- Joined
- Feb 28, 2015
- Messages
- 741
- Reaction score
- 470
Antelope season is open a month and I spent almost half that time sitting in a blind on the back 80. This field is clover and native grasses I planted several years ago and it is flood irrigated. We have been saving it to graze in mid November and the growth is 10-12" tall. It has been 22-45 degrees in the early morning hours when I have walked to blind in the dark. I can only handle this about every other day. Some days none came in, other days maybe 5 early in the season. Then after deer season had been open up to 23 animals came into field. I had several within my maximum range of 80 yards (if a full broadside view was presented for a lung shot". Some even closer but only a head/neck or top half of body was not above the grass or sage line. So with two days left in the season and not firing a shot out of my 58 Mississippi rifle I cleaned it good and put it away. It has taken many years to draw a speed goat tag where I could harvest an animal on my own place so I was desperate to bag one. Out of the safe came my 1960 Sako Forester 6m/m and four Hornady 100 grain handloads from 1966. The next afternoon my wife spotted a herd heading to the field where blind is located. I had a longer walk than I wanted trying to keep out of view of 46 alert eyeballs. It took a long time to get up there. I could not walk bent over due to physical limitations so I crawled well over 200 yards. With a slight rise in the field between us I could only see top of heads so I rolled another 75 yards slightly up hill for a clearer view. Then had to shimmy like a buzztail another ten yards forward to clear the grasses. Trying to shoot laying down with only one elbo on the ground is harder than one would think when by that time he is pretty well bushed. But I did get the lung shot on a nice buck at 265 yards. That was on Oct 22 and I am still so sore all over I can hardly move.
Almost dropped the coffee my wife handed to be as my right shoulder joint is gone. Now both of us have our once in a lifeime time Idaho bull moose and now we each have our speed goats.
John
No more lope hunting for us at our ages it is too much work!
Almost dropped the coffee my wife handed to be as my right shoulder joint is gone. Now both of us have our once in a lifeime time Idaho bull moose and now we each have our speed goats.
John
No more lope hunting for us at our ages it is too much work!
