Pronghorn New Mexico Gold!
“Do you mind driving the vehicle to the other end of this pasture?” Asked Randy Lewis, RLE Outfitters’ owner. “Andy and I will hunt our way to the corner. Meet us at the gate.” Glassing from a high point, we had spotted a good pronghorn, two low ridges away. His horns were nicely long and exceptionally massive with decent prongs, probably longer than we thought because of his mass.
Of course, I did not mind. Doing so would give me an excuse to look for a buck we had seen earlier in the morning. Not just “a” buck but one with the most massive horns and longest prongs I had ever seen on pronghorn antelope, including mounts of some of the biggest ever taken. I really wanted another look at him. He was one I hoped to return to hunt in the future. Just before Andy Iverson and Richard Berry arrived, I had taken a really nice buck the last afternoon of my three-day season, more a bit later.
I watched Andy and Randy walk away, then headed to the general area where we had seen the truly massive buck. I spent thirty minutes glassing and spotted three nice bucks, but not THE buck. A little later, I was near the north end of the spacious pasture. I soon spotted the two glassings in the valley beyond. A few minutes later, they headed in my direction.
“Saw a couple of almost bucks.” Commented Randy. “And, there’s a shooter down on the flats. Let’s get a bit closer, driving. Then we’ll go on foot.” Sounded like a great plan.
We had driven a half mile when a buck and a doe appeared walking out of a grassy cut. “Andy, grab your rifle, and let’s go. He’s nicely long, good prongs, and massive!” I followed the guide and hunter with my video camera. The buck and doe disappeared into a grassy swale, then reappeared. Randy set up shooting sticks. Andy rested his custom rifle in preparation for a shot. The pronghorn, 300 yards distant, stopped and turned broadside. Soon as he did, Andy pulled the trigger on a Hornady load. The buck staggered and fell. Andy stayed on him. After a few moments, he turned and accepted Randy’s congratulatory hand.
At the buck’s side, Andy was beaming widely, rightfully so! He had taken a good, mature pronghorn on to be proud of! After pictures, we returned to camp, where the pronghorn could be appropriately taken care of. Pronghorn venison is delicious, especially if properly taken care of and prepared.
Andy’s buck was soon skinned, quartered, cooled, and the cape taken care of. Over a delicious meal, I caught up with Richard Berry, a long-time friend, fellow wildlife biologist, and one of the finest and best camp cooks I have ever encountered in traveling the world. Richard was hunting with ace guide Keith Stephens, using his ancient Winchester Model 79, shooting Hornady ammo.
Back at camp, there was a celebration, which included Richard cooking a fabulous meal and giving our cook Marie a well-deserved rest. Stories continued well into the night!
Earlier I mentioned having taken my pronghorn before Andy and Richard arrived. New Mexico has a fairly long pronghorn season, but as a hunter, you must choose three (3) consecutive days to hunt within the existing season. Too, we had landowner tags, as opposed to hunting public lands.
The ranch we hunted is enormous, even by New Mexico standards. The owners allow the taking of only a very limited number of pronghorn bucks each year. This ensures outstanding quality in terms of the animals available, but also in terms of the quality of the hunt.
Through friends Russell and Mary Edith Stacy, both very involved with DSC and DSC Foundation, as I am. I had procured a tag, plus a couple of others I was able to pass on to Andy and Richard.
I hunted the three days before Andy and Richard arrived. My hunt was two-fold. Of course, first and foremost, I hoped to take a nice pronghorn, and secondly, to do so with Remington’s new Model 700 Alpha 1. Remington’s CEO, an old friend and hunting partner, Ken D’Arcy, kindly routed me a 6.5 Creedmoor topped with a Trijicon AccuPoint 3-18×50 scope and a nice supply of Hornady 143-grain ELD-X Precision Hunter ammo. The rifle was delivered to me in New Mexico via Russell and Mary Edith, who picked it up in Dallas. Ken had planned on hunting with me, but last moment business kept him from doing so.
It took but a couple of shots, after tightening the scope ring screws, to have the rifle shooting dead-on, tight groups at 100 yards. I then cranked the turret adjustment 8 “clicks” up, so the rifle should shoot dead-on at 200-yards. I shot it at 200 yards, and it was dead on. I left the adjustment, knowing with such a sight-in, I did not have to worry about further adjustments until an animal was beyond 300-yard. If further, I would have time to make appropriate adjustments, but with that said, it is always my intention to get as close as earthly possible before squeezing the trigger. I love shooting steel or inanimate targets at long range, but when hunting, I want to get close. To me, doing so is a big part of hunting!
Keith and I covered a lot of country. Interestingly because of the rains, which started in July after an extremely horrible drought, there was food and water almost everywhere on the ranch. This truly scattered and changed the local pronghorn’s ways of doing things. Even though they were scattered and the rut was still at least a couple of weeks away, we saw a lot of pronghorns. Interestingly, looking at antelope horns, they had quit growing due to the drought. But with the coming of the July rains and a lot of food, bucks had put on at least two inches of additional horn length and were still growing.
Several of the bucks I saw I would have gone after had I been hunting elsewhere. Too, having taken numerous pronghorns in the past, I was a bit choosy. One of the more interesting bucks I passed was a buck with one horn going straight up and the other straight forward. Both horns, too, had extra prongs. He was tempting; I have to admit. Maybe…had I been hunting with my Taurus Raging Hunter .454 Casull revolver, topped with a Trijicon SRO red-dot sight, and shooting my usual Hornady XTP ammo, I would have taken him. But the local ranch hand had told me about an extremely massive buck, as well as one he felt would score over the Boone and Crockett minimum. During my hunt, I did see the B&C buck, but alas, he was on State land where I could not hunt. The extremely massive buck I saw after my hunt was over.
Mid-day of my third day, we visited the south ranch foreman. He had seen a nice buck only moments earlier. Keith and I headed in that direction.
The buck was supposedly bedded on a slope, where we could not see him. After a long walk, we thought we were most likely right on top of him, but just downslope where we could not see him. We waited, hoping he would stand and feed our way. He did not do so. I bolted in a 143-grain ELD-X round, put the rifle on safe, cranked the scope’s magnification down to 4x, and slowly moved forward. We soon spotted his horns. The buck was bedded, looking away from us. I moved forward, hopefully, to see his body. The buck was unaware of our presence.
I stopped at seventy yards and was in the process of setting up my shooting sticks for a solid rest. As I was sitting down, the buck suddenly became aware of my presence. He went from being bedded to running to my right. I tried in vain to adjust to take a running shot, but because of tall grass, thanks to the recent fortuitous rains, I could not get on him with a proper lead. I quickly cranked the turret to a 300-yard shot. The buck ran directly away; I hoped he would stop or turn. At the top of the ridge, he slowed, turned broadside, and stopped. I was ready, let out all my breath, and gently tugged the trigger. My buck fell in his tracks. I could not have been more pleased; with my buck and the performance of the Alpha 1, Hornady ELD-X Precision ammo, and the AccuPoint scope. In a future write-up, after some more shooting and hunting with the Alpha 1, I will do a complete evaluation of the rifle.
The closer I got to my buck, walking up to him, he seemed to grow. His bases were easily over 6-inches, as were his second circumference measurements. His prongs appeared to be well over 6-inches as well; his length appeared to be about 14-inches. I was tremendously pleased. After photos, we brought up the vehicle, loaded him, then headed to camp where I would quarter and cape him.
A day after Richard and Andy left, I spent the day with Randy and Keith looking at another ranch for future hunting. Randy, through his RLE Outfitters conducts hunts for elk, mule deer, whitetails, pronghorn, and a few other species on some of the finest and best ranches in Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and New Mexico. Not only did we look at a great ranch, but I also got to spend time with two of the truly special individuals in our outdoor industry. The following morning, I headed toward Lubbock, Texas, to serve as the Auction Reader at the Lubbock Sportsman’s Club DSC Chapter banquet.
Needless to say, before leaving, I made arrangements for upcoming hunts with RLE Outfitters. Like I told Randy as I was leaving, I was kicking myself for not having hunted with him sooner!
Professional wildlife biologist/outdoor communicator, Larry Weishuhn, known to many as “Mr. Whitetail”, has established quality wildlife management programs on over 12,000,000 acres throughout North American and other parts of the world. He has hunted big game with rifle and/or handgun on six continents. Larry is a Professional Member of the Boone & Crockett Club, life-member of numerous wildlife conservation organizations including the Dallas Safari Club, Mule Deer Foundation, and Wild Sheep Foundation. He currently serves on the DSC Foundation Board of Directors, is one of three co-founders of the Texas Wildlife Association; is a member of the Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame and the Muy Grande Hall of Fame; he too, received the Zeiss Lifetime Achievement Award among many other honors.