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Never Trust a Doe - Hunting Colorado | November 2020 | |||||
| Sam Martinez | ||||||
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My friend Mike, another Arizona transplant, was also planning for the upcoming
season, so we decided to put in for the same areas and help each other with
scouting and hunting. His goal was to get his first elk with a bow. I have
only tried bow hunting once, and was terrible at it, so I was initially hesitant
to put in for the archery elk hunt with Mike.
We spent an evening after work pouring over the regs and maps to determine where
we would hunt. After much deliberation, Mike and I put in for rifle season deer
and antelope in a unit near his land, as well as the archery elk tag outside of
Buena Vista, CO. Like I said, I was a terrible bow hunter, but figured that it
would be a new challenge, so I went ahead and applied for the archery tag.
Since I was going “all out,” I also put in for mountain goat, Rocky Mountain
Bighorn sheep, and moose…nothing to lose, right?
Now I needed a bow. Colorado has the largest elk herd in North America, and
they even sell over the counter tags, so I figured I was all but guaranteed to
get drawn for elk. I searched around, seeing if anyone had a spare bow, but
ultimately decided to buy my own. My friend Skyler is a bow hunter in AZ, and
he said that he shoots a “Prime” bow and has enjoyed it. I never heard of the
brand, but after reading some articles about them being ‘forgiving’ and
‘accurate,’ I decided, that’s exactly what I need. I about threw up when I saw
the price of a new bow!
I looked around some more and found that I could get a left-hand bow for much
cheaper than a right-hand bow. Since I am technically left eye dominant, and
suck at archery anyways, I opted to look for a left-handed bow with a draw
length fit for a tall person. It turns out that those are even less in demand,
so I got a new old stock Prime Centergy bow for a couple hundred dollars!
I got the bow, but now I need to figure out how to shoot. Mike and I began
hitting the local range a few times a week. The archery range in Colorado
Springs is right outside of Fort Carson, free for the flat range with targets
from 10-80 yards, and the walking 3D range is $3. We got pretty decent and
were consistently nailing deer and elk targets out to 65+ yards. Then, some
terrible news came to my inbox.
The draw results were in, and I did not get drawn for moose or bighorn sheep,
or even mountain goat. I also did not get drawn for elk, but Mike did…
Sometimes even a sure thing is not so sure. The saving grace was that I got
a buck tag for both antelope and deer! My new goal was to get an antelope
this season.
All of this happened right around early June, almost concurrently with some
news from the Army that I needed to get ready to pack my bags and head to North
Carolina to start a new job. They wanted me there in early September. Hey,
that’s when hunting season starts. It looks like it will be another year before
I get to hunt again…
The hunting gods had my back though. They made sure that I was delayed, delayed,
and delayed again in moving so that I could make it out in September to help Mike
search the woods for a mighty Colorado elk. I figured that I could help him out
for a few weekend trips, and then surely, I would end up moving somewhere in the
middle of the archery elk season. The elk story is one better told by Mike
himself, but spoiler alert, he was able to take down his first elk with a bow!
Well, the Army is great at making things as painful as possible, so me thinking
that I would be in NC by early September, turned into late September, turned into
sometime in October. I was so focused on that debacle that I forgot about my
antelope and deer tags.
------------------------------------------------------
It was a Barrett 98B sniper rifle chambered in .300 Win Mag, with a 5.5-22x Nightforce
scope to be precise. This is not exactly the classic sporting hunting rifle that I was
looking for, but the hunt was 5 days away, and this is all that I could find. At least
I knew that the rifle would be accurate and was capable of dropping any critter I would
encounter in North America, antelope included.
With that complete, I was able to do some bullet math with the help of the
Applied Ballistics app, and dial in the hold for a 100-yard shot. I sneakily
verified the math at 100 yards and departed the range. After several more
calculations, I developed a ballistic chart for MOA holds for ranges from
70-350 yards at the various power levels on the scope. I was as ready as
possible for the hunt the next day.
We linked up in the morning and began the mundane drive east to the plains.
We saw antelope after antelope the whole way out there, as well as a plethora
of hunters sitting on the sides of the highway, glassing for pronghorn. “Seeing
all these antelope is a good sign,” I thought to myself. After arriving to the
middle of nowhere, we drove a little more, crested a hill, and made it to Mike’s
plot of land.
Mike bought this piece of land as part of a program in Colorado where the state
gives you money to not farm the land. His acreage is roughly ½ mile x ½ mile
and yielded a deer and antelope during the previous year’s season. For being in
the middle of nowhere, and un-farmable, it’s surprisingly good hunting real estate.
As we crested the hill to his land, we did a quick survey and noticed a small herd
of critters on the opposite corner of the land from us. We stopped, pulled up the
binos, and noticed one buck with a few ladies. It was evident that the pronghorn
also saw us. As soon as we parked, they perked up and locked eyes with us from afar.
We were in their territory.
Mike and I had a few small rises to play with between us and the antelope, so we
hatched a plan to maneuver through the low spots to at least get within long rifle
range (~600 yards or so). We grabbed our gear and began walking. “Dang it!” I
exclaimed, I forgot my shooting sticks at Mike’s place that morning, and the grass
was just tall enough that a bipod was useless. “Well, let’s try and get close enough
to the buck, then I’ll figure out if I can get stable enough to accurately shoot.”
My goal was to get within 250 yards so that I could make the shot with no issues.
With that in mind, we began maneuvering towards the antelope using small rolling
plains features to mask our movement. As we closed the distance, we caught a glimpse
of the small group, and could see that they were definitely alert to our presence, but
we pushed forward, closing in to about 500 yards from where we last saw them. Or at
least to where we thought they last were.
We were moving up a small rise when suddenly there was a jump in my left peripheral
vision. The antelope got up and began running from left to right in front of us at
about 150 yards. I dropped down and tried to get stable, but they were moving all
over, and the buck was aggressively herding the does so that the group stayed together.
I was on a knee watching through the scope as the antelope ran in circles, and the now
buffeting wind kicked me around in the kneeling position.
I dropped down to the prone and extended the bipod. “Dang it, I wish I had my shooting
sticks!” I could not see over the grass, the buck continued to herd his group while
running in circles. “200 yards!” Mike said to me. I threw down my backpack and tried
propping my rifle up to get taller. Still not a great picture, but I had a small window
where I saw the buck briefly stop, stand broadside, and my finger eased onto the trigger.
Then, as quickly as they spooked, the buck ran off over the next rise out of sight.
I missed my chance! We were moving too quickly in pursuit of the antelope and failed
to notice them off to our left before they spooked. Surely, I would not get another
chance.
Mike and I quickly talked over the encounter and decided to push over the next rise in
front of us to set up shop and glass for a little while. We plopped down on top of
the rise and began the timeless tradition of glassing and snacking. I was two pop-tarts
deep when I noticed some movement over another intervisibility (IV) line and quickly
brought up my binoculars. I saw two horns peeking over the IV line like the periscope
on a submarine. I could also tell that the horns were moving back to the left,
seemingly right to where we last spooked the antelope.
Mike and I decided to be much more patient and deliberate this time. They obviously
like the area that we spooked them out of. We continued to observe as they sauntered
from right to left along the rolling hills, all the while staying about 400-500 yards
away from us. The antelope started roughly due north of our little observation post
and traversed counterclockwise to a spot approximately west of our OP where they ducked
out of sight behind a rise. That was our cue to begin the stalk.
We packed everything up and begin pushing west to where we last saw them. Mike and I
deliberately walked, crouched, and crawled from small rise to small rise over the span
of a couple hundred yards. For most of this, we could not see the antelope, or we only
saw the buck’s horns peeking up like periscopes acutely aware of us stalking in on him.
He was on alert, and definitely not going to let us walk right up to him. We got to a
point about 300 yards away where we could maintain visual contact with the buck, but
only if we got to roughly seated height. That meant it was time to crawl.
I was in front, with Mike about 5 yards behind me. I had my rifle, and Mike carried his
frame pack and his range finder. Our plan was to creep forward, Mike would hand me his
pack, and I would set up on the pack so that I could see over the grass and get a shot.
We crawled forward yard by yard, until we were roughly 200 yards from the buck. All I
could see were occasional glances of his face, and his periscope horns. We knew the does
were around him but could not see them. Finally, I got to a spot just under 200 yards
where I was on the edge of a slight rise looking down on the antelope. I set up on the
pack and could see only a slight bit of the buck’s horns to my 11 o’clock.
Here I sat, knowing that if I advanced any further, I would likely be too exposed and
spook the buck. On the other hand, I did not have a shot because the buck was too low
on the slope, with only his horns exposed. All I could do was wait…
Suddenly, I saw one of the does appear to my 12 o’clock! She must have been bedded
down just out of sight but was now moving to the right. I saw her ears, then her
head, then her whole body was exposed. I sighted the rifle her way, knowing that
this buck was very aggressive earlier and would likely come to corral this doe back
to the group. “150 yards!” Mike said.
Sure enough, not a second later, the buck appeared. He ran up to the doe, warning
her to get back down behind cover. The buck was frantic, but not quick enough. He
reached the doe and got her to move but exposed too much of himself in the process.
For only a brief moment the buck stopped, presented his side to me, and … “CRACK!!”
The Barrett leaped with authority sending a bullet careening towards the antelope’s
vitals. The buck took a few steps but those were his last as he dropped to the grass
and bedded down for the final time just beyond my line of sight.
We took a few minutes to gather up our things and began towards the buck. Sure
enough, the shot was good and hit right in the pumphouse. Then, just like that,
as quickly as the hunt began, it was over.
This antelope was my first ever, and I was fortunate to get the chance to hunt in
a new state with an old friend during this fall season. Within the next week I
would be packing up the rest of my things and driving to North Carolina, so I was
very glad to get a good western hunt in the books. I hear there are a lot of
whitetail and even some elk in NC. Maybe my bow will get a little use after all.
Until next time Colorado, until next time.
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