Blitz!

I remember the first antelope hunt Hunter was a part of. I was shooting an 1894 lever Winchester .30 WCF and Hunter was maybe 2 years old. As we approached the dead young buck, Hunter was amazed with the animal that laid before us. He walked around it with a sage brush stick pushing it into it's lifeless body. He finally knelt down and stroked the buck's head and said, "It's okay antelope, you're just dead...".

15 years later. Football, high school, work, football, and football seem to really take up a lot of Hunter's time, now that he is a senior. No matter how busy, we still try and adjust schedules and make a hunt or two happen.  "I can skip school but I gotta be back for football practice at 2:30". Hunter said.

We found a morning that worked for both of us for his first antelope hunt, so off we went. The area we were to hunt is only a half hour from the house and it is covered with wildlife. To make a short story shorter, we rolled into the unit and immediately began passing up multiple bucks just to avoid a case of feeling anti-climatic with the hunt. The morning wore on and we were enjoying ourselves, we finally we glassed up a good buck in an approachable location.

Starting the sneak

Hunter took the lead and we made the stalk on the buck. We crossed a trout stream, and made our way up a north-facing ridge. While we were on our final belly-crawl , small buck approached us at 30 yards! It finally spotted us and fled the larger buck that was 180 yards further. Both alert, we had to make a move, quick! Hunter couldn't get enough elevation on the bi-pod so after a little huddle, I lent him my shoulder, literally. 

He placed the barrel on my shoulder as the buck moved out to 250 yards. I plugged my ears and watched patiently...the .257 WBY barked and we knew it was a deadly hit immediately. Hunter's getting older and discussions of college and the future our regular discussions in our home. I'll always cherish these trips with him into the wild in search of meat and adventure. Nice job Hunter and go Broncs!.