Antelope Hunting in Owyhee Desert, Idaho

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I fired my first bow a few years ago in a sporting goods store and it was fun. It was one of those memories of my life that definitely stuck with me. Last year our little was finally old enough to take on an antelope hunting trip to the Owyhee desert.  I bought my first bow, a Hoyt Ignite, and I literally completed my hunting certification on the very last day possible. I drew an early-season antelope tag and a late-season deer tag. Before we left town I watched multiple YouTube videos on how to quarter out an antelope. (I took biology and I know my muscles well; I can do this! Right?)

Scouting & Hunting Antelope

Water Hole 1
Water Hole #1

We headed out to the desert to scout for antelope the week before I had plans to hunt. Down the road a bit we pulled over and scanned the hillsides with binoculars. There were a few antelope on the hills and right before dusk one came down to a seep for a drink. Looking closely at the area we discovered that there were 2 water holes! That is the place I chose to set my blind.

Our first trip to the desert was a 3-day trip because my flight paramedic husband had to work on the 4th day. Knowing that we were going to the middle of nowhere I packed enough food for an army. My husband kept telling me that we didn’t need so much food but I come from a long line of women who enjoy feeding people, so we took all the food. Of course, on our second 3 day stretch in the desert, I didn’t take very much food. (I’ll explain the reasoning in another post.)

Water Hole #2

On my walk to the water holes, my socks filled with the dried seed heads from the tall grass, and they poked my ankles with every step. That’s what I get for wearing shorts so the second day I wore pants that zipped off at the knees which was better.

Those seed heads really embed themselves; I think I have socks that still have the seed heads in them even though they’ve been washed.

My Hunting Blind

As I began setting up the blind, a blind that we borrowed from a friend because it is smaller than the one we own (ie lighter to carry); I discovered that there weren’t 4 stakes and I didn’t bring a hammer. Two of the stakes were straight but the third was bent. They were also smaller than a pencil in diameter. Unable to find any rocks nearby to use as a hammer I ended up using a branch on the ground from an old sage bush to hammer in the stakes. I got the stakes about halfway into the ground by hand, the Owyhee desert is sandy, and I hammered them into the ground as well as I could with my branch. For the 4th stake, I found a smaller branch, a twig, that I “hammered” into the ground with a log to hold down the 4th corner.  I put my backpack and stuff in the corner with the twig stake to help hold it down.

BUT the Owyhee desert is also windy so for the next 3 days I fought with this blind and the stakes whenever a huge breeze blew by. Thankfully there weren’t any animals around when these shenanigans happened.

hunting blind
Hunting blind overlooking 2 water holes

Antelope Hunting Is Hot

Antelope hunting in a blind was brutal. The days were tolerable until about noon and then the heat was intense. Remember your school days when the teachers would open the windows in the wintertime to wake everyone up? That never worked for me. Instead, it made me sleepy. I never understood people who said they became tired when it was warm. Well, sitting in my poor man’s sweat lodge I learned that I do get sleepy when I get warm but that temperature is about 95 degrees.

Each day I sat there sweating and I had lots of alone time with my thoughts. I had a couple of books I read bits and pieces of while fighting off an afternoon snooze. Sometimes I played solitaire on my phone and occasionally I’d re-hammer a stake into the ground; it was relaxing. Other than putting food on the table I understood why hunters do what they do. It’s a way to get away from the crazy world we live in and truly immerse yourself in the vibe of nature.

2021 Update: The blind was simply a miserable experience for me. I haven’t sat in one since. Read about my adventures spotting and stalking antelope here.

Although it was just the 3 of us in the Owyhee desert, the middle of nowhere, (no cell phone signal) we made friends with other hunters in the area. It’s almost like it’s an unspoken contract.

“You hunt?”

“YES”

“Then we are friends!”

We are still in contact with the friends we made and have planned other hunting trips with them. It’s an awesome community!

My blind was at the base of a hill so I had no way of knowing if a speed goat was just above me or over the ridge. For 3 days my husband occasionally saw the same speed goat hanging out 2 ridges above me but no antelope ever came to my water holes.

owyhee dessert idaho oregon border
The road I hiked in from.

Once just before dusk, a doe came to the water hole with her fawns. My deer tag wasn’t valid but it was good practice sitting in a blind and remaining undetected. Even if my tag were valid I decided in that instant that I can’t shoot a mom with her babies right there. It’s an unspoken mom code that won’t let me do it; it just doesn’t feel right.

Driving back to town after spending 3 days in the Owhyee desert we quickly wondered where all the people in the world came from. We wanted to go back to the desert despite the heat and the comfort of air conditioning and a real shower that we would soon have.

Owyhee desert sunset
Owyhee desert at dusk
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Owyhee Sunset

Our Second Antelope Hunt

After a real shower and a day to cool off, I was ready to go antelope hunting again. For the second trip I didn’t take as much food but I took more water. A little extra water for a spit bath at the end of the day is a luxury. Thankfully it is so dusty in the desert that it works like dry shampoo for your hair.

The Simply Sapien Card Deck

For 2 more days, I sat near both water holes again. One afternoon my husband says to me over our walkie that there were some cows coming up behind me. I didn’t really think much of it until I looked out the window and saw that they all had horns. Immediately I pictured the running of the bulls and looked at the paper-thin walls of my blind. I felt like I was a sitting duck who could be charged and impaled at a moment’s notice. (Yes. I grew up in the city.)

My husband suggested that I shoo them away so I stepped out of my blind and began waving my arms. The steer scattered like frightened squirrels and I returned to my blind. Of course, the steer returned to my site because there were 2 water holes there. So I sat in my blind while the steer kept a close eye on me through the windows.

These Are Not The Horns You Are Looking Forview from my hunting blindbull 2
steer in the desertbull 3
view from my hunting blindbull 4
The Last Day

My antelope tag was only valid for 2 weeks and it was my last chance to see an antelope. For 5 days my husband kept seeing antelope on the hills above my blind but they never came down for a drink. It was time to go hiking. I packed up the blind and carried it with everything but my hunting chair up and over 2 ridges.

owyhee county idaho

If you’ve never had antelope it is delicious. When my husband brought one home the year before the first thing I said after taking my first bite was: “why didn’t you bring home a bigger one”?

antelope hunting camoI wore camo and I had an urge to go stalking but I didn’t have any knee pads. Crawling 20 yards across the ground to adjust my decoy confirmed that I won’t go stalking through sage without knee pads and gloves.

The top of the ridge was windy. I used my gear to help hold down one corner of the blind and my body weight for the other. (When you borrow a blind from a friend make sure you have adequate stakes and a small hammer. I bought him a new set of stakes as a Thank You for letting me borrow his blind.) Since I’d left my chair on the ground near the water holes I sat on the ground. Occasionally I’d peek out the windows but I didn’t see anything all day. Then just before the day turned to dusk an antelope made himself a comfy spot under a tree 1 ridge over. I watched and he didn’t move for a long time. After an hour or so he began making his way towards me.

I had an arrow nocked and my upper body was covered in black to camouflage myself in the blind. I was ready. He came running towards my side of the valley and showed off his speed as he ran past about 70-80 yards away. They call antelope speed goats and I now have first-hand experience on what kind of speed they have. Even if the goat had been 30 yards from my blind I didn’t have time to pull my arrow back before he ran by and was out of sight again. I think that’s why they call it hunting and not killing.

2021 Update: This story was my first hunting experience. You can read about the others here.

 

Originally posted on June 21, 2017 @ 06:00

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