No need to bore you with blow-by-blow tales. Go yourself, enjoy it firsthand.
Had a great time south of Gillette, my first time in that area.
Started with a couple of brothers on a pre-arranged trespass hunt in 23, using leftover buck tags.
We all got our goats, though nothing of book caliber. And my trophy sense was from Bizarro World. One brother just wanted a pretty one. I told him to shoot 'that one'. Turned out to have a broken prong on one side, a busted hook on the other! I wanted to crawl into a hole after I saw that!
And my antelope, though a last-day, gonna take one from this herd, animal, I underestimated by a good ten points. Oh, well. That's why they don't pay me the big bucks.
After my brothers, and the unseasonal blizzard they'd brought with them, went away, I continued to camp on the ranch, but hunted a few miles away on public land in 24.
Unsure of my probabilities, I began by picking up just a single doe tag on the way over. Popped one that afternoon.
Next morning, bought another doe tag as well as a buck tag. Filled the doe.
Next morning, bought my last two allowed doe tags. Nailed another doe.
The next three days each saw another pronghorn brought to bag.
Was that fun, or what?!
The public buck was a little better than my private, though that says more about my own choices on the ranch. But I've nothing against a public 12.5-incher, when I wasn't searching for a monster.
I did see, though, one good one (14-15) on the larger parcel. Couldn't get it done.
That public land was less than 9 sq miles, in three near but separate parcels. One was smaller than a section, another 2-3 sq. Bordering a minor highway. Within gunshot, almost, of a goodly number of coal miners (who could be expected to pressure the area significantly).
I chose it off my BLM Surface Management map, nearby and easily accessible. (Hint-- you can, too.)
I was after a buck in a herd of 20-odd. I'd had to walk, in full view, to a shallow ditch. Once there I doubled back along it, hunched over. Then up the slope toward the bedded herd, belly-crawling in the cover of an old cow trail: left hand flumping forward the daypack, right hand sliding forward the rifle,... By the time I got within range I was hot and tired and thorny. I didn't feel like waiting all their afternoon nap for the buck to stand up. So when a doe got up at the rear of the group I got the bright idea that I might could maybe bring them to attention. So I dumped her. But the rest of them must have been to this school before. No uncertain milling for these babies. They upped and went. The best laid plans...
Another day, I'd made it a half-mile or so across a plain. This area had been cleared long ago, before the gov. got it, and so was mainly just grass, with some sage and scrub spottily reclaiming it (and cactus in full force!). The antelope were suspicious, and slowly drifting away; a couple of outliers had spotted me and trotted, but the main group was only nervous. But my stalk was still in good shape.
Only problem was, there was one doe who didn't have a clue. She was out there all alone, between me and that nice buck I mentioned above, just eating and staring contentedly into space. I'd move up whenever she lowered her head, wait while she chewed. But at 120 yards I didn't think I could get away with any more. If I spooked her, the whole herd would show me flying heels. So I dumped her.
Worked great. The others, 350+ away, didn't bat a prong. I continued my stalk, though ultimately unsuccessful.
I had the GPS coord of where I'd shot, so I calculated, from the other side, where 120 yards along the remembered direction line should be, soon came back to my down doe.
So- one gambit worked, one didn't. But both were parts of fun and difficult stalks, and got me meat.
Speaking of meat...
The way it worked out, for five nights straight my routine was set. Every morning I'd take my quarter bags from the car where they'd spent the night, and hang them in a cottonwood near camp. That evening I'd return to camp with another set of quarter bags in the car, pull down the ones in the tree, and butcher in my tent, putting up meal-ready Ziplocs of boneless meat (and gallon bags of trim for further processing at home).
Five nights straight. And the sixth night I did my cutting in a motel room on the way home.
I'm no whirling dervish, I take my time, and the care that is my choice, when I butcher. So my evening chop sessions consumed about three hours each. Six nights in a row. (Yeah, it got tiresome.)
Weighed it all when I got home- came out to an average of 24 pounds of fully trimmed meat per animal.
And dang good eats, too.
I quarter (separate) always. We drove up to the ranch buck, got our bags out, quartered right next to the car. I've no use for bones or hide, find it much easier to carry in a pack than to drag bumping across the sage. It's all got to come apart sometime, anyhoo.
My goal is to bag meat covered with fewer hairs than shots taken. I came close to succeeding, and not because I'm a lousy shot. Field quartering can be done cleanly, and loose-haired, brittle-haired, pronghorn are the true test! Stir in a little technique, measure out a teaspoon of care-- it can be done. (And it's nice that antelope (and deer) quarters weigh less than those of elk, so I can hold up a leg with one hand while picking stray nits with the other.)
I watched an internet video, I think it'd been pointed to in a thread (not the most recent mentioned), in which the gutless bustards left big hanks of hair on the meat. No, thank you. I don't get much on in the first place, pick off what's left before bagging.
I grew up cutting off deer antlers with a V-cut. Works out fine, gets the antlers off, with no excess skull hanging around. But then, I don't stand deer antlers on a flat surface. Antelope horns, on the other hand, make nice little mantle pieces. But not if V-cut! I've seen some cut flat before, but the skull plate was always so big. But I figured it out this trip.
From now on-- One cut behind the horns, straight down; the back of the skull is short, is soon cut and leaves room for turning the saw sideways. Then cut at right angles, going through the center of the eye. That cut will give a sufficient base without a big tail of snout bone.
When I got home I used my belt sander to shape down all my other sets. Those from this trip needed only a little leveling and evening.
Love my handy M7/7-08/140BT! It packs. It whacks.
A few of my shots were a bit further back than desired, mainly because the pronghorns were usually walking. I was surprised that none of those animals ran. They'd stop and cogitate about their bellyache, giving me an easy follow-up. I'm thinking that my blacktails would usually lunge forward and run if they could, in that situation. Have any of you noticed a difference in reaction between deer and antelope?
Passed a flock of feeding sheep one day. I've seen pictures of tick birds on buffalo, even had bluejays on blacktails here at home. But there was a whole flock of birds on this flock of sheep. One sheep had five tenants at least! Never woulda thunk it.
I weaseled a few chunks of coal from a miner. What's it take to burn it, to watch and enjoy?
On my way home I stopped in on two of our members. Enjoyed it.
Enough musings for now?
