Remember back in March, I wrote a post about winning the guided antelope hunt? ( http://happyfaceranch.blogspot.com/2015/03/success-is-mine.html ) Well, I was terribly wrong about thinking the hunt wouldn't be fun. What was I thinking?! The hunt was one of the best.
Dad and I drove down to Stratford, TX, late Friday afternoon. We met up with the landowner and his son, the guy in charge, the boy who also won the contest, and his brother. After we had met everyone and talked for a bit, we drove around the pastures and fields, scouting for antelope. We saw some right off...on the neighbor's land. Finally, we saw some on the land we were going to hunt on and at dusk, headed to town for supper.
Early, early Saturday morning, I tossed and turned in bed as thunder and rain filled my ears. Lightning was almost a constant light in the room and some thunder awoke me. Finally, I fell back to sleep and then it was time to get up. There was no light coming into my room as I climbed out of bed and slipped into my jeans. The sound of thunder had ceased. It was no longer raining. My hunt would continue.
All 7 of us met up at a local diner and stuffed ourselves with breakfast. It was after eight o'clock by the time we started hunting. It was a very crisp morning. With over cast skies, heavy sprinkles, and temperatures in the mid 40's, we felt frozen driving around with the windows down.
Then we saw one. A buck off in the distance. We drove towards him, but nearly got stuck in the mud from the rain during the night. Instead of standing still, he bolted. We tried to cut him off, but that didn't work. The race was on. With long, smooth strides, he covered ground at a speed which caused us pursue at a faster pace. He crossed a road and was lost in the CRP ground on the other side. We attempted to follow him, but the grass grew so tall he was lost forever.
But, there, in the distance, stood a herd of antelope grazing in a field. Another rain was approaching. Low thunder rumbled across the sky and a meadow lark called to its buddy. The grass waved as a gentle breeze chilled us. It was as peaceful as it gets.
We had driven around the whole circle of wheat before we found and got a close up look at the herd, and they were splitting. The four best bucks went with a handful of does and disappeared between two circles of corn. After a good look at the remaining ones, we followed the herd which had left.
The Ford was close to stuck again and mud was flung everywhere. We managed to get out and on safer ground before the antelope had left entirely.
When we stopped on the paved road, we saw them standing there. Most of them were broadside, the lighting making them silhouette, and if only we had a camera out at that moment! They moseyed down the other side and we pulled off into the grass.
Every time we got settled and close, they would ease their way from us. We moved a few times before the distance and angle was just right. And finally, I had one picked out of the four. We called the other hunters so that they wouldn't be in the way and I got ready.
I sat in the back of the pickup (it's legal to shoot from the pickup in TX). My gun, Zipper Trigger, was loaded, I was mentally ready, and...the antelope laid down to chew his cud.
What? Really?
We sat and waited for minutes. Five minutes grew into fifteen, then twenty. A doe stood up, stretched, shook off the raindrops, and laid back in the grass. After we had sat there with the windows down, just waiting on that one antelope, they reluctantly stood up. Of course the one I was going to shoot was the last to stand. But when he did, it was the end.
Raindrops dripped off Zipper Trigger's barrel as I shot the antelope through the heart. He fell dead just a little ways from where he had taken his last stance. My first antelope was in the book!
The other hunter trailed after the herd after a few pictures and successfully shot his. More pictures were taken of both of us and of the group and then we took care of the critters.
I don't know why I was nervous. The fun--like most times--out weighted the nervousness by a ton.
Everyone was so polite, helpful, and great. I would do it again if I only could!
And that, my friends, is why I couldn't do a blog post yesterday. : )
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