 |
|
|
|
|
Bigfoot
The 2004 draw results were posted and I was a lucky man! I drew a unit 8 muzzleloader antelope tag with only one bonus point!!!
As soon as I found out the results I called my good friends Tony, John, and Eli Grimmett. The Grimmetts own and operate Pronghorn Guide Service and have taken some exceptional animals over the years.
After speaking to Eli and telling him of my great fortune, he informed me that he had seen some nice bucks in my area and he proceeded to tell me where I should start scouting, and scouting I did! My hunt was scheduled to start on October 1st and I had about a month to find my buck. I scouted hard five times before the season started and, even though I knew that the buck I wanted lived where I was scouting, I never once could find him! I started to understand why the Grimmetts called him Bigfoot! He was just like the big hairy creature people claim to see from time to time, and yes, he was that hard to find!
Opening day found me and my hunting buddy looking at every opening and patch of grass for over four hours without seeing as much as a glimpse of Bigfoot! To say I was getting a little nervous about not seeing him would be an understatement!
I decided to head back to camp and change my strategy a little. I picked up my wife, Margie, and she and I would go looking for some other bucks I had seen earlier in the scouting season. Bigfoot lived in an area that had a small meadow and was surrounded with tall mountains with huge ponderosa pines. As Margie and I turned toward Bigfoot's meadow, we saw a group of antelope. In the back of this group was the infamous and hard-to-find Bigfoot! He was a good 500 yards away and in the open, so I knew I had to get closer, and be out of his and his harem’s sight.
I drove another mile down the road to where the pine trees started to get thick, and there is where the stalk began. I stayed in the cover of the trees until I found the spot that I had mentally noted I had last seen the group. As luck would have it, they hadn’t moved. I ranged the distance with my Bushnell Rangefinder at 137 yards. I opened my Harris bipod, applied the primer to my Traditions Evolution LD .50-caliber muzzleloader, and settled in for the shot. I heard my heart in my ears, my mouth was getting dry, and my whole body started to get that shaky feeling… I didn’t even feel the rock of the muzzleloader before I saw the big buck go down. I can honestly say that I would rather be lucky than good any day and on this day — I was!
The 4-30 grain Triple 7 pellets and the 250-grain Traditions sabots did the job.
Bigfoot green scored in the mid 86" range and will be officially scored on December 1st.
Submitted by Terry Herndon
Arizona
Copyright © 2004 J & D Outdoor Communications. All rights reserved.