BrownBear416
09-22-2010, 10:09 PM
Well my goal this year was a big speedgoat with the bow and and a Giant Mule Buck with rifle so here is a story of the first part of my quest..
After a 5 year wait I finally was drawn again for archery antelope and with much anticipation I made the trek south on Wednesday to Brooks.Last time I was drawn I was still pretty new to archery hunting and killed the first legal buck that came into the decoy.This time around I had lots of time and armed with a new bow I had my sights set on a 70 inch gross buck or nothing and above all else a buck that was pleasing to the eye.
After spending 9 days working in the rain and mud and then another week bowhunting elk in the same conditions I was looking forward to some warm weather and blue skys on the Praires.I wont tell you how angry i was when i woke up in the morning to pouring rain but I still went out for most of the day.Problem was I had to stay on the gravel roads and could not get to any of my spots due to the mud.I spotted some decent bucks that day and some were in good stalking positions but none were shooters so I let them be..
Thursday morning was a little better weather and although it was overcast the sun peeked out around 10 and I was surprised at how quick it started to dry up.I decided to head to an area that I thought would hold some good bucks and also some decent oilfield roads that I could use to access some areas.In no time at all I was into some better bucks and was able to try a few decoy setups with no luck.One really good buck I had at less them a 100yrds but the does spooked as soon as I popped the decoy and the buck followed them when they took off..
At around 11:00 i finally found a buck that i really wanted to kill.He was hanging around a lease site with 3 does and since there was some hay bails for cover i tried a stalk which ended in him spooking when i closed to 60yrds and taking off with his does.So i went back to my truck and sat and watched to see where they would go.After about an hour they circled into a field that was almost flat and the buck looked pretty content to stay in the middle of it and chase his does around.So i drove up the fence line until i was 300 yrds from them and set up my spotting scope.My plan was to sit there all day until the buck made some kind of mistake.There was a few little dips in the field and i hoped he would push the does into it and give me a chance to get out and get the decoy set up.So i sat and watched him and pondered whether i would get a chance at him or not.I could see in the scope that he was around 14 tall with good mass and great prongs that flared out.Add in the ivory tips and that i was sure he was in the mid 70s made sitting and watching very tough.
After 2-3 hours of watching my chance finally came and it came in a way that i hadnt counted on.One second he was chasing does and the next thing i knew the buck let out a loud snort and took off across the praire at a blistering speed.So I grabbed my decoy and ran as far out into the field as i could and got between him and his does.The buck must have ran 2km because I could not see him anymore and I think it took him around 5-10 min to come back.But he came back with his tongue hanging out and pushing another doe.As he came to the fence line and spotted my buck decoy he kinda held up and paced back and forth nervously.So i pulled out my buck call and let out a few grunts and that was all he could take and he came full speed towards the decoy.For a second there was a glimmer of doubt as I thought he was going to run right by the decoy but when i peeked around the side and looked,he was closing in fast and was on a collision course with BB and his very tiny decoy.lol So I came to full draw and slid around the side of the decoy,estimated the range at 30yrds and picked a spot and released.As it turns out the buck was a little closer then i thought and my arrow hit high but since he was quarting away and i was above him my arrow did a complete pass through and exited just in front of the shoulder.
Im super happy with the buck and he is everything I wanted in an Archery buck.Rough score puts him around 74-75 gross.
I have only bow killed 3 animals in the last 3 years and all have qualified for P&Y so I feel really fortunate to keep the streak going with this fine Antelope.I did miss a legal bull elk in there somewhere though so that kinda sucked.
Sorry about the quality of the pics but the Goat was really bloody,grass was really high,sun was really bright and my tripod just way to short . :thinking-006:
Live pics of my buck
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s27/BrownBear416/052.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s27/BrownBear416/025-2.jpg
A few other good bucks.
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s27/BrownBear416/038-1.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s27/BrownBear416/056.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s27/BrownBear416/042.jpg
No comments on the beard please as its been a long couple weeks :fighting0074:
After a 5 year wait I finally was drawn again for archery antelope and with much anticipation I made the trek south on Wednesday to Brooks.Last time I was drawn I was still pretty new to archery hunting and killed the first legal buck that came into the decoy.This time around I had lots of time and armed with a new bow I had my sights set on a 70 inch gross buck or nothing and above all else a buck that was pleasing to the eye.
After spending 9 days working in the rain and mud and then another week bowhunting elk in the same conditions I was looking forward to some warm weather and blue skys on the Praires.I wont tell you how angry i was when i woke up in the morning to pouring rain but I still went out for most of the day.Problem was I had to stay on the gravel roads and could not get to any of my spots due to the mud.I spotted some decent bucks that day and some were in good stalking positions but none were shooters so I let them be..
Thursday morning was a little better weather and although it was overcast the sun peeked out around 10 and I was surprised at how quick it started to dry up.I decided to head to an area that I thought would hold some good bucks and also some decent oilfield roads that I could use to access some areas.In no time at all I was into some better bucks and was able to try a few decoy setups with no luck.One really good buck I had at less them a 100yrds but the does spooked as soon as I popped the decoy and the buck followed them when they took off..
At around 11:00 i finally found a buck that i really wanted to kill.He was hanging around a lease site with 3 does and since there was some hay bails for cover i tried a stalk which ended in him spooking when i closed to 60yrds and taking off with his does.So i went back to my truck and sat and watched to see where they would go.After about an hour they circled into a field that was almost flat and the buck looked pretty content to stay in the middle of it and chase his does around.So i drove up the fence line until i was 300 yrds from them and set up my spotting scope.My plan was to sit there all day until the buck made some kind of mistake.There was a few little dips in the field and i hoped he would push the does into it and give me a chance to get out and get the decoy set up.So i sat and watched him and pondered whether i would get a chance at him or not.I could see in the scope that he was around 14 tall with good mass and great prongs that flared out.Add in the ivory tips and that i was sure he was in the mid 70s made sitting and watching very tough.
After 2-3 hours of watching my chance finally came and it came in a way that i hadnt counted on.One second he was chasing does and the next thing i knew the buck let out a loud snort and took off across the praire at a blistering speed.So I grabbed my decoy and ran as far out into the field as i could and got between him and his does.The buck must have ran 2km because I could not see him anymore and I think it took him around 5-10 min to come back.But he came back with his tongue hanging out and pushing another doe.As he came to the fence line and spotted my buck decoy he kinda held up and paced back and forth nervously.So i pulled out my buck call and let out a few grunts and that was all he could take and he came full speed towards the decoy.For a second there was a glimmer of doubt as I thought he was going to run right by the decoy but when i peeked around the side and looked,he was closing in fast and was on a collision course with BB and his very tiny decoy.lol So I came to full draw and slid around the side of the decoy,estimated the range at 30yrds and picked a spot and released.As it turns out the buck was a little closer then i thought and my arrow hit high but since he was quarting away and i was above him my arrow did a complete pass through and exited just in front of the shoulder.
Im super happy with the buck and he is everything I wanted in an Archery buck.Rough score puts him around 74-75 gross.
I have only bow killed 3 animals in the last 3 years and all have qualified for P&Y so I feel really fortunate to keep the streak going with this fine Antelope.I did miss a legal bull elk in there somewhere though so that kinda sucked.
Sorry about the quality of the pics but the Goat was really bloody,grass was really high,sun was really bright and my tripod just way to short . :thinking-006:
Live pics of my buck
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s27/BrownBear416/052.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s27/BrownBear416/025-2.jpg
A few other good bucks.
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s27/BrownBear416/038-1.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s27/BrownBear416/056.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s27/BrownBear416/042.jpg
No comments on the beard please as its been a long couple weeks :fighting0074: