Nevada Pronghorn
By David Combs
Hello All, About ten days ago I returned from a successful antelope hunt in Nevada. I had applied for and was drawn in units 41 and 42 combined. These units are close to Lovelock, Nevada. Fortunately I was drawn after about ten years as applying as a non-resident. Because of the long drawing odds, I decided to hire a guide. After doing some research and visiting with other hunters, who had hunted these units in recent years, I selected Michael Jurad, owner of Mountain Man Outfitters in Winnemucca, Nevada. (Michael John Jurad, Master Guide, Mountain Man Outfitters, 775-625-1717, www.nevadaoutfitter.com)
My wife, Sona joined me for this hunt. She is always an enthusiastic partner on my hunting adventures. We left our home in Long Beach on Friday, August 20th and drove to Lone Pine, California. Lone Pine is at the eastern foot of Mount Whitney and is a charming high Sierra town. For visitors I recommend Seasons restaurant. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner of elk with a glass of fine wine. The next morning we left early and continued our drive along the Sierra mountain chain. This is a very scenic drive and adds pleasure to a driving trip in the area. We arrived in Lovelock about 4 p.m. on the afternoon of the 21st and checked into a local casino/motel, named Sturgeons. We located the local rifle range and I verified the accuracy of my new Nosler rifle in .260 caliber.
Following this, we drove around the outskirts of Lovelock and located a few antelope on the west side of town in an alfalfa field. Then back to town to meet with Michael and make our plans for the following morning which was the opening of antelope season. Michael had been doing some scouting and indicated he had found a couple of trophy bucks a bit north of Lovelock on some public ground. We made plans for Michael to pick us about 5 a.m. the following morning. That evening after dinner we were treated to a major thunder storm with much rain and lightning. I wondered what this would do to the hunting conditions in the morning.
Michael arrived shortly after 5 a.m. and we drove north of Lovelock on the interstate highway for about 30 miles and then drove west into the foot hills. About a mile or so off the highway we spotted a handsome buck antelope, but I was unprepared and he disappeared following a group of does. Later that morning we found another “keeper” buck, but he was very wary and never gave us an opportunity for a comfortable shot. By now there were numerous other hunters in the area in groups of three or four. In talking to some of them, typically there was one hunter with a tag in the group, and their pals were helping with the hunt. Also we started to see clusters of ATV’s scooting around the local country side. Michael thought it best that we switch to another area where there would be less hunters and resulting pressure.
We drove about 20 miles south and started scouring the foothills for antelope. We spent a lot of time driving, glassing and driving. By now the wind had picked up momentum and as a result the antelope we saw were very skittish. Michael checked a number of water holes, but no antelope. About noon we stopped for a lunch that Michael’s wife, Nancy had prepared for us. She had prepared a wonderful field lunch with all sorts of side entrees. After resting awhile we started driving further south. Along the way we talked to a few other hunters and they all thought the antelope population was down from previous years and the Nevada officials had issued too many tags for the two units we were hunting.
Finally late in the afternoon we were hunting south and west of Lovelock and were preparing to go back to town and rest for the next day. When we were about seven miles west of town we spotted on a distant hillside a group of three buck antelope. We stopped and determined there was one very nice buck in the group. After a short stalk the trophy was ours.
This was a pleasant conclusion to a very nice hunt. Michael tried very hard to locate us a superb trophy antelope and it was obvious he had put in some time scouting before we arrived. I should also comment that all his hunting gear is top notch along with a clean and comfortable truck. I am already making plans to hunt with him next season for deer in Nevada.
