Sometimes, the High Points of a Hunt Don't Involve Animals

[FrankenMauser]

I filled my tag, but that only set off a chain of events that lead to a 6-hour ordeal involving body damage and electrical issues with my truck.

Approx 3 year-old doe, double-lung, about 250 yards, no meat loss, due to the use of a 140 gr Partition and not hitting the shoulders. Rifle is a Ruger M77 Mk II ("Sporter"?), .270 Winchester, wearing Leupold VX-3 3.5-10x40mm, with a Harris model H ultralight bipod.


But, even while exercising the demons, the majesty of the desert was still surrounding us. (Stowing some cables, after a secondary battery was donated by the Camper Special {dual batteries}, to the ailing Ranger - note the antelope legs and home-made big game carrier sticking out of the bed.)

[FrankenMauser]

But, as the title suggests....
The high points of this year's Pronghorn Antelope hunt were all courtesy of Mother Nature. (I have dozens of great landscapes from this year's hunt. Only my three favorites are posted below.)

[bswiv]

So different from where we live...............beautiful.......even if I think I would miss the trees......

[PTS1]

I agree. A hunt with a scenic view is always a successful hunt.

[globemaster3]

Frankenmauser, that's just incredible. Those are worthy of hanging on the wall!

I could get lost just sitting there staring at that while on a hunt.

I think you'd hear something along the lines of "Antelope? What antelope?"

[jimbob86]

Approx 3 year-old doe, double-lung, about 250 yards, no meat loss, due to the use of a 140 gr Partition and not hitting the shoulders

Perfect placement, there, FM!

I miss the wide open spaces of my youth ..... but November is coming, and the annual pilgrimage will begin!

[AllenJ]

FrankenMauser you could not be more right. Beautiful country and good friends make the trip worth it.

[Saltydog235]

Beautiful scenery though I'd go crazy without the trees, swamps and rivers.

[ZeroJunk]

Beautiful.

[doofus47]

yep.

[FrontSight]

God Bless!

[FrankenMauser]

Thanks, guys. I hoped a few people would enjoy the photos. Feel free to share your own.

To add a bit of history to the mix....

In two of these photos (first two in second post), you're actually looking across the Oregon/California Trail.
From the small hill next to our camp site, you can see about 13 miles of the trail, with its sandstone (historic) and concrete (modern) markers.
In previous years, we've had to drive down the Oregon Trail, to retrieve game. (In some areas, the original ruts are preserved, and vehicles are prohibited. In other areas, the current roads follow the original trail.)


PTS1- great shot. Hunting in the desert has a beauty of its own.

Jimbob - Thanks. I shake too much to pull it off on my own, and like to sit for a while, watching the animals move across the land. So, I rely on the bi-pod. The Partition is way too tough for Antelope, but it is the most accurate hand load I have for that .270. I always try for head shots on does, but the variable winds left me doubting the success of trying a craniotomy.

Originally Posted by globemaster3

I could get lost just sitting there staring at that while on a hunt.

It happens all the time.
Just before taking that doe.... I spent about an hour sitting cross-legged, rifle in my lap, on top of the hill by our camp, just taking in the beauty. Eventually, I happened to notice the Antelope making their way toward me (they were about a mile out, when I got lost in the abyss). So, I worked my way, about 600 yards, down the far side of the hill; and sat low in the sagebrush, again, for 20-30 minutes, before they grazed their way into view.

[FrankenMauser]

And...
A few more.

A storm rolling in (looks like we ended up with some distortion here).


Though you can see more character with the naked eye, the land may as well be as flat as the photo suggests.


And... Last year's Elk hunt. Taking a breather, after climbing several miles through a gnarly dead-fall area. They may look like small hills, but our camp site was at 8,800 ft asl, and the photo was taken above 9,500 feet. We're on top of the mountains, here.

[FrankenMauser]

And...

Just like that, I can leave the trees behind, and drop into the desert.

(The trash in the photo belonged to a hunter that was returning to the area. At least ONE person up there wasn't a pig. )

[Sarge]

One of the beautiful aspects of dove hunting is that it reminds us to look at the sky.

[BUFF]

Those are some beautiful pics. Wish I had some to add.

I have seen some really nice days while out on the hunt. Makes you believe in a higher power. In the field is where I can go and just watch the world go by and not think about anything but the beauty all around.

Besides, if you harvest something, that's when the work begins.

[jimbob86]

I still say the finest sight in the outdoors is watching your children (or better yet, your grandchildren!) expertly doing something you taught them to do.

[jimbob86]

The Partition is way too tough for Antelope

Seemed to work.

The Speedgoat is a giant pulmonary and circulatory system propelled by some sinewy legs and nourished by a smallish gut ...... the whole point of which is to enable the animal to be propelled at speeds that will wreck a 4WD vehichle if it attempts to follow it across it's native terrain..... The trick is to poke a hole, any hole, in those giant lungs before the running begins. The animals' giant eyes make getting close enough to do that ....... problematic.

[markj]

Yes I miss hunting the antelope since I moved to Iowa. I saw one hung up in a fence once, he got stuck and died there, seemed kinda sad so we moved him to the ground. Fast animals that come to water often so set up by the water hole and wait...

[Jo6pak]

Great pics guys.

I've been out on "the plains" a few times, and the vastness to me is almost claustraphobic. I can't explain it, but just being able to see that far and have nothing around feels very odd to me. It's not really a bad feeling just different I guess.

I'm much more as home in the coulees and timber of western Wisconsin.

[Sarge]

We were driving north of CO Springs last March, and watched a herd of antelope cross the highway at 40 mph+. The little does squirted under the fence but the buck nailed it, bounced back and shot across the highway the other direction, picking up speed as he went. He repeated this performance again, each time losing enough fur to stuff a pillow. Finally he crossed again and got under, losing another big patch of fur off his rump as he flew under the fence, where he rejoined the herd.

Sure was a show!

[FrankenMauser]

Nice photos, Sarge.

The Speedgoat is a giant pulmonary and circulatory system propelled by some sinewy legs and nourished by a smallish gut ...... the whole point of which is to enable the animal to be propelled at speeds that will wreck a 4WD vehichle if it attempts to follow it across it's native terrain..... The trick is to poke a hole, any hole, in those giant lungs before the running begins. The animals' giant eyes make getting close enough to do that ....... problematic.

Absolutely.
Antelope have one of the most forgiving "butter zones" of all North American game (in my opinion). But... it comes at a price. The small amount of large muscles on the animal means that hitting a shoulder is a terrible waste. Taking out both shoulders, is worse than throwing away an entire hind quarter.

As for getting close... It's a lot of fun.
The animals react differently, every year. So, I have to read them for a day, or two, before I feel I can make a successful stalk.

But... We hunt in the same place, every year. As such, we have learned the basic grazing patterns and natural funnels of the area. The goats never seem to deviate from their inherited patterns. Since our camp is almost perfectly centered in a set of water holes (ranging from a natural spring, to a cattle trough, to natural low spots) that approximately form a six pointed star, we get a lot of grazing traffic, and have a great view from "our" hill.

[cons14]

Great pics. Thank you for sharing.

[Crankylove]

We hunt in the same place, every year. As such, we have learned the basic grazing patterns and natural funnels of the area.

It also doesn't hurt that most of the roads into that area are overgrown two-tracks from the lack of travel over them the last few years (used to be much more travel over them, but in the last 3 years, I think we are the only ones using those roads anymore). Most years we go up, you can still see our tire tracks and marks in camp from the last year.........and this last hunt we only saw 3-4 other people in our area.

It is quite nice to be the only ones out there, almost our own private game preserve.

[kaylorinhi]

I awoke to the first frost, in my first house to this sunrise!