Antelope Hunt 2015

     My dad had just shot his antelope (a nice two year-old buck) and we were in the process of quick quartering and boning out the quarters on the back of the pickup. The game warden came and checked per usual, and everything checked out - we were good. So we went off in search of many more antelope for the freezer. Not far along, we saw a group of about ten antelope on the side of a hill. So Grandpa, the Ranger, and I went down a goat path of a two track, around and up the back of the hill. When we got to the top, they were gone.
     So then we split up - ApprenticeDad, Grandpa, and I in one truck and Mark, Grandma, the Ranger and the dog in the other truck, going the opposite direction. So we looked and looked, occasionally seeing a jumpy buck 500 yards from anything that remotely resembled a piece of cover. Then finally on the way to lunch, we saw a group of about seven and according to Grandpa, they were about 200-250 yards away (I don’t quite believe him). So I plopped the tailgate down and took a crack at the last one in the bunch (a yearling buck) with my trusty .243. There is a very distinctive sound when your bullet makes contact with a body, kind of a thwack. We heard a thwack but he didn’t go down. So Dad and I headed after him. When we saw him, I put the scope on him, took a shot and he dropped deader'n a stone. And I was so happy.

-The Apprentice

The Ranger:

       

    Inhale, exhale, the cross hairs find their mark, but still moving too much. Her ears twitch; she notices something. Inhale, exhale. The cross hairs are steady now. Inhale, exhale. Finger tightens on the trigger. Inhale, exhale. The trigger is pulled back far enough and at once the firing pin drops. 6 grams of gunpowder are suddenly ignited. Their gases build up and build up inside the cartridge until they can stay in no more. They have to get out. They have so much pressure that a little pointy piece of lead, covered in bronze, suddenly is pushed out of its case and starts heading out the barrel. Through its way out, spiraling grooves along the barrel give it a spin. It exits the barrel and moves at 3,200 feet per second, around Mach 3, the maximum speed of an SR-71 Blackbird. As it penetrates her skin, it has so much velocity and inertia that little can stop it. It turns everything it hits into jelly. She goes down like a ton of bricks. Another successful antelope hunt for the Ranger, 2015.       

-The Ranger