Brother got his first antelope on a Steens Mnt. Oregon hunt during the last couple hours of the last day of his hunt.
Was public land so the lopes were skittish. They were often in large open basins about 2 miles wide with no cover! He had decided on closer shots but got busted on a couple stalks a few days before after getting to the 300~400 ranges. On another, the lopes were seemingly abducted by aliens after being out of site for just a few minutes as we crested a small rise.
So, on the last day, he decided a longer shot would be necessary. Found a large basin, with scattered juniper, and a good knob for a setup. Spotted this buck and 4 does walking away from us at 600 yards. Brother got setup; I was ranging and spotting. Issue was they just kept walking with their backs to us. Wind call was 9 MPH at 5 o'clock. I kept ranging and dialing the scope while my brother kept the reticle on target. Finally they stopped at 865 yards and started to graze. Buck turned sideways and paused - shot was taken - buck dropped instantly. The shot had perfect horizontal and was about 3" high which shocked the spine and dropped him where he stood.
Rifle was a 300 RUM with a 210 Berger.
Oregon antelope hunts take a long time to draw and are considered/managed as premier hunts for residents. They are particularly hard for nonresidents to draw. The nonresident quota for this hunt was just 3. My brother is a nonresident and had 22 years of points invested in this hunt. So no pressure there!
Was public land so the lopes were skittish. They were often in large open basins about 2 miles wide with no cover! He had decided on closer shots but got busted on a couple stalks a few days before after getting to the 300~400 ranges. On another, the lopes were seemingly abducted by aliens after being out of site for just a few minutes as we crested a small rise.
So, on the last day, he decided a longer shot would be necessary. Found a large basin, with scattered juniper, and a good knob for a setup. Spotted this buck and 4 does walking away from us at 600 yards. Brother got setup; I was ranging and spotting. Issue was they just kept walking with their backs to us. Wind call was 9 MPH at 5 o'clock. I kept ranging and dialing the scope while my brother kept the reticle on target. Finally they stopped at 865 yards and started to graze. Buck turned sideways and paused - shot was taken - buck dropped instantly. The shot had perfect horizontal and was about 3" high which shocked the spine and dropped him where he stood.
Rifle was a 300 RUM with a 210 Berger.
Oregon antelope hunts take a long time to draw and are considered/managed as premier hunts for residents. They are particularly hard for nonresidents to draw. The nonresident quota for this hunt was just 3. My brother is a nonresident and had 22 years of points invested in this hunt. So no pressure there!
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