Ross Outdoors Report post Posted August 31, 2013 Sorry for not posting this up earlier, we have been busy down at the shop. Ross and I were fortunate enough to draw 19a Archery Antelope tags this year after combining our bonus points and putting in on the same application. Ross had been waiting 17 years and had 19 bonus points, while I had been waiting for 10 years with a total of 12 bonus points. Ross was putting in for rifle for many years and finally decided he would rather go for archery. We hunted on the Perkinsville ranch in Chino Valley and had an awesome time experimenting with different tactics for archery speed goat. I tagged out exactly one week into the hunt while sitting water. I had three smaller bucks come in that morning and was watching what appeared to be a nicer buck with his does about 500 yards away in the pasture behind me. As the day dragged on and I battled the flies and heat in my blind I suddenly herd some commotion behind me. The smaller bucks had headed towards the buck with the does and he was not happy about it, I watched in awe as I saw him chasing them right towards the water hole. I heard some high pitched "grunt" like sounds as the smaller bucks scattered about 50 yards behind me and I saw the bigger one following up behind them. The smaller books took off and the bigger buck decided since he was right near the water and just went on a nice sprint that he would come and get a drink. I drew back with the PSE Omen as he approached the water and told myself to "aim low" as he lowered his head for a drink. I settled my pin right behind the front leg and low on the body as I squeezed the release. "WHACK," I saw the buck pick up his front leg and turn to run as the blood poured from both sides. He ran about 40 yards and laid down, my archery antelope hunt was over. Ross' buck was taken on the ninth day using the Heads up Decoy, he had been after a very nice buck for the whole first week and had come close trying both the "Be The Decoy" and "Heads Up Decoy" tactics. The does and buck would gain interest and hang up around 130 yards before becoming suspicious. Earlier that day we had rode our mountain bikes out to the tank where I had shot my buck two days prior, after sitting for about 6 hours and only having one small buck come in we watched in dismay as the skies began to darken. A huge storm was rolling in and we decided to go try and make some stalks before the rains came. On the bike ride back thunder and lightning cracked over our heads, one of Ross' arrows fell out of his quiver as he was riding I stopped him and placed the arrow back in his quiver not thinking anything of it. We got back to the truck and headed for the spot where the big one was always hanging out. He was in his normal spot on one side of a large hill with his does, I dropped Ross off on the opposite side of the hill and watched him head up the hill with his Be the Decoy Hat and Shirt on. I drove back around the to the other side of the hill and grabbed the 15x56's in preparation for the show. About 15 minutes later the buck crested the hill and was staring intently down on where I assumed Ross was, suddenly the buck disappeared over the hill in a dead run. Nothing happened for about 3 minutes, and I saw the buck reappear on the crest of the hill, suddenly a large crack of thunder hit right above them and the whole heard took off on a dead run. Moments later I saw the decoy hat go flying and I saw Ross through the 15's stomping angrily back towards the truck. What we didn't realize from our bike ride earlier was that when his broadhead fell out of his quiver it had cut the cable on his bow leaving it hanging by only strands. He explained with disgust how the big buck had charged to about 70 yards and stood there broadside looking at him for about three minutes. He decided to draw back his bow anyway and was willing to shoot potentially blowing up the bow and risking injury upon himself, however, the cut cable caused his peep to turn in a complete 180 degrees the wrong direction and he couldn't get the buck in his sight picture. We rushed back to the hotel and grabbed my bow, came back and sighted it in for him in about 30 minutes. We spotted a buck with a group of does about 300 yards off the road with a small hill in between us and them, I dropped Ross off again, this time he took his Heads Up Decoy but kept the Be the Decoy shirt on as well. I watched as a smaller buck approached the buck with the does and he chased him off about 500 yards, as the buck made his way back Ross crested the small hill with the decoy on his bow about 100 yards from his does. The buck charged him at a dead run stopping at 50 yards, Ross was already at full draw, the buck hunkered down and took off as the VAP 350 zipped through him. The 100 gr. Grave Digger broadhead performed with excellence as the buck sprinted about 50 yards and piled up. We approached the buck exchanging high fives and hugs, the hunt was over and our excitement was displaced by a small bit of sadness as we realized that our long awaited hunt was over. Archery antelope was definitely a fun and exhilarating challenge, we learned a lot in the 9 days and look forward to hunting the elusive speed goats again, hopefully sooner than later. I will post a video with some of the other antelope and interesting creatures we encountered on the hunt, including a porcupine! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to capture the impact shots on video. Thank you for reading and happy hunting, Josiah Richards Ross Outdoors 602 386 1266 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZHUNTER05 Report post Posted August 31, 2013 Awesome story, congrats! What did they score? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ross Outdoors Report post Posted August 31, 2013 Mine scores 71 5/8" green score, haven't got to put the tape on Ross' yet. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AZBIGMIKE Report post Posted August 31, 2013 Awesome bucks!!!! Congrats!!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CouesWhitetail Report post Posted September 3, 2013 Wow, those are very nice antelope and with a bow too!! Congratulations to you both! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bowhunter4life Report post Posted September 3, 2013 Congrats to both of ya!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ElkyG Report post Posted September 4, 2013 Congrats guys on some nice antelopes Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bonecollector Report post Posted September 4, 2013 Nice, congrats. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ross Outdoors Report post Posted September 4, 2013 Thank you, can't wait to do it again someday Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
izquik72 Report post Posted September 4, 2013 Great job guys Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tjhunt2 Report post Posted September 5, 2013 Thanks for sharing your hunts with us. Congratulations to both of you. Them are awesome bucks for sure. TJ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SPOTnSTALKer Report post Posted January 30, 2014 Way ta' GO!!! Big Congratulations Guys! Thanks for sharing your hunt, I really enjoyed it! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shedhunteraz Report post Posted January 30, 2014 Nice job guys. Great looking bucks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
camoremi Report post Posted April 22, 2014 Can't wait to see the two you guys take this year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
