Attention: TDR Forum Junkies Antelope vs. ATV
This past Saturday, I was hunting antelope in eastern Colorado. It was near dark and I was heading back to camp on a two-track road. Since it was still legal shooting, I did not have the headlights on so as not to destroy my vision.
Anyway, I was moving about 15 – 20 miles per hour when some movement caught my eye to my left. I looked over ant there was this buck antelope racing me. It did not appear that he could see me, probably just racing the noise. He was probably going 30 – 40 mph.
About this time, the road makes about 45 degree turn to the left. All of a sudden, it appears that if I keep going, I’ll be on a collision course with this antelope; the antelope is only about 30 feet from me so I slammed on the breaks, assuming that he will go by me in the front. Well, about this time, the antelope spots me. We were so close, I could see his “expression”. Well he decides to slam on his “brakes” and swerve behind me.
You guessed it, he runs right into my left rear fender. I keep me rifle in a soft case on the rear luggage rack on a downward angle facing the front of the ATV. Well, he punches a hole in the case and flips the file out of the rear support grip. There is also blood spray all over rear of the ATV, probably gave him a good bloody nose.
Now my initial reaction (my wife thinks this is strange) was to see if maybe the antelope was stunned enough so that I could hop off the ATV and cut his throat and fill my tag. But he took off at about 60 mph in a cloud of dust. And than, it hit me, If that silly antelope had hit 18” further forward, I would probably have at least on hole in my leg or side and who knows how much damage he could have inflicted, if he had got tangled up under the rifle case or the handle bars and panicked.
I think we both left the scene more than a little shaken.
This past Saturday, I was hunting antelope in eastern Colorado. It was near dark and I was heading back to camp on a two-track road. Since it was still legal shooting, I did not have the headlights on so as not to destroy my vision.
Anyway, I was moving about 15 – 20 miles per hour when some movement caught my eye to my left. I looked over ant there was this buck antelope racing me. It did not appear that he could see me, probably just racing the noise. He was probably going 30 – 40 mph.
About this time, the road makes about 45 degree turn to the left. All of a sudden, it appears that if I keep going, I’ll be on a collision course with this antelope; the antelope is only about 30 feet from me so I slammed on the breaks, assuming that he will go by me in the front. Well, about this time, the antelope spots me. We were so close, I could see his “expression”. Well he decides to slam on his “brakes” and swerve behind me.
You guessed it, he runs right into my left rear fender. I keep me rifle in a soft case on the rear luggage rack on a downward angle facing the front of the ATV. Well, he punches a hole in the case and flips the file out of the rear support grip. There is also blood spray all over rear of the ATV, probably gave him a good bloody nose.
Now my initial reaction (my wife thinks this is strange) was to see if maybe the antelope was stunned enough so that I could hop off the ATV and cut his throat and fill my tag. But he took off at about 60 mph in a cloud of dust. And than, it hit me, If that silly antelope had hit 18” further forward, I would probably have at least on hole in my leg or side and who knows how much damage he could have inflicted, if he had got tangled up under the rifle case or the handle bars and panicked.
I think we both left the scene more than a little shaken.
