My 2004 Fall season started with me anxiously checking the Arizona online draw results and discovering that not only had I drawn a Bull Elk tag but I had drawn an Antelope tag I had been trying to draw for 7 years. Making this hunt special was the fact that I was going to be sharing camp with Chad Connors a friend of mine for years. Although we had shot leagues together and had business relationship this was only the second time Chad and I had gotten our schedules together. I would be hunting for the second year with a Selfbow I built making this hunt that much more special.

The season opener was Friday August 20th and Chad was up in the high desert chasing goats. A big personal commitment, a fifth wedding anniversary on the 21st, put me and my wonderful wife Debi up in the four corners area of our state for an awesome weekend in Monument Valley. It’s a must see for anyone visiting this area. The breathtaking scenery coupled with the reverent respect for the land and a simple life the Navajo natives, who call this land home,choose to live was very inspiring.

Friday the 27th found me heading out of work and up to join Chad for a 3 and a half day hunt. I arrived at 3:00pm and called Chad on his cell phone, we had agreed to put our phones on vibrate as to not spoil any shot opportunities. He told me he was out in the middle of the unit in a ground blind and told me where to head to get into the goats. I gave Mike and Connie Westvang a call they were in the area from Texas ending a week long stay in the redrock country of Sedona and were going to meet Chad and I for a burger before heading back to Texas on Saturday.

Having my calls out of the way I headed out into the unit for my first taste of Antelope hunting. About a mile into the unit I spotted my first herd of Antelope at 300 yards. A quick look through the binos showed that it was not before they had spotted me. Man this was going to be a lot harder than I had imagined. How do you sneak up on an animal with 10X vision on flatland with no cover except some rolling terrain features and sparse grass a foot to eighteen inches high. Totally intimidated I sat down to think things out. About this time a guy in a ghillie suit cut into the scene between me and the goats and started trying a sneak, a little put off but well aware of the hunting pressure this unit got I sat back to watch the show and try to learn something. The goats were well aware of ghillie guy and I basically got a lesson in what not to do. With daylight waning I headed out to the truck where Mike and Connie were waiting. We exchanged greeting and headed up to where Chad had set up camp. When we got there the sun had set and I gave Chad a call to learn he had just shot a Buck. Man did we get excited when he pulled up and we saw the caliber of Antelope he had taken. We later found out it green score netted 70 5/8” and would easily make the P&Y minimums after the drying period. We headed to town and after a lot of swapping many stories of past hunts and such, Mike and Connie headed out and Chad and I went back to camp.

The next morning Chad headed down the hill to get his meat in the freezer and his cape to the taxidermist. I set out from a different point of entry into our hunting area. As I slowly topped a little roll in the terrain I spotted a herd of Speed goats about 250 yards away on the other side of a wash. This was perfect for a stalk as it allowed me to drop down in the wash and out of site of the goats while I took 100 yards off the distance between us. After successfully crossing the wash I belly crawled to the crest of the rise and looked for the herd. They were still there, at 100 yards now, and unaware of my presence. I had a favorable breeze and things were starting to look good. I took off my day pack and quiver, taking one arrow and my bow and started slowly crawling towards my quarry. It was a tedious effort I would push my bow and arrow out in front of me, lock my fingers and pull myself forward using my elbows and knees, being very careful not to rise above the 12 – 18” high grass that was my only cover. I was able to close the distance to around 60 yards with the herd alternating between bedding and feeding as I crept in. All of a sudden they were on alert looking away from me, and off they went. I never knew if a swirling errant breeze had tripped me up, or if they had spotted one of the many other hunters in the area. Either way it was one of the most exciting stalks I had ever done. While it only takes a few sentences to relate this stalk on paper it actually took the better part of 2 hours to pull off.

The beauty of Antelope hunting is that unlike hunts for other big game species where you are still hunting most of the day with brief flurries of activity when the animals are sited. You can always see the Antelope. I soon had two other stalks under my belt and still got close but without getting to that 25 yard or under distance I required to make the shot.

By this time I was a bit tired both mentally and physically and I picked the side of a small knoll to gather my wits and regroup. I was sipping water and enjoying a breakfast bar reclined with my head resting on my daypack and the bill of my hat tipped low shading my eyes. Life was good and I was taking the time to smell the roses and take in all I could of this wonderful country and the experience. My eyes may have closed for a second, or two, or three, but all of a sudden something in that primal predatory part of my brain had me awake and with out moving from my prone position my eyes scanned the area. On the opposite side of the small draw about 150 yards out there were 3 Antelope approaching. A big buck and two does. I expected them to see me at any moment as the distance between us kept getting shorter and shorter. 150 yards, 120 yards, 100, and still they kept trotting my way. This was looking good. As they got to a small wash they stayed to the opposite side and went down the draw crossing about 80 yards from me and kept on moving away. They were never aware of my presence and I had just learned a valuable lesson. Antelope mainly recognize the outline of the human form. In my prone position that silhouette was never visible to them. Also as I looked around the at the terrain I was in I realized that the “open ground that was so intimidating the night before was full of subtle changes, Changes I could use to my advantage. Every time I saw antelope they were sky lined on the edge of a ridge or knoll. The spot I was in had several skylines that were within 40 – 60 yards. If an Antelope crested one of these I would practically have him in shooting range. My tactics moved from spot and stalk to what I termed “ Coyote up” I started seeking areas with Antelope and then start looking for the little pockets in the terrain that presented the best opportunity for a close shot , and I would set up, i.e. lay down and wait. I would have a couple more close calls before the day was over. The next day found Chad and I hunting together in the morning. As we headed into the area, from yet another direction, we spotted a herd of 5 or 6 does and a buck on the side of the only real hill in the unit. We immediately backed off and planned a stalk that took us to the top of, and around, the hill. As we started our stalk in we were winded and off they went. Taking advantage of our elevation we sat down to glass the area. There were literally hundreds of Antelope in front of us and after watching them for a half hour or so we set our sites on a particularly active group that had a buck and several rival suitors that kept him on the move protecting his lady friends. The buck would spot a rival and leave to chase him out of the country, then return to the harem which seemed to be oblivious to all the interest they were generating. This repeated itself over and over and by watching you could start to see a bit of a pattern in the chase areas. Another weakness uncovered in hunting this critter that had justo a little over a day before seemed so impossible to hunt. Our stalk was cut short as other hunters moved into a wash we were using for our approach and they pushed the herd out into the flats.

Chad and I had many discussions over how I was ever going to get a shot at the yardage I had imposed upon myself. He was as convinced that I was going to need to get an arrow in the air at 60 to 80 yards, as I was that I wasn’t going to take anything more than a 25 yard shot. And I was even more convinced after my hunt the day before that, given enough time I could realistically expect such a shot opportunity.

After one such conversation he asked what is your real effective range. I picked out a clump of a plants with a white blossom at about 40 yards and said,” see that?”, and shot. My arrow came to within about 6” of the cluster. We walked up and retrieved my arrow. As I was kneeling down pulling my arrow out of the dirt I said, “ Now see that”, I was pointing at another white flower about 10 yards out. I locked on the blossom and shot, my broadhead clipping the stem at the base of the blossom. There, I said, now you know what we are working with. Chad walked off shaking his head. I don’t know if he was impressed with my shot or thought I was crazy trying to pull this hunt off with the self-imposed limitations the equipment I chose provided. I grinned to myself, both proud of my shot and knowing that I was in a small minority of hunters who really understood what the choices we make truly mean. To me, and a few others, it really is more about how we accomplish the harvesting of our quarry, than it is in about accomplishing the harvest itself.

A bit later as we were walking along a wash a Jackrabbit jumped out and stopped about 5-10 yards out. I immediately had an arrow on the string and without even thinking I drew and released. The arrow hit him perfect and down went my first witnessed Selfbow harvest. I was elated and started packing my rabbit back to the truck with us. Chad after throwing a few, “has the sun finally got to ya”, Looks my way asked why I was taking the rabbit with me. I told him I was going to get some pictures of it. He said you’re really proud of that aren’t you. I said damn right I am, grinning from ear to ear. He had a camera with him and we got a couple of pics. I harvested a bit of Jackrabbit sinew and Chad said, could we get back to Antelope hunting now. I agreed knowing that he was taking note of how much fun I was having. The rest of the day was uneventful.

The next morning I took out on my own as Chad did some chores and fielded some phone calls from clients. I in “ Coyote up” mode when I saw a set of doe ears just over a rise about 100 yards to my right. 8 does and a nice buck fed out into the little depression I was in the then fed back the way they had come and out of site. I stayed still. About 15 minutes later the buck came racing back through the draw chasing a rival at warp speed. They ran out of site and a few minutes later the herd buck came back following the same path the chase had taken. When he was out of site I closed the distance to about 40 yards. 30 minutes or so went by and here comes the herd buck and the pesky rival again. I could actually hear them coming this time before I saw them , and they raced by at 40 yards and I could hear them both huffing and puffing and the herd buck grunting as he put the kibosh of the rivals romantic inclinations. Not on my watch he was saying. I closed the gap when they went out of site to a distance of 20 yards, but Murphy stepped in. It was Monday and most of the other hunters had left. In fact I hadn’t seen another hunter all morning, until now that is. All the activity hadn’t gone unnoticed and as the buck headed back towards my 20 yard ambush he spotted another hunter and veered wide and ran back to his harem taking them off to safer haven.

That ended my first Antelope hunt and as you can see it was one full of experiences I will treasure now and throughout my lifetime. I can’t wait until the next time I get to “Coyote up” and try to get the upper hand on these critters.