A 5 am alarm clock should be against the law at my age but I rolled out & within a few minutes was headed out to try my luck at bagging a doe Pronghorn with a six gun. I had decided on 2 main guns for this hunt & the 357 Maximum (scoped) would be back up. I took a deer & an Antelope with it last year so wanted to use something else & wanted it to be with iron sights if possible. I've taken many Antelope over the years but only one other one with iron sights, that was with an old 3 screw 41 magnum.
Last night I practiced for a couple of hours shooting at my Bill Fowler swinging steel target with my Bisley 45 Colt using the old trusted 260 gr Keith & 18.5 grs of 2400. I've taken many, many animals with this load including elk. The other gun I shot last night was my 8 shot Ruger 327 Magnum using the 135 gr HP Ferminator bullet that is powder coated & sized .313". My powder of choice is 13 grs of H110 & this combo shoots terrific in my Blackhawk.
When I arrived at my hunting spot I noticed no tree's had grown over night, in fact there are no tree's anywhere, it's like you're on the moon. If you want tree's in this area you will have to take your own. I had very little hope of getting close enough to get a shot with either iron sighted six gun but still that was my plan for the day. I had left my 4 wheeler & trailer there from Thursday when I shot the muley doe so I unloaded it & slowly started cruising across many thousands of acres of wide open prairie type terrain.
I could see 12-13 Antelope about a mile away at the edge of a Alfalfa field, they might as well of been in Rhode Island! Even if I had some one with me you can't drive Antelope, they are like driving cats! Deer or elk you can push towards a partner sometimes if everything is just right but not with Antelope. Anyway I drive of kind at an angle towards them & then veer off into some Sagebrush. They are watching me but holding their ground so far. I keep going real slow so the engine doesn't make much noise. I don't think they can see me but they can hear the 4 wheeler.
At about 700-800 yds I slip off the 4 wheeler & put on my knee pads & elbow pads, if you hunt Antelope they are as important as your gun, at least for me. I've got real tender knees from football in college, I can't crawl on my knees without some padding. I even used them in Africa.
So now I have to make a choice on guns, I know the scoped 357 Maximum is going & then I decide to take the 327 Magnum. I've never killed anything big with it but this Ferminator 135 gr HP is a real long shanked bullet that should work on deer/antelope size game with broadside shots....I think.
Then I got a little lucky, I found a low spot that just might help me get close but it was so dang hot the sweat was really making my eyes burn. I get to about 150 yds & take a peek with the binoculars & I can see a doe & a fawn & the doe has laid down which means all of them have settled down & are just resting. I work over behind some kind of a large rock pile that someone has piled up years ago. Don't know why they did but there are 4-5 of them in a quarter mile area & I'm sneaking in behind one of them.
When I get there I have to take my hat & glasses off & wipe my face & head off, I'm burning up. I also take off the 357 Maximum because it's in my Barranti NWH shoulder rig & there's no way I can do my Thompson Super Special belly crawl wearing a shoulder rig. So now I'm down to the 327 magnum & somewhere on the other side of the rock pile around a football field away (I think are about a dozen antelope. I took 2 readings with my range finder but it really doesn't help, things are about to get pretty crazy.
I'm doing my best to belly crawl through some pretty big rocks & gain a little elevation without being seen & I have to wipe my eyes & face again, I'm dying. I ease part of my day pack up very slowy & it already has my little piece of leather thrown over it & I slowly take my first peek in about 30 minutes. About 5 of them are slowly walking somewhat in my direction but I can't remember which old fence post I ranged & I've always had a terrible time judging distance on Antelope.
The front one stops but the second one actually offers me the best shot, she turns broadside. I hold a little bit above center thinking it's over 100 yds & start tightening up my focus on that front sight, I'm not thinking trigger, just front sight. The gun goes off & she rocks hard & stumbles, does a half turn & goes down, damn did I just do it?
This caliber is flat & fast & her legs buckled just like Fermin's when he shoots my heavy loads, yippee, I nailed her through both lungs, almost too high because I actually helped it a bit. Turns out it was 73 yds instead of 100+.
In the photo's in the second picture you can see the rock pile I shot from. I field dressed her & hurried back to my truck where I packed her with 2 bags of ice & headed home, very happy. The knife is my Bill Snow blade that several friends gave me including one very fussy ice cream soda gent. It reads, DICK THOMPSON....THE MEAT HAMMER
Dick
