Live for the season...

Wyoming - Day 4. Redemption!

Once again I was up at 3:30am. Breakfast was pretty lonely on my third morning in camp since the other 5 hunters had all killed by now and were getting to sleep-in. :(( Oh well, it's not everyday you get to hunt in Wyoming, so I figured I'd just stretch it out a bit instead of finishing up early like everybody else! Ha - not really, but that's what I told myself :))

Mike (my guide) and I went back to where I had nicked the buck the night before. We wanted to try to spot him one more time just to make sure he was still doing ok before hunting for another one. We quickly found him right after daylight - easy to spot by the patch of dried blood on his neck. He was up feeding with the other Antelope - obviously no worse for the wear. So we jumped back in the truck and headed to a different ranch.

The spot Mike chose for my last day of hunting was a brand new set. I'm not exactly sure how long the blind had been up, but I was going to be the very first person to hunt it. The terrain on this ranch was different from where I had hunted previously. A little more rocky and rugged looking than the open prairie I had gotten used to. Absolutely beautiful! I sent Brandi this message along with the picture below as soon as I settled into the blind for the day. "My view for the day. Gorgeous! Not a bad life even if I can't shoot strait!"

We had seen Antelope EVERYWHERE as we were driving in to the blind and then I had my first buck come in just a couple of hours later. He was a bit too small to shoot, but I was pumped to have action so early!

Just like the other blinds, I could see numerous bucks in the distance as I was glassing from the blind. Sometime around Noon - just as I was starting to think about eating my lunch, one of those distant bucks started slowly walking my way. He was actually following a doe and a fawn. They were still probably a quarter of a mile away, but it was obvious that they were headed in to the water at my blind. Seemed like forever - probably took them an hour to close the distance, but they FINALLY were almost in range. Of course the doe and fawn came right in to the water, but the buck was a little more cautious. When he did come in, he walked strait in to the far side of the water, got a quick drink, and then spun around and walked strait away - never giving me a good broadside shot. Then, believe it or not, the exact same scenario happened again with a different buck about an hour later! UGGGH! I couldn't catch a break!

I was trying to keep my spirits up, but I was really starting to get a little disgusted & wondering if I was going to be able to make it happen. I know I could have forced a shot on at least 1 of the bucks that came in, but really felt I needed to wait for that "perfect" shot considering my bad luck over the past few days. Finally a little before 3:30, I peeked out the back of the blind & saw a buck - close! He was probably only 75 yards away & closing fast! I turned & was getting my bow ready so I could take the shot as soon as he got to the pond when I noticed another buck right behind him - an even bigger buck! Now I would have been perfectly happy with the first guy, but I mentally told myself to wait on the bigger buck since he was right behind him.

The second buck had caught up to the first by the time they got into shooting range. I really didn't even have time to get nervous since they had come up on me so fast - I was ready to come to full draw as they stepped up to the edge of the pond. The bigger buck was actually a little closer to me - perfectly broadside at a little over 20 yards. I eased my bow up... started to draw... and the other buck walked right up & started to drink DIRECTLY behind him! NOOOOO! Best shot opportunity of the whole trip & I can't take it for fear of killing them both! CAN I NOT CATCH A BREAK?!?!

Well, I waited patiently nervously for the bucks to finish drinking. An Antelope knows that he is most vulnerable when at a water hole, so they typically leave the area pretty fast as soon as they are finished drinking. So I knew in the back of my mind I've have to shoot pretty fast just as soon as the 2 separated. They finished drinking & turned to walk away. I drew my bow and quietly said BAAAA (one of my deer hunting tricks) just as soon as they separated. Sure enough, they both stopped and looked back to see where the sound had come from. I put my 30 yard pin right on his shoulder and touched the release.

It was a PERFECT shot! He made a small circle back toward the blind & then ran directly away from me over a small rise. As he ran in front of the blind, I could tell that the arrow had passed completely through him . This time there would be no doubt about the results of my shot! I immediately got on the radio with Mike & told him we finally had an Antelope down! It sounded like he was nearly as excited as I was & then when he got to the bind he was all smiles & high-fives!

We quickly found the buck dead just over the rise. He had only run about 50 yards - and what a beautiful sight he was laying there! Not a monster, not even as big as the one I already had on the wall back at home, but I can guarantee you I wouldn't have been any happier if I'd killed the Wyoming State record!

Wyoming - Day 3

The second day of Antelope hunting found me back in the same blind where I had been the afternoon before. I must admit I was pretty excited after seeing all of the bucks the afternoon before. Once again, I was settled in well before daylight with high-hopes.

Unfortunately, the Antelope weren't quite as excited about this spot as I was. I think it was around Noon before I saw anything close - I finally had some does and small bucks come in to the water. Just like the day before, I could spot 3 - 4 good bucks through binoculars out the windows of my blind at just about any time during the day, but nobody seemed to be interested in my little waterhole. I did have a couple of really nice bucks that acted like they wanted to come in (after watching them for 4 of 5 hours), but never would quite come in to bow range. This guy probably made it to 30 yards, but he was behind the blind & never gave me a shot.

Let me tell you, you cannot imagine how big of a let down it is to be that close & not get a shot! Imagine sitting in a HOT blind all day long, watching these guys for 3 or 4 hours S L O W L Y make their way toward the blind, and then they see something they don't like and simply turn around and walk away. It's exactly the same feeling as stalking an animal for several hours only to be seen & blow it at the last minute - so much time & hope invested only to have to start over & do it all again!

Finally around 6:00, I spotted a really nice buck coming in from my left. Once again, he got really nervous close to the pond & quickly turned to leave. Well, after sitting there for 12 hours strait and being so close to getting a shot a couple of times earlier in the day, I was determined to at least loose an arrow at this guy. I spun around in the blind as he was walking away & managed to open up a window flap in the back of the blind. I didn't have time to range him, but guessed him at about 40 yards. I settled my sight pin on his chest & gently touched the trigger on my release. He immediately stumbled at the shot & then wobbled as he walked over the rise. I was 100% confident of my shot even though I hadn't seen the arrow hit (today's bows are shooting so fast it is nearly impossible to see the arrow in flight).

I guess it's a good thing that I'm not a betting man, because at this point I would have bet a million dollars that the arrow had flown true & that he had died just out of sight. I radioed my guide & started packing up my stuff while I waited on him to get there.

This is where I'll make a very long story short - the Antelope was laying just over the rise, but he was still very much alive. He jumped up & ran off as we approached. We could see a small spot of blood high on his neck as he ran off - nothing more than a flesh wound - UNBELIEVABLE! We stayed with him, watching through binoculars until dark just to make sure he wasn't hurt - he wasn't.

Soooooooooooo frustrating! I still to this day do not know what happened with that shot. I clearly remember seeing my pin settle over the kill zone before I released the arrow. So much of being accurate in archery is being comfortable & consistent in your shooting form. I have to believe that it all goes back to having to switch to my backup bow on the day before the hunt started.

Wyoming - Day 2

Well, 3:30 came pretty early Tuesday morning, but I did manage to get up & ready by 3:45. After a quick breakfast, we were on our way to the blinds. There were a total of 6 Antelope hunters in camp so we split up 3 and 3 to a guide. It took about an hour to drive to the little (only 106,000 acres!) ranch where we were going to hunt. I was the last one dropped off that morning - I didn't look at my watch when I got settled into the blind, but I think it was probably around 5:30. Then by the time I got my bow & all my gear situated it was already breaking light.

My blind was backed up to a bank, right at the edge of a natural water hole. The blind was so low, I really couldn't see as good as I would have liked. I couldn't see anything behind me, had limited vision to my left & right, and could probably see 1/2 a mile out front. I was very surprised when I spotted 5 or 6 Antelope to my left just as soon as it was light enough to see. The were up & feeding right where my guide had dropped me off 30 minutes earlier!

30 minutes in the blind & already spotted my first group of Antelope - & 1 of them was a buck! Yea, I'm feeling pretty good about my chances on this hunt right about now! I didn't watch the Antelope long before I lost them behind a small rise, but I was pretty sure that they were coming in. Sure enough, this guy walks in to about 8 yards just a few minutes later.

Very exciting, but he wasn't quite big enough to take first thing on the first day so I was content to just snap a few pics. Things got pretty slow after this group left. I could see a dozen or so Antelope off in the distance (including 3 or 4 really good bucks), but nothing close. This young mule deer did pay me a visit around 10:00, but other than that the rest of my morning was pretty dead.

All was quiet after that until my guide radioed me around 2:00 to see if I'd had any action. When I told him no, he offered to move me to a different blind. He called it a hot spot - 2 Antelope killed there in the past 2 days - so of course I said "sure, sounds good to me!"

The new spot was another ground blind set at the edge of a pond. Luckily, this blind was slightly up hill from the pond so I had a much better view of the surrounding area. We saw a bunch of Antelope driving in, and once again I could see several good bucks in the distance when I started glassing.

Action here was pretty slow until late afternoon. I had some does come right in, but the bucks seemed a little shy. Finally around 6:00, I spotted 2 BIG bucks coming in together. I'm no expert at judging Antelope, but I knew immediately that both of these guys were shooters! Funny, when the guide dropped me off, he said "they always come in from the front here, I've never seen them come in from the back". So of course, I'm all set up to shoot out of the front of the blind & have all the windows closed on the back of blind. Guess what direction they came from?? Yep, strait in from the back! So on top of already being a little nervous, I'm down on my hands & knees trying to get shifted around into a position where I can shoot out of the back. 1 of the 2 seemed a little nervous, but his buddy just walked right up to the edge of the pond. I drew my bow, raised up on my knees, took careful aim, squeezed off the shot................... TWAAAAAAAANNNG (the sound my arrow made as it flung wildly over his back)! Huh - what the heck was that? I think he wondered the same thing as he was running over to the next County! Well, after I got over my shock, disbelief, despair, I figured out that my arrow had hit the blind as I released. I hadn't opened my window quite wide enough since I wasn't expecting anything to come from that direction. VERY disappointing after sitting in a HOT blind for over 12 hours! Oh well, it had been a pretty good first day - saw lots of animals, had several close encounters, and had even managed to get a shot at a BIG Antelope! And hey, I was HUNTING in Wyoming - how bad could it be?!?

Wyoming - Arrival & Day 1!

Ok, so much for blogging from the blind while Antelope hunting last week. Part of the time I had no (or weak) cell service, and honestly just couldn't get motivated to blog the rest of the time. It was an extremely challenging (& frustrating) hunt both mentally & physically, but VERY rewarding when it finally all came together! Let's start from the beginning before I get ahead of myself:

Sunday, Aug 23rd:

I had been planning to carry 2 bows to Wyoming since I had booked the hunt back in April. Something just told me that if I was going to be bow hunting that far from home, I might need a back-up bow. Well, fast forward to Sunday, the 24th - the day before Brandi & I were scheduled to leave for the hunt. I had been shooting for about an hour. All was well with the bow, I just wanted to fling a few arrows before I packed everything up. Groups were good & tight, bow was quiet, and I was confident. I told myself that I'd shoot a few more times & then start packing. I drew back once more... crrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaccccccccccck. Huh????? Looked down......... yep...........

The bottom limb on my bow was toast - cracked all the way up the center! I think I said something like "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" and then just sat down & stared at it for a few minutes. Really, I guess I was lucky that I heard it crack when I drew & it didn't blow-up in my face on the next shot. And even luckier that it cracked the day before I left & not the day I arrived in WY!

So after staring in disbelief for a few minutes, I went inside & got my tools & the Hoyt. It took 15 or 20 minutes to get everything (sights, rest, quiver, etc.) switched over & then I was back to shooting - only this time I was starting over from square 1 instead of just leisurely flinging a few arrows. Luckily, the Hoyt is a top notch bow, & I had shot it for 2 seasons prior to switching so it really didn't take that long to get my sights set where I was getting some decent groups. I had no doubt that the Hoyt would be as accurate as my other bow, but I was more than a little concerned about it not feeling as comfortable at the moment of truth as a bow that I'd shot all Summer long.

All went smooth on the trip out - flights were pretty much on time & we got the rental car picked up a little after 4 in Rapid City, South Dakota. After a couple stops in Rapid City, and a short hour & a half drive, we finally pulled into the lodge!

I already knew that Seven J Outfitters had a first-class operation, but Brandi & I were both immediately impressed upon arrival. The lodge is a clean, new-looking log building (built in 2004 I think) & everyone there just went out of their way to be friendly.

After we were greeted by Jeff, Deb, and the other hunters in camp, we got settled into our room & then sat down to a wonderful meal. After supper, I shot my bow a few times just to be sure that everything held together during the flight, got the game plan from the guides, and then headed back to the room to get everything ready for the next day's hunt. Plans were to be up for breakfast at 3:45 & then leave the lodge by 4:15. This would give us plenty of time to get to our blinds before daylight even considering the hour-long drive.

Countdown

It's hard to believe, but 1 week from today my Wyoming Antelope hunt will all but be over. I'd like to report how excited I am about the upcoming hunt, but honestly things have been so busy around home that I haven't had much time to think about it. I did manage to start packing up some of my archery gear last night & have been trying to shoot my bow a little most every day - so hopefully I'll be prepared when the time comes.

This is going to be a water hole hunt, so I should have plenty of time during my 12 - 14 hour sits to blog some journal entries throughout the day (BlackBerry willing). And then as long as I can get some type of Internet service, I hope to be able to upload pics at night from the lodge - so check in often next week for updates!

I must confess that I am looking as forward to the peace and quiet of the blind as I am the hunt. It's been a while since I sat in a blind or a stand for that length of time, and especially in the temperatures that I'm expecting (heat) - but hopefully I'll have enough action to make the time pass quickly. Just in case, I'm planning to go in prepared with books, snacks, games on the BlackBerry, and LOTS of water!