Barnacle Brad
New member
I had an experience yesterday scouting antelope that I will not soon forget!
Pronghorn hunters have come to expect some predictably unpredictable, even bizarre fence line behavior when a herd is pushed. I have seen them run full bore at a fence only to have them stop and mill smartly about before a lead doe or nervous yearling finally makes the leap. Sometimes they will run for the only opening in the fence even if it means nearly running you over! Once we witnessed the unthinkable belly crawl under a barbed wire fence. Hilarious!
Yesterdays scouting trip had been exciting for the most part. We saw several wads of goats out in the alfalfa fields - one group filing past us across a two track with no apparent alarm. I was content to sit an watch the buck among them, judging his horns. Moving up the road there lay two more little bucks on the side of the road. One other buck was a little further off the road and hard to judge in the mirage of the afternoon sun.
Eventually we made our way to the highway and continued on to another area where we spotted a few goats out in the beat fields. Just does, so I continued in their direction pooping along watching. Pretty quick another head popped out of the beats well behind the original does we spotted, who had already decided we were a deadly threat and were crossing the road ahead of us. Soon enough the doe lagging behind was in fear for her life and bolted for the road. She was reaching mach speed but so was I. We were on a collision course in a game of chicken!
I can't really say what my expectations were as our paths closed, but I was totally surprised with the complete gracefulness in which that doe cleared the top strand of wire - by two feet! There was no hesitation, no lack of courage, just total commitment to that fence. She never missed a beat, hitting the ground and continuing up the hill and away. Oh did I mention she was running up hill when she launched across that fence?
That one, friends, is burned, maybe even seared into my memory! Thanks for letting me share...
Pronghorn hunters have come to expect some predictably unpredictable, even bizarre fence line behavior when a herd is pushed. I have seen them run full bore at a fence only to have them stop and mill smartly about before a lead doe or nervous yearling finally makes the leap. Sometimes they will run for the only opening in the fence even if it means nearly running you over! Once we witnessed the unthinkable belly crawl under a barbed wire fence. Hilarious!
Yesterdays scouting trip had been exciting for the most part. We saw several wads of goats out in the alfalfa fields - one group filing past us across a two track with no apparent alarm. I was content to sit an watch the buck among them, judging his horns. Moving up the road there lay two more little bucks on the side of the road. One other buck was a little further off the road and hard to judge in the mirage of the afternoon sun.
Eventually we made our way to the highway and continued on to another area where we spotted a few goats out in the beat fields. Just does, so I continued in their direction pooping along watching. Pretty quick another head popped out of the beats well behind the original does we spotted, who had already decided we were a deadly threat and were crossing the road ahead of us. Soon enough the doe lagging behind was in fear for her life and bolted for the road. She was reaching mach speed but so was I. We were on a collision course in a game of chicken!
I can't really say what my expectations were as our paths closed, but I was totally surprised with the complete gracefulness in which that doe cleared the top strand of wire - by two feet! There was no hesitation, no lack of courage, just total commitment to that fence. She never missed a beat, hitting the ground and continuing up the hill and away. Oh did I mention she was running up hill when she launched across that fence?
That one, friends, is burned, maybe even seared into my memory! Thanks for letting me share...
