We scouted 2 days 7.2 miles on Friday alone with a 400 foot climb to get to the flat where the park folks said a good buck was hanging out at. State Park antelope tag that had not had a season in 9 years but handed out 5 tags this year 2000+ applicants for 5 tags, my buddy drew one the lucky dog. I went with him as I know the Park well plus it's a fun tag along with this guy. Seen a bunch of bucks more than we expected scouting the park it looked like the rut was still on this buck had 14-15 does in his harem with a couple dink bucks satelliting his herd. Seen another comparable buck with a similar amount of does with him some less dominant bucks that had only a few does with them.
The tourist numbers were crazy high so popping a critter out of sight of the tourist eyes and loading it up was a challenge plus we had to be 200 yards off of the road was a rule to shooting. Several places made that about impossible or impractical image wise to consider shooting any antelope there. The 400 foot climb to the flat made the most sense to get it done in the best way and have the quality hunt we wanted. We located a certain buck there that we came across while scouting and it was a good one so that was the plan.
Opening day we worked that flat area where that herd was hanging in the day before, we covered about 6+ miles then finally located several bedded does just over a ridge top so we figured that was the group we were looking for. We used the ridgeline to get within 40 yards much closer than we expected to, but the tall grass made seeing the whole herd tough. I stayed on my side of the ridge while my buddy moved in slowly trying to locate the buck when one of the does barked the herd stood up and poof he popped the buck dropped it right there.
Easy downhill drag we loaded in up and found a secluded place to quarter it out we were done a little after lunch time. Weather was moving in it poured that night so we were lucky to avoid the mess that would bring.
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