My first Antelope tag and I was able to fill it!

[AZHUNTER05]

Well, to my surprise I drew a Archery antelope tag in 18b with very few bonus points! To say I was surprised was an under statement! After months of scouting and shooting 1000's of arrows I felt pretty confident I was going to tag out in the first few days. Once the hunt started I had found that all the antelope i had been watching all summer had left the areas they were in and I had to start over from scratch. Luckily I grew up hunting the unit and i was able to relocate them rather quickly. However, locating them was the easy part, getting within 100 yards is just about impossible . I spent the first 5 days of the hunt getting busted after long hot stalks. I was able to close the distance on two smaller bucks and get shots, but missed both times. On the 6th day of my hunt, another tag holder told me he had filled his tag sitting water and gave me permission to use his blind, which i gladly accepted.

 

I sat in his blind the next day until the rain came in and chased me out. I went back to camp thinking my day was over with, but the rain finally cleared up enough for me to get out for a few hours before dark. I drove out to an area where i was watching a good buck, i was unable to locate it so i decided to head over to another area before heading to camp. As i was driving i looked over and spotted a large heard of antelope feeding on the edge of a pasture, providing me with a great opportunity for a stalk. i drove out of sight and approached them from behind oak brush and junipers. As I closed the distance on the heard, i saw two big bucks feeding away from the doe's in my direction. I dropped my pack and moved into position for a shot. The first buck walked out and gave me a perfect broadside shot, but i held off for the second buck because it was bigger and much closer. After few minutes of the other buck not making an appearance, I looked on the other side of the tree and found he had changed directions and was heading back to the does. Once I knew the other buck was not coming, I ranged my buck, drew back, and let one fly! The arrow hit it's mark and the buck ran 40 yards before piling up in eye sight.

 

This was by far the most work and dedication I have ever put into harvesting any animal in my life, and it was well worth it! Harvesting an antelope with a bow has to be one of the most difficult things you can do! I definitely found a new addiction, but unfortunaly it's so hard to draw tags here in AZ. Hopefully i can get lucky enough to draw a tag again in the near future .

 

I was hunting by myself when i took my buck, so i had to load it up quickly and head over to camp where another hunter was gracious enough to take some photo's for me. I'm still waiting for my taxidermist to score my buck, but he estimated it to be around 80".

 

Good luck to all the other tag holders in the up coming hunts!

 

[Eagle mountain ranch]

congrats..way to stick it out, and have it pay off for you.

[Bhunter24]

congrats on a nice buck!

[429mike]

Congrats! nice helmet you got there,did it happen to work for you? I had mixed results when i tried it

[6ANut]

Great mass on that buck. Congrats on a nice one with stick and string.

[Flatlander]

Awesome buck! Congrats.

[AZHUNTER05]

Congrats! nice helmet you got there,did it happen to work for you? I had mixed results when i tried it

It's tough to say how the decoy worked. I only used it once and that was when I shot my buck. I had good cover so they didn't see me stalking in, however they did spot me a few times in the open and they never alerted. So I would say it kept them a lot less alert. The Montana decoy works about once or twice, then they figure it out. The hat is way easier to use because it's hands off. The Montana decoy needs two people and it's though to use in the wind.

[SirRoyal]

Very nice ! Huge Congrats!

[AZHog]

Congrats on a nice buck! Thanks for the pics and write-up.

[ElkyG]

Awesome buck, Congrats

[rageinthesage]

Awesome buck, congrats!

[Pine Donkey]

Great buck, congratulations!

[bgshooter]

Congrats!!!

[murfys69law]

Congrats on a very hard to get with a bow animal. You put in the time and effort and should be very proud of this fine animal.

[trphyhntr]

man that's a nice one too