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Nevada doe antelope tag filled and blood on the .450 Bushmaster
Opening day was over at 6:58AM on September 8th, just 1 hour and 5 minutes into legal daylight.
I budgeted a day and half in to scout before the season opened, since I had never set foot in this unit before, but a flat on the Jeep Wrangler I rented cost me the first half a day of that time.
The day before the season opened I went back out to check an area I pre-scouted using OnX. With a drought year at hand, I knew that I had to find a solid water and food source. The area ended up having a herd of several hundred on it with distinct crossing points near a BLM/private land boundary fence. Glassing with binos revealed a preferred crossing point where they hung out on the public, BLM side and transited to and from the private land.
I set up the next morning within a 100 yard of that crossing point before dawn and waited for the season to officially open. It was a true test of willpower, as the desert that was 101 degree the afternoon prior was now 47 degrees with a 17 mph wind. I was laying flat on the ground with my fanny pack as the only thing helping to shield the wind. The chill was intense and I definitely came underdressed.
The crossing point I chose ended up being a perfect location, as plenty of antelope we lined up along on the private side of the fence and numerous bucks came through the fence onto public within 75 yards. All I need was for a doe to join them.
Then it happened, but from an unexpected direction. A mature, lone doe came trotting in from my side and hung up at 188 yards, offering a clear shot. I set the .450 Bushmaster across my fanny pack, sent one 250 gr. Hornady FTX her way, and the sound of a solid impact was unmistakable. She darted 27 yards leaving a massive blood trail, and that was that. The season was over in just like that.
The whole experience was fun and rewarding. I also saw quite a few bighorn sheep along the way during my scouting trip. Noted, in case I can ever draw a tag out here.
I budgeted a day and half in to scout before the season opened, since I had never set foot in this unit before, but a flat on the Jeep Wrangler I rented cost me the first half a day of that time.
The day before the season opened I went back out to check an area I pre-scouted using OnX. With a drought year at hand, I knew that I had to find a solid water and food source. The area ended up having a herd of several hundred on it with distinct crossing points near a BLM/private land boundary fence. Glassing with binos revealed a preferred crossing point where they hung out on the public, BLM side and transited to and from the private land.
I set up the next morning within a 100 yard of that crossing point before dawn and waited for the season to officially open. It was a true test of willpower, as the desert that was 101 degree the afternoon prior was now 47 degrees with a 17 mph wind. I was laying flat on the ground with my fanny pack as the only thing helping to shield the wind. The chill was intense and I definitely came underdressed.
The crossing point I chose ended up being a perfect location, as plenty of antelope we lined up along on the private side of the fence and numerous bucks came through the fence onto public within 75 yards. All I need was for a doe to join them.
Then it happened, but from an unexpected direction. A mature, lone doe came trotting in from my side and hung up at 188 yards, offering a clear shot. I set the .450 Bushmaster across my fanny pack, sent one 250 gr. Hornady FTX her way, and the sound of a solid impact was unmistakable. She darted 27 yards leaving a massive blood trail, and that was that. The season was over in just like that.
The whole experience was fun and rewarding. I also saw quite a few bighorn sheep along the way during my scouting trip. Noted, in case I can ever draw a tag out here.
Accuracy: because white space between bullet holes drives me insane.
Replies
Big bullet.
Congrats on a successful hunt!
-Mikhail Kalashnikov
I had my boringly reliable .243 Win with me as backup if it got down to the wire, but it never saw the light of day. The .450 Bushmaster got the job done just fine. Like any hunt, it’s all about scouting and setting up in just the right spot. Distance is no issue when you’re where they wanna be.
The red antelope symbol is within a few yards of where I set up based on a spot I projected the day prior. The blue dot is where she went down. You can see the heavy antelope crossing trails I was watching on the imagery.
The Bushmaster sure performed for you. Well done
The hardest part about a hunt like this? Hiding in the nothingness. It’s flat as a pancake with virtually no cover for miles. I had to find the slightest depression in the ground and make the best of that short sage brush to break up my outline.
Also, a big thanks goes out to Zee for sending me a set of SureFire push-in earplugs several years back. They worked beautifully when I shot this boomer. The frames sit in your ears so you can still hear ambient sounds, and you just push the plugs in when you’re ready to fire. No way I wanted to deal with the blast from that muzzlebrake without them.
How much is a non-red tag?
How hard was it to draw?
Did you fly or drive?
What was your zero distance?
Which Leupold Scope did you use?
Did you see any other hunters?
- Antelope doe tags here are only available to residents, which is part of why I kept my NV residency. I used 5 points to draw my resident tag, which was mildly overkill (last year, you had a 50/50 shot with zero points, and nobody even applied for this unit with 5 points).
- In this same unit in 2019, there were 1,016 unique applicants and 25 total tags given out. That sounds like slim odds, but a ton of those applications had zero points. Since Nevada uses a bonus point system, even with zero points, you still have a shot. Buck tags for non-residents in much better units have similar draw odds and equally low hunter pressure. It’s worth the wait.
- I flew into Reno, rented a Jeep and stayed in Fallon to get closer to the action.
- The rifle was zeroed at 150 yards, putting me just shy of 2” high at 100 yards, and 4.7” low at 200 yards.
- The scope is a Leupold VX-3i 3.5-10x40mm with standard duplex reticle
- I saw exactly zero other hunters where I hunted - only 30 doe tags went out for this unit this year, and it’s a BIG unit. That’s a big perk if hunting Nevada: they are stingy with tags, but when you draw one, the hunt quality can be excellent due to lack of pressure.
FWIW, I beat you on early kill. My earliest was probably a minute or two after legal shooting time. It was the first time Mike had been on a goat hunt, and we had a great day. I'll bet we saw at least a 100 of them before noon that day, and it's the same place you and he went to. It's amazing the difference a few years can make.
Regardless, congrats,and enjoy some fine dining!
Gun control laws make about as much sense as taking ex-lax to cure a cough.
And, yep.....we saw bunches of goats that day......a few years later.....you and I couldn't buy an antelope on the black marked had we tried.
The continuing droughts here have really smacked-down the pronghorn numbers all over this state.
Mike
N454casull
Gun control laws make about as much sense as taking ex-lax to cure a cough.
Gun control laws make about as much sense as taking ex-lax to cure a cough.