Last Minute 'Lope Hunt' - Wyoming
Rod McGrath
Russ Mehling
Hunters:
Rod McGrath & Russ Mehling
Camera Persons:
Russ Mehling & Rod McGrath
Pronghorn Antelope have been waiting to be checked off of my wish list for a long time. Late this summer, an opportunity arose for Rod McGrath and myself to hunt these prairie speedsters. It took a couple of quick emails and phone calls and in short order, Rod and I were booked for a hunt with Merv Griswold of High Plains Outfitters near Gillette, Wyoming.
Neither Rod nor myself had ever hunted Pronghorn and this unfamiliarity only served to increase our anticipation of the late September bowhunt. We made plans for Rod to pick me up at my house on September 22, at 6:00 a.m. for the 12-hour drive to Gillette
At about 6:20, Rod pulled into my driveway. I soon learned Rod’s driving would more than make up for that 20 minutes. The drive was uneventful until we neared the Wyoming border and could see several antelope along the highways. About 11 hours later (including a couple of gas and meal stops) we pulled into our motel that would be our base for the 4 day hunt.
We hooked up with Merv and our guide Gerry after supper to go over the program. We discussed pronghorn scoring, what we should expect and how to stay prepared and alert in the blinds. After our orientation, it was off to purchase our tags, then settle in for that restless night that precedes most hunts’ first day.
After breakfast and a short drive, Rod and I were settled in our Ameristep blind on a small alfalfa patch. What—No water! This was a little different than we were expecting, but it didn’t take long and we realized Gerry knew exactly what he was doing by placing us here.
Shortly after setting up, pronghorn began to mill into the alfalfa. Several animals were in sight and the last one to enter was a mature buck. Rod and I spent several minutes discussing his size and believed he would be near, but just short of our self-imposed minimum of 67”. (The Pope and Young minimum score for a pronghorn to make the ‘book’) Rod really liked this buck, but we agreed to pass on him since the hunt was only a couple of hours old.
A short while after this group moved off, Gerry radioed us to tell us he was moving us to a different blind; he definitely wanted to keep us in the thick of the action. Shortly after lunch, we were sitting in a different ground blind only 20 yards away from a water tank.
Shortly after settling into this 2nd setup, we had more pronghorn coming to water, and with them was a real tall buck. Again, after the math, we figured he was right there, but with it being the first day, we decided to pass. As we were discussing if passing on this animal was a wise thing to do, the buck we had seen from the other blind this morning showed up and ran this 2nd buck off. Now we were really second guessing passing on the first buck, but stayed true to our decision.
Late in the afternoon, while the 2nd buck and a group of does and immature bucks watered in front of us, another good looking buck came in to water. We couldn’t take it any longer and I convinced Rod he should shoot if this 3rd buck gave him the shot. (I was really chomping at the bit to get into the shooter’s chair after watching all this action). Our buck came in range, but just never offered a clean, ethical shot and our first day ended without notching a tag. It was an incredible day for 2 novice pronghorn hunters and we were eager to see what the next day would bring.
That evening, we shared some of our footage with Gerry to get his opinion on the bucks we passed. He agreed with our assessments and Rod and I felt confident for day 2 knowing we had a good handle on field judging these antelope. We agreed if any of these 3 gave us an opportunity, we would take it–especially knowing we could each purchase an extra buck tag if things went well.
Day 2 found us in the alfalfa blind once again. It was a little slow and Gerry decided to move us to the waterhole blind earlier, since today was considerably warmer than yesterday. We saw all kinds of antelope, but it wasn’t until late morning a mature buck appeared. He was the 2nd buck from yesterday, a real tall, heavy horned buck.
The buck offered Rod a perfect broadside shot at 20 yards but as he drew and settled his pin some other goats stepped in the way of his target. According to our video, Rod held draw for over a minute until the buck finally cleared the other animals and stood still. Rod released his Beman and our first pronghorn buck was down. What a way to break the ice. When we recovered the antelope, I quickly pulled out a tape and realized we were slightly underestimating the size of these animals. Rod’s buck will be a definite Pope and Young candidate, going in the high 60’s! We wrapped up the hunt, took the animal into the local processor and got back into another blind by early afternoon. This time I was the shooter.
The excitement from Rod’s hunt had hardly subsided when we had antelope coming in. It was the first buck we had passed on twice yesterday. He would not be so lucky today if he gave me an opportunity. He and his group walked by our blind just out of my effective range and for the first time in the hunt I was a little disappointed. That feeling didn’t last too long because a couple of hours later, the animals started working their way back towards us!
The antelope did all we could ask—even letting the small ones walk in first so I could range them, but I dropped the ball and blew a great opportunity on my first pronghorn. Having Rod there to completely bust my chops about it just made it all that more special. That was the end of day 2 and I could hardly wait to get back in the saddle for day 3.
On day 3, we sat a different waterhole to see what would come by. One of the first animals we saw was a buck we had not seen to this point, and he was substantially larger than anything we had seen. My heart was pounding, but the feeling didn’t last as he walked by our blind and the tank we were sitting over, which was about 100 yards—but what an awesome start to the day!
A short while later, for whatever reason, the same buck started coming back! Again, my heart rate climbed as he neared and again the feeling ended abruptly as he not only walked, but ran by our blind at over a hundred yards away. Man, these animals were proving to be random.
I saw where the buck stopped and watched him for well over an hour. Other antelope came and watered, but no mature bucks. The temperature climbed in the blind (especially for 2 Canadian boys) and I hoped the heat would force the buck to water. After an eternity, he began working his way toward us. At about 300 yards he stopped and stood like a statue for almost an hour. This was killing us!
After all this time and his random actions, when he did decide to come, he came hard. A steady walk across a stubble field, then the alfalfa, and I grabbed my bow to get ready for my chance. At about 25 yards I was about to begin drawing my Hoyt and he stopped, facing us. He stood forever and the bow was getting heavy. Just as I decided to rest my arm, he committed to water. I drew, settled and released in a matter of seconds. I saw my antelope eat up some real estate in a hurry but still go down in sight—what a rush!!!
We recovered my pronghorn and I could not believe his size. We rough taped him well into the 70’s! And I would have been happy with any mature buck. It was the perfect end to my hunt. We spent some time closing my hunt and taking photos and then back off to the local butcher. We still had some time, so Rod purchased a 2nd buck tag and we got back into another blind to hunt out the rest of the day.
We could see the buck Rod had drawn on the first afternoon of the hunt, feeding with some does and smaller bucks. Two different times it appeared he was coming in, but as we learned, these animals are anything but predictable. The third time it looked as if he had finally committed, everything went crazy! From the opposite direction we saw antelope running like crazy. Apparently, a doe had gone into heat and she was being run by at least 6 or 7 different bucks!! Just as the buck we had been waiting for started coming in, he noticed the commotion. You guessed it, he decided he could drink anytime and joined all the other bucks in their pursuit of this hot doe. The last we saw, she had taken the herd several hundred yards to the east and out of our lives. Rod and I decided our hunt had been successful and we would head home a day early with our meat and trophies.
Thanks to ACM for such a great opportunity as well to High Plains Outfitters, and especially our guide Gerry, for keeping us covered with antelope for 3 straight days. They definitely have the antelope.