As I sit here and pen this story, I reflect on the day I called Huntin’ Fool and Niki answered the phone. I told her my name, and she proceeded to ask if she could assist me. I asked if the winner of the New Mexico elk hunt had been drawn. “Yes!” was the answer I heard. Niki informed me that the winner had been called and informed that he had won. Oh well. However, she told me that not all was lost because there was another New Mexico hunt for antelope in unit 40. That was a three-day hunt for next August. I thought, “Why not?” and bought a few tickets.
I kept my fingers crossed, and sure enough, Niki called the following month to congratulate me on winning the New Mexico antelope hunt. I was speechless! I didn’t believe her, but she reassured me that I had won. Garth Jenson also called to congratulate me on my antelope hunt. He told me that G3 Outfitters would be guiding me, and I spoke to Jay and Spencer many times over the phone about the unit I would be hunting. I informed him that I would probably be driving due to Covid-19. I was not getting on a plane!
August finally arrived, and after preparing, packing, and practicing with two different rifles, I loaded up the truck and drove the 27-hour trip from Wilmington, Delaware to Fort Sumner, New Mexico. I called Spencer with my time of arrival, and he told me a guide would be calling me. As I was getting closer, Jacob Burkett called me and said I should call when I arrived at the motel.
After meeting Jacob, we went looking for my antelope. You’re allowed to scout two days prior for antelope in New Mexico. Being that it was 46,000 acres on three ranches, it was going to be a challenge. Jacob already had two antelope spotted and knew where to find the big guy. We did a lot of glassing and found a few big bucks that I would be happy to hunt in the morning.
I was up early the next morning trying not to get too excited since it was the first day. We had breakfast and brought plenty of snacks. It was a beautiful morning and not too hot. We did a lot of glassing and a lot of driving to different areas of one of the ranches. We chased the buck that we had seen last night, but every time we made a stalk on him, he’d run. We did get in range, and after trying to make a closer stalk for the shot, he saw us and took off. Antelope have awesome eyesight. We ended up not being able to keep up with him and lost him on another ranch. We kept glassing and were able to find a couple more bucks. I passed up two as they were too small.
We were hungry and it was after lunch, so we decided to go back to the ranch and eat. That was the plan until we were driving down the road and happened to spot a nice buck to my right on another ranch we were able to hunt. We glassed and saw that he was a nice big buck only 300 yards away. He started running when he spotted us, so we got back in the truck and headed to cut him off and try to get closer. The road made a right turn and there was a gate that was locked and Jacob didn’t have a key. I grabbed the Tikka .243 and ran down to the gate. I waited for the buck to get closer for a better look. He was a shooter and just under 300 yards away. He was walking right to us, not seeing us because we were hiding behind the fence. Finally, at 200 yards, Jacob whistled and I squeezed the trigger, sending a 95 grain classic Berger.
We were jumping, yelling, and looking at each other, saying, “What just happened?” Looking at my downed buck, it couldn’t have taken five minutes. To think we were going back for lunch! We took a few pictures and had to carry him back to the truck as there was no key to unlock the gate. We didn’t care.
Back at the ranch, one of the other guides scored the buck at 77 1/2" B&C with 15 1/2" horns. Out of eight hunters, I took the third biggest buck. I had a fantastic time! G3 Outfitters and my guide, Jacob Burkett, did awesome finding me a great antelope. I made new friends and memories to last. Everyone was very nice, and I would highly recommend G3 Outfitters. New Mexico is a great place to hunt and make memories!
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