We Kansans Do Antelope Too!

Christian had an antelope tag for area 32 in Wyoming, a great bargain for a youth hunter at about 150 bucks.
Christian and I and a friend put the stalk on a few, and got to about 4-500yds, too far for Christian to shoot, but the fella with us gave it a try, and missed. the antelope moved off. About an hour later we got to within about 220yds of a small buck, Christian tried but also missed. About an hour later, they moved off over a hill- we followed. we crested the ridge and I couldd see antelope a long way of, but suddenly there was a buck at about 100yds moving uphill towards us. We crept to the edge of the hill on our bottoms, but Christian just couldn't see him. I determined to just wait a second and he was coming right up the hill to us, which he did. Christian dropped him at 53 yds right in his tracks- he was really excited. The other fella got his antelope in the same area the next day- Christians buck measures in at 11 inches- seems "The Specialist" does it again. I am worried about him(TK)- if he really deer hunts, he could be the next deer king at this rate! Next year we'll look for the 12.6 buck. But Tim is right, they are difficult to judge.

Harding County Antelope

Getting this up a little late, but was busy fishing as you can see below. We finally worked it out this year to go out opening weekend this year. Weather was good, but windy on Saturday. Mark got his buck on Saturday afternoon. We saw them about a mile and a half from the road and the plan was for Mark to put the stalk on, get seen, and they would run toward me laying on a butte another mile away. Well, Mark got to within 400 yds without being seen and decided to take a shot figuring if he missed, our plan would still work. He adjusted for wind and distance and gut shot the goat. We both could see it was lethal and he figured he could get his doe tag filled at the same time, so he did. Nice shootin', Tex!

No luck for me on Saturday, however I did manage to slam my thumb in the truck door getting out to put a stalk on. The nail should fall off in the near future. Ouch!

Sunday morning we went back out and saw a buck with two does about a half mile from the road, just over a knoll that would give me a pretty easy stalk to within a couple hundred yards. Make the stalk and only had to belly crawl about 20 yards to the top of the knoll. When I got to the top, the grass was too tall for using my bipod on the shortest setting. Even fully extended, I saw mostly grass through the scope. The buck looked a long way out so I raised up a bit on the aim. I fired and got nothing! Tried again with the same result. Just before I shot there was a lot of gunfire in the distance, and my shots must've blended in because the antelope were on alert, but didn't know where to run. I ended up missing again, reloading and getting really pissed. So, I just sighted right on him and let it go. He was kinda quartered to me, but I did hit where I was aiming. Dropped him without so much as a kick as he hit the ground.

After dropping him, we extimated that he was only 200+ yards out. Tough to tell when you're looking through grass without much experience.

We dragged him to the road and just got done taking a couple pictures when the DNR officer showed up. He checked the tags on our goats and we asked if he would take our picture. He did and then got his camera and snapped a couple for himself. Who knows, maybe Mark and I will be on the cover of next year's hunting atlas.

We decided to donate the animals to "Hunter's for Hunger" and are getting european mounts done on our bucks. All in all, a great weekend. We love the country out there. Truly beautiful! Can't wait until next year. By the way, Mark's goat antlers measured 10.5" and mine was 12.5". Guess that means I get to add more "bling" to my hunting shirt!

Selkirk 2010

Well it was a tough year to fish the Red River this time. We tried it on day one and only two sauger were caught (and some huge bullheads).

Days 2-4 were much better as we fished Traverse Bay in Pine Falls. Fishing in Pine Falls meant driving about an hour each way (got up really early and got home pretty late each day). We voted before going out on Wednesday to start the annual fishing tournament on that day instead of sticking to the 3 day tournament. Good thing for Brian (he won) because I would have crushed the competition otherwise. I ended up losing by a slim 3/4" margin. I've posted the results below. Now, you tell me. Who had the best year this year?

Anyway, the weather was great, winds light, sun high and fishing pretty steady in the mornings. Orlan did battle with what had to be a HUGE sturgeon on Friday. He caught one later that morning (pictured above) that was a master at 46.5". We figure the first one had to be at least 18" to 24" bigger. Both Brian and Adam latched on to one later that day, but didn't get them to the boat.

Here are this year's results. Enjoy!

Orlan Tim Mark Adam Brian Bard

Day 1 0 0 12 0 14 0
Day 2 29.25 24.5 23.25 16.5 18.5 20

Day 3 19.25 20.5 21.5 20.5 21 22.5

Day 4 22 28.75 10 15 21 15.5

Ave 17.63 18.44 16.69 13 18.63 14.5