It took four years to draw the coveted Nebraska rifle antelope tag, but my brother, Cody, and my cousin, Clark, were both lucky enough to do so. After four long years of applying, it was finally time to start scouting for the monster bucks Nebraska can produce. I started scouting a couple months before the season and found several shooters in our hunt area. On opening day, it was super foggy and we could not see more than 100 yards, which makes for very tough conditions when it comes to locating antelope. It took until midday before the fog burned off and we finally found our first goat herd. We glassed the herd, but the buck was not with them, so we decided to travel to another ranch in hopes of finding another big buck.
We found a big herd I had scouted a week prior with 1 dominant buck and more than 20 does. We got the wind right and started the stalk. With the lay of the hills, we were lucky enough to stalk within 100 yards, and we just waited for the shot. The big buck came out from behind all the does, as they usually do, and Cody made a perfect shot to put the old buck down. He was a great mid 70s buck and my brother's first antelope! After pictures and field dressing Cody’s buck, we headed back to the ranch we had hunted earlier in the day in hopes of finding the other shooter I had scouted.
The wind had really picked up, and we had trouble finding the herd. Late afternoon, I finally spotted them from about a mile out from a large hilltop. We were able to stalk to 200 yards, and the herd had no idea we were there. We set up for the shot on the herd buck and waited for him to turn broadside. I just knew it was about to happen, but as antelope always do, they surprise you. All of a sudden, the whole herd blew out and ran out of range and out of sight for no reason. I couldn’t believe it. Just when you think you have everything perfect, the game changes and you have to adapt to unexpected events.
We came back the next morning and luckily found the same herd as the day before. The herd buck walked right out in front of us, and Clark made a perfect shot to put the giant buck down. This buck was easily Boone and Crockett. When scouting, I knew he was big, but we had no idea just how big he was. He gross scored over 82" with over 7" cutters. Our antelope hunt was complete.
Now that our antelope hunt was over, my brother had an archery mule deer tag in his pocket, so we headed to a ranch where we had shot several big bucks in the past. It was mid-morning by the time we reached the ranch, and all of the deer were already bedded. I knew several hot spots where the deer liked to lay, so we just took off on a blind stalk in hopes of finding a shooter. After several hours of searching with only does and young bucks spotted, I decided to call it a day. We were on our way out of the ranch and drove by an old set of cattle corrals. As we drove by, to my amazement, I noticed several big racks sticking up out of the grass inside the corrals. We drove out of sight and stalked back in hopes of getting close enough for a shot. There was a big hill just south of the corrals, and we were able to get within only 30 yards from the deer. They were on alert as we had just driven by them, so they were all standing and looking in our direction. I knew we were going to have to make this quick, so I called out the range to Cody and told him the buck I thought was best out of the bachelor group. Cody locked down and made a great shot right through the chest of the buck, and he didn’t go far.
As we walked up to the big boy, I immediately noticed one side of his rack was much different from the other. He had injured the base of his antler on one side, and if both sides had matched, he would have been a 180 class mulie! Nevertheless, he was an impressive buck and Cody’s first buck with a crossbow.
In just a weekend, we had harvested two exceptional antelope and a beast of a mule deer. The Sandhills of Nebraska did not disappoint! It is truly a magnificent place.
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