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Drawn for Rita Blanca Pronghorn!!

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    #16
    Congrats! Got drawn back in '01. Dropped the camper off in a spot called Thompson Grove. Middle of nowhere and here's a place to set my pop-up. Had some picnic tables and a cement chitter...bout it! No water or electricity hook up that I remember. Went driving around the next morning(opener) to orient myself to the map and huntable ground and made my way in to Dalhart for ice etc. Took the long way back to the "campground" and when I rounded the last corner, late afternoon, headed south on 296, bam!..a small herd within a half mile of my camper! 3 bucks, one good one.. and a dozen or so doe. Parked by the camper, grabbed my gun and took off. Got busted on the first stalk..crawled up on a doe I didn't see. Another long stalk and a couple hrs. later had a 73" goat down! Thought Ize gonna have my first heart attack!lol Helped an older fella hang his and get it on ice a bit later. Said he'd been trying for 20 yrs. to get that tag. I didn't say a dern thing about this being my first ever draw to apply for...and getn picked!
    Best of luck to you! I'd post a pick but I've been a slacker at learning how. Take a small tripod or something...ain't nuthin' to rest a gun on out there!lol
    Also, hopefully you'll tag out pretty quick. Take something to shoot prairie dogs with. Saw several folks doing that. Saw some not too far from where I shot my goat as well. Like stated above, practice some 300+ yard shooting! Have fun!!

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      #17
      Congrats and good luck! The previous post is still correct, no water or electricity available but there is a bathroom in both Thompson Grove and Felt (just across the state line in Oklahoma). There aren't many prairie dogs left as the bubonic plague has decimated most towns but you still could find a few.

      Also, if you have any questions call the Kiowa & Rita Blanca district office in Clayton, NM and specifically ask for the wildlife biologist. She's a pronghorn hunter too.

      Comment


        #18
        Congrats! Good Luck!

        Comment


          #19
          Congrats on a once in a life time hunt! Will be looking forward to following your adventure!

          Comment


            #20
            Congratulations on getting drawn!! Just 27 years?!

            Comment


              #21
              Congrats and good luck! 19 years here.

              Comment


                #22
                Alright, folks! Recap time!

                I left Rockport on Thursday evening, September 30, to head to my folks house in San Marcos. Early Friday morning, October 1, my dad and I started our drive up to the panhandle, and met up with our third hunter, Alan, along the way. 9 hours later we were in Dalhart. We checked into our hotel, then headed out to the Rita Blanca Grasslands to do a little scouting before it got dark.

                It had rained most of the day Friday, so the dirt roads of the area were soup. Both trucks were 4x4 and we needed it. We slopped our way around some of the main roads that evening, and ran across a rancher looking after his cows. We told him why we were there, and he replied that he hadn't seen any pronghorn for the last 2 years! We got a bit discouraged, until we drove another 500 yards and saw 3 looking at us as they ran over a hill. "Rancher Joe" as we started calling him, clearly wasn't watching anything but his cows.

                By the end of our scouting, we had seen a few groups of pronghorn, and a couple of good bucks. We headed back to town to rest before the first day of the hunt.

                Day 1 dawned, cold and bright. We made a plan to go after one of the bucks we saw the night before. We identified the unit we saw them, which was fairly large, and stationed my dad on one corner, while I drove to the center, and Alan planned to drive around on the main road to glass the edges. As I pulled up on the center road, Alan called me and let me know he saw the group with the buck from the main road. He gave me some landmarks to reference, and I started walking that way, roughly 1000 yards from where I parked. I was able to stay behind a slight rise in the field, crouching further down as I walked. Suddenly, I spotted the group on the horizon, much closer than I expected. I dropped to the ground and tried to range them, but they were too far through the grass to get a reading. I started crawling on my belly to get closer. About 150 yards later, I was able to see them more clearly above the rise, and ranged them at 227 yards (much closer than I expected). I set up my gun with my bipod, and some of the does caught my movement. They started skirting around to my north, as the buck ambled along slowly in the same direction.

                My bipod didn't give me quite enough height to see above the grass, so I had to lift my gun to follow the buck as he slowly walked across, nice and broadside to me. Lying prone, with no other rest, I didn't want to try an offhand shot, so I waited longer. The group of does had worked their way around to my north and were looking at me, in profile, at about 100 yards. I was getting worried they were about to spook and blow the whole stalk. The buck finally moved into an area with thinner grass between he and I, and I was able to see him through the scope. I slowly squeezed the trigger, and *click* - the gun did not go off! Knowing I was on the edge of losing this whole thing, I slowly cycled another round into the chamber. By this time the buck had moved more to my left, and my position was bound up. I skootched my body around a bit more, and was able to acquire the buck again. Believing he was still in the 200-yard range, I put the crosshairs behind the shoulder around center mass, and squeezed the trigger. BOOM! Pronghorn down.



                I ranged him once he was down, and he had moved diagonally and was at 98 yards. My gun was zeroed at 200, so I hit him higher than I intended, but he dropped where I shot him. Scoring 74.25", I am thrilled with my first pronghorn!

                While I began the process of skinning and quartering my buck, my dad and Alan decided to go to another unit where we saw a buck the night before. As I was finishing up, I got a call from my dad that he shot a buck! This was still before noon on the first day of the hunt!

                They had driven over close to where this buck was, and used some trees for cover while they glassed. The buck was bedded about 400 yards from the main road, so my dad started there and crept toward a tree about 200 yards from the bedded buck. This was barely a tree, but it gave him cover and a bit of a rest for his gun - the buck was facing the opposite direction. His first shot rolled the buck, however it stood up. Confident the buck was dead on his feet, but not wanting to chance him running off, he cranked off another shot and the buck went down. Unfortunately, that second shot took out the eye, so it wasn't the prettiest of kills.



                Dad was thrilled that this worked out so well. His buck scored 64.75".

                We spent the rest of the day working to find Alan a buck. He and my dad used a cardboard cow decoy to try to stalk a group of nice bucks, however, they kept moving further away, and they were not able to make it work.

                On day 2, Alan decided he wanted to sit in the area they stalked the bucks, so he set up for a long day of sitting. Dad and I, wanting to help him look for other options, drove around and scouted all day. The Rita Blanca is a beautiful area. There is so much wildlife, from tarantulas and tortoises, to birds of prey and songbirds, to antelope all over the place (maybe Rancher Joe needs better glasses). We made note of where we saw nice bucks, and met up with Alan later that day. He had seen a few bucks, but none in range, and he decided to stay put for the evening hunt.

                We decided to change things up on day 3, and go on the offensive. We started driving the roads we had noted the day before as the sun was rising - pronghorn stick out like beacons when they're lit up. We saw bucks from the start, though none in range. We finally came upon a group close to a fence that could provide a bit of cover. Alan dropped down and crawled to the fence, but that group slowly moved away. Another group however, came out to his south and worked their way across a field. Alan was able to use a fence post as a standing rest to take a long shot, but missed his buck completely.

                A bit discouraged, but with all the time in the world to hunt, we decided to drive about a mile or so to where we saw a large group move over a rise. Parked at the base of that rise, Alan crawled up to the top. Bedded about 400 yards away was a nice, big buck. Flattening himself against the ground, he began to ready his gun rest. The buck caught the movement and stood up. Alan had a few paper towels in his pocket, and having heard the pronghorn were curious, started waving them up and down from his position on the ground. The buck started walking toward him! Alan was finally able to get ready and made a 89-yard shot.



                This old buck had a broken tip and was missing a cutter, and still scored 74.25". Heck of a buck for Alan!

                Folks, this was a hunting trip like no other I'd been on. I hoped to capture a great deal of it on video, and while I got enough footage for a decent recap, it does not do justice to the beauty and bounty of this area. We learned so much on this hunt as well, and I have included a segment in the video, at the end, which outlines some of our learnings, so hopefully other hunters can be successful, too. I hope you enjoy it!

                [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCA4MrDokJk"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCA4MrDokJk[/ame]

                .
                Thanks for following along, and best of luck to y'all who have been putting in for this hunt! It is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

                Comment


                  #23
                  Originally posted by goofiefoot View Post
                  Alright, folks! Recap time!

                  I left Rockport on Thursday evening, September 30, to head to my folks house in San Marcos. Early Friday morning, October 1, my dad and I started our drive up to the panhandle, and met up with our third hunter, Alan, along the way. 9 hours later we were in Dalhart. We checked into our hotel, then headed out to the Rita Blanca Grasslands to do a little scouting before it got dark.

                  It had rained most of the day Friday, so the dirt roads of the area were soup. Both trucks were 4x4 and we needed it. We slopped our way around some of the main roads that evening, and ran across a rancher looking after his cows. We told him why we were there, and he replied that he hadn't seen any pronghorn for the last 2 years! We got a bit discouraged, until we drove another 500 yards and saw 3 looking at us as they ran over a hill. "Rancher Joe" as we started calling him, clearly wasn't watching anything but his cows.

                  By the end of our scouting, we had seen a few groups of pronghorn, and a couple of good bucks. We headed back to town to rest before the first day of the hunt.

                  Day 1 dawned, cold and bright. We made a plan to go after one of the bucks we saw the night before. We identified the unit we saw them, which was fairly large, and stationed my dad on one corner, while I drove to the center, and Alan planned to drive around on the main road to glass the edges. As I pulled up on the center road, Alan called me and let me know he saw the group with the buck from the main road. He gave me some landmarks to reference, and I started walking that way, roughly 1000 yards from where I parked. I was able to stay behind a slight rise in the field, crouching further down as I walked. Suddenly, I spotted the group on the horizon, much closer than I expected. I dropped to the ground and tried to range them, but they were too far through the grass to get a reading. I started crawling on my belly to get closer. About 150 yards later, I was able to see them more clearly above the rise, and ranged them at 227 yards (much closer than I expected). I set up my gun with my bipod, and some of the does caught my movement. They started skirting around to my north, as the buck ambled along slowly in the same direction.

                  My bipod didn't give me quite enough height to see above the grass, so I had to lift my gun to follow the buck as he slowly walked across, nice and broadside to me. Lying prone, with no other rest, I didn't want to try an offhand shot, so I waited longer. The group of does had worked their way around to my north and were looking at me, in profile, at about 100 yards. I was getting worried they were about to spook and blow the whole stalk. The buck finally moved into an area with thinner grass between he and I, and I was able to see him through the scope. I slowly squeezed the trigger, and *click* - the gun did not go off! Knowing I was on the edge of losing this whole thing, I slowly cycled another round into the chamber. By this time the buck had moved more to my left, and my position was bound up. I skootched my body around a bit more, and was able to acquire the buck again. Believing he was still in the 200-yard range, I put the crosshairs behind the shoulder around center mass, and squeezed the trigger. BOOM! Pronghorn down.



                  I ranged him once he was down, and he had moved diagonally and was at 98 yards. My gun was zeroed at 200, so I hit him higher than I intended, but he dropped where I shot him. Scoring 74.25", I am thrilled with my first pronghorn!

                  While I began the process of skinning and quartering my buck, my dad and Alan decided to go to another unit where we saw a buck the night before. As I was finishing up, I got a call from my dad that he shot a buck! This was still before noon on the first day of the hunt!

                  They had driven over close to where this buck was, and used some trees for cover while they glassed. The buck was bedded about 400 yards from the main road, so my dad started there and crept toward a tree about 200 yards from the bedded buck. This was barely a tree, but it gave him cover and a bit of a rest for his gun - the buck was facing the opposite direction. His first shot rolled the buck, however it stood up. Confident the buck was dead on his feet, but not wanting to chance him running off, he cranked off another shot and the buck went down. Unfortunately, that second shot took out the eye, so it wasn't the prettiest of kills.



                  Dad was thrilled that this worked out so well. His buck scored 64.75".

                  We spent the rest of the day working to find Alan a buck. He and my dad used a cardboard cow decoy to try to stalk a group of nice bucks, however, they kept moving further away, and they were not able to make it work.

                  On day 2, Alan decided he wanted to sit in the area they stalked the bucks, so he set up for a long day of sitting. Dad and I, wanting to help him look for other options, drove around and scouted all day. The Rita Blanca is a beautiful area. There is so much wildlife, from tarantulas and tortoises, to birds of prey and songbirds, to antelope all over the place (maybe Rancher Joe needs better glasses). We made note of where we saw nice bucks, and met up with Alan later that day. He had seen a few bucks, but none in range, and he decided to stay put for the evening hunt.

                  We decided to change things up on day 3, and go on the offensive. We started driving the roads we had noted the day before as the sun was rising - pronghorn stick out like beacons when they're lit up. We saw bucks from the start, though none in range. We finally came upon a group close to a fence that could provide a bit of cover. Alan dropped down and crawled to the fence, but that group slowly moved away. Another group however, came out to his south and worked their way across a field. Alan was able to use a fence post as a standing rest to take a long shot, but missed his buck completely.

                  A bit discouraged, but with all the time in the world to hunt, we decided to drive about a mile or so to where we saw a large group move over a rise. Parked at the base of that rise, Alan crawled up to the top. Bedded about 400 yards away was a nice, big buck. Flattening himself against the ground, he began to ready his gun rest. The buck caught the movement and stood up. Alan had a few paper towels in his pocket, and having heard the pronghorn were curious, started waving them up and down from his position on the ground. The buck started walking toward him! Alan was finally able to get ready and made a 89-yard shot.



                  This old buck had a broken tip and was missing a cutter, and still scored 74.25". Heck of a buck for Alan!

                  Folks, this was a hunting trip like no other I'd been on. I hoped to capture a great deal of it on video, and while I got enough footage for a decent recap, it does not do justice to the beauty and bounty of this area. We learned so much on this hunt as well, and I have included a segment in the video, at the end, which outlines some of our learnings, so hopefully other hunters can be successful, too. I hope you enjoy it!

                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCA4MrDokJk

                  .
                  Thanks for following along, and best of luck to y'all who have been putting in for this hunt! It is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

                  Great write up and congrats


                  Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

                  Comment


                    #24
                    Congrats. I've been putting in for that hunt over 25 years. Hope to get to do that hunt one of these days.

                    Comment


                      #25
                      awesome

                      Comment


                        #26
                        Too cool. I look forward to doing this hunt in 20 years...

                        Congrats!

                        Comment


                          #27
                          Awesome. Thanks for the update.

                          Comment


                            #28
                            Congrats!

                            Comment


                              #29
                              Man that’s awesome

                              Comment


                                #30
                                That’s great, and a great read! That’s my old stomping grounds…I haven’t been back in way too long. Dad traded my Hartley county landowner pronghorn tag for a case of beer and that included the landowner guiding us lol.

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