THE MIGHTY HUNTERS

Warning...pictures of dead animals.

Brian and I just went on our first antelope hunt and it was awesome! My dad talked us into going and we are so glad. We found a hotel in Bicknell that was just a short drive from our hunting spot so my mom, Angela, Collin and Bauer got to come with us. They stayed back at the hotel and went swimming while my dad, Brian and I went hunting. This was Brian's first big game hunt ever and at about 8:00 in the morning on opening day, he took his first shot. There were about 5 of them with the one Brian was shooting at that we were watching and after we watched them run away, we saw dust kicking up in the distance. Dad was on his motorcycle and drove out toward where the dust was while Brian and I stayed back, watching the spot so we could guide him. Dad got off his motorcycle and yelled "well, your hunt is over." We were so excited. Brian's first shot ever and he got his antelope! He was pretty funny gutting it. He wasn't sure he wanted to stick his hands up there and pull out the guts but he did it. Once we got Brian's antelope cleaned out and tied onto the four wheeler, we headed out to find mine. We rode around and saw quite a few herds before we found a nice antelope to shoot at. He would stand and look at us as we drove up within shooting range and then as soon as I was almost in position to shoot, he would run over a hill to where we couldn't see him. So we would hop back on the machines and chase after him. Finally the third time we caught up to him, I got a shot of him on the run and down he went. Then it was time for me to have the awesome experience of gutting. By about 10 :00 our hunt was over. We both got pretty decent antelopes. Neither of them were trophies by any means but to us they are because they were our first kills. We spent the rest of the day hanging out at the hotel, playing hide-and-seek and swimming. Bauer loved being able to go to the pool so much. He is such a fish! They went Friday night for a couple of hours when we got there while us hunters went to scout out where we were going and then they went in the morning while we were hunting and cleaning everything up, and then we all went after we had lunch. Bauer loved his first hunt. He was so fascinated by the animals. He loved to look at them. Every time we would pass the truck, he would ask someone to hold him up to look at the antelope. And after we had cut the heads off and cut all of the meat off and put it in coolers, he would ask to look in the cooler or at the heads. He didn't want to get close to them though. He just wanted to see them from a distance. He was so cute. I am so excited for when he can actually hunt with us. We had so much fun. What a great hunt! As soon as we are eligible we will be putting in for it again.