Wow news travels fast lol, ok here it goes.
Nevada is awesome, I only saw a couple of other hunters during my time up here and they were road hunting, so I was able to experience some quiet time outdoors by myself. To provide some background, I haven't harvested a big-game animal yet and was fortunate enough to get a Nevada Antelope tag. The last couple of years saw me busy with grad school, but I was able to fill out my gear list in the meantime and learn what opportunities were out there. Now with studies behind me I was excited to enjoy my newfound free time and put the gear to use.
I made the solo trip up to NV a week after opening day and found a place to hike away from the road. My plan was to shoot the first legal buck I saw. After a mile of hiking, I found myself at a good glassing spot and started scanning the hills. There was plenty of cattle, but no antelope. After a while I saw a doe antelope emerge from behind the trees. I kept watching and out came a second doe. I waited hoping they were hanging out with a buck, and sure enough I saw him come out. I ranged it at 600 yards. I didn't see any way to approach without being seen, so I just observed until they descended a hill and out of sight. I circled around to a spot that let me look down into the area they were in, but I didn't see them anywhere. I was confident they were down there but considered that maybe they left the area without me noticing. I didn't move for a long while and then eventually saw them re-emerge on my right. I ranged them at 275 yards, good enough for me. I was on a hill so I converted my bipod to shooting sticks (thanks
@Truduct ), got in a sitting position, and watched the buck through my riflescope. He kept standing too close to the cattle and the does, so I waited for him to step away. Once he was by himself, I calmly waited for him to turn broadside, then squeezed off a shot. I saw him drop, so I immediately felt victory. I started packing up my things and walked towards him, but then I was astonished to see the buck get back up and walk over a ridge and out of sight. I figured I didn't hit the vitals and dreaded a pursuit, so I chased him over the ridge and fortunately saw him standing to my left at ~100 yards. I guess the buck fever kicked in now from all the excitement, since I attempted an offhand shot and realized the chamber was empty. I chambered a round and fired again, and saw him go down. The field dressing was the longest ever, so I'm thankful that the harvest occurred later in the day. It's hot in NV right now and I doubt I could take good care of the meat in a timely manner if I shot it at mid-day. It was an overwhelming experience for a first-timer and I was exhausted by the time I had to hike out in the dark.
Overall I'm stoked with how everything went albeit with some lessons learned for next time. I'm super grateful I got to hunt NV, it was as awesome as I imagined and I can't wait to come back. I was never an outdoors person before, I don't think I've ever gone hiking until a few years ago, so I'm amazed with my progress. I remember reading a biography on Teddy and thinking hunting was something I wanted to try, so here I am after several years of effort. Now I'm hooked and am already trying to think of the next time I can get back out there. Thanks to the several SCH'ers that helped me out with tips and advice, lots of knowledge from the guys here.
