Antelopes, again?

Yes, again. As I said before this year we drew 3 antelope tags. Gabe has already filled his, see the previous posts for that. Amanda and I both have tags and so we needed to do another hunting trip. The nice thing about the area we drew for antelope is that it is really close to home (about 30 minutes or so) and so we don't have to take days off or wait until the weekends to make a try and getting our tags filled. Saturday was spent helping family so we didn't have a chance to go, but we did plan for our next trip. We decided that Monday afternoon would be a great day for ME to go with Gabe and try my hand at getting one. Now I have to remind you that I am pregnant and I was not sure that I could do this. I knew that I had the skill in handling the gun (see last years posts on our hunting trips) and that I could do the trip itself......it was that at 33 weeks pregnant my belly is there (if you know what I mean). I wasn't sure if I would be able to, as Gabe says, put the sneak on them. If you have never been hunting, that usually entails crawling on your belly to crest a hill so they don't see you and run away before you have a chance at shooting. Then I wasn't sure if my stomach would be able to handle the smells that can occur while cleaning the animal for transport.
 We made arrangements for Amanda to watch the rest of the children while we were gone (have I ever told you that I am going to be REALLY sad when she goes to college as she is my built in babysitter). After school was out I was ready. I wanted it to be a one time thing, go out just this once and get it done.....not because I don't like to hunt, but because it is hard for me as the mother to make the arrangements needed to go hunting.

It was a nice cool afternoon and as we set out, I just kept praying that things would go right and that I could get this done. I wasn't out for the biggest buck/doe that I could find.....I just wanted to shoot the first thing that crossed my path that I could legally shoot. We saw a few prospects, but as this is the fourth or fifth day into the season, they are pretty skittish and nothing would stand still and/or present the right shot. So we kept moving around and finally got to the point where I was desperate. The sun was starting to go down and I still didn't have anything to show for it. We made one last try and guess what I GOT ONE!!!!

And yes, it is bigger than Gabe's!! I was so happy, but nicer than getting one, was the fact that I dropped him with one shot!

This picture (no, not just for the scenery) shows the truck from the kill site. It was about 200 yards away. I purposely didn't zoom at all on the camera so you can get a better idea of how far away he was. The truck is in the center of this picture.....see if you can find it.

I was thrilled and so happy that I was done. I was able to help Gabe clean him up and didn't have the problems that I thought that I might. I can't believe that I did this at 33 weeks pregnant! Sure it isn't a marathon or something like that, but it was big for me and I am proud to say that I did it!