Spot & Stalk Antelope...the ultimate bowhunting challenge!


















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

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90 comments

Nice buck. You should come out to where I hunt Antelope and try your spot and stalk. The vegetation in the area is about 3 inches tall at the most and completely flat. Forces me to hunt only waterholes. Problem is we got hammered with rain and there are a bunch of new waterholes now. SO I am waiting for it to dry out before I arrow a big buck

Justin Davis

“The ultimate bowhunting challenge!”
Thats understatement. Thanks for sharing you experiences and keep up the hard work.

dorsey

Cam,
Great Buck and mass! Sounds like a great hunt and I can’t wait to see it on film. I am also very excited to get Mike’s new book. My 2800 is packed for elk and mule deer hunting this weekend. Keep us posted on your hunts!

Matthew Burrows

Nice work Cam! I leave for my antelope hunt tomorrow in Eastern Oregon. (Owyhee unit) Hope to nail one down over a waterhole – I don’t have a lot of patience, either, but I do like to read, so I’m hoping to pass the time that way! If not, I may be joining your idea and spot and stalk these animals. You got my blood pumping for the hunt, anyhow!

Tom Sorenson

Awesome story Cam and great pics!! I wouldn’t expect anything less! Get’s the adrenaline goin for the year thats for sure! Well I’ll see ya tomorrow for our flight to Montreal! Gotta be at the airport here at around 3:30 am! Take care and see you in the morning.
Jon

Jon Gabrio

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