"Tony, I bought your video (Size Is Everything), and watched it over and over again. Then, I took what I learned from it and put it to use on many, many scouting trips this year. Just had to let you know that I believe what I learned from your video made it possible for me to accurately judge and take a trophy of a lifetime. Many thanks."
"Gross score is 92 5/8. Deductions are 1 2/8. Don't know where he'll end up after the drying period, but he sure is great."
"Had spent weeks scouting, photographing antelope, trying to score them and then trying to keep track of them. Your video tape was invaluable. It made scoring much easier and although we had seen many good bucks, I think we made the best choice possible using your scoring method. Thanks again. Ken Ross."
12 comments:
What unit was that buck killed on?
Unit 19A - the year that began the start of the "second boom"!
The first boom happened from around 1994 to 1999 and then in 2000 G&F transplanted almost 200 antelope to other areas. Then the drought killed about 600 of them in 2002 and officially ended the boom.
The new boom started about the year Ken killed his buck in 2005. I expect that this second boom will last another couple years and then either G&F will close the unit, the ranches will be unhuntable, or the bucks will simply be gone.
The unit has already been annexed as part of the city and therefore should be unhuntable, but G&F has a deal with the city that allows us to continue hunting the unit. It's getting to the point that it's really not a fun hunt. You're always having to worry about whether or not you're on private property and how close you are to homes and if that random ladies dog is going to be in your sight line when you're getting ready to pull the trigger. It's a shame really.
Eli,
Do you have any live pictures of that buck??
Blake
Nope! Unfortunately 2005 was a year where we didn't scout 19AN as much as we should have. Of course, after Ken sent us this picture we hammered 19AN in 2006 and 2007 and will continue to do so until it's dead.
I have to agree with you when you talk about that hunt becoming a pain in the ass. It's tough to hunt around houses and people who think the antelope are their pets.
Now that I have the tag and I have had to talk to all the ranchers for access, I can tell you first hand that the ranches will be closed to hunting soon. Nearly every rancher I have spoken to is fed up with guides and lazy hunters. So many of them have had serious problems with allowing access in the past that it took serious convincing on my part to even get the chance to scout. It's pretty sad that it has come to that.
oops, I also forgot to add that I saw a really big buck in TX on Thursday night on my way back from Iowa. I don't know if you guys guide there. If you do, email me and I will tell you where he was.
He looked to be 15-16 inches tall already with good prongs as well. Couldn't get a good judge of his mass since I was driving around 70.
Blake
Yeah, getting access is tough sometimes. And the ranchers aren't just getting fed up with slob hunters - some of it has to do with the cutting of their fences which is done primarily by the kids with dirt bikes. I've seen it happen (from a couple miles away with my scope!) We told the rancher right afterward and he was definitely fed up. Heck, I had two dirt bikes zoom by me when I was on Perkins ranch trying to photograph a buck two years ago! We had permission to be there, but I'm guessing the two dirt bikes did not.
Everyday I come up with more and more reasons to love The Plateau. :)
Oh, and we don't currently have a ranch in Texas. Did you get any pictures of the buck?
No pictures. I was on hour 10 of a 22 hour drive with two kids in the back seat. I wasn't stopping for anything!!!
He was a nice buck though.
Blake
Haha. I hear ya.
Trying to get a cool slide show going underneath my profile. We'll see if it works.
Slide show looks good. I recognize some of those bucks!! haha
Every time I see that picture of Sticks I still think it is fake, even though I know it isn't. That should go under your "That just isn't right" blog..
Blake
Yeah, Sticks is one of the most recognizable antelope of all time!
Post a Comment