September of 2004, we were about to embark on our yearly hunting trip.  This was going to be a combination elk and antelope trip.  We were going in the rut and using archery equipment.  We packed the suburban and made our way from Virginia all the way to Saratoga, Wyoming.  We loved every mile of that road trip, the excitement the whole way makes the trip fly by.  This hunt was going to be in a tent camp, something that I had never done before; we had always stayed in lodges or peoples' homes.  I was excited though; I don't mind roughing it.  We arrived at camp, and got settled into our tent. Our wood stove was already stoked and it was warm in our tent.  I was happy because it was snowing and cold outside and I needed a place to get warm.   We organized our gear for the next morning, and met the other hunters that evening around a huge campfire.  We had a wonderful supper, and headed to bed.  It was hard to sleep that night, as it always seems to be the first night of any hunt.

Our agenda for the first day was elk hunt in the morning and antelope hunting during the mid-day.  This ranch had an abundance of water on it, so popping a blind up and waiting near a water hole was pointless.  You could end up waiting all day to see nothing.  The outfitter suggested that we spot and stalk the antelope thinking our chances would be greater.  This ranch was about 150,000 private acres, so there was no pressure on these antelope, so they were not as spooky as public land antelope.  Don’t get me wrong they were no pushovers, but they would not run 100 miles per hour at the sight of your truck.  The first two days of our hunt it was strictly archery season, and then on the third day, rifle season opened.  So we knew that if we just couldn’t manage to get it done with our bows, then the rifle was always an option.  My feeling was archery:do or die.  I was not willing to succumb to the gun; I wanted it badly with my bow!

On the first day, after the morning's elk hunt, we spotted an antelope; he looked nice. Brent just happened to be the one in the right position to stalk him; he jumped out of the truck and ran over the hill, hoping the antelope would stop and offer a shot. I stayed back with our outfitter. Brent shot and he was down!  One down, one to go.  That seemed pretty easy!

The first day came to an end, and I was really excited for day number two since it was my turn to antelope hunt!  I spotted a solitary male and I decided to try a pop-up decoy and then we would crawl on our hands and knees and try to get within bow range for a shot.  We were doing awesome, my knees were killing me but I was making tracks and we were getting close!  We managed to get about 75 yards from him before he spooked. Bummer!  I was not going to quit so we rode around looking for more prospects. I wanted to hopefully get one that would make the book, so we were looking for one about 13 inches.

We made our way over the ranch roads, and we suddenly came up on a lone male again. We stopped the truck, and I eased out with Brent.  The antelope was paying no attention to us.  He was just slowly walking away from us. I pulled back my bow as Brent ranged it for me.  I had four pins on my sight, 20, 30, 40, and 50.  Brent ranged him at 50 yards, and he was still walking away, by the time I got my pin settled on him he was 55 yards.  We had been shooting to 60 yards at home, so I was pretty confident!  I held my 50 yard pin on the top of his back, actually about 3 inches over his back and I released.  By the time my arrow reached the antelope, I could have had a cup of coffee.  Just kidding, it just seemed like forever, when it finally reached him; it passed all the way through!   We made our way over to him and there lay my antelope!   I was so happy, he was beautiful!

He officially scored 67 2/8 Pope & Young.  That was good enough for me! We saw several hundred antelope that week and I'm sure I could have had me a 16 incher that would have scored more, but I was determined to do it with my bow and not my gun!

We elk hunted the rest of the week, and had a fabulous time.  I did not harvest an elk, but my antelope dreams had been fulfilled!