| Big Game Articles |
John N. Felsher's Big Game Hunting Adventures
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Sleeping in tepees and carrying muzzleloading rifles, we stomped through
some of the same hunting grounds favored by such legendary mountain
men as Kit Carson, but with a modern twist.
While our Knight Revolution rifles loaded from the muzzle, they bore little
resemblance to the Hawken rifle Carson carried. With a synthetic stock and
topped by a Kahles 3x9x42 scope, Carson certainly wouldn’t recognize the
equipment, but he would feel right at home in the prairies of southern New
Mexico about 50 miles northeast of El Paso, Texas, and about 20 miles
north of the Texas line.
“We hunt in Unit 29 of the Alamo Mesa in southeast New Mexico,” said
Steve Jones of Backcountry Hunts guide service. “It’s good antelope
country, mostly flat prairie of sage brush with some mesas. For 25 years,
this unit has been set aside for muzzleloader hunters only. The state only
allows lottery hunts here for a two-day season and gives out a few
landowner permits.”
I joined Karen Lutto of Kahles Optics, Tony Knight of Knight Rifles and
fellow outdoor writer Bryce M. Towsley on the Friday afternoon before the
hunt. Pulling into the camp before the sun set on the prairies little changed
since the days of Kit Carson resembled going back in time, almost!
Three teepees and a kitchen tent stood out in stark contrast to the pickup
trucks and a recreational vehicle used by the same staff. Each tepee could
sleep about eight people in sleeping bags on bunks along the perimeter.
Skins of buffalo, deer, fox and coyote make an interesting carpet.
However, the camp did offer some modern conveniences. One tepee
housed a shower with hot and cold running water, albeit trucked in and
stored in a tank. Portable toilets provided some comfort. A generator
created electrical power, but nothing compared to the flickering light of the
campfire sitting under untold billions of stars on a cool evening.
“We give people a taste of the 19th century,” Jones said. “We use tepees
for the same reason the Indians did. The round shape keeps out the wind
better than walled tents. It’s very nostalgic, but we do have some modern
conveniences. Our cooks, Gill Turman and his wife, provide three meals a
day, cowboy style. It’s meat and potatoes, stew cooked in a Dutch oven,
eggs and bacon, chicken fried steak, brisket and other things the old
cowboys ate. We have a meat cutter and taxidermist in camp to process
the meat.”
After watching the shooting stars and swapping hunting tales around the
fire on Friday night, we woke early on Saturday morning to the smell of
bacon frying. While Kit Carson used a horse to scout for antelope and
other big game, Tony and I climbed into John Goodwin’s pickup after
breakfast. Karen, Bryce and Steve set out in another direction.
To hunt antelope, we rode four-wheel drive pickups over prairie trails. We
used 10-power Kahles binoculars to spot animals, often more than a mile a
way. With little cover on the prairie, their white rumps stick out easily.
Pronghorns don’t hide. They rely on their incredible vision and speed, up
to 60 miles per hour, to escape danger.
We easily saw dozens of antelope each day. About five minutes after
leaving camp, we saw a small herd of antelopes grazing near the road, but
we were not yet ready. Before noon, we probably saw more than 50 of
them. Getting to them posed the problem.
I was designated shooter in my party since I had never bagged a
pronghorn before. At about 11:30 a.m., I took a shot a one about 125
yards away up a slope, but just passed over his back. About 30 minutes
later, we spotted another buck feeding about 300 yards off the road and
decided to stalk it. John and I draped ourselves in camouflaged netting to
make the stalk.
“We hold the net in front of us,” Goodwin said. “There’s little cover for
stalking in the flat prairies. The net breaks up the human form and the
shine off our bodies. With their eyesight, antelope see a green object
moving closer toward them, but it confuses them. They don’t know what it
is. Often, they are just curious. If it doesn’t look like a human or a predator
they are not spooked because they can outrun anything on the prairie.”
As cautiously and as soundlessly as possible, we advanced toward the
lone buck. We laser ranged it at 292 yards and walked farther. Then, we
ranged it at more than 300 yards. Unconcerned with us, it walked leisurely
across the prairie feeding as it went. However, it walked faster than we
could across the rocky and cactus-strewn ground.
Finally, we covered more than 600 yards across open prairie and it
disappeared. Discouraged, we thought the “prairie goat” ran off. Just
about the time we decided to give up, we spotted the animal bedded down
in a shallow depression about 76 yards away.
I rested the rifle on crossed shooting sticks and took aim. The buck rose,
still not knowing we existed and walked a few steps. When it stopped again,
I fired. In the cloud of blue smoke, I couldn’t see much of anything in front
of me.
“You shot over him again,” Goodwin said. “I saw the bullet impact in the
dust behind the animal. He’s still there. Load up and shoot him again.
Wait. No. He’s going down. You got him.”
The 250-gain sabot bullet went through the antelope, taking out both lungs
and part of its heart. He didn’t go far or suffer. I bagged my first antelope
with a clean kill.
Under the hot afternoon sun, we returned to the camp for lunch and a
siesta. Tony bagged his buck later that afternoon just before sundown.
Karen and Bryce also scored with good bucks.
“We had 100 percent success in camp,” Jones said. “We had nine hunters
and everybody got one and we were done by 3 o’clock the second day and
it is only a 2-day season so that is pretty amazing. We have been outfitting
this particular ranch for 18 years and were 100 percent with shooting and
at least 90 percent hunter success over the years. Some people just miss.”
For booking trips, call Jones at (505) 887-6178. On line, see www.
backcountryhunts.com.
some of the same hunting grounds favored by such legendary mountain
men as Kit Carson, but with a modern twist.
While our Knight Revolution rifles loaded from the muzzle, they bore little
resemblance to the Hawken rifle Carson carried. With a synthetic stock and
topped by a Kahles 3x9x42 scope, Carson certainly wouldn’t recognize the
equipment, but he would feel right at home in the prairies of southern New
Mexico about 50 miles northeast of El Paso, Texas, and about 20 miles
north of the Texas line.
“We hunt in Unit 29 of the Alamo Mesa in southeast New Mexico,” said
Steve Jones of Backcountry Hunts guide service. “It’s good antelope
country, mostly flat prairie of sage brush with some mesas. For 25 years,
this unit has been set aside for muzzleloader hunters only. The state only
allows lottery hunts here for a two-day season and gives out a few
landowner permits.”
I joined Karen Lutto of Kahles Optics, Tony Knight of Knight Rifles and
fellow outdoor writer Bryce M. Towsley on the Friday afternoon before the
hunt. Pulling into the camp before the sun set on the prairies little changed
since the days of Kit Carson resembled going back in time, almost!
Three teepees and a kitchen tent stood out in stark contrast to the pickup
trucks and a recreational vehicle used by the same staff. Each tepee could
sleep about eight people in sleeping bags on bunks along the perimeter.
Skins of buffalo, deer, fox and coyote make an interesting carpet.
However, the camp did offer some modern conveniences. One tepee
housed a shower with hot and cold running water, albeit trucked in and
stored in a tank. Portable toilets provided some comfort. A generator
created electrical power, but nothing compared to the flickering light of the
campfire sitting under untold billions of stars on a cool evening.
“We give people a taste of the 19th century,” Jones said. “We use tepees
for the same reason the Indians did. The round shape keeps out the wind
better than walled tents. It’s very nostalgic, but we do have some modern
conveniences. Our cooks, Gill Turman and his wife, provide three meals a
day, cowboy style. It’s meat and potatoes, stew cooked in a Dutch oven,
eggs and bacon, chicken fried steak, brisket and other things the old
cowboys ate. We have a meat cutter and taxidermist in camp to process
the meat.”
After watching the shooting stars and swapping hunting tales around the
fire on Friday night, we woke early on Saturday morning to the smell of
bacon frying. While Kit Carson used a horse to scout for antelope and
other big game, Tony and I climbed into John Goodwin’s pickup after
breakfast. Karen, Bryce and Steve set out in another direction.
To hunt antelope, we rode four-wheel drive pickups over prairie trails. We
used 10-power Kahles binoculars to spot animals, often more than a mile a
way. With little cover on the prairie, their white rumps stick out easily.
Pronghorns don’t hide. They rely on their incredible vision and speed, up
to 60 miles per hour, to escape danger.
We easily saw dozens of antelope each day. About five minutes after
leaving camp, we saw a small herd of antelopes grazing near the road, but
we were not yet ready. Before noon, we probably saw more than 50 of
them. Getting to them posed the problem.
I was designated shooter in my party since I had never bagged a
pronghorn before. At about 11:30 a.m., I took a shot a one about 125
yards away up a slope, but just passed over his back. About 30 minutes
later, we spotted another buck feeding about 300 yards off the road and
decided to stalk it. John and I draped ourselves in camouflaged netting to
make the stalk.
“We hold the net in front of us,” Goodwin said. “There’s little cover for
stalking in the flat prairies. The net breaks up the human form and the
shine off our bodies. With their eyesight, antelope see a green object
moving closer toward them, but it confuses them. They don’t know what it
is. Often, they are just curious. If it doesn’t look like a human or a predator
they are not spooked because they can outrun anything on the prairie.”
As cautiously and as soundlessly as possible, we advanced toward the
lone buck. We laser ranged it at 292 yards and walked farther. Then, we
ranged it at more than 300 yards. Unconcerned with us, it walked leisurely
across the prairie feeding as it went. However, it walked faster than we
could across the rocky and cactus-strewn ground.
Finally, we covered more than 600 yards across open prairie and it
disappeared. Discouraged, we thought the “prairie goat” ran off. Just
about the time we decided to give up, we spotted the animal bedded down
in a shallow depression about 76 yards away.
I rested the rifle on crossed shooting sticks and took aim. The buck rose,
still not knowing we existed and walked a few steps. When it stopped again,
I fired. In the cloud of blue smoke, I couldn’t see much of anything in front
of me.
“You shot over him again,” Goodwin said. “I saw the bullet impact in the
dust behind the animal. He’s still there. Load up and shoot him again.
Wait. No. He’s going down. You got him.”
The 250-gain sabot bullet went through the antelope, taking out both lungs
and part of its heart. He didn’t go far or suffer. I bagged my first antelope
with a clean kill.
Under the hot afternoon sun, we returned to the camp for lunch and a
siesta. Tony bagged his buck later that afternoon just before sundown.
Karen and Bryce also scored with good bucks.
“We had 100 percent success in camp,” Jones said. “We had nine hunters
and everybody got one and we were done by 3 o’clock the second day and
it is only a 2-day season so that is pretty amazing. We have been outfitting
this particular ranch for 18 years and were 100 percent with shooting and
at least 90 percent hunter success over the years. Some people just miss.”
For booking trips, call Jones at (505) 887-6178. On line, see www.
backcountryhunts.com.
Hunting swift, wily old plains
game with a more modern twist
game with a more modern twist
Karen Lutto shows off a pronghorn antelope that she killed in New
Mexico with a .50-caliber Knight Revolution muzzleloading rifle.
Mexico with a .50-caliber Knight Revolution muzzleloading rifle.
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