Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Ho-Hum Antelope Hunt - Pic

Sorry... but it is what it is. New Mexico,or Montana,.... it's the same deal. The habitat they prefer is rolling plains, which is NOT scenic.

It started a couple months ago when Don called and said that our "old" Mule Deer hunting bunch wanted to get together at least one more time. The ranch we hunted for years, down near the River had sold three years ago and we haven't found a new one.

One of the guys found this 25k acre ranch in N.M. where we could have a three day Antelope Hunt for the core bunch of eight hunters. It consists of two Families with me being counted as part of one of them, [been THAT way for years].

Don said he wasn't going to take "a bunch of stuff"... just a rifle, bino,cot, and sleeping bag. The three in our "family" would sleep in one of his trailers. So.... loaded up the essentials and headed to his place, just East of Hobbs.

And found this:



Of course, I had "cheated" a bit as well and only had room in my pickup for ONE of his two 2 Volt Refrigerator/Freezers:



Actually, when we arrived, the Rancher said we could stay in an old house which had electricity, but no water. But among the items Don had happened to be 300 feet of bulk 1 inch garden type hose with appropriate fittings, so we got water into the house from a nearby water trough and had all the comforts of home:



Once I had committed to the hunt, I found that one of Peggy's Nephews, who is a N.M.State Trooper in Capitan, had scheduled his wedding on our opening day. So I only hunted a short while that Sat morning and made the 125 mile trip for the 3 PM wedding ceremony.

I made it back to the ranch with an hour or so of shooting light left, so instead of going to camp, I took off "hunting". I drove about three miles on ranch roads with the sun blinding me on my right side and right front.

Now... finding antelope is not a problem. Finding one that is a tad better than the rest, and that you can get a shot at is the challenge. I saw four does off to my left with no place for a buck to be hidden, so I kept driving in the same direction, more or less.

Then I saw three does off to my left on a slope about 350 yards out. The draw between us was deep enough to hide a buck, so I killed my pickup engine and put a bull bag on the hood.It wasn't long until they got nervous and moved away, going up the slope.

Sure enough, two bucks came up out of the draw to follow them. I'm not much of a judge of antelope horns, but one was a good deal bigger and better than the other, and both stopped about 325-350 yards out.

I keep the Swaro AV scope on my 270 Wby set on 7 power while hunting, so I pushed the trigger forward to "set" it at 2 oz. and put my finger inside the trigger guard but pushed against the front while I decided whether to take him or not.

I really don't recall making the decision to shoot, but it went off and the 130 gr, XXX, pushed by some IMR 7828 dropped him in his tracks.







It turns out that he was pretty good for the area. With my back still acting up, I field dressed him and called Don to come help me load him.

Then I found that he had killed a pretty good one that morning at 600 of his brother's long paces, using his 25 06 and Win Failsafe factory ammo. It had not yet started raining and his brother could see his first bullets hitting high and he adjusted accordingly and killed him with the first hit.



It set in raining Sat nite and continued Sun morning, but we found a buck that Brother killed with one shot at about 150 yards with his 25 06. One of our bunch is a B&C scorer and he judged this last one to be right at 80 inches. We didn't get him to score the others since this last one was the best of the eight which were killed.

Being tagged out, and with coyotes the only legal thing we could hunt, we loaded up and came home.

Not much of a story, but one I promised to post.

Well done curdog. You got a nice bunch of goats for sure. I enjoyed your story and pic. Congrats, and looks like lots of fun to me.

SOunds like a good time for sure, and a wedding to boot in the middle. Not a bad run!

Jeff

Er, you are kidding, aren't you? This bunch is at about 9k. The 2d pic is a longer shot at them (they're in the green just below the saddle). The 3d pic is a rockpile just to the left of them at sunrise that morning. I really hate this rolling, non-scenic antelope country.

Good bucks cur dog, the one you shot looks to have some good bases.

Good story and good shootin'. I have always wanted to do a 'lope hunt. One day I suppose..........

Nice 'lopes.

I moved here partly for the game. One of my longtime hunting buddies retired to Albuquerque, and when I decided to move back to the US, he helped me decide where to be.

We even have mule deer and whitetails down our street, plus wild turkeys, though the neighborhood is way too congested to hunt right here. An hour or two in any direction is a different story though.

Some of our guys are going back down near Quemado for elk soon.

I should have made it clear, I reckon, that I was comparing MY antelope hunt in S.E. Montana with this one in N.M.

And the ones I see in Texas.

Congrats Gene! looks like a fine time!

Canjar set trigger on a Ruger #1? If so I used to have one nearly like it, let my brother talk me out of it. Nice buck Gene...

Got a kick out of the "bare essentials" pic too!!! grin

That's something I need to do one of these days. I always see a bunch of them north of Roswell when I head down that way, but can't say I've ever caught sight of them around Hobbs.

Very good, sounds like a nice hunt.

Congrats Gene. Those are nice looking goats.

Don LIVES near Hobbs. We hunted West of Encino.

Thanks for the story Gene. Looks like you had a pretty good hunt.
Does the rancher have a bighorn skull hanging from his gate??

Ah...my reading comprehension must have been el-crapo earlier today.

Thanks for posting the story and photos. Good stuff.

Good story and pics Curdog. I got a nice on a lot of years ago over by Magdalena. Lots more Antelope now than then. Congrats on a nice lope.