New Wyoming State Record: Record Archery Proghorn scoring 86 4/8 P&Y

New Wyoming State Record
Record Pronghorn Scored 86 4/8 P&Y and sports 16 1/8-inch tall
By Jordan Hypes

The 2006 season started out just like all of my previous hunting seasons, with a little pre-season scouting. It was the last day of August, and I had a few days off from college. The Wyoming archery season was opening up the next day. I was scouting antelope in my usual hunting ground north of Douglas. It was a spot I had hunted the last three years and found success all three years. This hunting spot is a piece of private land owned by Lucille Baker; I call her Grandma Baker. I had seen a couple of nice fourteen-inch bucks during my scouting, and I thought this season ought to be alright.

On my way out, I noticed a buck feeding up a draw and I instantly knew that this was the buck of a lifetime. I estimated him around 82-84 inches. However, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to take him considering that the herd always bedded down right in the middle of a draw with no cover to hide in at all. The first thing that popped into my head was that I would have to stalk this buck around the waterhole. I am not one for sitting around too long, so there were a couple of small drainages that I could also work back and forth. I had a plan and all I needed now was a little time.

I headed out opening morning and posted up on a waterhole the buck had been using regularly. Three hours went by with a few small bucks and does visiting the waterhole, but my buck never showed up. I decided to head out. When I got up, I caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye. The buck was standing there looking at me from about 150 yards away; he was heading for the waterhole, but not anymore. I decided to back out for a couple of days and hunt deer and let things settle down.

September 4th rolled around and I decided to give that big buck another try. I sat at the waterhole for two hours and only had three does visit me. I spotted a buck on a ridge to the north of me and thought, “Why not give it a shot.” I figured any antelope buck with a bow would be a fine trophy. It wasn’t long before I found myself right in the middle of a herd of antelope. I was getting ready to take the buck I had spotted when I took one more look back up towards the waterhole and saw the buck I had been after coming in for a drink. I slipped out without spooking the herd I had been stalking. The buck took his time coming into the waterhole, which was perfect for me, because I had a 600-yard belly crawl to complete before I would even be within bow range of this magnificent animal. An hour passed and I was half-way to the waterhole. As I got within 70-yards, the big guy’s entire herd came to the waterhole. At this point I was thinking, “How in the world am I going to get within range now with 23 pairs of eyes watching?” Well, 23 pairs of eyes weren’t enough for the old goat on this fateful day. As I crept ever so closer to my dream buck, the only thing going through my head was that I had to get behind the little water tank that was at the hole. The tank was only two-feet tall, so it wasn’t that much cover, but it was better than nothing.

After an hour and a half, I found myself at the waterhole and the buck made his way back to the fence line to chase some does. I thought he was gone. The monarch disappeared out of sight behind a small hill. Luckily for me, he wasn’t done with his drink yet. He chased the does back up to the waterhole as I sat there crouched behind the small water tank. I knew that it was now or never. I drew my bow back sideways out of sight and popped up from behind the tank and took aim. The does spotted me, but the buck continued to drink. I let the arrow fly and I knew right away that I had made a great shot. One shot from 35 yards and the bruiser only traveled about sixty yards before tumbling over.

As I approached the buck, I knew for sure that I would never get another crack at a buck like this again. The buck ended up scoring 86 4/8-inches Pope & Young and is 15th in the world overall. He sports 16 1/8-inch tall horns, 6-inch cutters and carries 7 1/2 inches of mass up past his cutters. One very important factor in harvesting this animal was concealment as I crawled up the hill. I believe that camo pattern selection is a must and should always be matched to the terrain as best as possible. Antelope vision is 100-times better than ours. To be honest, hunting a waterhole is the easiest way to bowhunt antelope, but every now and then I let the terrain work to my advantage. I like to use hills, crevices and dried up creek drainages to pursue a spot and stalk style hunt. Awesome archery equipment such as Reflex or Hoyt bows, Copper John sights and G5 Tekan broadheads is also a must for my archery hunts.

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