The Land of Enchantment. New Mexico has always been a place I revered with great fondness, from its lush prairies to its steep dark timber. I grew up in a little town just North of the New Mexico border, not too far from where I am now, so the smell of roasting hatch chili and the warm sunsets are a kind remembrance of my upbringing, and give me a sense of nostalgia I almost forgot I had. Oddly enough, besides being raised by a family of proud hunters, I never had the opportunity to pursue these animals growing up. Fast forward a decade or two, and now here I am, a tag burning a hole in my pocket and the crisp autumn breeze in my face.
Admittedly this is not my first time chasing antelope, here in Wyoming it might as well be a rite of passage to Western big game hunting. This was my first time chasing antelope in a place so close to my childhood home, so naturally this hunt meant a bit more to me. We woke up early and arrived at the ranch just shortly before sunrise to get a quick briefing from Freddy and his guides, then off to find an antelope worthy of taking home. To a novice hunter, antelope hunting may seem like a breeze, but to shoot something that is truly trophy quality is a bit more challenging than it may seem.
Judging trophy antelope is much harder than you might think, especially for the novice. Height and mass are obviously great characteristics to look for, but behind a spotter looks can be deceiving. That is why good quality glass is paramount, and after glassing several with my Revic spotter I saw many respectable bucks, but even the inexperienced will know when they see “the one”. Not too long after departing the ranch, we saw what I thought could be the buck I wanted to take home with me.
Standing broadside to me was an awesome buck, great hooks, great mass, and a bit of character. After several “second looks” we decided to make the stalk on this buck. Cutting the distance seemed to be an issue as these antelope had been pursued for a month or two and were incredibly weary, and when we first ranged him he was just on the upper limits of my shooting abilities. We pressed on, finding a cut in the terrain to hopefully conceal our movements, carefully stalking until we crested a small hill that was the final barrier between us and him. Unfortunately due to a couple factors, one big one being the wind direction, he spotted/ winded us from a few hundred yards away and was gone just as quickly as we found him. Easy come, easy go as they say.
After blowing the stalk my confidence was low, I knew I had the equipment to succeed, but chasing weary late season antelope in seemingly flat, yet rolling terrain deemed to be more challenging than hunting antelope back home in the sage. The area was blessed with a very wet spring and the prairie grass was tall, making for perfect conditions for antelope to disappear. You might see a herd on what appears to be a nice flat stretch, only to make your stalk and blow it on a group of does nestled in a cut in the landscape that is impossible to see until you are right on top of it.
The guides rely heavily on cow decoys, basically a handheld screen with a cow printed on the fabric to conceal motion and to make a stalk possible in this almost flat landscape. Admittedly it looks very looney-tunes-esque to the deer and elk hunter, but that is part of the allure that is spot and stalk antelope hunting. Unfortunately for us, we forgot to grab one before we set out, classic rookie mistake.
Finally after what seemed to be an eternity of glassing, almost hot coffee, and conversation with a couple of my coworkers who I am fortunate enough to have spent this trip with, we decided to cut out and grab some lunch. In a moment of reflection I realize how funny hunting can be. One minute you are losing your mind, anxious about going home empty handed and the next you are staring at a very killable buck, minding his harem of does without a care in the world. There as quickly as we resigned for lunch we spotted him, and all the chaos ensued. It did not take more than one “second look” for us to decide he was worthy of a chase.
It looked like a tornado blew through the cab of the truck, packs, tripods, optics flying out of doors, all the chaos that comes with the excitement that washes over you before you make a stalk on something that was seemingly impossible just a few minutes before. Tripods and optics in my companions hands, my trusty Nexus chambered in 6.5 PRC in mine, we set off on a stalk. We knew from our mistakes this morning that this had to be perfect, luckily the wind was right and we had just enough terrain to conceal our movement. We built a quick shooting position, luckily we were just on the edge of a stock pond so the vegetation was flattened by all the animals in the area looking for an easy drink of water.
515 yards, was almost a layup. After a couple seconds of deliberation and a quick wind call I pressed the trigger and landed a perfect hit. Nothing is more satisfying when a plan comes to fruition. It feels cheesy, but I do want to thank Jon and Quintin for the help and all the laughs, and most of all Gunwerks for providing this opportunity, a bucket list item I did not know I had.
Until next time.