I Never Fired a Shot!

Recently I returned from a great hunt. My good friend Ralph who has lived his entire life here in Washington had seen antelope only once when he was a kid during a family vacation. It was my pleasure to join him and share what I know about hunting antelope. Ralph has given me a spot in his jet boat and shown me how to catch salmon and steelhead here in Western Washington; I was anxious to share a little of my Montana knowledge.

Permission had been granted for Ralph and me to hunt on one of the many big ranches south of Grass Range, Montana. Be sure and get permission before you head out. We started our day by sitting atop one of the many buttes with my Leupold Spotting Scope scanning the vast acres that surrounded us. From this vantage point we could see at least three separate bands of antelope. Careful scrutiny suggested one of these bunches held a very nice buck. Montana is not famous for huge bucks like Nevada and Oregon; average horn length may be 11 to 12 inches in a mature buck. It’s not real easy to discern average from above average when looking at antelope from afar.

Carefully studying the terrain between us and the antelope suggested a long circular route was in order and then there would be no guarantee the antelope would be there when we got there. Dropping down on the back side of the butte we walked low ground in a direction almost at a 45° angle from where the antelope were spotted. This circular trip required about 2 hours of travel time. Occasionally we would see additional bunches of antelope which required further scrutiny from the tri-pod mounted Leupold. Nope, none appeared to have the size we were looking for. Finally we arrived at a vantage point atop a small rise complete with a few stunted and gnarled pine trees. Yes, the antelope were still there, some lying down.

The moment of truth, we are about 500 yards away and want to move to a vantage point cutting this distance in half. I tell Ralph if they are going to see us it will be when we crawl down the slope to where we can once again find low ground and cover. We slither down the slope and move carefully to our vantage point, we are not seen. All of the antelope are now lying down; just the tops of the heads are visible. Nothing to do but wait, we sure aren’t going to get closer.

Close to two hours go by, I look at each head I can see and study them carefully. You bet the one we had originally saw was "the one". Finally a few of the does get up and start to feed, now we see another 40 or so antelope come into the field at a fast walk. All of the antelope are now up and feeding with more bucks to check out. I find the bigger buck and tell Ralph he is the one we want. Again, I have the advantage of 40 power optics; Ralph is looking through his rifle scope. I direct his attention to the buck I see and whisper each movement to Ralph so we can be assured both of us are looking at the same antelope buck. When we are satisfied I tell Ralph to pick the appropriate moment and fire. As the buck turns sideways Ralph fires a shot, at first I think it is a miss but soon see the buck drop, he's shot through the heart. After the long stalk and wait we were happy to get up and walk the 250 yards to the buck.

Ralph’s above average Pronghorn measured over 14 inches. A very nice trophy, a great hunt and I never fired a shot. We spent the next day fishing and scouting for a big mule deer buck. My truck with our weapons and equipment safely locked in the TruckVault was parked in Great Falls and will be there in a few days when we fly back to chase after the big rutting mule deer. Hopefully with more success stories to come.

Note: Many of you pointed out my error regarding CRP… It’s Conservation Reserve Program, not Crop Rotation Program. Thanks for setting me straight.