Sunday, October 07, 2007
Son Toby and I sucked in some hot, dry, far West Texas desert air. We painfully crawled through another prickly sand-burr yard, trying desperately to keep a tiny clump of roasted vegetation between us and the stunning American pronghorn buck out there in no-man's land.
Running out of all cover taller than our ankles, we slowly rose up for a carefully aimed arrow at around 40 yards.
Toby brought the camera up behind me as I drew back my arrow. The shot looked perfect as it sailed over the desert floor. But it slid harmlessly under the buck's armpit.
So close, yet so far. Story of my life.
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Off sped the prairie speedster, kicking up little clouds of dust — a hundred-yard dash in about three seconds flat.
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Ted Nugent, Texas Wildman |
He stopped and looked back in cocky, confident ridicule at the goofballs who wouldn't give up.
Toby and I smiled and brushed ourselves off, tipping our Mossy Oak caps at the handsome antelope for a job well done.
Another exciting morning in the wilds of beautiful West Texas. Happy fall, my BloodBrother. May we meet again!
What a gorgeous animal the pronghorn is. Lovely cream-colored bottom half meets a pretty light brown upper, with distinctive black facial markings and those stunning black, pronged horns.
The pronghorn is a regal, fleet-footed animal unique to North America. History indicates that there were more pronghorns than there were buffalo back when Lewis and Clark explored the west — rolling seas of creamy-white antelope among moving masses of dark buffalo, by the hundreds of millions. Man, I wish I could have been a part of that amazement.
But rejoice, for the fastest land mammal of North America thrives once again, and the hunting is spectacular. Gotta love God's wildlife artwork.
Annual adventure
Toby and I celebrate a wonderful father-son annual West Texas pronghorn adventure each year. We sure have the time of our lives. Organized by Sunrize Safaris and Scott Thrash and his professional DeerTexas.com outfitter operation, we have discovered heaven on earth in Marfa, Texas.
We love it out there, but good Lord is it hot. And dry. But it's beautiful and full of great Americans and incredible wildlife.
After struggling to get within bow range of these amazing animals and missing more shots than I wish to admit, we decided to revert to the old reliable pronghorn hunting modus operandi. We threw up a Double Bull blind out in the eternal cattle pasture right next to a leaky water tank.
Traditionally it is the patient wait-and-pray ambush approach that bowkills these open- ground critters, and near limited water sources is always your best option.
After a flick of the wrist, the handy little camo tent was up. On stools in its sun-shielding shade, swear to God, in mere moments we looked out the window to the north and lo and behold there came a black-faced buck.
A wad of curious cattle surrounded us, making funny cattle noises as the young buck nonchalantly walked in our direction. Showtime.
I notched an arrow onto the bowstring of my
55-pound CP Oneida bow, turned on the Pollington red dot sight, affixed my Mossy Oak facemask and swiveled to the left, facing the approaching target.
Killer footage
And there he came, literally glowing handsomely in the shimmering Texas sun. Toby filmed some killer footage of the beast.
But as ol' Murphy would have it, once the buck got close he turned and went directly behind the huge water tank and out of sight. I remained cocked, locked and ready to rock, Doc. After what felt like an eternity, the buck stepped out not
10 yards from our blind.
Toby was on him and I placed the red dot sight right there in the pumpstation, telling myself I would not miss this time.
I said a quick Fred Bear prayer for the wild-things, and let 'er rock. THUMP!
The razorsharp Magnus BuzzCut, driven home by a 400-grain GoldTip, sliced through the
100-pound animal like butter and sailed off into the drought-stricken hinterland.
The buck sprang 35 yards, stood, looked around, then simply laid down and fell asleep. Cool.
Celebrating the mighty American beast in the beauty of indigenous prickly pear cactus and wild scrub of West Texas made the whole scene special.
Pronghorn backstraps and tenderloins with family and friends would perfectly recycle this precious renewable resource unique to this part of the globe.
If you've never celebrated pronghorn hunting in this magic land, you're missing out on one of life's great SpiritWild joys. Check it out and do it ASAP. You will be moved.
Ted Nugent is a Waco-based musician and television show host.
