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!











