2019 Crossbow Buck.

I woke up at 4 AM to excited to sleep. While watching ESPN I wrote this story in my brain. Around 7 AM I started to put it on the computer screen.

October 20 was going to be the first day I was going to sit in the blind with my crossbow for deer season. I guess there have been quite a few reasons why this was the first day. Usually I sit a couple times a week, throughout the season. But this year the bugs were just horrible during the early season. The last couple years I have waited for a frost to get out just to get rid of the annoying real North Dakota state bird, the mosquito. My apologies to any meadowlarks reading this. Of course this year when we got our first real good frost it came with 10+ inches of snow. That was nice. My blind where I wanted to go hunting was a complete mess. The snow, mud and trees that were down made it impossible for me to get to the blind for at least a week. Another excuse was my trip out west chasing speed goats.

So anyway, this Sunday was going to be the first day of my bow season. The wind had been out of the east or southeast for the last handful of days. The wind finally switched to the north around noon on the 20th. I got in the chair around 3:30 PM and got all my stuff ready for the hunt. That includes my crossbow, arrows, lubricant for crossbow rail, Mossy Oak camouflage clothing and deer tag. Around 4:30 PM I started to get dressed and got my crossbow attached to my chair. My Dad cocked my Carbon Express Intercept crossbow and I headed out to my blind which is 80 yards from my bedroom.

I forgot to mention earlier that it started raining about noon on this day. It was a light rain but it was steady. When I got outside I knew how steady the rain was. It was going to be a soaker. I could feel my tires sinking in on the gravel as I was making my way to the shop. As I got onto the lawn north of the shop the ground was greasy. My path through the trees was slime. But I was hunting and I didn't care. I was excited.

I had my dad place the arrow in my crossbow, then he lifted the pop-up blind up on the front end and I backed in to get situated making sure I could see what I needed to see in front of me. I had him take the safety off and told him everything was good. As he took off I looked around and wondered why I hadn't done this earlier this year. I love this stuff. It makes me happy in the facial region.

My blind is situated between two shelter belts. The old shelter belt that was planted around the farmstead is to my back. In front of me is the newer belt. There is about 10 yards in between the two belts and I sit on the south side of this gap aiming north, northwest. By the time I got everything situated I think it was around 5 PM. Sunset on this day was 6:35 PM. So it was going to be a short sit but I knew most of the deer that come through here show up within that last golden hour of light.

For the first 45 minutes I was entertained by a handful of protective blue jays and a couple of mad squirrels. They were all making noise. The blue jays were squawking and the squirrels were barking. It was entertaining. The only thing besides them that was constant was the noise was the rain on the roof of my pop-up blind. I thought to myself if I shoot a deer tonight I hope it is a quick tracking job because this rain is going to wash all of the evidence away.

At 5:45 PM I looked to my west, where the deer usually come from and noticed some movement. It was a doe. She was alone. As she got closer I recognized her. She is an older doe. Probably four or five years old. She is on my trail camera a lot. Pretty much daily and yearly. The trail camera is 15 feet to my west and it is aiming north. This is the first year that she has not had a fawn with her. I imagine the stinking coyotes must've taken her offspring. She was in front of me no more than 10 yards away for at least 15 minutes. I just love bow hunting. This is my addiction. Not many people get that close to a wild animal. She had no clue I was there. Her ears would perk up every once in a while but that was for the squawking blue jays for the barking squirrels. The wind was in my face and I knew if I could pass detection from this old doe, I would pass detection from every other deer that came by.

As she turned around she walked back to the west, angled into the old shelter belt and went to her regular bedding spot. I wonder how many times I have gone past her without noticing her or without her busting out. As she disappeared into the trees the rain started to come down harder. It was almost deafening inside the blind. But I was nice and toasty wrapped in my Mossy Oak apparel. The 45° temperature and wind wasn't bothering me at all.

The rain started to let up around 6:35 PM, right at sunset. I knew if I was going to see a buck it was going to be in the next half-hour. They are pretty much like clockwork around this area, at this time of day. They don't show up until that last golden half-hour.

Wouldn't you know it, less than 5 minutes later as I was looking around I noticed some antlers coming from over the top of the cottonwood saplings to my left. It was a doozy of a buck. I could tell it was big. He was coming from the west in between the two shelter belts headed right towards me. He was coming straight east and I knew he was one of the doozies I had on camera. My mind was racing. It was shocking to me that this was actually happening the first night I sat. I just needed him to stop. And he did. He stood right where I wanted him to. He put his head down for a while and then brought it up. He was comfortable. He had no clue I was there. He put his head down one more time and then brought it up looking to the east. By this time I had my crossbow scope lined up on his vitals just waiting for him to give me the right opportunity for the perfect shot. He was less than 10 yards away. As I looked through my scope, I raised my right hand and pulled back on the trigger. I heard a big crack. He jumped high. He went directly northeast into the new belt which was north of us. He actually crashed and broke branches making a new path through the jungle of branches. He made so much noise I actually thought that he expired and crashed in that little belt. I couldn't believe what just happened. I had to collect myself. I waited like a total of one minute and I called Don B. He says, "Hello?" In a quizzical, questioning voice. He usually knows if I call at this time when I am hunting it is for a tracking job. He said he would be right out and I told him that our friend T-rav said he was available to help track if needed. Don B said he would give him a call and they would head out. The next call I made was to the house. My Mom answered and I asked her to bring out some water and a flashlight. She says, "Why?" I said, "Because I think I just killed Mr. Big!"

When she got out to the blind she raised the front end of it and I drove out. I had her set the mug of water on my tray and I slurped it down. We went to the kill spot and looked for blood but didn't find any. I decided to head back to the shop to try and stay dry while we waited for my tracking crew. As we were waiting we could hear the rain coming down harder on the metal roof. I thought to myself this isn't good, this hard rain is going to wash away all of the blood that we need to track. Tracking is a skill. Some are good at it and some say they are. Don B and T-rav are about the best there is. They have helped in other situations. I met them outside the shop and I brought them to the kill site. They asked which way he was facing and I re-created the scene as the rain was drenching us. There was no blood where he was standing. But I looked to where he crashed through the trees and you could see fresh broken limbs. Right below some of the broken limbs T-rav found some blood. Not very much, just a couple drops he said as we could hear a pack of coyotes howling to the east. They were both searching and every once in a while I would hear them say, "Found some, found some more, here's a good spot of blood." But it was still pretty sporadic. I was getting nervous as I couldn't hear them anymore because of the pounding rain. I decided to go back to the shop and wait for their call. As I was headed back I could hear the coyotes again. Them jerks. I knew if we didn't find this deer tonight they would have him eaten up in a heartbeat.

When I got in the shop I tilted back in my chair as I listened to the rain on the metal roof. My guts were in a knot. I kept thinking to myself, I thought I made a perfect shot. I can't believe he could have gone that far. I was probably tilted back for about 8 minutes when I noticed my phone had a text message on it. I clicked on the message and a picture of a dead buck in a soybean field was on the screen. The message said from Don B, "Is this the one?" I replied back, "Probably!"

I couldn't believe it. This whole thing just happened. I got out of the shop and made my way the 30 or 40 yards north of the building to the kill spot to meet them. When I got out there I didn't see any flashlights or anything. I just heard a lot of grunting and giggling as they were pulling him through the still standing soybean field. I thought to myself, man he must've went along ways. A lot longer than I thought he could have. It was pretty much a broadside shot. His backside was a little farther away than his front but you can't ask for perfect every time. A little quartering away. As they were trying to find a way through the belt my mom showed them my path I use when I am checking for sign throughout the year. Once they got to that it was easier going. When they dropped him in front of me I was in awe. Holy Shinto. 

I shoot 20 inch arrows.

Don B said, "Congrats!" T-rav said excitedly, "What a pig!" We all couldn't believe how big his body was. His neck was just swollen. He was in pre-rut, hard. I couldn't believe how old he looked. He is an old bruiser. I recognized him as soon as they laid him in front of me. He has been on my cameras numerous times throughout the year. The sight of this beast lying in front of me was just awesome. It did not suck.

As we were admiring Mr. Big we looked at the shot placement. The shot wasn't too high, it wasn't too low and I wasn't too far back. It was a perfect double lung pass through. I then said, "I can't believe he went that far. How far do you think he went?" Don B said that he almost made it to the other belt to the north. I couldn't believe it. I thought that had to at least be 120 yards. But they explained once they got out of the little belt the blood trail was easy in the soybeans. It was shooting on both sides. Then T-rav looks down at his phone and says, "I have the blood spots mapped out on my on-X app on my phone." From kill site to where he laid it was 146 yards. Holy shinto that is a long ways to go with a complete pass through. The will to survive is strong with deer.

Use the code "mossyoak" to get 20% off your OnX membership.

Before we drug him to the pickup, Don B explained we should look for the arrow. I thought to myself we are never going to find that arrow. It is dark, it is wet and I would have a lot better chance finding it in the morning with some daylight. Right when I was about to turn around and leave Don B says, "Here it is!" It wasn't 3 yards from the kill site. Neat.

We then took a bunch of pictures, loaded it in the back of Don B's pickup and we headed to Maple Valley Meats. We used his pickup because mine still has a bunch of crap in it from my West River goat hunting trip. That reminds me I should clean that out sometime. After we got everything settled in the locker we went to the Spare Time for a couple stiff ones. We were all wore out and decided to make it an early night. I was home in bed by 10:15 PM. What a night it was though. I will never forget it.

I can't thank Don B and T-rav enough for the tracking and gut job. Better friends a guy could not ask for. Within 20 minutes from my call they were at the farmstead from town ready and willing to track in the rain. I later learned that they walked through water up to their knees. They were pretty much on their hands and knees looking for blood in the beginning. They were both drenched and full of mud. Thanks my friends. I am indebted. The Miller Lite is on me.

I want to thank Dad for helping and Mom for putting up with me and my hunting obsession. The tires on my chair are always full of mud and debris in the fall. It's a full-time job cleaning up after me. I suck.

I also want to thank Tito for coming out about a week ago after the snow melted to clear my path which was inundated by fallen trees and limbs. He brought out his chainsaw and went to work. He also took off 20 or 30 pounds of snow from my collapsed roof on my pop-up blind. I still can't believe that thing didn't get destroyed in the storm.

Tonight we will eat deer heart to honor the fallen. Thanks everybody who does what they do to let me do what I do. You all don't suck.

Thanks for reading, Clint.

Rediscovering myself and stuff.

Some people are lucky to find out what they are good at. Some people never find that out. Some people find it and it gets taken away. It sucks finding something new you are good at. But if you can rediscover yourself it might be better than the first you.

Before my injury I used to play piano. I wasn't very good but I didn't suck. I love everything about music and all kinds. After my injury music is sometimes the only thing that helps. I bought a harmonica and one of those braces that will let me use it without my hands. Now I need to learn, again.

Before my injury I used to play a lot of baseball. I watched a lot of baseball. After my injury I became a coach. It's scary to think I was in charge of 13-15-year-olds. But they learned stuff and things, plus some baseball.

Before my injury I used to do a lot of teenage things. You know the stuff. Some good and some not so good. After my injury I still like shenanigans. Some good and some really not so good.

Before my injury I wasn't in choir. After my injury I sing karaoke, in front of people. What's that all about? I was even on the karaoke circuit for a while. It doesn't pay well.

Before my injury I used to help around the farm doing a little bit of everything. I helped at our home place and my uncles places. After my injury I like to help out where I can. It is miniscule. I would like to do more.

Before my injury I was shy. After my injury Morgan has taking care of that affliction.

Before my injury I used to like to cook and eat. I wasn't a grand master chef but I could get the job done and it tasted not sucky. After my injury I still like to eat but now it is a different experience. I like going out to new restaurants and trying different flavors. I like looking at recipes and stuff.

Before my injury I would have never gone to college. After my injury I graduated from North Dakota State University. I still can't believe I did it. Geesh.

Before my injury I didn't know a lot of people. After my injury I know a lot of awesome people.

Before my injury I didn't do that much hunting. I only did one season with rifle and bow for whitetail, plus one season of upland game.  After my injury hunting has taken me to a lot of great places and taught me a lot of valuable stuff and things. I probably go hunting more than the average able-bodied person. That doesn't suck.

Before my injury I liked to fish. Although I didn't fish that much. After my injury I love to fish. I will fish anywhere for anything at any time.

Before my injury and after my injury is not the same, but it's kind of not different either… There is another Clintism for you.

Thanks for reading, Clint.

2019 The Year of the Goat

The last time I hunted antelope in North Dakota was 2009. That year I went with some friends and tried to get one with my crossbow west of New England. I had no luck. The weather sucked. My pop-up blind actually blew over on me while my friends were warm and toasty in a local watering hole. Good times. That was the first time that I actually hunted somewhere other than southeast North Dakota. I was hooked. There is something about hunting new territory that makes it that much more special. But I digress.

As most of you know we had quite a few sucky winters so the antelope season was canceled for I believe four years. The winters from 2008-10 really took a toll on the number of animals in western North Dakota. It took a while for them to rebound to get back to a huntable number. The antelope season opened back up in 2014. When the seasons opened up again I started applying for a tag. I believe it took me five years and five points to receive a tag. 2019 was my year.

I applied for the unit I knew I would have the best chance of knowing landowners. My friends and their relatives either live in this unit or right next to it. There were only 50 tags available in the unit I applied for and probably three quarters of those tags went to landowners. I played the reverse psychology and applied for this unit thinking not many other non-landowners would apply. My theory worked, at least this time.

My buddy Lucas and his wife Jaime live just a quarter-mile into South Dakota just south of this unit. I wanted to get out there all summer but decided to wait to see if I would either get a South Dakota mule deer or antelope tag or a North Dakota antelope tag. Luckily my plan worked and I drew a tag. So Lucas graciously said that I could stay at his place during the hunt. So Lucas and Jaime's cousin JP hooked up the ramp for me to get into their house. He and Jaime also took off a couple days of work to help with the hunt and Luke was going to be my personal guide. They are the definition of awesome friends. I am indebted. I brought them some Maple Valley Meats bacon and pork chops plus some of my deer sausage I had made at the locker but they deserve much more.

The season always starts on a Friday at noon. In 2019 it started on October 4 at 11 AM because I was in Mountain Time zone. I decided to head out on October 2 to get there at least a day early to do some scouting before the season open. It was a good thing we took off early. We left on that Wednesday and headed west for the 6 hour road trip. We were making good time with the wind to our back heading down I 94. It started raining around Bismarck and then that rain turned to snow around New Salem. The snow got heavy and wet by Richardton. By this time my mom's knuckles were white. She is a chicken shit when it comes to driving in any weather. So we made the decision to get a room in Dickinson and head to my friends south of Scranton in the morning.

When we left in the morning the fog was thick. We couldn't see much of anything besides the lines on the road heading south from Dickinson. By the time we hit New England the fog was starting to lift and the sun was peeking through. There were still signs of snow from the night before but it was melting quickly. We saw the first antelope just west of New England by the Big Muddy Butte. This was just west of where I hunted in 2009.

My friends live just in to South Dakota south of Scranton on the Stateline Road. This area has gotten a lot of moisture this year. They are not used to it. There is water standing in places that they have never seen it. My friend Lucas told me to call him when we got through Scranton and he would meet us on the Stateline Road because the gravel roads sucked. He knew my mom didn't like mud. It was a good thing he met us. It was like a Baja. Mud runs around here have nothing on the roads out there.

I believe we got to their house around 10:30 AM. We got all of the stuff out of the pickup, settled into our rooms and I tilted back in my chair for my allotted ten minutes per hour. After I was done tilting Luke and I decided to do some scouting. The roads were sloppy but we were able to get around with my 2017 GMC Sierra 2500 4 x 4. It didn't take us long to find some antelope. The best part about it was it was on land that I could hunt. There were actually no posted signs on this stuff so it was open for everyone to hunt. We put on quite a few miles when Lucas decided to call up one of his friends and landowners to see if he wanted to scout with us. His name is Eddie. He is neat. He hopped in the back seat and we took off from his house. He showed us quite a few locations where we could hunt, he also called landowners and asked them permission for us. Eddie and his wife Rauna are good people.

After driving around for about three or four hours we figured we had enough intel to go into tomorrow with a good plan of attack. The amount of land and the number of animals on those pieces of land that was available for me to hunt was unbelievable. When we got back Luke and Jaime's house it was time for me to lie down for a couple hours. I am still on time limit for being in the chair and I knew that night was going to be long. You see they were throwing a going away party for one of their friends who was going back to the East Coast after a couple weeks vacation back home in the Scranton area. People started coming to the house around 5:30 PM. I was visited in my room while I was lying down by two of the youngsters. Evidently the Wii is in the room I was staying and I was on their turf. They were neat.

It was a grand party. There was enough food for thrashers. Seven layer dip, chicken drummies, garlic toast, zucchini bars, pickles, meats plus a lot of others that I am forgetting. The libations were flowing and the laughs were plenty. It was a great time. It was a great bunch of people. About the time I thought about going to bed someone said we should all play Heads Up. It is kind of like charades. I sucked. But it was entertaining. I think I went to bed around midnight. I was a good boy. The others partied until around 2 AM. I was glad I went to bed early. Because I woke up early thinking about the days hunt.

I got in the chair around 9:30 AM, had some seven layer taco dip for breakfast and Lucas and I got ready to head out. Doing the night I could hear that the wind had picked up. It was fuck windy. I believe the winds were around 25 mph gusting over 30. The wind was out of the southeast on that Friday opener. We were on our way over to pick up Eddie with his antelope decoy when we spotted some different antelope on the way. The good thing was it was on Eddie's land with some school land right next to it.

We made it down a mile long grass prairie road below a big hill in the pickup before we made our plan. Eddie would walk a quarter-mile to the south with his decoy and set it up while Lucas and I would work our way to the west hoping that the decoy would entice the buck away from the group of about 15 does. Man it was windy. I had three layers on and I was already starting to get cold only being out of the vehicle for about 20 minutes. As Eddie got to the top of the hill we could see him looking around. Somehow the herd got spooked and took off. It was disappointing but we learned some things right away. Lucas learned how to attach my rifle mount to my chair and attach the trigger to my rifle very quickly. We also learned that the wind sucked.

We hopped back in the pickup and made our way to some more land we knew there were some goats on. The pickup felt like a sauna. It was great. The temperature outside wasn't too cold but 45° with a 30 mph wind bites through a guy. At least the sun was out.

We found another herd that was in the same spot they were the day before. The best part about the land they were on was there was a bunch of alfalfa bales in the field. We could use these to our advantage. The group of goats were of course in the middle of the section on top of a little knoll. They could see forever in any direction pretty much. Our only hope was to come from the east using the bales as a shield from their vision. There was probably close to 20 animals in this group. That is a lot of eyes to not get spotted by. This herd had been not moving all day but they were starting to work their way to the east. We just needed to intercept them with my .243.

We made a plan and we set it into motion. Lucas drove into the ditch and found a spot where it was nice and level so that I could get out of the pickup easily with the wheelchair in the soft conditions. When Lucas was attaching all of my gear to my wheelchair, Eddie hopped in my pickup and headed north so the antelope wouldn't have their attention on Lucas and me. It worked perfectly. They had no clue there was a lucky boy in a wheelchair waiting to ambush them. We just needed to get into a good location behind a bale before they came over the hill. And we did.

The first time the 13 inch buck came cresting the hill he was skylined. He was beautiful but I didn't take that shot because I didn't know what was on the other side of the hill. He was just over 200 yards when he was coming over the hill broadside. It would have been a perfect shot if there was a backstop because I have my rifle zeroed in at 200 yards. As he moved farther south and gave me a backstop for my bullet, he kept going in and out of the other antelope. No clean shot. They were continuously moving south and soon they were all going into a saddle and out of sight. I looked over at Lucas and he said, "Do you think we can make it over to that other bale before they can see us?" I said, "Let's do it." So Luke grabbed my rifle and rifle mount and I kicked my motorized scooter into high gear across the alfalfa field looking out for badger holes and gopher mounds on the way.

I couldn't believe we made it to the alfalfa bale that we needed to get to before they could get to where they could see us. As soon as we got into position Luke replaced my rifle cradle and rifle into my rifle mount that attaches to my chair and took off the safety. It worked perfectly. First a couple does walked by then I could see two distinct 13 inch black horns appearing through the alfalfa stubble. He took a few more steps and he was perfectly broadside at 100 yards. I lined up my scope a little behind the shoulder as he was facing south and I pulled on the trigger. Nothing happened. There was no bang. I looked down at Lucas who was sitting behind the bale to my right and he looked at me with a confused look. I looked back down at my trigger and pushed it forward to pull it back again. I lined up on the buck one more time and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened again. Lucas got up and jacked the action open and the bullet was still in the chamber. He grabbed the rifle from the cradle and got the bullet out of the chamber. He then punched the magazine back into the rifle and jacked in another bullet. By this time the herd was another 50 yards to the south. By the time we got the rifle strapped in they were trotting at around 200 yards now heading east as I was looking south. By the time I got my scope on him he was at 300 yards and starting to run. I had him in my scope so I pulled the trigger but it was a clean miss. That reminds me of this Clintism: "A bad hit is a lot worse than a clean miss."

I had our target buck in my scope at least three different times within a half hour or so and couldn't close the deal. I thought to myself, what just happened. I had the perfect shot at 100 yards and my rifle did not fire. After years of waiting I had a perfect 100 yard shot and my rifle failed me. Frustration set in and there was some F bombs flying from both of us. Was it the bullet or was my action on my rifle not all the way shut. I probably shouldn't have taken that 300 yard running shot but it was mostly in frustration that I let it fly. Not a very good excuse. But at least it was a clean miss. The whole herd ran to the east onto some land that I did not have permission to hunt. By this time Eddie, who was about a half-mile away watching with his binoculars was pulling up beside us. He was wondering what went wrong. He thought maybe he spooked them by pulling up in the pickup too quick. I assured him it had nothing to do with him. It was all me and my equipment. I know I heard that action slam shut. But my Remington model 7400 failed me. That sucked.

After talking about what happened we drove around for a little bit more and dropped Eddie off back at his house. I think we were all frustrated. I know I was. But we were not deterred. We checked out some more spots on the way back to the house and devised a couple more plans for the next day. Lucas made a feast that night. Stuffed pork chops, baked potatoes and creamed corn. I was almost too full not to have a cocktail. But I choked a couple down. We actually went to bed early that night. I was whupped.

There was a chance of rain overnight and wouldn't you know it I started to hear it starting to rain around 2 AM. It rained for quite a while as I could hear it pounding on my north window. This rain was not needed. It was not a good thing. Luke knew that we were not going to be able to go to places that we needed to. Knowing this we were not to motivated to get out too early. But I think we were on the sloppy muddy roads before 9 AM. The Stateline Road which is usually good was completely crap. We hopped on the highway headed toward Scranton and then jumped off on another so-called gravel road. The roads would've been better but they decided to grade them on Friday afternoon. This made them really really soft. It was a quagmire. I remember we wanted to turn north to check out a couple groups of goats we had seen and I knew this road wasn't going to be good. This road had two big hills and was minimal maintenance. Or at least it looked like it. I couldn't believe we made it up the first hill. The pickup was of course in four-wheel-drive and we were going pretty much sideways up the hill. The back tires were in the ditch and the front tires were trying to keep us on the road. Once we got to the top I looked at the next hill and I thought this isn't going to be good. But we made it. The mud was flying. It was entertaining. The pickup got a good douching of mud. I also learned on this voyage that the tires on my pickup suck for these type of conditions.

I was glad we went down this road not just for the entertainment. We found another group of antelope but they were in the middle of the section and there was no way to get to them. There was one big boy in this group. Probably 15 incher or so. But he knew he was safe where he was. We also saw quite a few mule deer on this road and we also saw a dandy whitetail buck struggling to run across the wet muddy fields. We knew if the deer were struggling there was no way I was going to be able to get into any of the fields to shoot. The only way I was going to be able to get out of the vehicle somewhere was on a road and that isn't very good idea. The one thing we needed was wind and wouldn't you know it, it was gusting again over 30 mph. Hopefully that would dry things out just enough for it to be doable with my wheelchair in the afternoon.

During our scouting mission in the morning we found the same group that I screwed up on the day before were on the same section of land. The only problem was there was another pickup eyeballing the same group of animals that we were. Only one of two guys had a tag and that was the only guy we saw hunting antelope while we were hunting. We actually saw more grouse hunters. They were older gentleman and we talked to them a little bit the day before. They actually made a move on this group but didn't take any shots. We also checked out some different parcels of land that we had permission to hunt on. We found one huge group closer to Bowman that probably numbered around 40 animals. But this group was surrounded by crap roads and muddy fields. They were a no go. We went into town, got some gasoline and some supplies then headed back to the house to watch the Bison game to let the roads dry out some more.

After the game Jaime decided to come along with us for the afternoon hunt. She said she was going to record the events. It was a good thing she came along not just for the company and photography skills but you will find out why.

We made our way to the same section of land that we tried hunting the day before and that we drove by earlier in the day. Luck was on our side and the group of antelope were in the same general area. They were just a little bit to the west of where they were earlier in the day. But this might work to our advantage. From where they were they couldn't see us if we came from the north on a grass prairie road. This road was wet. The mud was flying and we were going sideways most the time. Good stuff. We made it to about as far as we needed to in order to have a good spot for me to get out of the pickup. Lucas got all my stuff attached to my chair and all three of us started the sneak. Lucas and I were in front and Jaime was in the back recording stuff and things.

We needed to sneak along a fence line for about 200 yards or so. When we got to the spot where we could see them I couldn't get my scope on the buck. He was probably 300 yards out at that time, working his way closer towards the big group of goats. The wind was gusting. I had my scope on him a couple times but with the wind blowing the way it was and him moving constantly I just couldn't get everything lined up to take the shot. We moved closer and got into a better position but I still wasn't able to get everything lined up in time before he was too far away. The good thing was that he caught up with the 15 or so females and the two satellite bucks. It was another failed sneak but well worth it.

We decided to turn back and work our way back to the pickup. I was cold. The wind was howling and evidently my layers of clothing weren't enough. I was making ruts with my wheelchair through the alfalfa field all the way back to the pickup. But somehow I made it. I wish I had 4-dig on my motorized cart. Once we got back to the pickup I had Lucas crank my heat up to high. He was sweating and I was freezing. We made our way back out of the swampy quagmire onto the highway to get a better vantage point of where the group of goats went to. We stopped in an approach and glassed them for a little while. The good thing was that they were going back to the same spot they were the day before but the bad thing was that I was still freezing. Lucas and Jaime convinced me to do one more sneak before we headed back to the house. I was glad they did.

Just some of the ruts I left behind.

We went back to the exact same spot we were the day before. But this time Lucas, Jaime and I were going to make the sneak. We left the pickup in the same spot we parked the day before but this time we were going to leave it there. Lucas got everything attached to my wheelchair and the sneak was on. We probably needed to make the distance of 300 yards without getting seen and for some reason it worked. But it only worked because of teamwork. The field was muddy and I was sinking in with my wheelchair. Lucas had my rifle and rifle cradle in his hands and Jaime pushed my wheelchair. My chair was losing a lot of power trying to maneuver through the soft alfalfa field. But somehow everything worked perfectly and we made it to where we need to be. We went from bale to bale making sure we didn't get busted by one of their wondering beady eyes. I got onto the south side of one of the bales and tried getting the 13 incher in my scope. But it was tough with the wind, females were also in the way and as I was trying to turn my chair in the soft field. Mr. Goat wouldn't stop moving. He kept drifting and drifting. I would whisper to Lucas and he would reach over and pull my chair because my chair was not able to turn. As soon as I would get on him and ready to pull the trigger he would move farther. There was at least another two or three times that I was on him and just couldn't get lined up in time. We were close. We were less than 100 yards from him. It would have been an easy shot if I could've gotten on him. But it didn't happen. Eventually one of the females spotted us and the whole herd took off to the west.

It was discouraging but it was fun. I couldn't believe we got that close to the whole group twice within an hour. They had no clue we were there. Evidently I am like a ninja in my wheelchair. Stealthy is me. We discussed the events that just took place and started our way back to the pickup. Good thing it was downhill, I didn't need to push this time. I gave it the onion and made it back to the pickup in no time. I think it was so windy that it even pushed me. We got everything off of my wheelchair and packed into the pickup. By this time I think my core temperature was below the healthy level. But on our way back we spotted three bucks on land we knew we could hunt so this warmed me up in a hurry.

I knew this was going to be the last chance of the evening. It was maybe the last chance of the weekend to wrap my tag around a horn. Once again we pulled over in an approach and got my rifle rig hooked back onto my wheelchair. There was one problem though, we were close to the landowner’s farmstead and we didn't want to shoot that close. Lucas got on the cell phone and tried getting a hold of him. But there was no dice. He called a couple times and there was no answer. But as luck should have it the animals move farther away from the farmstead. We had Jaime hop in the pickup and distract the goats from our position. As she was driving away we could see another group of at least 30 goats get up from a hayfield and the three that we were looking at joined them. They were gone in a second. The landowner called back later and said that it would have been okay to shoot that close to his place. But I was glad we didn't before we asked.

We got everything loaded back into the pickup for the third or fourth time that day. By this time the sun was getting low so we started heading back to the house. I was beat. Traveling takes a lot out of me and being outside in that cold wind with the fresh air just drains me. They asked if I wanted to go hunting in the morning and I said I would let them know. In my brain I wanted to but my body said no. Hunting in the morning and then a 6 hour road trip home would have been too much.

We had another feast that night. We dined on grilled burgers, Jaime's hash browns and homemade pickles. Of course there were some libations also. Everybody was beat. I think Lucas was snoring in his recliner by 9:30 PM and Jaime retired to their bedroom about the same time. I watched baseball for a bit and texted buddies who also had tags in the unit to the west. When my head hit the pillow about 10:30 PM I think I was instantly KO'd. I was worn out from the two days of hunting and one day of travel.

I woke up to the sound of Lucas in the kitchen. The night before he asked me what I wanted for breakfast. I didn't have anything in particular in mind so he decided to make a biscuit and gravy with pork sausage egg bake. Holy shinto was that good. As I was eating my breakfast I could hear the wind outside howling again. Today, Sunday was the worst wind of the three days. It was a stinging wind. I knew I wasn't going to hunt in that and made the decision that we were going to head home after breakfast.

The whole trip was a grand time. Everything about it was perfect. I can't thank Jaime and Lucas enough for their hospitality and good times. I can't thank Eddie and the other landowners enough for their generosity of letting me hunt on their land. I was treated like a king and I also ate like it. I don't know if I will make back out there to try and punch my tag, but if I don't it won't bother me. Because this hunt was awesome. It was perfect. The old cliché is true. It's about the hunt, it's not about the kill.

I just love that country out there. I love the wide open spaces. We saw a lot of animals and had a great time. I think we saw at least 90 head of antelope within a 20 mile radius. We saw a lot of mule deer and some whitetails. There was also of course a lot of pheasants and plenty of grouse. It's always good to see that much wildlife. Hopefully the storm this weekend doesn't hurt them that bad. I know one thing, I won't be traveling west this weekend.

I have learned some stuff and things about hunting antelope. They are a very skittish animal. They might get spooked and run a mile. But they are also very inquisitive. I have heard stories of them charging a decoy from a long distance away. I think I thought this hunt was going to be easier than it was. The conditions were tough. When I hunted antelope in Wyoming in 2013 with the Helluva Hunt group I was done hunting within an hour of legal shooting time. The first goat I saw with horns was in the shaggin wagon after two shots. But this year's hunt was a lot more rewarding. It was more challenging. I like having to earn it.

Thanks for reading, Clint.

Clintism #42: Failed hunts are palatable because of the knowledge gained and the defeats experienced.