At the airport so the write up is not going to be phenomenal.
I bought a hunt a Mule Deer Banquet a few years back and it took me 3 years to draw the tag for this unit in CO (105). I have never been on an antelope hunt but have always been fascinated by them, probably due to the fact that we don't get to see many in Texas. When I used to drive to Montana and North Dakota for work I loved watching the open fields and spotting speed goats.
So, the hunt came along this weekend and we went out and scouted Friday afternoon. We found 3 really good bucks but the area we scouted was in 104, for the other guys hunting. I was wondering why we didn't scout 105 but the guides just laughed and said "we don't need to scout the ranch you're going to - you'll have plenty of options"…
Turns out they were right. We woke up and drove about 40-50 mins to the north and got the ranch where the hunt was to take place. Immediately after driving through the front gate we saw a massive buck by the ranch house and standing 108 yards away with a whole herd of doe behind him at 80-100 yards. We could have shot him but I was glad when the guide suggested waiting. He would have been awesome but I wanted to hunt and not "shoot"..
We started driving around and saw goats EVERYWHERE! It was actually really fun to watch the bucks work the does as they were In full rut. The big bucks had anywhere from 3-15 does in a group and just ran them hard. The bucks would keep them close and huddled in a group as smaller or less mature suitors we're frequently encroaching the groups. They were pretty aggressive towards the smaller bucks.
The terrain was pretty wicked and difficult to hunt. Although everything looks flat, there are several draws and bowls that don't look like they should be there. The lack of cover makes it really challenging as well. The goats would break over a hill and could be 10 yards on the other side or 1000 yards away.
Now, the bucks were stupid and had only thing on their mind… the doe. However, the doe were the problem. They have great eyesight and didn't like any movement on the ground or on foot. We were predominantly driving through the ranch roads and looking for a mature buck to put a stalk on.
The first buck we made a move on had good length and great cutters. He was preoccupied with 4 doe that busted us at 300 yards when we came over the hill on foot. He tried to keep them close but had to chase them off the ranch. Blown opportunity number one…
The second buck was a mature and massive buck with a group of 15-20 doe and 3-4 bucks working the perimeter. He was running hard to keep the bucks away and was oblivious we were 300 yards away. They managed to work on just the other side of a hill and we made a flank with the wind in our face to cut them off. As soon as we got to where they should have been, we looked out and a coyote was 120 yards down the draw and the antelope we're 800-1000 yards off in the distance, again on the neighboring property. Busted opportunity number 2.
It's now about 11:00 and we saw a group of 10-12 doe and 2 immature bucks. We knew there had to be a big buck with them but couldn't spot him. We decided it was worth the stalk and took off down a draw for about a 500 yard walk. We get down to where we think they should be and they walked right over the ridge into our faces. The doe spooked and ran about 300 yards away and then the buck we were hoping was with them sprinted after them to cut them off. He was a solid, mature buck with good hooks. He duct them off just as they were about breach the ridge and we'd lose sight of them. They stopped at 340 and then he continued to run them down the ridge until they got to about 300. Two other bucks came in and he started running them off while we laid prone. As he was running them off, the doe started working away from us again. I told the guide, I'm solid and can make this shot… he said if you feel comfortable, take it. He got down to 265 and turned broad side… Boom! Dropped in his tracks! Yes - with a 6.5 Creedmoor.
Great hunt and fantastic experience! Typed on mobile so please forgive the grammar and spelling.