The fishing wasn’t bad either on this trip!
In 2004 I decided that since Frankie and I had about 9 points and we had a very short time to hunt together that I would put in or the Grizzly Unit for Antelope. In the old days of scouting and hunting for Lopes in this unit with a bow, I thought it would be an easy harvest of a trophy size Antelope for Frankie’s first.
We had a surprise in store or the both of us on this hunt! I had gain access to hunt Earl Smith’s Ranch in the Grizzly Unit side of his ranch on the northern boundary of the Grizzly Unit along Hwy 218. On a scouting trip for deer we had spotted a real dandy in the area that we had gotten permission to hunt.
We did not get to hunt the opening weekend and unknown to use, Earl (85 years old) had forgotten that we were coming and when a local guide said he had a client who had a Grizzly Unit rifle tag for Antelope, Earl gave him permission to hunt. From my understanding it was a terrible hunt for the hunter as they shot many times at the Antelope and the guide ended up knocking it down finally. Such is the story of a misguided hunt!
Anyway to get to the point of the story we travel many miles in the unit looking for Antelope and a decent one for Frankie to get a shot at. In the grasslands we found two (2) separate herds with anywhere from 40 to 75 head in them. In both of the herds there wasn’t a mature buck in any of them.
We had a couple of days to hunt and we did find a number of small bucks in the 12″ class, but not what I wanted to find. Finally on the last day late into the day, I spotted a buck on the horizon along fence line. Frankie and I worked our way up the fence line and got within 75 yards of the buck. I would put him in the 13″ class and asked Frankie, “your choice son”. Dad its been a long week and it’ my first! Next thing I hear is the crack of the Browning BLR 270. Frankie hit the buck solid in the chest cavity. The buck dropped to the ground, only to get back up and take off running. Never seen that before, but it wasn’t long that Frankie took another shot at the buck which was now out to about 350 yards standing broadside. Frankie also shot 5 coyotes with his Glock on the hunt, so I would say it was an very eventful hunt for him.
Just a note, my old friend Dean from VRC took a Booner buck in the Grizzly Unit, but then it was in the late 80′s near Hay Creek. Maybe the Coyotes have taken a toll on the Lopes, as the Cougars have taken a toll on the elk and deer in the unit.
We did have one last opportunity to see another buck before the end of the dad, but he just wasn’t what I was looking for. So Frankie got his fist Antelope and will look forward to getting a bigger buck in about 8 years.
Biggest thing about the hunt is that the Lopes just aren’t there in the Grizzly Unit like it was before. There was never a time that I did not see good bucks in the Unit. Must be the cycle of the life for Antelopes there. Back in the late 70′s and 80′s there were few Antelope in the area, just lots of Mule Deer.
The next draw will be in the Silvies or South Wagontire Hunt unit for me!
