Just got back from two days of antelope spot and stalk hunting with my 10 year old daughter. We were able to make a total of 9 stalks and had some very close calls. I was trying to keep her actively involved and thought she could do the ranging for me. Well, we got within 50 yards of a decent buck and she was too far from me to help. I shot just over the top of him. We did get within 60 yards of another buck, but he was so small we passed on him. Most of the stalks we ran out of cover at 100 to 110 yards. Based on my experience, the guys with the highest success rates are sitting in blinds at water holes. I do think the addition of a decoy might have made the difference in a couple of situations. Several times they saw movement in the brush and would stop and stare in our direction. I think if we had showed a small buck decoy, they might have come our way to check it out. Does anyone have any spot and stalk success stories to keep us motivated? My daughter was hooked on it and wants to get a doe tag for rifle in 2 years. We had bald eagles flying over our campsite and lots of game was spotted so I don't want it to sound like we weren't successful, just no meat on the pole. Anyone had success with decoys?
I love archery hunting for Antelope for the experiences you just mentioned. There were many times I have said "if only I had a rifle". I made a antelope decoy out of luan and spray paint using a paper deer target outline with hand drawn antlers. It worked well, as the antelope did not become too alarmed with the movement behind it. From what I understand the decoy has to be timed right (in the rut) to get a charge from the herd buck. There have been times when busted I would put the bow on top of my head and walk right at them, and while I got closer, never close enough to shoot. I have also run whole hog around a hill to out flank antelope and run over a small rise into a group of antelope all with in 20 yards but was breathing so hard I could not even pull an arrow before they took off (they sure looked confused when I came over that hill). You can try flagging, doing the "cow shuffle", or predicting their movement and beating them there. Fences always will make them do funny things, so plan to use them also. I think the important thing is your daughter is hooked on real live hunting, not stand shooting. What you are doing is great exercise too. For fun I have attached a pic of our experimental decoy we made for WY last year (my friends made it, I humored them).
