Bucky's TenPoint Antelope - Wyoming
Bucky and his Wyoming antelope.
Hunter: Bucky Beckham
Cameraman: Kevin Dishong
Northeast Wyoming—there isn’t a hunting destination I love to go to more. Kevin Dishong and I head there every year in pursuit of antelope with our stick and strings. The topography of the land is very conducive to spot and stalk, which happens to be Kevin and my favorite alternative to hunting big game, especially antelope.
We arrived in camp on Friday, September 12 looking forward to the rut possibly being in full swing. On the back side of the property is a giant canyon that stretches for miles and each side of it harbors lots of trees which make slipping into range a bit easier than the traditional flat wide open terrain antelope are known for thriving in.
On this hunt, instead of packing my trusty Hoyt Katera, I’d be carrying my new found friend the TenPoint Phantom crossbow. Kevin and I just got back from Alberta hunting bears with it and not only was I confident with it; I truly enjoyed hunting with it.
The first opportunity we had to get out and hunt for speed goats was Saturday mid-morning. The wind was calm and the grass and underbrush was dry, which was going to make it incredibly difficult to slip into the forty yard crossbow range we needed to make a shot, but we sure weren’t going to kill one in camp so away we went.
Incredibly, the first place we stopped to look for goats in the big canyon on the back of the property, we spotted a buck that Kevin tried helping a friend of ours get an arrow in last year. The buck was accompanied by eight or nine does bedded underneath some trees. The buck couldn’t have been more than 100 yards away when we spotted him. We quickly came up with a plan to cut the distance and began our stalk. There was a pile of brush over halfway between us, that once we got to it would put us in range. The plan was successful except for the fact that once we got there, every time I could shoot, Kevin couldn’t get it on film—and every time Kevin could film, I couldn’t get a clear shot. So we waited, but eventually a doe and two fawns fed within four yards of us when they caught our scent, and the gig was up. We walked away knowing the opportunity to be that close to an entire heard of antelope without the use of an Ameristep ground blind is a very rare experience that we won’t soon forget.
The next day we went to the same spot looking for the same buck. We searched the canyon for most of the morning and finally found him with his does tucked back in a little secluded ravine, not a quarter of a mile from where he was the day before. The does were feeding by us from right to left at forty yards. We thought he would surely follow right behind them and come within range. One problem, the does were heading downwind of us. Before he came by the does finally caught our scent and began to spook. Thank God they ran the opposite direction of the buck and when he came by to investigate, I punched him with a Spitfire right behind the shoulder. The buck ran a short distance and tipped over in clear view of the camera and myself.
What an awesome experience to spot and stalk an antelope with a crossbow in the great state of Wyoming, while sharing the whole experience with a best friend who was so kind to capture the hunt on film.