Check out this great hunt story sent to Bob Robb in response to his column on pronghorn that originally appeared in Bowhunting World magazine.
From Mike Kammel | Wisconsin
Just back from our trip to Wyoming. The goat hat and a white T-shirt were a resounding success! I stalked unseen to within 100 yards of a herd of antelope. They had no idea I was there, so I put on the goat hat and the white tee and poked my head up over the grassy knoll right above them. Only problem was, there were six does and no bucks! From glassing earlier, I knew there had been at least one buck with that group, so I slowly scanned the area. There, on a hillside about 300 yards to my right, were two bucks, standing side by side and staring at me. I turned my head to completely face them so I could glass them. Maybe the movement of me turning my head brought the horns of the goat hat into better view for them, but they instantly headed toward me at a fast lope. They had to cross a large ravine to get to me, so when they disappeared for a few moments I got myself prepared for the shot. They came up out of the ravine about 80 yards in front of me, heading right to me. They slowed to a walk but kept right on coming in. I had the range finder ready, but they were coming so close I put it down and clipped on the release. The closest (and largest) one stopped about 30 yards away for a few seconds and just stared at me. I waited, not wanting to take a head-on shot. Then he started walking broadside to me like he was going to circle me. He stopped again after several steps, now being only slightly angled to me — I decided to take the shot. And as you can see, success!
Mike Kammel uses a goat hat and white t-shirt to help harvest his fourth pronghorn.
What a rush it was! They covered that 300 yards to 30 yards in ten seconds or less. Why the two bucks were together baffles me, they are typically pretty aggressive to each other this time of year. In fact, the reason I went and checked out that area was because I had just dropped off my buddy at his blind, and I was going to drive to a range of buttes where I was going to scout. About a mile in the distance I saw two animals chasing, I don’t know if it was one buck chasing the other, or one buck herding a doe, but I decided to drive closer and start my scouting/stalking from there. Turned out the be a wise decision!
This is my 4th antelope with a bow, and my first with the goat hat. Last year was the first year I used it, and I did have bucks come in, but the shot never presented itself. I was at full draw once, but couldn’t shoot. So I was confident the hat and white shirt would work this year also — it was just a matter of the right situation. This kill happened on my first stalk of the year. I was done by 7:30 the first morning of the hunt. So guess who became the camp cook for the rest of the week? But that is a small price to pay for the excitement of the hunt!
