Story of the 2008 Pronghorn Experience

Well it was wet on October 11th when we started our 2008 Goat Hunt, rained the day before, rained more the day of, we started near the highway and Courtney shot this nice buck just about 10 minutes into the hunt, this guy actually saw us first and ran right by us to see what we were, the shot was true at 130yds. After that we scouted a nice sized herd and we decided to make a plan, to bad they busted us and were off. We decided to try another area, when we drove over a hill all we saw was horn. A buck was laying in the grass just over a hill and all we could see was his horns poking up on the horizon, this time Chief made a stalk and got to 65 yards, the buck was alone and Chief decided he wasn't big enough to take this year. Striking out again we moved on, and didn't see another antelope for quite some time. Then on the way back to the house for lunch we spooked up a small herd, with some does and a young buck. We parked the pickup and tried a sneak attack to fill our doe/kid licences, but they got nervous and ran before we could set up for a shot. Off to the house for some chili as we were all three cold & wet. That afternoon we couldn't find a goat to save our lives, finally just as we were about to give it up, we spotted what looked like a lone buck down in a wash from where we were spotting. Then another small buck popped up, deciding to try again to fill my doe tag I was going to look over the hill and see if there were any more. After looking about 9 goats jumped up. I set my sights on one at about 240yds and pulled the trigger. Down I shouted, as I spotted through my binos, I noticed it had horns. About 5 inches to many to be a kid. There goes my buck tag, because I was too anxious to shoot something. We went home for dinner & poker. It rained hard most of the night and we knew getting out on Sunday would be impossible. Weekend over.

Chief came back the following Saturday, he wanted one more crack at a buck. After spotting a large herd from a high vantage point we made a plan to stalk. Not having a buck tag anymore I was looking for a good doe to fill the freezer with, but Chief was first. With Gus (my dog) I went East whild Chief walked South. I crested a small hill and ran right into the group with the big buck. Chief was about 300 yards behind me and my Dog decided the goats were cows and took off to chase them, they made a big circle and almost ran me over, never seeing me or noticing I was there. They stopped to watch Ol' Gus and the buck seperated himself from the herd. I signaled to Chief to take the shot, but he didn't. Gus couldn't take it anymore he went for them again. I yelled to stop him and they saw my location, they ran off about 800 yards and watched me from a side hill. I kept my distance, staying in sight while Chief slipped in behind them, he got 120yds from the big boy and layed him out, I was watching the goat through my binos and watched him fold, even before I heard the shot. Awesome!!!! I was excited, this guy was about 15 1/2 inches with huge prongs and wide bases, would score well over 75. The Does didn't know where the shot came from and ran right into Chief's lap, while he was centering his .25-06 on a doe, his Trophy jumped up. I was to far to shoot, I started waving at Chief he turned just in time to see him start running away. He went over a far ridge, I tried to track him but couldn't find any blood, except for where he fell. Foiled Again!!

After discussion, we talked about the load, the distance and the fact that Chief was shooting from an uphill location, we decided that he must have hit him high above the shoulder, hopefully the Buck will live for next years hunt, if not the coyotes will eat well. We hate to see this happen but this just goes to show you, even if you hunt all the time, if you are not completely sure of where or what you are shooting, it's better not to pull the trigger. Chief's goat got away, and my doe was a buck.

All in All we still had a blast, spending time with friends and telling old stories isn't that what it is all about? I can't wait until next year.