First antelope hunt

[quackaddict]

Me and the wife leave for our antelope hunt tomorrow morning. Hunting SE NM. This will be my first antelope hunt and her first big game hunt ever. Really pumped and nervous(for her) at the same time. Any last minute advice for a successful goat hunt?

 

[H'n'F]

Have fun and be thankful for a wife that shares your love of hunting. If you have fun, you've been successful. Good luck!

 

[quackaddict]

Thanks man. Scouted the ranch today...things aren't looking good so far. 1 little rattler, 4 mulies(1 decent buck), a couple of sets of antelope tracks at a tank. Lots of dunes, not a lot of grass. Keeping our fingers crossed though.

 

[Mckinnon]

Enjoy all the little things, take lots of pictures!

 

[quackaddict]

Out from daylight till dark today. No antelope or sign of them anywhere. Hit up 4 or 5 different tanks and saw 0 tracks other than what I saw yesterday. We did see two nice bucks this evening, so that's three good bucks in two days(deer, not antelope). Might have to change up my deer plans for next year.

 

[quackaddict]

Well we came home a day early. Where we were hunting was loaded with deer(we saw three good bucks while we were there), but the landscape wasn't conducive to antelope at all. There was very little grass and lots of mesquite stands and sand dunes. It was drier than a popcorn fart over there and the only water out there is in cattle tanks/waterers. Looked all over the ranch Friday afternoon and saw one set of antelope tracks at one tank out of the 4 or 5 we checked. At the ranch from daylight till dark yesterday(Saturday) and saw one more set of tracks. Nothing this morning either. Never laid eyes on a goat until we were on the way home today while cutting through Texas.

The antelope rifle tags are run real crappy out here. You select three units(like you do for everything else), but if you get drawn, you get assigned to a specific ranch in that unit that you drew a tag in. That's the only place you get to hunt. Sometimes that's fine, but sometimes it can be shitty. This was one of those shitty times. Just wasn't an antelope kind of ranch.

I had some really high expectations for the hunt, and with it being my wife's first big game hunt ever, I was really hoping that we would be be in some antelope. She was too, but she said that she had a really good time and she'd like to try some other hunts in the future. Granted, these antelope hunts are mostly a glorified road hunt, but you've got to start somewhere. She actually did really well glassing and picked out some deer several times all on her own. I've got some photos that I've still got to pull off the camera, so I'll try to get them up tomorrow night.

 

[H'n'F]

It sounds like you were able to spend some QT with the wife and she is still interested in hunting. Win-win from where I'm sitting. I head out Saturday morning for my Pronghorn/Mule Deer hunt in WY. I am going solo and would love to have a partner, especially one who smells better than I do....
Good luck in the future, it sounds like you did everything you could to keep it fun for her. If you didn't get any shooting and she want to keep at it, you did a great job.

 

[colonel00]

Too bad about the hunt but at least you were able to get out and spend some time with the wife. A couple questions, are you out a bunch of cash on a draw like this? I would be kind of pissed if I had to pay extra and didn't get a choice on where to hunt. Also, are/were you able to contact the ranch owner to try to get some information ahead of time? Or, are there an historical records for the ranch that show if antelope were harvested there in the past?

 

[realunlucky]

That sucks sorry you drew a sub par ranch.I was over around tucumcari and while I didn't see many I saw couple jaw droppers. Asked the locals I was working with and found out about New Mexico's system. Not likely I would get lucky twice a tag and decent ranch

 

[quackaddict]

It was a good time, I was just hoping to at least be in some antelope to keep things a little more interesting for her.

Colonel, the way NM works is you put in for 3 units just like the rest of the big game draw. If you get drawn, you get placed onto a ranch and that is the only area you're allowed to hunt. You don't pay a tresspass fee or anything like that, just the regular tag fee. You're allowed to scout the ranch 2 days prior to hunting by law. I stopped in at the ranchers house Friday when we got there. I had called him a couple of times before the hunt but he talked REALLY slow and couldn't carry on much of a conversation. They were a much older couple and he seemed to have had a stroke recently(hence the bad speech). He said to look on the north end and his wife said that the best thing to do is look for grass. The majority of the grass was on the north end of the ranch, as was all the water, so that's where we scouted/hunted.

 

[quackaddict]

Here's a few from our hunt.

Clark's Nutcracker

Western Prairie rattler

A few muley does. I wish that piece of grass hadn't been in the way for this first shot.

 

[quackaddict]

Tried to get a little artsy...I think that I should have left the shutter open a little longer.

I don't like this one as much. I had to get a little heavy on the PP for my taste.

C&C welcome on all the photos. Thanks for looking.

 

[DWarcher]

Do you mind sharing which unit/ranch you were on?

 

[quackaddict]

PM sent DW.