How's this buck look?

shooter7

FNG
Joined
Oct 10, 2020
Messages
21
Location
Central ID
Fairly new to antelope hunting. I've killed a couple does in Wyoming but this is my first time drawing a tag in my resident state. My wife and I both drew tags this year and our season kicks off in a couple weeks. Im really hoping to get her on a solid buck. I've been watching this guy for the past month or so and he's survived most of archery season so far. None of my buddies hunt antelope so they don't have much of an opinion. I've read over several field judging guides to know he's not a 80" monster, but what would you all think he scores?
 

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There's nothing exceptional about him. His cutters and hooks are nothing special. But it's really cool how his horns do the wave above the cutters, and I'm a sucker for a unique antelope buck. I'd give him some serious consideration, but not because I think he'll score exceptionally well.
 
Mid to high 60's somewhere maybe?

Nice looking first antelope but not what I'd call a 'solid' buck. That being said, really depends on zone, access, numbers, etc.
 
Mid to high 60's somewhere maybe?

Nice looking first antelope but not what I'd call a 'solid' buck. That being said, really depends on zone, access, numbers, etc.
Digging through the boone and crocket record books, the county I'm hunting which has 3 separate GMU's, has produced only 2 bucks to make the books.
 
There's nothing exceptional about him. His cutters and hooks are nothing special. But it's really cool how his horns do the wave above the cutters, and I'm a sucker for a unique antelope buck. I'd give him some serious consideration, but not because I think he'll score exceptionally well.

This is good stuff, OP. Size has a beauty of its own, but so does uniqueness, and appreciation for that.
 
Digging through the boone and crocket record books, the county I'm hunting which has 3 separate GMU's, has produced only 2 bucks to make the books.

For sure knowing what a zone is capable of is important.

Thats the great thing about antelope. If you dont put a tape on them or need to know a number to be happy with them, the majority of them make a really nice shoulder or euro mount and a great hunting experience!

If the buck gets your wife excited, then theres zero question! As well, knowing whatever the 'best' you can find in your scouting essentially will give you the answer as well.

Good luck on the hunt!!
 
They also taste reeeeeaally good. So, i dont know. Maybe? Up to you dude. Enjoy your hunt!! To me, antelope is a low pressure, super fun hunt.
 
I agree with other above. Not much for prongs and height but definitely a cool buck. If you or the wife like him I’d shoot him.
 
Best thing about antelope is you can look at every buck in a unit and see what is out there then go after something respectable for the unit
I like just looking at them for a few days then shooting whatever turns me on
 
For sure knowing what a zone is capable of is important.

Thats the great thing about antelope. If you dont put a tape on them or need to know a number to be happy with them, the majority of them make a really nice shoulder or euro mount and a great hunting experience!

If the buck gets your wife excited, then theres zero question! As well, knowing whatever the 'best' you can find in your scouting essentially will give you the answer as well.

Good luck on the hunt!!
At this point I've found 8 different bucks and this guy is still probably the biggest. Another bonus is that he's only about a mile from the house and the archery hunters haven't pushed him out yet. Still got a couple weeks before our season opens but feeling good about our odds.
 
If that buck would make you happy, it is the biggest around that you have found and would be a first buck for you or your wife who cares what the rest of us think ? My opinion (not that it matters) that is a decent buck that is young. Antelope are like everything else once you lock eyes on a real big one you won't need to ask if they are real big. Length of horn counts but MASS is very important as well as big prongs. Good luck and hope you both enjoy this hunt.
 
can't hunt a buck that doesn't exist. If he is the biggest you have seen and makes you happy, fill the freezer!
 
Cool buck. Sounds like you're putting in work and still might stumble into bigger, but I too am fond of unique/different and wouldn't hesitate to enjoy putting the stalk on him. Good luck!
 
Opening day was a blast. We didn't end up getting our #1 target buck. He moved onto private 2 days before the season. But we did have good success going after our #2 buck.


We setup on a good glassing point about half an hour before legal light. When it was light enough to see, we spotted the herd around a water tank out about 1200 yards in front of us. We made our move.


Between us and the antelope was a small canyon with a creek at the bottom. It was only a couple hundred feet deep so we decided to drop down in and climb the other side. On our way down we spotted a beautiful chocolate black bear feeding on choke cherries. I didn't pack my bear tag. My wife had hers. Earlier this spring, my wife had given birth to our first child. Knowing that she wasn't going to be able to hunt spring bear this year she hadn't thought about taking her Idaho Bear ID test. We sat on the hill watching this bear at 90 yards for over 20 minutes while the link for the Bear ID test kept redirecting us for her to retake her Hunters Ed class. Eventually the bear wandered off to into the brush no wiser that a legal technicality kept him alive. The hunt for him will continue in the coming days.


Once we climed out of the canyon, we made our way towards the herd using the topography to hide our movement. We got to a small ridge. I slowly crept up to peek over. The antelope were at 400 yards on the next ridge over. We got into to position and set the rifle up. The antelope we slowly grazing towards us. At first we could see 5 does. After watching for about 10 minutes, a buck appeared. I asked my wife if she wanted it. She said yes. At this point, I had only known of 1 buck hanging out with this group of does. I thought this was our #2 buck. It wasn't. But we didn't find out until about 30 seconds after she shot.

I ranged it at 423 yards. I kept that to myself. I told her to dial 7 minutes into the elevation. We had a perfect prone position with bipod and rear bag. I got the phone scope setup while she was getting comfortable behind the rifle. I started recording. When he stopped moving he was slightly quartering away. My wife broke the shot. She hit back a little bit but it was a solid liver shot. The buck collapsed right there and he was laying on the ground dead 30 seconds later.


We were stoked. I congratued her and gave her a big hug. We looked back towards her dead buck and saw the remaining herd run over to it to investigate. From just behind the ridge they were on, a larger buck came running up. I saw it through the spotter and quicker realized, that was our #2 buck and not the one she just dropped. She asked, "Are you gonna shoot it?". It took about 2 seconds for me to decide that I would seeing that it was noticeably larger. I rolled in behind the rifle and sent another shot. Perfect double lung that dropped him just 30 yards from where her buck was already laying.
 

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Opening day was a blast. We didn't end up getting our #1 target buck. He moved onto private 2 days before the season. But we did have good success going after our #2 buck.


We setup on a good glassing poing about half an hour before legal light. When it was light enough to see, we spotted the herd around a water tank out about 1200 yards in front of us. We made our move.


Between us and the antelope was a small canyon with a creek at the bottom. It was only a couple hundred feet deep so we decided to drop down in and climb the other side. On our way down we spotted a beautiful chocolate black bear feeding on choke cherries. I didn't pack my bear tag. My wife had hers. Earlier this spring, my wife had given birth to our first child. Knowing that she wasn't going to be able to hunt spring bear this year she hadn't thought about taking her Idaho Bear ID test. We sat on the hill watching this bear at 90 yards for over 20 minutes while the link for the Bear ID test kept redirecting us for her to retake her Hunters Ed class. Eventually the bear wandered off to into the brush no wiser that a legal technicality kept him alive. The hunt for him will continue in the coming days.


Once we climed out of the canyon, we made our way towards the herd using the topography to hide our movement. We got to a small ridge. I slowly kept up to peek over. The antelope were at 400 yards on the next ridge over. We got into to position and set the rifle up. The antelope we slowly grazing towards us. At first we could see 5 does. After watching for about 10 minutes, a buck appeared. I asked my wife if she wanted it. She said yes. At this point, I had only known of 1 buck hanging out with this group of does. I thought this was our #2 buck. It wasn't. But we didn't find out until about 30 seconds after she shot.

I ranged it at 423 yards. I kept that to myself. I told her to dial 7 minutes into the elevation. We had a perfect prone position with bipod and rear bag. I got the phone scope setup while she was getting comfortable behind the rifle. I started recording. When he stopped moving he was slightly quartering away. My wife broke the shot. She hit back a little bit but it was a solid liver shot. The buck collapsed right there and he was laying on the ground dead 30 seconds later.


We were stoked. I congratued her and gave her a big hug. We looked back towards her dead buck and saw the remaining herd run over to it to investigate. From.just behind the ridge they were on, a larger buck came running up. I saw it through the spotter and quicker realized, that was our #2 buck and not the one she just dropped. She asked, "Are you gonna shoot it?". It took about 2 seconds for me to decide that I would seeing that it was noticeably larger. I rolled in behind the rifle and sent another shot. Perfect double lung that dropped him just 30 yards from where her buck was already laying.

Man, that is an awesome outcome. Thanks for circling back around and following up with your story, definitely enjoyed reading how it went.
 
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