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Saturday A.M.
This morning we awoke to temperatures in the 30's and a very stout wind. We drove around a bit to see what the antelope were doing in this wind. The answer was "not much". Most of the ones we saw were bedded down against a windbreak of some sort, facing downwind. Cover-wise they were approachable, but wind-wise they weren't at all approachable, since to sneak in to them with the cover would mean sneaking in upwind of them. Bad idea.  We decided instead this morning to another "push", except this time there were 2 guides doing the "pushing", and 4 hunters posted in the escape routes instead of just 2. This time quite a few antelope came our way, although there were still plenty of trails we weren't able to cover. Most of the antelope used those trails, coincidentally or by design. I saw several nice bucks, but the closest they ever got to me was about 75 yards. A group of goats did run right by one of the other hunters, though, and he drew on one buck. When he let the arrow go (the buck was broadside), the buck was shucking and jiving (tense as he was) and the arrow ended up hitting him right through the center of the back of his skull, dropping him instantly dead in his tracks. The buck had only about 7" horns, but it was this fellow's first antelope with a bow, and he was happy as could be with it. Most of the rest of the morning we spent making unsuccessful stalks, the wind always betraying us before we could get in range.  a hunter from Missouri with his first antelope Saturday P.M. This afternoon, we decided to head back to the area we hunted the first day, as we had seen some good bucks there. We were hoping that the span of two days might have put them a little closer to the rut and being ready for some decoying action. Shortly after we arrived we spotted a nice buck with a group of does out in the very same greasewood flat where I killed my nice buck here 2 years ago. The good buck was chasing a satellite buck all over creation, so we felt like we had a "go" situation. We crawled and slithered to within about 100 yards of the group and popped up the decoy, and the buck just ignored it. He knew it was there, he just ignored it. Some of his does were curious and started to come our way, but he herded them back. We waited there about 10 minutes with the decoy up, and he eventually herded his does away.  the buck we decoyed in and I missed A little while later we found a buck in a small depression shielded from the wind, and he looked like he was in a good spot to decoy. We got set up downwind from him and popped up over the hill with the decoy. When we did we saw that he was chasing a satellite buck away. After he did that, he was coming back to his does and saw the decoy. He moved towards the decoy slowly, and came into view slightly quartering towards me at what I guessed to be about 30 yards. I held my pin on his chest for a heart/lung shot, and missed terribly. The arrow was left of my aim, and way low. I'm guessing that he was actually a little further than I first thought, and the 30-40 mph wind might have helped my arrow go astray as well. Fortunately the arrow missed completely instead of making a wounding shot. I made the mistake of taking just one arrow with me on the stalk, and when I missed the buck, naturally he came even closer and stood perfectly broadside to us for about 10 seconds. I did at least get a photo of him. Later this evening we found a large group of antelope tucked up against a big creek bottom, sheltered from the wind. We made a big circle to get downwind of them, and approached using the cover of the creek. We came up out of the creek about 50-75 yards from the main body of the group.  we used the creek bed to get closer  close, but not quite close enough There was one buck in the 15" range with nice prongs, and two or three bucks in the 12"-13" range. They were chasing does and each other all over the place. I nocked an arrow and got in position, hoping that their chasing would bring them in range. After about 10 minutes, the biggest buck came by at 35 yards chasing a doe. I drew on him and whistled trying to get him to stop, but he didn't, so I had to let down. Over the next hour or so the antelope were slowly moving a little further away from the creek, and I spent that time alternately crawling, slithering, and pretending to be a bush, trying my best to get close enough for a shot 35 yards or less. There were several times when I thought I was about to get that opportunity, but didn't. We waited there until almost dark, and the antelope just kept moving away. Eventually I ran out of cover and just had to watch them go. The hunt ended with a beautiful rainbow just before sunset, and that was that.  a beautiful rainbow after a rain storm in the distance  the sun sets on another fun hunt Hunt Conclusion On this hunt the weather elements were really against us. I really wanted to take an antelope by decoying or spot and stalk, but the wind, cold and rain had them acting kind of strange. Several nice bucks were seen or passed up by hunters at water holes or on trails, but I really just didn't want to sit at a water hole all day. We easily saw a few hundred antelope each day and a number of bucks, the hard part was just getting close enough. Flatwillow Creek Outfitters runs a great outfit and I would gladly hunt with them again, for a third time. The excellent home-cooked meals and comfortable lodge were a great addition to the hunt as well. I had a great time despite not taking an antelope. If you're interested in setting up a hunt with Flatwillow Creek Outfitters, Click Here to see their web site.
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