Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Cal Antelope: Back from Big Valley...

I feel like the longest epic journey of my life has finally concluded. I started putting in for Cali antelope when I was 16. Finally drew at age 64.

Nice buck, whatcha shooting there? And is this your first antelope or just first/last California antelope?

nice tell me more about the rifle and load you used.

+1

Are you available to take pictures for my upcoming hunt? Just joking with you....nice buck.

Nice buck! Score one for us old guys.

Congrats. That's a great buck!

Indeed looks like a great buck. Please do share more about the hunt with us.

Great buck, looks like you made the most of the wait.....

California, Land of Opportunity. Great buck. Worth the wait?

My first antelope, but when my son was a junior he drew twice, an adult tag his first eligible year when he was 13 and the following year a junior tag. I should have been buying him lottery tickets! So we have hunted them before, in the same zone 5, but that was 20 years ago.

I was solo on the tag, but my son came along for a while. We scouted 2 days and spotted a couple of decent ones on some BLM, but no success on the opener. Ditto Sunday morning. My son had to go home, family and work called, so I was total solo by Sunday afternoon. I knocked on a farmhouse door and to my surprise got the OK to hunt an alfalfa ranch abutting the Ash Creek Wildlife area. Went out Sunday evening to get the lay of the land for a morning try and then hung around to watch the sun go down. Towards sundown a lone doe came out on the field. She moseyed towards me and after a bit the buck showed up and followed her towards me. When the rangefinder said 155 yards and he turned sideways I put the crosshairs just behind the bucks left shoulder and touched off. There was a big puff of dirt on the far side of him, and he took off like a scalded cat. He covered a hundred yards in about three seconds, and I started to think I missed or only nicked him. Just then he went down like a tripped horse in an old movie cavalry charge and never twitched again.

I used my old 30-06 Mauser Sporter, used to be my Dads. I did put a new Shilen barrel on it I few years back. I was using a Barnes 168gr TTSX bullet. I was not happy with the bullets terminal ballistic performance. The shot went right where I was holding, poked both lungs, but the exit hole was no larger than the entrance hole. Seems like that solid copper bullet performed like a FMJ on that antelope. I am speculating, but I believe with that shot my old favorite 165 gr Hornady BTSP would have dropped him where he stood. I chose the Barnes after I tried some (in view of the enlightened decision of the Cal Legislature to do away with demon lead) and found they do group a bit better out of my gun.

Beautiful buck TH. Very nice that your son could be there with you, no doubt. Congrats!

Perseverance pays off!
Glad you drew before you were too old to use the tag.
I'm playing those odds myself on Tule elk.