Billy LesterMy Son and I, after six years, had finally drawn out for antelope here in SW Wyoming. On the opening day, I was scheduled to work. However, starting the second day of the season, I was scheduled to be off.
On opening day my son took a really nice antelope. Will came to my work to show me his kill on his way home. He was as proud as could be and I was happy for him.
The next morning we were up and away for my turn. On our drive to the hunting area my son was busy explaining away how many antelope he had seen and how big they were. He assured me it would be a sure thing! Pick the one you want, if you know what I mean.
I would be hunting with a new Browning BAR Auto in 7 mag. I had bought from SWFA RifleScopes, Burris bases & rings, Burris Fullfield II riflescope, 3-9x40 Ballistic Plex which came with a free Burris Landmark Compact 20x-50mm
spotter. I also bought at this time Burris Landmark 10x42 Binoculars. I felt I was more than ready for this hunt.
Naturally, the antelope were not roaming for me as they were for my son. Will was disappointed saying he did not know where they had all gone. I was not too bothered as I had a full week. The season was a long one, anyway, approximately 6 weeks.
Through rain and mist, I did make several stalks on antelope. I certainly got within shooting range, but thanks to my Burris Binoculars, I could make a good judgment concerning the antelope.
Later in the evening we spotted a good-sized herd and decided it would be worthwhile to put the sneak on them. It took some walking around hillsides and crawling through sage, but we finally got within good glassing range of about 200 yards. Will was using the spotting scope; I was using my Burris Binoculars. I was just disappointed as I did not see anything worthwhile even with the 1/2 dozen bucks in the herd of 30 or so antelope. All of a sudden, it seemed to me, Will was screaming, "Shoot that one, Dad, shoot him, before he runs!" I looked at him, confused, as I did not see one worth shooting. He then pointed, a little quieter thankfully, to the extreme right of the herd. I then saw 2 antelope immediately. There was a doe with a good buck standing out about 200 yards. I threw up the binoculars and could see this was a different buck. He had a wide spread and was heavy. Not time for much thinking here and I got my rifle up on some sage for a rest and squeezed the trigger. Yep, I heard the bullet hit home! The antelope moved off a few steps, unsteady, and then rested. I shot again as I did not feel the antelope or I was in any need for more exercise that day at that time. This did it and the buck went down. When my son and I walked up to it I was more than happy. This buck had some "character" as my taxidermist says.
Thanks SWFA RifleScopes, you make it easy!
Billy used:
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