closed the deal on my first antelope

[MDH]

After 7 straight weekends of scouting I had 3 bucks picked out that would be definite shooters for opening morning. As the story always goes one got shot on the archery hunt, heard he went mid 80's was sad to see a cell phone pic of him by the first monday. My dad and I showed up a couple of days early just to check on the two bucks. One was still in the same area and the other kept bouncing between the unit boundries. After talking and going over photos and film of the two bucks this is the buck I chose to pursue. We watched him all day thursday to try and put him to bed only to watch him get bumped by a pickup 30 minutes before dark. I made a big circle to see if I could glass him on the other side of the ridge before it got dark but never saw him. There was a big bowl I had watched several antelope go into over the last 7 weeks and that was the direction the big buck was headed and that was where we would be before daylight. My dad spotted the buck at 3/4 of a mile away before the sun came up and we planned out the stalk. I ended up getting within 250 and another hunter popped up on the hill directly across from me. The buck was chasing a doe right in between us. He ended up getting out with neither of us taking a shot. Stalk number 2 ended up only getting to within 500 yards and didnt want to take the shot, I watched the buck walk off for the second time that day. Only an hour later i took off on my third stalk on the buck and belly crawled up to 206 yards and had the buck lay down in some tall grass only leaving his head visible. I laid there for about 45 minutes waiting the buck out only to have a truck drive up behind me bumping the buck and his five does. I didnt ever think that i was going to close the deal on this buck. We made yet another circle and finally caught up with the group again a couple more miles away. They were a little over a mile away. I took off on the fourth stalk of the day and dang was it getting hot (low 90's). I got to the last hill before i should be able to see the buck. I peaked over the top and there he was about 400 yards I was able to close the distance to 300 and steadied my 300 WSM on the bucks shoulder and that was all she wrote. The buck was 16 1/4 long with 6 inch cutters and scored just under 85, he was well worth the 13 year wait for a tag.

[Arizonahunter]

Great Antelope!!! Congrats... Well worth the wait.

[.270]

that is a dang good buck. real good. you should be happy. Lark.

[Chef]

Way to go!

Pre season scouting and persistence paid dividends!

Congrats on a great Lope!

[Oak]

Great looking buck. Congratulations!

[liv4coues]

Great looking goat. Your scouting and persistence paid off nicely.

[matthewp45]

That is a great buck! Sounds like it was well deserved.

[TrentSwanson]

Beautiful buck Mike... but no mention of a rattlesnake in your story? Ha!

 

It is gracious and humble sportsmen like you and your dad that make me proud to be a hunter. Congrats not only on a great buck, but also for the patience and persistence to reach your goals!

[tjhunt2]

It might have been 13 yrs but look at what you took after all those years of putting in. Great buck and congratulations.

 

TJ

[Arizonahunter]

Great buck, Congrats

[bonecollector]

Nice buck, all your hard work paid off Congrats!

[desertsheep]

Great lookin buck Devin. Congratulations. It was better to leave the old man out of the picture anyway.

[Browning'sCustomMeat]

Spectacular Buck!! Congrats to ya!

 

 

[izquik72]

That's a dandy

Congrats

[EliAGrimmett]

You might like this video clip of your buck: http://www.youtube.com/user/EliAGrimmett#p/u/1/PYNJGvlqe0U

 

We have some photos of your buck from 2007, 2009, and this year (for some reason we never saw him in 2008). Send me an email and I'll see if I can find those photos for you.