I would love to say I have stories to go with the following pictures, but I do not have stories. Yes I gave out waypoints for the hunters and I am told the were killed with in 1 miles of on of my waypoints. My understanding that Holly T had chances for two (2) bucks over water and harvested her buck with one arrow in 2012. The other two bucks were harvested in 2013 a couple of days apart by Mark and Jim. I will have to see if I can attach a link to the video’s they made of the hunt in the Warner Unit of Oregon. John Mark does work for an bow manufacturer (Bowtech) in Oregon. He lives by the bow and is a most successful hunter.
John Mark, plus his family and friends do shoot Bowtech!
If you would like to get a hold of their video you can find it on the following site:
Holly and Hubby – John Mark!Holly with her Warner Archery Antelope. She got two chances on taking an Oregon Antelope with her bow!
John Mark took his Antelope a few days later on the hunt with Jeff in 2013!Jeff took his buck on the opening day of the hunt! Great Buck from the state of Oregon
As you can see the Warner Unit which has not been devastated by Coyote predication on the Antelope fawns, has lead to a great herd in this unit! I do believe that if we add up the rifle hunters and bow hunters, my hunters are at 100% harvest in the Warner Unit!
Frank Jr.’s Oregon Grizzly Unit Not a guaranteed kill!
Horse Heaven Area Antelope 2004
This particular hunt came about with wanting to hunt Antelope sooner than later again with a rifle, plus not waiting until we had 12 or more points for hunting old haunts from the past in S.E. Oregon. My son Frank Jr. and I had 9 points saved up each. This would be his first Antelope hunt as a shooter! Getting very impatience with waiting for more points and looking out 4-6 years longer to hunt for Antelope maybe in the Wagontire, we decided since we had a couple of places to hunt in the Grizzly Unit in Oregon, that we would put in for the Grizzly Unit. Past and present I have sent many hunters into the unit with very good success!
Permission to hunt Earl Smith’s Ranch was given to us by Earl for hunting on the properties that laid in the Grizzly Unit, one piece being the “Old Gomes Ranch” and the other land lay south of the Cold Camp of Hwy 218, which included the Maupin and Hasting Buttes.
We had found a great buck on the “Old Gomes Ranch” prior to the season and he would be our first choice to chase. “Chase” Strange word with Pronghorn, as most of the time we like to ambush Lopes at water or crossings. In the Grizzly Unit you will not find the waterholes that one would find in the S.E. part of Oregon, so spotting and working in on them is the normal in the Grizzly Unit. We did not get to hunt the opener of the hunt coming in on Sunday late. Little did we know that Earl forgot about us (this happened a lot) and he let a guide come onto the land and hunt the place with his client. Having talked with the ranch foreman an old friend from the past, that particular hunt was very interesting to say the less. The client had a number of buddies with him at the time. It is hard to say who harvested the buck after all the shots that were taken with multiple rifles. Scuttlebutt was that the guide finally had to finish the buck off as it was leaving the property boundary, but then again it is only scuttlebutt! It did piss me off a lot on this one!
A little dog hunting with the Glock at Earl's
So the hunt had changed for the both us now. This hunt was about Frankie getting his first Pronghorn in Oregon. We would have to work old deer and elk haunts in the Grizzly Unit that carried a population of Antelope and put Earl’s places on the back burner. We would work the area around Hay Creek as I had found a good buck over in B.L.M. area during another earlier scouting trip for deer. There were the areas around Ashwood and the National Grasslands that we could concentrated on for Lopes also. None of this worked out, even with all the glassing from observation points. Water was scarce in these areas; the Lopes were not working the areas as expected. We would work another area of the Grasslands later in the hunt!
A run into the Horse Heaven and Donnybrook area was warranted. We found a couple of decent bucks that would be shooters for Frankie during the first day of the hunt, but light was fading. The 2nd day of the hunt, Frankie got on a pretty good buck near Horse Heaven. The wind was really blowing hard on the hill and the shot was at about 300 yards. That was one lucky Antelope at that particular moment of the hunt in the Horse Heaven area outside of Donnybrook.
Later a number of good herds of Antelope were located in the Grasslands near Hwy 97, but all the bucks were small. No mature bucks were hanging away from the herds that we spotted. A little dishearten for me as I truly wanted to see a Big Buck. The Grizzly Unit had gone through a major poaching epidemic of Antelope, Deer and Elk some years back along the Hay Creek Ranch, Ashwood & Grizzly Mountain area. The culprits (youth) were caught from what I understand (local rancher gossip) and given just punishment.
We finally took a run down into Clarno which is B.L.M., the Northeast boundary of the Grizzly Unit and were about to drop in on quads to get back into the basin about 3 miles were I knew some good bucks would be. Just as we are unloading a lone hunter comes up to the road off of the well warn trail. He told us he had not seen any Antelope and he had been in their whole day. Hmm! Here we have a long hunter that is working hard and walking in, who knows if he was getting into the area of the Lopes. I did not want to just head off down the trail and over the knobs with him there. He then told us he would be hunting back in there once he got some food, new socks and a little rest. Disturbing his hunt was not in my nature!
A very good hunt for Frankie! Grizzly Unit Lope
Finally Mike T., the ranch foreman for Earl Smith is located out in the hay fields on a tractor, see what glassing gets you. Mike says go ahead and hit it hard in the two ranch sections in the Grizzly Unit, I saw a number of bucks earlier in the morning on those sections. The hunts know starts to get pretty exciting for both of us. This hunt was for Frankie and I wanted to make sure he got his Lope. Since I do most of the glassing in the field and Frankie can spot them with the naked eye on the road, I was able to find a buck up on top of a draw along a fence-line at about 1000 yards. Since I could only see the horns of the Lope, I told Frankie he was about to do some hiking to move in on the buck. It was now very hot in the late afternoon, so this hike was a bit laboring!
We are able to close the distance to about 150 yards with little cover at this time. The buck was not a monster or even a big buck, but Frankie said he still wanted to harvest the buck and get one under his belt (youth and the wait). The buck started to move out, but Frankie now had a rest on a fence post on the side of the hill. He made the shot from his Browning BLR 270 loaded with 130gr. Nolser Ballistic Tips. The shot hit the buck in the chest cavity, a bit high in the lung at an angle, I would see later on. The buck staggers and drops, but then all of a sudden he is up and heading out full tilt through the sagebrush and not stopping until he was a more than about 1/2 mile out in the rocks and sage. I forgot to tell Frankie to shot if they move! Now the chase was on for us without actually chasing the buck. Using cover and moving quickly we were able to get within about 275 yards. To my surprise Frankie stands up without any cover or rest and shots offhand at the buck as he starts to run again. The buck drops and never moves a lick after that. I was quite happy that Frankie got a Lope on this hunt and he made the final shot that counted.
Frankie really liked the 270 BLR, now he has to shoot the 257 Weatherby in the future!
I never did see a buck that I would take on the rest of the hunt. The Grizzly Unit is not an easy hunt, as most areas of the Grizzly Unit are walk in area. Now if one can hunt some of the private lands that hold Lopes, it could be a much easier hunt. Would I hunt the Grizzly Unit again, yes I would. Though I want to go back to another haunt with Lopes that is going to take 12 points or better to draw. There is something about hunting the S.E. part of the state, that only one that has hunted it would realize what draws you to it!
The following video was taken during the archery season for Antelope.
The following Video is a pretty good Antelope – Pronghorn buck in the Grizzly Unit. I took the short video while I was bow hunting for mule deer near Clarno, Oregon.
Most of my friends that have hunted with me over the years, know that I have little patience to sit and wait, though in more recent years I have found that I have grown to be more patient. Thus they know that I love to glass, find and stalk the Mulies and Lopes.
This story is about chasing Antelope in the Grizzly Hunt Unit in Oregon during Archery Antelope Season some years back. In the past one would put in for the premier rifle areas for Antelope and make the second choice for archery, knowing you would get an archery tag. I drew the Gerber Reservoir tag for many years and had a blast chasing and harvesting Lopes in the Sycan area.
Then the Grizzly Hunt Unit became a choice for Archery Antelope and the first couple of years it was easy to get the tag as a second choice. Having hunted for elk and deer in the Grizzly Unit since the early eights and seeing pretty good numbers of Antelope – Pronghorns, it was a great choice to hunt.
There were a great number of areas to hunt Lopes in the Grizzly Unit for public lands in the Grizzly Unit carried Lopes with some numbers. The National Grasslands was a great place, along with the BLM both in the Northern Sector and near Ashwood, Oregon.
Many of friends think I am off the wall with some of my mannerisms when it comes to hunting. First off I would never relieve myself in an area that I hunt and I am going to have a wide stance so none of my sense is getting on my boots or pants.
4x Globe Sight Target Style
Then there is the issue with sunglasses, I would always wear sunglasses during the day and “Photo Grays” for the evening hunts. I felt if the game, especially Antelope can’t see my eyes or movement then I could close the gap on them. I always wore a hat and a backpack with the spotting scope & tripod sticking out of the top. It is what it is with habits and wearing the same pants on every hunt! Terrible that it may be I wore blue jeans as my basic pants! It has never been about hiding from animals, only other humans.
Let’s get onto the Antelope hunt in the Grizzly Unit this time frame in my life! Realizing that story is based on a hunt in the 80’s, things have not changed other than I might hunt more waterholes now as I grow older.
My equipment in those years was P.S.E. Mach Flite 4 Bow 70# 29″ Draw, Easton Arrows, P.S.E. Brute 3 125gr. Broadhead, Stanislawski Sight (Globe), Stanislawski Overdraw Rest (Mel Built for me) and Stanislawski Superb Rest (attached to the overdraw). The length of the arrows are 25 ½’ with a speed of 340 fps!
Couple more years he would have been a dandy buck!
The weather was great and was able to find Antelope in the numbers in the area around Haystack Reservoir and Grays Butte. This was going to be a usual weekend hunt only as I could be make it their in about 1 ½ hours from my home in east Portland. On Saturday I made a number of stalks after spotting lone bucks to within 100 yards. Funny how that distance is workable with Antelope. There were not many does around to mess up my stalks. What I needed was to find Bucks that would be in areas with more cover. The area that I hunted had little water and the Lopes would range into the private for water. Saturday ended with no success, but I would make the most of the following day.
The following day I would work the area on just south of Grizzly Mountain, which was always a great area to find Antelope and Mule deer. It was a time that the road in was not gated off and one could work a lot of area. Now it is gated off, yet it is only because about 100 yards of the road touches private. If one wants to hunt it present day they will have to come around from the west and do a great deal of walking.
I found a lone buck at about 1000 yards while glassing an area that I could find Antelope at any given time. The stalk was on and I was able to move quickly, even run as there were bulldozer cuts in the land for fire lines. Settling down I was within 80 yards of the buck, which I figured to be about 14″ with decent mass making him a shooter on this weekend hunt. The wind was blowing off the mountain as it was getting late into the day. His attention was to the direction of the mountain and with the wind (heavy) I was able to move in on him to 45 yards. It was still a time that I used fingers and as I came up from the crotch position I was a full draw. I aim at this chest and released the shaft, he made no movement as the wind was making a lot of noise and his head was turned away from me. I missed the mark and hit him in the shoulder and the arrow did not pass through him, but yet looked deep enough that he would not go far.
Pretty good mass and cutters
After waiting for about 30 minutes I went to the place of impact and followed a small blood trail, he had gone about 500 yards and laid down in the trees. The area of made up of Junipers, Sagebrush and rocks.
Great way to end a weekend of hunting for Antelope and take a buck that would score around 69″!
Philip got a hold of me prior to the season on anything I could come up with on the Warner Unit for Lopes. Philip had a buddy that knew area, plus he spent a great deal of time talking with the Area Biologist. Funny the biologist told him he would not have a problem in the Warner Unit harvesting an Antelope. Recently I talked with Garrett at Artistic Taxidermy and he told the average buck coming was about 14 1/2″. Philip’s buck is a really dandy and I am sure when he has it on the wall in the trophy room he will be glad he decided to have the trophy mounted.
Philip E. & his 2011 Warner Unit Pronghorn
HI Frank, Here’s my story from the Warner unit. We ended up hunting an area that my buddy had previously hunted which also happened to be near one of the waypoints you gave me. Thanks for all of your help.
I began preparing for my first ever antelope hunt shortly my hunting buddy and I were drawn. My buddy loaded several rounds of 130 grain Nosler ballistic tips for my .270 until we finally settled on a load that produced a muzzle velocity of roughly 3,050 fps. We shot several times at the practice range until I felt relatively comfortable out to 300 yards. I had my gun zeroed at 200 yards with a 6 inch drop at 300 yards. I purchased some Stoney Point shooting sticks, open country Camo shirts, knee pads from Salvation Army, and some leather gloves in case I needed to crawl.
The day for our departure finally arrived, and we got up early the Sunday morning before the Wednesday opener, loaded up my truck with all of our gear including a spare ice chest loaded with block ice and hit the road. We made it to the first area that we wanted to scout and did some evening scouting. For the next two days, we scouted some areas that were recommended to us, as well as, an area my buddy had hunted previously.
Philip must have had a great feeling to walking up on this buck?
On opening day, we ended up settling on the area that my buddy had previously hunted. We got up early on opening day and decided to split up and set up in a couple of areas that we had seen antelope the day before. I had several does come down off a ridge along with one nice buck. I was set up on the other side of a Juniper tree because of the sun direction and could not get a decent shot at about 250 yds. They started to head away on the other side of small depressions. I tried to put a quick sneak on them by using Juniper trees as cover but got busted. No other opportunities on opening day.
That evening I walked several ridges and plateaus to get to know the area better. I saw several antelope. The next day I set up in a different spot. I tried to put the sneak on a nice buck with 8 does. I made a big loop to get around where they were loafing. Unfortunately, by the time I made it to where they were by using Junipers as cover, they had moved and decided to mosey to another area and was now out of range and heading away from me. I spotted another large group about a ¾ of a mile away and began another sneak. For some reason, they spooked when I was well over 1,000 yards away. I thought this was strange as I was being very careful to hide behind Junipers.
Great photo op! Great horn symmetry! Great Prongs
I decided to continue on anyway to see if there were any others left in the area. I got set up and was glassing and noticed another hunter hiding under another Juniper about 150 yds. Away (he probably spooked the antelope that I was trying to put the sneak on). I waved to him and left to go back to the truck as it was now about 12:30. My buddy radioed me on the GPS that he was ready to come in and head back to camp for a break. He said there was a nice buck bedded down between him and the truck. He said if I could position myself between him and the truck he would try to “push” the antelope towards me. I thought what the heck, we might get lucky so I positioned myself under a Juniper in the shadows and set up my shooting sticks. After about 20 minutes I saw my buddy on the top of the ridge about a half mile away. He headed down and about 10 minutes later I saw a nice buck headed my way about 800 yards out. I was amazed that he kept on heading for my position. I glassed him at about 400 yards and he looked pretty nice. I decided that I would take him if the opportunity presented itself. He kept on walking briskly towards me. I finally ranged him at 248 yards and knew he was in “the zone”. There was a very brisk wind so I waited as long as I could for him to come broadside and almost dead down wind. He stopped for a brief moment. I swung my rifle from left to right through him just like a duck. I centered on his front shoulder and moved it back an inch or two. I sensed he was about to step forward and pulled the trigger. He folded like a sack of potatoes at 227 yds.
We played cat and mouse with the antelope for the next three days until we finally got my buddy a nice buck on day 5. We had a great steak dinner at the Adel store on Saturday night and hit the hot springs on Hart Mt. in the afternoon after my buddy got his antelope.
The folks at the Adel Store are super friendly (Al and Marcie Prom, Debbie, and Ben). They let hunters use their walk in cooler to store the antelope. We purchased ice, gas, and had refreshing cold tap beers for $2 after we brought in my antelope. They were exceptionally friendly and helpful. Unfortunately, Al and Marcie have their store and home up for sale so who knows how the set up will be in the future. For now, I would encourage anyone to patronize them if they are in the area. Based on my conversation with the taxidermist who was stationed at the Adel store, I decided to have my antelope mounted. He measured one side at 15 3/8, but did not measure the other side. The only downside to the trip was that we saw more hunters than we anticipated for the first three days of the season. After the third day however, all but one of the hunting camps had left and on the fourth day we had the area to ourselves Unfortunately, several of the hunters on days 1-3 were hunting like the cavalry out of ATV’s, jeeps, etc. and spooking every antelope in sight. I don’t mind people using ATV’s to retrieve their game, but in my opinion, too many people hunt out of them and screw up the hunting for others in the process. All in all it was a great trip. We saw many antelope, sage grouse, mule deer and some wonderful scenery. I look forward to the next time in another 10 years or so when I will be the ripe old age of 59.
Not much cover! That is Lope Hunting country for sure!
Steve passed up this buck the first part of the season!
Sometimes even I get to see something different! In all of my years of harvesting Lopes and chasing them, I have never seen a buck that looks like this great buck with sweeping forward horns. Truly a trophy buck that everyone would love to have hanging on their wall! Steve had contacted me earlier before the hunt and gave him some landmarks. Steve was able to find a place to hunt that he found this monster buck on. For the future if anyone has a friend or hunter that draws the Murderers Creek Antelope Tag, we can get you the information on the ranch!
Steve's Monster Lope - Murderers Creek Unit
Hello Bwana,
Here are the pictures from my antelope hunt as promised.
I was hunting the Murderers Creek unit and near Seneca, Oregon. I saw this guy on opening morning pushing some does but at about 300 yards and moving.
16" Long Forward Sweeping Lope
It wasn’t a great shot and it was the first day so I passed. It was tough hunting as these antelope see you coming from far off and run away. I walked miles in pursuit only to have them spot me again and run half a mile or more. There isn’t much to hide behind for stalking in closer. I was within 600 yards on many occasions but couldn’t close the deal. I had been in the field every morning by 5:30 but on Tuesday I was out at 4:30 and headed to a lone tree where I had jumped them twice before. It was about 8:00 when I first saw him at 800 yards and coming my way. He was all alone this time and I had been told the big bucks will frequently be seen that way. At about 275 yards I realized he wasn’t going to get any closer so I dropped him.
This is my first antelope so I’m not an expert but I think he’s pretty good. (Great Buck! Bwana) I had trouble judging him due to his odd horn configuration; note the forward slant of his horns.
Look at the width of the horns - Awsome Display!
This was part of the reason I passed that first day. I have not had him scored but the length is about 16″s. I am anxious to have a pro measure him. Let me know what you think.
We had a great time and stayed at a perfect campsite with a nice creek and fire pit close by.
This is a great story about making new friends in the hunting world. DAK was a local hunter that contacted me and met with me at the local Burger King for lunch in 2010. David (DAK) wrote a great story about his hunt, which probably should have been in a magazine or real time public land hunting. Since that time DAK contacted me that he would love to go back over to South Wagontire, if I had a hunter that would like another set of eyes and field work. DAK definitely is a man that is analytic in the field and how he hunts. Mike contacted me and I thought about DAK. The rest is history now and once again there is a successful hunt in South Wagontire.
Frank, Once again, thank you for assisting me on my Antelope hunt. It was a great success! As agreed upon, I am providing a story, and photos. I must add that it’s an honor to do so. I don’t consider myself a journalist in any way, shape or form, but here it goes!
After fourteen years of applying for a South Wagontire Rifle Antelope tag, I was finally successful in drawing! The excitement level was off the chart! My wife Cristine and I immediately planned a scouting trip for the long Fourth of July weekend. I gathered all the maps that I had, and acquired some more from the local BLM office. After studying the maps, we decided on starting in the southern end of the unit. We were on the road early the morning we left to scout. It was about a four hour drive from Grants Pass to the small town of Paisley. We started seeing Antelope after we headed north on Hwy. 395 out of Lakeview. Our first stop was at the Hot Springs RV Park that’s about six miles west of Paisley to see if we wanted to park our trailer while we were there to hunt. What a rustic, but neat little park with full hook-ups, and mineral pools to soak in after a long days hunt! Cristine was really excited about that perk!
We started to see game immediately, but all the property that they were on was ZX Ranch land. No hunting there! We headed north out Red House Rd. and headed out into open country. I had no idea that this unit was so vast, and we were just seeing a small portion of it! After five hours of driving back roads and jeep trails, we had glassed some Antelope, but not the numbers that I had expected. We did see animals in most of the spots that looked “gamey” too me, but putting a stalk on them would be difficult at best, and sitting on a spot and waiting would be an inefficient use of hunting time. After hitting pavement on Hwy. 395 north of Abert Lake, we found a place to stay for the night and talked about what we had seen that day.
Cristine & Mike 2011 Near Lake Abert
Sunday morning we started at the northeast corner of the unit and went west to Christmas Valley. We did see one small herd of three does between Hwy. 395 and Christmas Valley. Antelope do have a way of disappearing on the landscape, and then reappearing again, but we just weren’t seeing them. After doing a complete loop of the entire unit, we were back in Paisley, and seeing some game again. After a scouting until early in the afternoon, we started on our drive home.
I was at a conundrum as to how to approach this hunt, and this is where I found Frank (AKA Cobra). After going online and googling South Wagontire Antelope, his sight came up and I made contact via an email. Cobra seemed excited to finally hear from a hunter that was lucky enough to have drawn this tag! The rules of engagement where made clear and that’s where this success story started. First of all was to get a gps unit that would support the information that Cobra was going to provide, and best of all he mentioned that he had a friend that had a successful hunt in 2010, and he might be interested in meeting up with us to show us how to really hunt this unit.
Mike (LF) & David (RT) Success is so sweet!
Cobra made contact with his friend DAK and explained the situation, and DAK made contact with us, and an instant connection was made. After a few weeks of communication and going over GPS way-points on the map, it was time to hunt! Cristine and I pulled out of Grants Pass at 3:00 am with the trailer in tow Thursday before the hunt so we would have time to set up camp and get some more scouting in. The drive over was awesome like always, and the excitement level was high. After camp was set up, we changed into hiking boots and Camo to go out and scout some of the new way-points that we had acquired. Some of the waterholes we went into had very little traffic coming in, but there were a couple that had lots of fresh tracks surrounding their entire perimeters. BINGO. We planned how we would set up a hide depending on the wind direction at each spot. We were also seeing lots of game, including some really nice bucks. After running around all day we headed back to camp to bib some steaks, and to enjoy a cold drink.
"view of the water hole from our blind."
DAK pulled into camp around 9:30 Thursday evening and introductions were made. What an outstanding man with allot of knowledge of the quarry we were to pursue. After enjoying dinner, it was time to get down to business and discuss what Cristine and I had seen earlier in the day and which areas that where left to scout the next day. We all hit the sack around 11:00 pm Thursday night and were up at 5:00 am Friday morning to get out and cover some more ground. Cristine planned on staying back at camp and soaking in the mineral pools and hiking around camp for the day. DAK and I started on a marathon day that would bring us back to camp at 8:30 Friday evening! We started to see animals immediately as soon as we left the pavement on ZX Ranch property. After checking out one water hole that had some light traffic, we proceeded on to the next spot and glassed a couple does with a nice buck in tow. I was great for me to get DAK’s opinion of all the bucks we glassed that day to help in making an informed decision on what kind of buck to look for. The day scouting was most productive and several bucks were seen. When we arrived back at camp, there was one happy rested and relaxed wife that had amazing fajitas waiting for us! What a great day and the anticipation were high!
We were up at 3:00 am Saturday morning. I don’t think I hardly slept a wink! It was about an hour drive to the spot that we decided to try first so we were rolling down the road by 3:30. That would give us plenty of time to hike in and get our hide set up before the sunrise. We pulled onto the trail that leads to our parking spot, and what did we see? A rig with a tent pitched had come in Friday night and had the same spot picked out! -No trouble. We had covered enough ground the day prior to have a “plan B” up our sleeve. So off we went with about seven miles to cover and an easy half-mile hike in to our hide. We were still in and on our spot with a make shift blind set up against the rimrock before the sun came up. The nearest cover to the water hole was 244 yards to the near side, and 298 to the far side but that was okay! I had been practicing shooting from field positions and had sighted my 257 Weatherby in at 300 yards. The outcropping that we chose also had a perfect rock “bench rest” to shoot from I had humorously pointed out to DAK the day before while scouting.
David's Shot at the waterhole!
A lone coyote came into the water hole at 7:30 am for a drink of water. He headed up into the sage brush on the opposite side of the canyon and started hunting for breakfast. What a treat to watch him through the binos! This was the second time that my wife Cris had been along on a hunt with me, and she was amazed at how fun it is to watch animals in their natural surroundings. I was busy watching the coyote and she whispered “here they come!” I first thought she meant more coyotes, but when I panned to the right through the Binos, ANTELOPE!
Seven does single filed up the edge of the canyon on the opposite side towards the water hole. About 50 yards out from the water hole, they all squatted and went pee at the exact same time. We both giggled about that. I knew that there should be a buck with them and when I glassed further down trail from them, there he was! I watched him walk the last 150 yards to the water hole and I could tell he was a nice buck. Possibly the “one”. He next strolled up on top of the berm to the right of the water hole like he was saying “look at me”. When he turned his head and quartered away slightly, I could see his deep hooks. I wasn’t going to settle on the first buck I saw, but this guy was really appealing to me. I whispered to Cris that I was going to take him when he gave me a shot. She asked me if I was sure about him, and I said once again I was going to take him. He dropped behind the berm and was out of sight. A few seconds passed and he walked around to the back side of the water hole, drank some water and then turned perfectly broadside to us. I made sure that the does were all clear of him and placed the crosshairs right behind his shoulder and squeezed the trigger. At the shot I heard that solid “whack” that you get when a bullet connects solid with an animal. He dropped at the shot and didn’t even kick. He was 298 yards according to the laser range finder. What an emotional moment for the both of us! Cristine now understands the feelings and emotions that we go through when an animal is taken. She wants to start to apply for the same hunt next year!
There’s a phenomenon known as “ground shrinkage” that is sometime experienced after taking a game animal. This buck looked bigger and bigger the closer we got to him. We were stoked! Once we got to him we must have spent at least 20 minutes looking at him before I took off to get the pickup. I managed to get a hold of DAK on his cell phone and told him what had transpired in the last half hour. He was busy watching another possible spot and took some great pictures of another herd at a waterhole. DAK double timed it out and made it to our location to join in the celebration. After caping, skinning, and quartering my buck out it was off to Paisley for ice to cool the meat down.
Cobra, what a great hunt for all of us thanks to you my friend. To all of you those are fortunate to draw this tag, have a great hunt!!! Mike & Cristine
David's Monster Buck in wrong unit!
Many waterholes that were dry last year had water this year. Wildcat waterhole, which was full up last year, was dry this year. Very strange! Had a blast! Mike and his wife are great folks and fun to hunt with. We glassed many Lopes Friday (8 different bucks and lots of does). While Mike shot his buck on waterhole _13, I was sitting on _7.2 with a camera (classified). Watched 13 does and a smallish buck come in, water and feed, and head out. They never knew I was there. I got some great pictures which Mike has. Here are two good ones from the waterhole. Last picture is a monster buck I saw by the highway coming in Thursday night but was not in the right unit for us to go after. Biggest lope I have ever seen by a long ways. If you have anybody in South Wagontire next year keep me in mind. DAK
I can be contacted via the following email addresses for any questions you might have for on first interview. Free. Intro of me: I am home base out of Oregon – Native Born Resident
