Sherri’s Corner – Argentina Blackbuck

Just a few weeks ago, I wrote about my axis deer hunt in Argentina, so this story has the same setting, only this one tells about my search for a blackbuck antelope which began on day 3 of our hunt.
Our morning started out much like the previous two did, and after breakfast we headed out in the opposite direction of where we had earlier in the week. Unlike the axis deer, the blackbuck preferred more wide open terrain as opposed to brush and cover.
Mid morning, we came across a group of four bucks, however by the time we even spotted them, they were running full tilt off to our left. We kept an eye on them with the binoculars and when they had calmed down and started grazing again, we circled around the hill they were on in an attempt to get downwind of them and also within shooting distance.
After a lot of uphill walking, we were able to spot the bucks and duck behind cover to hide our approach. When we were within 200 yards of them, they became wise to the fact that they had company and by the time I got my binoculars up, all I could see were their tails going over a Ridge in the direction they had first came. By this time it was close to mid day so we headed back to camp to let the bucks bed down and hopefully find them again later in the afternoon. However, the bucks had other plans and we didn’t find them again for the rest of the day.
Day 2 of the blackbuck hunt began with a drive to scout for them. They had become quite wise that we were after them and they took no time at all getting as far away from us as they could in short time I might add.
On day one, we had spotted a blackbuck with a group of does who although was still sketchy, he wasn’t as “on edge” as his female-less counterparts so we decided to head in the direction of where we first spotted the herd.
Finding them was easy, there had to be at least 20-25 antelope in the group, it was getting a shot with my cross bow that deemed to be the biggest challenge. I made several attempts at stalking in closer but that was unsuccessful each time. I once again resorted to using the rifle and for the 5th attempt and getting a shot, we were able to get within 120 yards of the unsuspecting crew and once the buck stopped chasing his does around, he came into a clearing and sniffed the air. I took that opportunity to take the shot and with one bullet through the heart, he was on the ground.
As I walked up to the buck, I was in awe of how pretty he was, his horns very similar to that of an African animal, very unique and spiraled. As we finished up with pictures and loaded my antelope, it dawned on me that there was only one full day left in Argentina, this trip definitely went by much too fast. I am very much looking forward to getting my Argentinian trophies back from my taxidermist to go along with my memories and pictures of a rewarding experience of a lifetime.