members (crs, Jim, Jeff) arrived in Clayton NM about 4 PM Friday August 22 and stopped at the Knotts sporting goods store where Flagg Taxidermy had set up their reefer. Every year, Flagg collects a load of Antelope at Clayton and Cimarron and hauls them back to Dallas for processing and taxidermy. This is a wonderful convenience for hunters from the DFW area as all you have to do is field dress your game and drop it off with Flagg. When the meat and/or taxidermy is ready, they will call you to come pick it up.
We bummed a beer from our friends at Flagg (also DWWC members) while we visited, bought some steaks and such at the nearby market, and drove on west to DesMoines, where the Amisdad Ranch is located at the base of Sierra Grande, the largest free-standing mountain is the US. Jim had stopped at the ranch HQ a month previous to meet the folks and finalize arrangements, so he was able to introduce Jeff and me to the ranch foreman, Vic Ogle, and his charming wife, Marla.
For an idea of the ranch location and terrain, check out this link to the Mandala Center which is located on the ranch only 400 yards uphill from the ranch HQ -
http://www.mandalacenter.org/default.cf ... page_id=79
That evening, we did the usual whiskey, cigars, fire ring, grilled steaks and killed off a bottle of Jeffs wine. After great meal in the Ogles dining room and much get acquainted talk and hunt planning, we retired to our cabin (once the ranch HQ building) and crashed.
Next morning, Vic took us out in his big Chevy 4 door, 4 x 4 pickup and we scouted the ranch for game. The heavy rains of the previous two weeks had saved the grass and everything was green,but because of the rain and plentiful food, the antelope were scattered all over the ranch. We did locate a nice buck with two does and Vic thought he and I could use the cover of a small ridge to approach close enough to be within range of my peep sighted 1895 .405 Winchester. It was a good plan, but the does spotted us just before we dropped into the heavy cover, so we blew it off and planned to return later to get that buck with tall wide horns. After some exploring (hunting?) of the foothills, we went back to HQ to meet John, our other guide and an employee of the ranch for over 20 years.
We had a late brunch at the house and then at noon, John and I went in his one ton Dodge 4x4 ranch truck to hunt to the west while Vic took Jeff and Jim back to the east where had seen game that morning. They spotted the wide buck at a more accessable area, so Vic was able to drop Jeff off at a cedar tree and took the truck to where he and I had tried the stalk. This unnerved the buck and he ambled off to within 200 yards of a well hidden Jeff and became our first kill of the day.
Excuse my inept picture, as I did not arrive when the buck was first taken and had to settle for a pic that does not show the horns well. It does show excellent shot placement though.
John and I had glassed from the west end of the property and observed no less than 8 bucks making scrapes and establishing their territories. The rut is due to begin soon and many of the bucks we saw were solitary ones that would only leave their chosen area if they were driven off by hunters. Three riders were working cows from horseback and this made these raunchy bucks nervous but did not make the leave their chosen breeding spots.
Jim joined John and me for some interesting though fruitless hunting while Vic took Jeff and his buck to Flagg in Clayton. Upon their return, they phoned us about two more territorial bucks on the east end of the ranch. After a pow-wow, we decided it was my turn to hide behind a cedar near one of the game trails. John drove his truck between the distant buck and my cedar and I hopped out and set up on the left (fence side) of the cedar tree John drove off just out of sight. Then Vic parked his truck at the entrance gate a half mile away, which made the antelope nervous enough to begin to drift toward me. A doe spooked and trotted past, but the buck just slowly grazed my way. After 30 minutes, he was within 200 yards but drifting to the right and the interior of the large pasture; then he saw John;s parked truck and fed back my way, walking nervously on a course to bring him just where I wanted him. As he walked past the cedar, he was only 30 yards from me, so I put the brass bead on his chest and squeezed off the shot. John was out on the prairie grass and saw the hair fly from the bucks offside. He ran a only a few yards and then dropped.Here he is:
A snap with Vic and his son so I can show off the 1895.
Back at the HQ, Jim grabbed a scotch and cigar and headed for the south patio where he could sit in the evening breeze from Sierra Grande and watch the sunset. John spoiled all this by spotting a nice buck grazing slowly down slope just east of the house. The spotting scope said this was a shooter and Jim was summoned - he said "Nope, I am comfortable and will hunt tomorrow". Then Vic gave Jim his binoculars to see the buck and this convinced him that he really should go shoot this buck. John and I drove up the Mandala Center road to a higher elevation to watch as Vic drove Jim and Jeff north on an intercept course a good ways ahead of the buck which had bedded to rest. The evening sun highlighted the buck as it once again grazed slowly down slope toward the hidden hunter. John watched the action below with his spotting scope and when we heard a shot from Jim's 30-06, he reported that the antelope only lifted its head to see what made the sound. Next, he reported that the buck fell over, just then we heard the second shot. It was getting dark when the pictures were taken and my camera was not in our truck, so I had to wait for someone elses photos the get one of Jim and his heavy horned buck.
Next day, we shot prairie dogs, but that will be chapter two - another post.
And, capable of anything with a capable hunter.
