Frank,

I wanted to follow up with you regarding my 2018 Antelope hunt. My family finally drew three tags for the Warner unit second season rifle hunt. We have waited a very long time building the points necessary to receive these tags. Quite frankly too long. Nearly three years ago my dad was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. The effects of Parkinson’s cause a steady decline in motor skills among many other conditions. So, by the time my dad drew the tag this year he has went from an in shape active person to a frail man who has lost most of his mobility. He was able to obtain a disability permit which allows someone who is hunting with him to harvest an animal on his behalf. My dad did draw a tag along with myself and my brother in-law and we all wanted to make the best out of this hunt

Our goals for this hunt have changed considerably since we began acquiring points nearly fifteen years ago. I have taken up archery hunting and now spend most of my hunting time with a stick and a string these days. My brother in-law and I used to hunt with my dad and has considered giving up the sport due to the fact he has lost his hunting partners. My dad has continued to “hunt”, which consists of taking a drive through the woods a couple days a season with either my brother in-law or a close friend my dad has. The three of us agreed we were not setting out to take trophy’s, at least in the sense that most people think of when they hear the word trophy. We instead wanted to create good memories and share a good hunt together. If we managed to fill a tag or two we would be happy with that.

None of us have ever hunted Antelope before and this hunt would likely be our only time we would ever hunt Antelope. None of us had ever hunted in the Warner unit either and the only knowledge we had of the unit was from me passing by on the highway. I did some work in Nevada for a couple years and would pass through the area. I saw many Antelope in the fields along the highway as I passed through. When we were notified we had received the tags in June I knew we needed to do some research if we were going to have a successful hunt.

One of the first things I came across while looking for information on the internet was your web site (bwanabubba.com) and Ken Dixon’s story of his 2014 Warner Unit Antelope hunt. It was quite the story and I must say Ken did a fantastic job writing. By the end of the read I was feeling very optimistic about our chances. Ken detailed the information he had gained by contacting you. After my initial contact with you I purchased a onX Hunt subscription (which I had been contemplating anyway). After getting hooked up with onX you sent several waypoints which I was able to sync into onX. I then created “off grid” maps as onX Hunts calls them so I could still utilize the maps even without cell service. At your advice I contacted the wildlife bio in the Lakeview field office of ODFW, John. I mentioned the areas near the waypoints you supplied, and he indicated they were all good areas to focus on. During ODFW’s recent fly over counts of the Antelope in the unit there were groups of lopes in near all the waypoints.

One concern of ours was where to stay with my dad due to his mobility issues. After a few more calls we settled on a hotel near Lakeview. We would have to drive out to hunt each day but we felt this accommodated my dad the best. At this point we were set. We had done all we could remotely do to prepare for the hunt. None of us had the means to put boots on the ground or time behind a spotting scope but we were still hoping to do well. I had to work the night shift of opening day and make the five hour drive from east of Portland, so that meant my dad and brother in-law were on their own for day one.

I got my brother in law set up with some of the off line maps with waypoints on them so he and my dad could hunt on their own before I arrived. I told them to hunt an area Near Fish Creek Rim south of the Plush cut off road. I had been told the roads were better in the area and did not want them having vehicle troubles. They decided to go north out of the Freemont NF into the BLM country with water holes and more of the waypoints you gave to me. After a rough 6 hour ride through the dessert they decided to take my advice and head for better roads. They had not seen an antelope all morning.

Once they reached Plush it was easy to find the Fish Creek rim road . They went about half way through the rim road where they found themselves on some higher ground. They started glassing and soon found a couple groups of Antelope. One group had a nice buck trailing the herd. My brother in law thought if they continued down the road for another mile or so they would be within stalking distance of the buck. Once they dropped off the high point of the road they could no longer see the animals. They stopped where they thought the group would be just over a rise and my brother in law struck out in their direction. After a few hundred yards he spotted the group and the buck. He used shooting sticks and made a long shot and harvested a nice lope! My dad reached me while I was in route to the area. We met at the Adel store where a local offered cold storage. We had about two hours of daylight left so I hopped in with them and off we went.

As soon as we reached the area where the first animal was harvested we started seeing more animals. Soon we came over a hill and there was a buck only 100 yards from the road. This was perfect for my dad. My brother in law and I got out and moved off the road. The buck ran for a short distance then stopped at about 200 yards to look back. One shot and my dad’s buck was on the ground. The best part was my dad was right there and saw the whole thing happen. He was all smiles. We had two animals tagged and in the cooler on the first day.

The next morning we were in the same area. We spotted several bucks and more than 100 Antelope but none that I felt were worthy of my tag or were in a hunt able location. I can’t believe I was being a bit selective on my animal, but after taking two in the first day I felt much more confident we could close the deal. At about 2:00 pm We were on the move to a new area when I spotted a buck moving through some juniper. It did not appear to be aware of us so I thought it was the perfect time to put a stalk on him. I slipped into the junipers and made it about 100 yards when the buck turned and started heading my way. The wind was in my face so the setup was perfect. I watched as the buck raked a couple small trees and fed his way in my direction. He traveled about 300 yards until he was about 150 yards from me when he turned and gave me a good broadside shot. He dropped right where he was and it was done.

We had done it! Three goats in two days. We could not be more pleased with our hunt. Thanks to you Frank for all the valuable information you provided, it placed us in just the right locationto have success. I doubt my father will go on many more hunts and the three of us together, filling all three tags makes this hunt even better. It means the world to me to have shared this time with my family and to have these memories.

Thanks again,   Rick Norris