Halfdoc
Well-Known Member
Having "B" status on antelope draws here in Saskatchewan, buddy Jay and I were looking for away to put our Remington Ultra mags to the antelope test. South Dakota maybe? We put in for the draw and what do you know? Got it! Plus a couple of doe tags each to boot thrown in! Having hunted there before with our APA bows, we had an idea as to where and how to hunt down there. Boy were we wrong! LOL Rifle season down there is WAY different then here! It was like a war! A small herd of goats in the middle of the field and groups of hunters on all four sides. SHOOTING! We didnt know if we should hit the ground,duck or run! This was not our scene at all. Especially if we were to get any good film for our show. Hiking boots tied up, and off to the distant back corners of walking only lands we went!
This was the ticket. Far from any hunters.Glassing, stalking and some great area to do some long range Ultra mag shooting! Jay was first to tag out on the freezer fillers.
It is my turn to look through the scope and have Jay lug the camera,lol.400 yards, doe standing looking around,Whap! tag one filled. While filming for the"talk" part with this doe we caught movement behind us. Two young goats were crossing the creek below us and walking our way. "cut" lets get the last doe tag filled and resume our "talk" after that. I layed on my belly in the whispy tall grass. Jay off to my side camera rolling. They were walking our general way about 450 yards away. Within my comfort range. With cross hairs on the bigger one, I thought I would try something.If it doesnt work and they spook.Bang, got him anyways.I lifted my leg out of the grass while keeping the goat centered in my scope. I wiggled it back and forth.The two goats caught that movement like a hawk on a mouse. And here they come a running!It worked! They ran at me like my leg was a long lost friend! 200,100,75,50,20 yards. This is crazy Jay wont be able to keep them in frame and I think the are going to jump into my arms! LOL,I sat up with them at 20 yards. There eyes went big! Oh Oh, I could see them think.Bang, second and last tag filled of "non trophy" Feet from my first one. Filming done and high fives given the realization of how far we had to carry these 2 critters back sank in.MILES!
We opted to walk back to the truck and grab the wheeler cart. On the way home we got flagged down my some hunters from Nebraska. They had doe tags only and had wounded a doe on the other side of the valley. She had a buck with her. Did we want to try for him? "Yup" why not make it a clean sweep of my tags on one walk. Sure enough on the other side I glassed and seen this buck and doe."can you shoot that far?" They asked. A quick ranging, 450 yards."Doing the math in my head quickly,"yes sir." Jay zoomed in with the Sony ,gave me the thumbs up. I put the cross hairs on his back. Bang,splat! He lunged forward and huntched up. I could see he was hit just right.Not wanting him to suffer any longer than needed I chambered a follow up round.Just a touch higher and thump! He shood up on his hind legs and back flopped down! The "peanut gallery" behind me erupted with cheers. The 5 other hunters thought that was awesome! So did I!
3 goats down and a whole lot of walking,dragging and sweating ahead of us for the rest of the day, And it was all good!
The following morning had us looking for our final goat to get.Jay's buck. The secret we knew was to put on the hiking boots and get away from the "war". 11 am into the second morning we found a smaller buck and some does. Jay said" I dont care if he is not huge. Never got a buck antelope before so if we can get good video of him I will try for him." Sounds good to me. An hour stalk had us within 400 yards of this little group.Looks good. Jay put the cross hairs on him, looked back to see if I had the camera good. I gave the thumbs up and Jay let the gun bark.I will let you all see what happened leading up to this pic on the airing of this episode.Jay can explain himself after that,lol
With this goat down, show finished, all that was left was the VERY long walk home.
Thank goodness there was only one animal to pack!
This was the ticket. Far from any hunters.Glassing, stalking and some great area to do some long range Ultra mag shooting! Jay was first to tag out on the freezer fillers.
It is my turn to look through the scope and have Jay lug the camera,lol.400 yards, doe standing looking around,Whap! tag one filled. While filming for the"talk" part with this doe we caught movement behind us. Two young goats were crossing the creek below us and walking our way. "cut" lets get the last doe tag filled and resume our "talk" after that. I layed on my belly in the whispy tall grass. Jay off to my side camera rolling. They were walking our general way about 450 yards away. Within my comfort range. With cross hairs on the bigger one, I thought I would try something.If it doesnt work and they spook.Bang, got him anyways.I lifted my leg out of the grass while keeping the goat centered in my scope. I wiggled it back and forth.The two goats caught that movement like a hawk on a mouse. And here they come a running!It worked! They ran at me like my leg was a long lost friend! 200,100,75,50,20 yards. This is crazy Jay wont be able to keep them in frame and I think the are going to jump into my arms! LOL,I sat up with them at 20 yards. There eyes went big! Oh Oh, I could see them think.Bang, second and last tag filled of "non trophy" Feet from my first one. Filming done and high fives given the realization of how far we had to carry these 2 critters back sank in.MILES!
We opted to walk back to the truck and grab the wheeler cart. On the way home we got flagged down my some hunters from Nebraska. They had doe tags only and had wounded a doe on the other side of the valley. She had a buck with her. Did we want to try for him? "Yup" why not make it a clean sweep of my tags on one walk. Sure enough on the other side I glassed and seen this buck and doe."can you shoot that far?" They asked. A quick ranging, 450 yards."Doing the math in my head quickly,"yes sir." Jay zoomed in with the Sony ,gave me the thumbs up. I put the cross hairs on his back. Bang,splat! He lunged forward and huntched up. I could see he was hit just right.Not wanting him to suffer any longer than needed I chambered a follow up round.Just a touch higher and thump! He shood up on his hind legs and back flopped down! The "peanut gallery" behind me erupted with cheers. The 5 other hunters thought that was awesome! So did I!
3 goats down and a whole lot of walking,dragging and sweating ahead of us for the rest of the day, And it was all good!
The following morning had us looking for our final goat to get.Jay's buck. The secret we knew was to put on the hiking boots and get away from the "war". 11 am into the second morning we found a smaller buck and some does. Jay said" I dont care if he is not huge. Never got a buck antelope before so if we can get good video of him I will try for him." Sounds good to me. An hour stalk had us within 400 yards of this little group.Looks good. Jay put the cross hairs on him, looked back to see if I had the camera good. I gave the thumbs up and Jay let the gun bark.I will let you all see what happened leading up to this pic on the airing of this episode.Jay can explain himself after that,lol
With this goat down, show finished, all that was left was the VERY long walk home.
Thank goodness there was only one animal to pack!
