Archery Antlope

Okay enough with preparing for hunting season, cuz i have news for ya, it's here! And it's about time. This season is my favorite firstly because it's the first one of my tags to open and secondly because it's the most challenging. Archery antelope can be ether the most boring or the most exciting, the hardest or just down right simple. Now you can go out and try to beat them at their game and spot and stock for days on end, witch is effective once in a grate wile. However if you want to take a nap and set over a waterhole you can do that also. I don't find this to be effective because in resent years where i hunt all of the waterholes are full. Giving them the choice of choosing from upwards of 25 waterholes in an easy travel distance, and if they happen to stop and drink at the waterhole you are at the odds of them bing in range is slim at best. these waterholes have been here so long that they've expanded and there by making more distance from one edge to another making the odds of the possible shot being on the edge of your comfortable range tempting you to make a risky shot.

My personal favorite is to not hunt the first or second week in the season and start hunting the second week in September. This is when the bucks are really starting to rut, or breed. The bucks become excessively territorial and protective of their does, or harem. This two or three week span is when these bucks are most vulnerable. I take a 3D "carry light" decoy out with me on my shoulder and walk down wind of a heard with a nice buck in a Zig-Zag pattern. This mimics the actions of a real buck. Don't worry about the fact that it looks like the decoy has 4 legs or that the decoy is floating. From the bucks point of view he sees an invader. Also if possible try to make it so that your face is in the sun and your back is in the shadows, this will keep you from looking like a black blob. Remove all jewelery and nonsense as this gives off a shiny glow that WILL make them run! And lastly get ready to shoot, if a buck breaks away from the heard and comes on a trot kneel down slowly and knock an arrow because the odds are he very well could try to plow over your decoy. This is the most fun you can have hunting antelope, they are aggressive and really drop their guard. My father shot a goat using this technique and was kneeling behind the decoy had a buck at 5 yards, he drew back and put his sights on the buck and did't pay attention to the clearance between the his arrow and the decoy. Needles to say he shot the decoy directly off his bow, it sounded like a pitcher threw a base ball at a base drum. The decoy fell over and all the buck did was turn broadside, my dad knocked another arrow and stuck him. So practice your shorter shooting and what you'll find is that inside of 10 yards you start to use longer range pins. This is because your arrow needs distance to get up to where your sight plane is. An extreme case of this was my dad looking on one plane and the arrow hitting the decoy. One last thing do NOT try ANY decoying during riffle season! this will at a minimum cost you a decoy and could very well cost you your life! No hunt is worth that.

I'll see you next week hopefully with a success story using this very technique.
Good luck and good hunting.