By 5 p.m. I was starting to lose it. Nine hours in a blind and still nothing hitting the waterhole. I once again moved from the three-legged stool to the hard, cracked ground. With nothing to lean back on, I stood a while stretching my aching back.

It was at least 90 degrees inside the canvas blind and I stunk, and every 15 minutes another yellow jacket flew in the window and met its demise in the fog of Ortho Wasp Killer. I found out one thing about my hunting abilities – while I fret over each sound I make, I have no problem with the “SHHHHH!” of the can of wasp killer. Wasps and snakes are two things that give me the willies.

My first day in a blind overlooking an antelope waterhole ended about 6:30 p.m., and I was ready to get out and walk a bit. I felt like I’d spent the day in the “hole” or “box” from a prison movie. 

Outdoor writer/photographer Glenn Wheeler and I were hunting with Chad Schearer’s Central Montana Outfitters on our first antelope hunt. Antelope, unlike whitetails or mule deer, are daytime critters that sleep at night and feed all day. The plan was to sit in well-concealed blinds near the scarce water holes and ambush the goats when they came to drink. Since it was prior to the antelope rut, we placed a Carry-Lite Antelope Decoy about 75 yards from the waterhole facing the opposite direction. It appeared that the decoy had already drunk his fill and was checking out the agriculture crop in the distance prior to walking in to feed.

The decoy was used in as a purely confidence technique. In many cases antelope will stand and stare for long periods at the waterhole or feeding area as they check for any signs of danger. The presence of another goat (the decoy) already in the valley was intended to put incoming antelopes at ease.

Wheeler’s first day antelope hunting produced a nice buck at 11:30 a.m. The goat came in on a string, confident that the waterhole was safe. It presented a broadside shot at just over 20 yards.

With my aversion to yellow jackets, plus the fact that the blind stunk of chemical poisons, I was a little wary about getting back in the same blind the second day. At about 11 a.m. outfitter Chad Schearer picked me up and moved me to the blind Wheeler shot his buck out of. Again with decoy in place, I crawled into the blind built into a hillside and settled in for the wait.

Carry-Lite’s Antelope Decoy is a full-sized, three-dimensional decoy with a realistic paint job and sturdy construction. It can be used as we were, for pure confidence, or as a buck trying to weasel in on a real buck’s harem during the rut. It’s lightweight, so stalking with the decoy is real possibility.

I had eaten my lunch and was alternating between reading a paragraph of my paperback and scanning the waterhole and surrounding prairies. Movement caught my peripheral vision and six does and fawns scampered to the waterhole. I slowly set down the book and took my bow off the hook.

The half-dozen goats butted each other around the small seep as they drank. It was an interesting show. Then, more goats appeared coming in from stage right. My adrenaline soared, then slowed as doe after doe sauntered in front of the blind’s opening. Five, six, seven, eight – more and more does and fawns.

Finally, with about 15 goats slurping at the precious water, a good buck slipped in under the cover of more does and yearlings. I clipped my release to the loop and set my feet. The buck circled on the far side of the water and butted a few smaller animals out of his way to drink at the far left side. He presented a good broadside, 25 yard shot, but does and fawns continually walked and stood right in the shooting lane. I waited as the buck satiated his thirst and does and fawns scampered back and forth. He was a great buck, but without a clear shot I was just a watcher, not a shooter.

He finally raised his head and turned to look toward the decoy, then turned and walked several steps toward it as the does and fawns followed suit. I resigned myself to the fact that with the cover of all of those does, the buck would walk. With all movement heading out of my shooting lane, the buck paused and seemed to think, “I think I’ll have one for the road,” and he turned back to the waterhole for one more drink. As the does cleared out it left me with a good 20-yard quartering away shot. As the buck dipped his head to the water the arrow ran him end for end.

I scurried to the blind entrance and watched the buck run about 100 yards before wobbling and lying down. In seconds the buck laid on his side and was done, and I thanked the powers that be for my opportunity in the sun and for the sacrifice of the beast.
My first antelope hunt was a wonderful experience for several reasons.

First, Chad Schearer and his Central Montana Outfitters has the land and the antelope. Schearer told me that about 70 percent of the antelope in his county reside on the ranch, and I believe him from the number of trophy bucks we saw just while driving to the blinds.

Second, quality equipment including my Alpine Avalanche bow and the realistic Carry-Lite Antelope Decoy, which was key to the relaxed nature of the antelopes as they drank. Good optics from Alpen also made the trip more pleasurable.