“I love you so much!”, the first words this lucky lady heard from her hubby as the truck pulled up, he jumped out and I raised my new Mathews Passion to the sky in victory. “Just a doe antelope,” some would say; for me, so much more. Success, pride, accomplishment, responsiblity, experience, relief, and dinner. It’s never just “another hunt” for me; there are always new lessons learned, new emotions to handle and to work through. I feel the same amount of “twitterpation”, (a word I made up), for a doe antelope, whitetail, or a cow elk, as I do for a Pope and Young stud. It is all very much the same to me, and I have to deal with the same amount of adrenaline running through my veins.
This hunt started with Shel and I climbing into our blind that our husbands had masterfully tucked into the side of the riverbank. Shel and I have logged many hours in a blind together and by now we have our routines down pretty good. Shel starts getting the camera set up while I get my arrow nocked, my release on and my bow hung up. Then we work together on what will be the best camera angles, playing out different scenarios, and ranging with the range finder anything that we can get a read on. We get better every hunt as far as preparing - we are a very good team, and I am so grateful to have such a friend to experience the joy of hunting with. We were set and confident that goats would come to water, we just didn’t know we would have the first group in 15 minutes into the sit. I have been working on trying to calm myself when I see something coming because I have a tendency to get too excited, too shaky, too nervous, too in a hurry, too twitterpated!!! “Ice, Ice, baby,” - my new thing to tell my brain when an opportunity is close. I was ready to practice that, and thought I was ready until a couple does popped over the hill way too quick and sent me into shakeville. Breathe, breathe, breathe, I actually said out loud, but in a whisper to myself. They were 30 yards and coming closer down the bank, can’t believe how fast it was - a couple does and a couple kids and they were thirsty, a perfect opportunity for an easy 20-25 yard shot. Here it comes. Dang it if those babies weren’t way too cute hopping down into the water; I had my release tightly on the loop and I was on the edge of my seat, Shel was ready with the camera, mamas’ heads were down drinking, perfect time to draw back, when they bring their heads back up they will turn broadside before heading back up the bank and I will have my shot. Did I mention how cute the babies were?… “Breathe, Breathe, Ice, ice, baby.” I hear my hubby’s voice in my head telling me the kids are old enough to be without mama, it’s okay. I have been in this situation before and didn’t feel comfortable taking the shot on a doe with a baby. I have talked to myself about this in my head. I’m pretty sure I’ll be good with it this time. Did I mention I am a mama? I am ready to draw, she’s wide open, broadside 20 yards, looking exactly like the 3D targets I have been practicing on in my backyard. Am I ready? Breathe, breathe. I hear my hubby’s voice again in my head, this time he reminds me, “If you’re not comfortable with the shot, don’t take it.” My body relaxes, I undo my release, I take a deap breath with a smile and tell Shel I’m not gonna shoot. We watch the babies and their mamas hop back up the riverbank and head back to the alfalfa field.
I was proud of myself, half the battle for me is just taking my time and hunting my way, not worrying so much about what someone else would have done or what opportunity I might have missed. I didn’t miss anything, I was there, I had the experience, and now I got to look forward to another opportunity to present itself … which it did about 45 minutes later when here came a whole herd of antelope popping over the riverbank. This time tons of mamas, kids and grandmas with a few buck daddys sprinkled in. I only had a doe tag so I started to zero in on a good ol’ doe. The problem was there were too many at once, maybe 30 or so. It reminded me of the experience I had in the blind with my husband hunting eland in Africa. He had so many at once that there was never a clear shot at one without maybe shooting the ones standing behind him. He was at full draw, then he would have to let down, over and over again. He stayed so patient and it was intense when he finally got a shot. That sit with him taught me alot and I was thinking of his patience as I watched all the does crisscrossing in front and in back of each other. Again I was talking to myself trying to ice my veins down and breathe so I wouldn’t rush a shot I would regret. It was incredible to see that many goats and Shel did an awesome job getting it all on camera, but one more time we watched them all get a drink and head for alfalfa without taking a shot. I just didn’t have a shot I felt good about. Again, even though I didn’t take a shot, I felt victory for having patience.
Because of the incredible set up and the abundance of goats on this ranch we did not have to sit much longer before another opportunity arose. Third time’s a charm when another group of does came in to water. Shel got the camera rolling as they filtered down the bank and into the water. One doe stood out to me, a really big, messy-haired ol’ goat. I kept my eye on her as she came to the water’s edge, took a quick drink, and then stopped halfway up the bank. I felt a new calm as I locked my release on my loop, drew back, picked my spot and let my arrow fly. 25 yard double lung shot on a beautiful Wyoming antelope. Shel and I did it once again. Another story, another memory for a lifetime and I’m one step closer to being a better hunter, thanks to an ol’ doe antelope.

We radioed the guys, they came with the pickup, they were happy, we recovered my doe, we celebrated, we hugged, I was grateful, I thanked God, we ate antelope backstraps for dinner and most importantly my husband loves me so much!!!!

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