Here's a follow up for this thread. I posted some of it on the 2024 meat pole thread.
So, the back surgery went well and I'm mostly recovered but did have a set back of getting gout twice in the knee that took me down for a few hard weeks. I never even knew what gout was but I sure don't want to have it again.
Well, back to the story...I was on a work trip and had a short time to chase antelope. After checking out the hma I drew I found nothing but doe on the grounds and the majority of the herds were hanging out on private lands nearby. It's funny how that works. I've always had doe tags and found nothing but bucks in unit 100 where I've hunted in the past. Now I've got a buck tag and just doe are in my binos. That led me to bounce over to the nearest state lands and see what I could catch coming from the private lands at dusk.
I watched a few bucks get chased all over the place by some yahoos in an HVAC truck driving thru the walk in access area I was hunting. If they had a welders truck I bet the antelope would have walked right up to them. These guys gave up after a bit which was good for me but I'll admit it was entertaining in a kind of Elmer Fudd/Buggs Bunny way.
I decided to let them calm down and waited until sunset where i was able to close the distance to 100 yards on the smaller meat buck by cutting them off as they tried to chase down some other bucks. Luck and patience paid off there as they were a mile out 20 minutes to sunset. The pack out was only a few hundred yards which was appreciated to save the back.
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Ok, let's back up a bit. It was a hard quartering to shot that went in front of the shoulder and exited the offside behind the ribs. It was a DRT shot that had the other lopes wondering what happened to Bob. Well, Bob got quartered up quickly and put on ice. He tastes great and the family welcomed him home to the freezer the following morning. That called me to mark off some back exercises and count the knife work and pack out as PT for the week.
He's certainly not a trophy to some but I'm happy to have him. This was my first hunt with my own tag in a few years since I've been getting my wife and kids better tags than I can draw. While I missed having them there to share the moments I enjoyed the ability to hunt again.
Thanks to those that posted here and the offer of help I got through a PM from one of the newer members
@7RemMag . This is a great place to hang out and some fine people.