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Hunting Antelope in New Mexico, Part 2

August 25, 2010.

This is Continued from Part 1

Friday, August 20, 9:30pm

Well, I'm a little underwhelmed.

That main part of the ranch (4,000 acres) only seems to have 1 buck on it, about 12 inches, I'd guess.

I also found a 12-inch shed here. Pretty, but not big.

Another part of the ranch, consisting of about 1,000 acres, had a 13-incher on it, but he and the does he was with left the property after we spooked them.

It's nice to have access to private land (even if it's grudging access), but it can limit your options -- if there's no good bucks on the ranch, there's nothing I can do about it.

Saturday, August 21, 10:30am

Opening morning found me in the middle of a big, empty pasture. I hoped to get back on the bigger buck that we had spooked last night, but he was still visible just off the property.

But not for long. I waited near a waterhole on the property for about 3 hours, but the few antelope that were visible drifted further away on to neighboring properties. It was frustrating to have to just sit there, unable to try to get in position for a stalk, since there was nothing on this property to stalk.

There were, however, cattle. And since the owner of this ranch was a Texan, they were, of course, Longhorns.

Saturday, August 21, 12:00pm

After the disappointing morning in the 1,000-acre pasture, I headed back to the main ranch to try to find the 12-incher that lived there.

I found him pretty quick, bedded just above a big stock pond, and circled around on him. I got within 250 yards in short order.

He could see my prone form in the short grass, and had gotten up and was staring right at me. I had a head-on shot from a steady rest, but I was in no great rush to close the deal with him.

My distant glassing yesterday, plus my scouting last night and my experience this morning, gave me a pretty clear picture of what this ranch had to offer. The 4,000 acre section had a grand total of 5 resident antelope -- a 12-inch buck, and 2 doe/fawn pairs. The 1,000-acre section had no resident antelope, but a handful of animals from neighboring properties seemed to cross the fence and pass through.

I had come to New Mexico with visions of the huge antelope the state has to offer, but was coming to grip with the fact that I wasn't going to find one of those monsters on this ranch. I wasn't even likely to find an above-average buck, and was going to have to stretch to get on any buck at all. There just wasn't much to choose from, and I didn't have the option of leaving the ranch to look for greener pastures.

A 12-inch buck is a very average antelope. While all antelope make pretty trophies, I've got a pile of 12-inch horns on the garage floor and just wasn't in a huge rush to add to it. When this one got nervous and trotted off, I didn't feel too bad.

Actually, the stalk had been pretty fun.

Saturday, August 21, 10:30pm

After the stalk on the resident 12-incher, I left the main part of the ranch, knowing I could come back and find him again.

I grabbed some enchiladas in town, then went back to the 1,000-acre pasture to see if any antelope had moved on.

Sure enough, I spotted another average-looking buck, bedded alone about 600 yards out.

I decided that lingering on this ranch probably wasn't a good investment of my limited time available this fall, so I decided to try to kill him.

It was pretty darned flat, and I began a long, long crawl on my hands and knees. About 200 yards in to it, the cover got even less accomodating. The heaviness of the enchiladas caught up with me and I bedded down for a brief nap, following the example of the buck.

When I woke up, a little bit of good luck -- finally -- had shined.

A big bull (the black one with the yellow ear tag in the photo above) had bedded down directly in front of the buck. I moved 6 feet to my right, and found that I was able to use the bull to obstruct the buck's line of sight.

I still had to crawl, but now I could move pretty fast and sloppy, as crawling goes.

I got to within 150 yards of the bull, then started to debate whether to keep pushing my luck and moving closer.

As I thought it over, the buck finally got up and starting moving.

He circled around me in a wide arc, somehow able to spot my form even though I was plastered to the ground.

At about 250 yards, I figured this was as good as it was going to get, and got up on my shooting sticks with my .257 Weatherby.

I hit him hard, and he plowed in the ground. He got up, and plowed hard in to the ground again.

But his head was still up as I watched him through my scope.

Sure enough, he stood up and started trotting towards the fence line of the neighboring property.

I shot and missed as he trotted, and shot and missed again. In almost 20 years of antelope hunting, these were the first shots I had ever taken at a moving animal.

I had to reload. When I got back on the sticks, the buck was pretty far out, but he had stopped moving for a second. I held for 400 yards (further than I have ever shot at an animal, and a long, long, long way away), and dropped him.

He was about what I had come to expect for this ranch -- 12 inches and change, although with pretty nice cutters and a real nice shape.

I took some pictures and then started quickly gutting him in the 90-degree heat. As soon as I opened him up, a ravenous swarm of flies appeared.

Whenever I would stop working on the buck, they would descend on him. I realized I had to get him out quick, and with my pack and rifle on my back, I started dragging him the half-mile to the truck.

Whenever I would stop for a rest, the swarm of flies would attack, so I had to keep constantly moving.

Back at the truck, the flies did not relent. I slammed down a Gatorade, then started furiously quartering him to get him safely sealed in a cooler with all the ice I had.

When he was finally in the cooler, I was finally able to stop moving after a very furious two-hour stretch.

I hadn't had the chance at big B&C bucks that I hoped for, but I had had fun.

My Thoughts On New Mexico Antelope

• Trophy quality is totally ranch-dependent, so if you draw a tag .... good luck.
• Carry a cell phone or smart phone -- pretty handy in looking up information or keeping in touch with the unexpected characters that enter in to your hunt (I had The Mayor's house, The Mayor's office, The Mayor's other house, 2 numbers for the ranch manager, and 2 numbers for the Game and Fish guy saved on my phone by dinner time on friday).
• For a summer hunt, due to the flies, I would have been happier if I had had a game bag in my pack to immediately quarter and pack out the antelope. Simultaneously dragging and battling flies was not fun.
• Getting to hunt in August with a rifle is a pretty cool opportunity.
• When you put an animal in a cooler of ice, be sure to open it (after the flies relent) to let the meat air out and the heat dissipate. Move the meat around to make sure that meat-on-meat contact has not created warm spots. Don't go to sleep until you're sure it's cooled off.
• About 1 out of every 500 times, the presence of cattle may actually be helpful.
• Make all efforts possible to contact the rancher beforehand. If the number that Game and Fish gives you doesn't work, call them -- they have other numbers on file. The rancher signed contract to participate in the program, so don't feel bad about bugging them at all their numbers.
• If you are assigned to a ranch owned by a rich Texas politician, brace yourself....

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