
A few pictures of the buck that got him excited.


We made a total of 5 scouting trips always finding this buck first then going to see if we could find anything else that would get him excited. All summer he had been by himself then 3 weeks before season he had 9 does with him, which made him so much easier to find. Then 1 week before season he was by himself again.
This is how almost every scouting trip ended.

 

[gunnersreview]

Keep it bro.

 

[Trayball20]

As opening day approaches I am trying to figure out how we can get on this buck. Every time we saw him scouting it was from quite a distance, 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile, and he was very jumpy. He lives on top of a hill that is very rolling you can only see the top from a distance or when you get right on top. So after thinking about what would be the best option for us I decide that we will come up the back side of the hill, never seen him there.

Opening day my son had cross country practice after school so that will only give us about 3 hours to hunt, but at least we can get out and give it a shot. As we are driving in I spot a single antelope close to the top on the back side of the hill and sure enough it is him. We wait for him to trot up the hill and out of sight to finish our last 1/2 mile drive to the bottom of the hill. After getting all of our gear together I decide that he may have ran off the top into one of the many small draws that come down off the hill. So, we circle around looking into all the small draws with no luck finding him. With only about 45 minutes of light left we head back to the truck as we get top the hill, where we had been just 30 minutes ago, I look to my left and there he is. After a small fire drill getting the rifle set up on the shooting sticks he runs off again. We still have some time so we take an angle to hopefully cut him off, but we don't see him again.

 

[Westelker]

As opening day approaches I am trying to figure out how we can get on this buck. Every time we saw him scouting it was from quite a distance, 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile, and he was very jumpy. He lives on top of a hill that is very rolling you can only see the top from a distance or when you get right on top. So after thinking about what would be the best option for us I decide that we will come up the back side of the hill, never seen him there.

Opening day my son had cross country practice after school so that will only give us about 3 hours to hunt, but at least we can get out and give it a shot. As we are driving in I spot a single antelope close to the top on the back side of the hill and sure enough it is him. We wait for him to trot up the hill and out of sight to finish our last 1/2 mile drive to the bottom of the hill. After getting all of our gear together I decide that he may have ran off the top into one of the many small draws that come down off the hill. So, we circle around looking into all the small draws with no luck finding him. With only about 45 minutes of light left we head back to the truck as we get top the hill, where we had been just 30 minutes ago, I look to my left and there he is. After a small fire drill getting the rifle set up on the shooting sticks he runs off again. We still have some time so we take an angle to hopefully cut him off, but we don't see him again.

Very fortunate that you're able to have the time and the land to teach your son how to hunt. Keep it fun and go easy on him. He has a nice gun and a great mentor. We need many more young boys and girls introduced into hunting to carry on this great sport. Good story.....waiting!

 

[Trayball20]

After a couple of days filled with a cross country meet and a cousin's birthday we were able to have a full day to try our luck again. During a couple of our scouting trips we found the buck coming back from watering right after first light, so that was going to be our plan try and catch him coming back from water. We arrived early to our parking spot and started our walk to see if we could find him again. After checking a few small draws we spot a lone antelope making his way towards us quickly I get the spotting scope off my pack and take a look. It isn't the antelope that we are looking for it is a smaller buck. We continue looking with no luck finding him. There is a small spring that we haven't checked yet so we head over to see if he might be around it. We spend a few minutes looking around the spring with no sightings of the buck. By now we have covered most of his home area and decide to head back to the truck to make a new game plan. This time we decide to be more prepared with the shooting sticks and rifle before we head over the top just in case we see him on the way back. Remember it is a rolling hill and can't see the top until you are on top. As we are making our way back to the top we are walking slow and keep the sun at back just as we top the hill I look to my left and there he is standing there looking right at us at 80 yds. We get my son set up on the shooting sticks quickly hoping for a shot with the sun at our backs and in his eyes. The buck has other ideas and takes off running. We stay on him hoping he will stop. He does stop, but it is at 420 yards. With the roll of the hill we can only see him if we are standing and there is no way to get my son steady enough for that long of a shot. We watch the buck walk out of sight and head back to the truck. There is a road that will get us close to where the buck went. We take the road and get close and walk to the top and see if we can find the buck again, but after looking around we can't find him. This whole time I have to give it to my son he has been super positive with all of the ups and downs. We have talked a lot about keeping after it and keeping a positive attitude. By now it is time to take a break and have lunch.

 

[Westelker]

After a couple of days filled with a cross country meet and a cousin's birthday we were able to have a full day to try our luck again. During a couple of our scouting trips we found the buck coming back from watering right after first light, so that was going to be our plan try and catch him coming back from water. We arrived early to our parking spot and started our walk to see if we could find him again. After checking a few small draws we spot a lone antelope making his way towards us quickly I get the spotting scope off my pack and take a look. It isn't the antelope that we are looking for it is a smaller buck. We continue looking with no luck finding him. There is a small spring that we haven't checked yet so we head over to see if he might be around it. We spend a few minutes looking around the spring with no sightings of the buck. By now we have covered most of his home area and decide to head back to the truck to make a new game plan. This time we decide to be more prepared with the shooting sticks and rifle before we head over the top just in case we see him on the way back. Remember it is a rolling hill and can't see the top until you are on top. As we are making our way back to the top we are walking slow and keep the sun at back just as we top the hill I look to my left and there he is standing there looking right at us at 80 yds. We get my son set up on the shooting sticks quickly hoping for a shot with the sun at our backs and in his eyes. The buck has other ideas and takes off running. We stay on him hoping he will stop. He does stop, but it is at 420 yards. With the roll of the hill we can only see him if we are standing and there is no way to get my son steady enough for that long of a shot. We watch the buck walk out of sight and head back to the truck. There is a road that will get us close to where the buck went. We take the road and get close and walk to the top and see if we can find the buck again, but after looking around we can't find him. This whole time I have to give it to my son he has been super positive with all of the ups and downs. We have talked a lot about keeping after it and keeping a positive attitude. By now it is time to take a break and have lunch.

Good story so far. Don't push your son's buck too far or too much, he may decide to go chase the girls in the next ranch. And don't push your son too much. Perhaps you should consider setting up before "first" light within shooting range at the watering spot. Remember it's hunting! Good luck!!

 

[Trayball20]

Good story so far. Don't push your son's buck too far or too much, he may decide to go chase the girls in the next ranch. And don't push your son too much. Perhaps you should consider setting up before "first" light within shooting range at the watering spot. Remember it's hunting! Good luck!!

He waters on a creek which runs along the bottom of the hill not sure exactly where he goes to water on that creek.