Bwana Bubba

               Gerber Reservoir 78 P&Y Antelope

My good friend Steve Tandy and I had Archery Antelope tags for the Gerber Reservoir near the Sycan Marsh in South Central Oregon.   We made an early scouting trip near the marsh below Thompson Reservoir.   There was no doubt that there were a lot of lopes in the area.  We were not disappointed at all with the numbers.   We saw a number of dandy big bucks in the area working the water holes.

 It would make for easy setups on stalking or waiting for the lopes out near a waterhole.  The biggest problem that we had on the scouting trip were the mosquitoes, oh my were they bad, one couldn’t even take a leak without them attacking you.  Reminded me of the days in Nam with the blasted things.

 Anyway Steve and I were not able to hunt together on the opening weekend of the hunt.

Gerber Reservoir Antelope are a bit different from other antelope in the typical nature in that they work the timber in the Gerber Res. Unity and not just the open sage brush pockets.   Makes for great ambushing when you know their routes.

Anyway I was very fortune to harvest a nice respectable Antelope that scored 78 P&Y.  I made a 45 yard shot as the buck was coming out of the timber en-route to a waterhole near the power-lines.   In those days I was a shooter for PSE Archery out of Arizona.

I would recommend this area to hunt for Antelope during the Archery season, Youth Hunt or Muzzle-loader season.

Cobra

50 yard quartering shot – PSE Signature Mach Flight 

John had given me permission to hunt in the back country near
Blizzard Ridge for Pronghorn – Antelope during the Archery Season in Oregon.  In the early days it was quite easy to get an archery tag for Pronghorn – Antelope in Oregon. You could put in for your favorite rifle area as your first choice, as it takes some 10-12 years to get drawn, then your second choice could be archery.  You would not lose your points and a lot of us did this then.  The Grizzly Unit during his time period had a lot of Pronghorn – Antelope and one could find them on any scouting trip.  Very few persons bowhunted for Pronghorn – Antelope in this area.   John had lots of Lopes and to him they were a nuisance and just as soon have someone chase them off is property. 

It wouldn’t be my best Pronghorn – Antelope, but it was my first to come out of the Grizzly Unit.  On this trip I was hunting by myself and never saw another hunter in the area.   I could make a successful stalk without interruption!