Here came a couple of young bucks, after over 100 hours in the blind I was finally going to get my shot. The bucks were headed straight for the water and I got positioned to shoot. The bucks got about 80 yards from me and they just turned and walked off over the hill. I said that’s enough if they aren’t coming to me I am going after them. That is the story my buddy Virgil Larsen told me a couple of days after he got his hard earned trophy. Before we finish the story though, I need to tell you of the events that unfolded beforehand.

August 5th 2008 found my hunting buddies Virgil Larsen, my brother Jeremy and I doing our yearly tradition of putting out our antelope blinds. In Idaho you aren’t allowed to place a blind on public land until 10 days before the opening of the take season. So at daylight we were headed out ready to put them up. We got them set in our normal spots where we had been having good success the last few years. There wasn’t a ton of water, but it looked like enough and things where shaping up to be another good season. We had also gone out and put out a blind for my father in law Evan in another area I had hunted a couple years prior. This was the year we were all going to get our antelope and go 4 for 4. With all of our blinds in good spots all we had to do now was wait 10 days and those antelope were ours, or were they?

The twist

A couple of days after we put the blinds up Jeremy drove out to check on things and look for a few bucks. When he was getting out close to the blinds he started seeing quite a few domestic cows. He drove the whole section and there were cows at all of the water troughs. He got closer to town and called on his cell phone and said “there are cows everywhere and they are tearing the hell out of our blinds.” The next night we drove out and put steel post and barbwire around the blinds to try to keep them back. This was when we started to see the real problem though, there were no antelope around. For the next few days we spotted several times and hadn’t seen a single antelope or even a track for that matter. So with only a few days before the season we decided we had to move or our go without. The cows were constantly bedded around the troughs and the lopes had apparently moved on to find a new area.

I finally decided our regular spot was a bust, so I went out to where Evan was hunting to have a look around. I found some other water wholes that looked good, but there were none isolated out by itself. With water everywhere it was hard to decide where to set up. With only a couple of days before the season I decided I had better just pick a spot and hope for the best. The next day Jeremy moved his blind out in the same area, and although we weren’t thrilled about our situation at least we would be hunting.

Opening morning dawned and it looked to be a beautiful day for antelope hunting. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the forecast called for hot and dry. The antelope were going to be thirsty; I just hoped I was at the right water source. About 9 a.m. I was startled by a young buck. He came in and drank for about 5 minutes and then walked out about 30 yards and lay down. He wasn’t what I wanted so I took a few pictures and just enjoyed the show. I was starting to think I might be in a good spot after all, but he would be the only animal sighting of any kind for the rest of the day. I went back to camp that night and found out I was the only one to see a buck that day. Evan had seen a bunch of does and Jeremy hadn’t seen a thing. I had other commitments so I wouldn’t be able to hunt for a few days. Evan sat all weekend and just kept seeing does. The next week I was working out in that area so I took Evan up on his offer to sit his blind. I knew it was a good spot because I had hunted it in the past. I left work about 3 hours early and finally climbed into the blind about 3:45 p.m. Right off the bat I had a herd of does come in and water. They hung around for a while and then just moved on. A short while later I looked back behind me and saw a nice buck trailing a doe, they went over the hill and I figured they where gone for good. My eyelids where getting heavy and I kept dozing off, but I tried to keep alert. I was looking out the front window and saw a coyote walk right in front of me at about 5 yards. He kept looking up on the hill, so I glanced out the side window and 80 yards out were the buck and the doe from earlier. I knew he was a shooter so I quickly grabbed my X- Force. The water overflows this particular trough and runs for about 40 yards. He stopped at the bottom of the water, but was facing me so I had to wait for a better angle. He suddenly whipped his head up and I thought it was all over, but he slowly just started walking toward me. When he got to about 30 yard he settled down and stopped for another drink. He gave me a good quartering away shot and I hit him perfect. He ran up the hill about 80 yards spun around a couple of times and was down. The season I thought was going to be a bust had turned around in the blink of an eye.

Two days later it was the weekend and Evan headed out for a few days of hunting.  He hadn’t sat very long on his first day of the weekend and had a nice buck come in.  He made a perfect 40 yard shot, and shortly after was standing over his first bow killed antelope. The very next day Jeremy climbed in the same blind that Evan and I had taken ours out of.  Even though we had already taken a couple bucks in a few day period it was the only place getting any action. Finally at around 3 p.m. a really cool looking buck showed up. He came in on a string and Jeremy took his 3rd nice buck in as many years.

100 hot hours

Now we are back to where we started this story. By the 14th of September Virgil had spent over 100 hours in different blinds. He had yet to see a single antelope, but was determined to fill his tag. On this day he said it was hard to drag himself out of bed, but somehow he managed for one more day. He had to go back to work the next day so he was ready to take any buck that gave him a shot. As soon as the bucks went out of site Virgil gathered his things and set off after them. He went up over the hill and spotted the bucks feeding in some tall brush. He used the available cover and had to crawl the last ways to get in for the shot. He ranged the buck at 45 yards and got ready to shoot. The buck gave him a good angle and Virgil thought he hit him perfectly. The buck ran out with blood running down right behind his shoulder. The buck walked a way and looked back still not knowing what had happened. What he did next had him puzzled; he put his head down and started feeding. He fed around for a while and just bedded down like nothing happened. Virgil made a wide circle to get the wind right, and snuck in and put another arrow in him. This one did his job and the buck went down in short order. When he got up to the buck and inspected him he realized that the buck must have jumped the string on his first shot. The arrow had struck right behind the shoulder, but after impact had just went straight up and never entered the chest cavity. Nearest he can tell the buck must of somewhat rolled his body as he tried to duck the arrow. The first shot wouldn’t have got the job done if he wouldn’t have stayed after him. Virgil’s buck wasn’t a monster, but sometimes the trophy is as much the story as the size of the animal. Either way though with a little persistence and luck we had went 4 for 4 in 2008.