This hunt started the fall off in style with this heavy-horned, public land, do-it-yourself Wyoming antelope. After passing up a couple of border-line Pope & Young bucks, I spot and stalked this dude last night and hammered him on film with a beautiful arrow pushed by 78 ft lbs of bone-crushing kinetic energy, which is especially devastating when led by a wicked, razor sharp broadhead. This gnarly buck ("Antelope Camp" mate Guy Eastman marveled at the size of the old boy's head) surprised us as he was knocked clean off of his feet like he'd stepped on a patch of ice, with the impact of the arrow.
I was impressed, especially considering that I had similar results on my spring bear in Alaska. I tell you what, my bow, arrow and broadhead combo is killing it --nasty, hard-hitting and insanely accurate. You can be rest assured, my hard-earned confidence from a summer of working obsessively toward bowhunting perfection is peaking as we head toward September...it is Showtime and I am pumped. Yes, I love bowhunting!!!
Incidentally, this buck, the fourth Pope & Young caliber antelope I have spot and stalked on film, is my best ever. A little known fact...I have spot and stalked every antelope I've killed, which is not really the norm with a bow. Most guys sit water to find bowhunting success on eagle-eyed and cat-quick pronghorn. I not only lack the patience to be a good waterhole sitter, but more than anything, I love the art of spot and stalk. It is one of bowhunting's ultimate tests. While this guy is not my tallest buck, with all the mass, he will score very well. Mass trumps length nearly every time when scoring antelope.
As with any successful spot and stalk hunt captured for TV I gotta give a lot of credit to the man behind the camera, in this case Perry Knetter. This was not only the fist time I've had a chance to hunt with Perry, but also the very first time I'd ever met him. I can't say enough good about ol' Uncle Pear. A quality guy, who was more than willing to crawl through cactus, brush and over the knee banging rocks of the sun-drenched Wyoming desert.
Stalk after stalk I would look back to see a big smile on Perry's face as sweat beaded on his brow and rolled down his cheeks. We worked our tails off in the searing heat and had a blast the entire time. Great cameraman...I can't wait to see what Eastmans' TV guru Nate Simmons and his production team does with the footage. BTW...Nate anchored his first ever antelope, a nice P&Y class buck from a strategically located blind on a waterhole. The cool part...he filmed himself kill it and better yet, the buck piled up in view. Nice work Natron.
I have been real lucky on all my antelope hunts for Eastmans'. From Guy to Nate to Perry we have teamed up to capture some memorable hunts on film featuring one of the toughest spot and stalk animals of all time. Thanks guys!!! To watch some intense spot and stalk antelope bowhunting try to get a hold of Eastmans' Bowhunting Volume I or EBV II, which chronicled my first two hunts or tune in to Outdoor Channel and catch the new stuff on Eastmans'
Hunting TV.
Interested in setting up your own do-it-yourself antelope hunt? Keep an eye out on www.eastmans.com for Mike Eastman's upcoming book, which will cover this topic in detail. There is little doubt Mike's work is sure to be a best-seller...he has been hunting antelope longer than I have been alive!!!
Keep hunting hard, Cam
90 comments
DUDE,
You are a STUD!! I need some help with a different issue. I’ve met you before twice now in Denver at the ISE Shows. My wife bought me a shirt from you guys and the word “quitting” is spelled wrong. She dogs you every time I wear it.
How many shirts were made like this? I’ve seen guys wear theirs and the word is spelled correctly. It’s become a little joke of ours.
Keep up the hard work and I hope you all the rewards on your Sheep hunt. I’m trying for a ewe hunt next year here in Colorado. Thanks for being one of my Heroes and Motivators!!!
Congrats to all of you on your Pronghorn hunt!! Here in AZ I’m 6 years running without an archery speed goat tag. ;o( Think I need to pull the money together for a Wyoming hunt judging from the quality of Antelope you have out there. Take care!!
Bravo
Nice speed-goat cam. How far of a shot was it?
Nick
That is a great animal and a great story. I cant wait till I can get a antelop tag and go shoot me one just like that.
Jeff
Great job Cam! That is truly the ultimate bowhunting challenge. Keep up the good work. See ya on the trail.