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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 18
New Member
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OP
New Member
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 18 |
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.
"Everyone is ignorant, just on different subjects" Will Rogers THB
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Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 6,264
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 6,264 |
Nice buck, whatcha shooting there? And is this your first antelope or just first/last California antelope?
"For some unfortunates, poisoned by city sidewalks ... the horn of the hunter never winds at all" Robert Ruark, The Horn of the Hunter
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Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 885
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 885 |
nice tell me more about the rifle and load you used.
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 14,104
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 14,104 |
Ben
Some days it takes most of the day for me to do practically nothing...
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Joined: May 2015
Posts: 1,015
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 1,015 |
Are you available to take pictures for my upcoming hunt? Just joking with you....nice buck.
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Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 2,556
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 2,556 |
Nice buck! Score one for us old guys.
You did not "seen" anything, you "saw" it. A "creek" has water in it, a "crick" is what you get in your neck. Liberals with guns are nothing but hypocrites.
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 31,429
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 31,429 |
Congrats. That's a great buck!
"I can't be canceled, because, I don't give a fuuck!" --- Kid Rock 2022
Holocaust Deniers, the ultimate perverted dipchits: Bristoe, TheRealHawkeye, stophel, Ghostinthemachine, anyone else?
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Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 5,508
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 5,508 |
Indeed looks like a great buck. Please do share more about the hunt with us.
Bob Enjoy life now -- it has an expiration date. ~Molɔ̀ːn Labé Skýla~
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 2,961
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 2,961 |
Great buck, looks like you made the most of the wait.....
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 56,326 Likes: 9
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 56,326 Likes: 9 |
California, Land of Opportunity. Great buck. Worth the wait?
_______________________________________________________ An 8 dollar driveway boy living in a T-111 shack
LOL
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 18
New Member
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OP
New Member
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 18 |
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.
"Everyone is ignorant, just on different subjects" Will Rogers THB
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 28,263 Likes: 7
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 28,263 Likes: 7 |
Beautiful buck TH. Very nice that your son could be there with you, no doubt. Congrats!
It is irrelevant what you think. What matters is the TRUTH.
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 4,004
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 4,004 |
Perseverance pays off! Glad you drew before you were too old to use the tag. I'm playing those odds myself on Tule elk.
I am continually astounded at how quickly people make up their minds on little evidence or none at all. Jack O'Connor
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