Have you ever wanted to be able to hunt for antelope and just didn’t think you’d be able to find an area accessible enough for you with your physical limitations? How about being able to get a chance to harvest a trophy antelope buck? How about getting together with others who are physically challenged and enjoy the best time of your life? Well…

My husband Marvin and I had all of this and more that at the 3rd annual Physically Challenged Bowhunters of America Wyoming Antelope Hunt in September 2004. We were so excited to be able to participate. I had heard great things about hunt organizers Linda and Steve Bricker; along with helpers Tim and Allison Carsrud, Tim and Terra Norton, and many others who make the hunt possible.

The hunters from the previous year’s hunt had us fired up, excited and anxious to hunt antelope. We had only hunted antelope once before in Colorado but it was a tough hunt for Marvin, who hunts from his wheelchair.

We made our travel arrangements, planning to drive the 27-plus hours from Pennsylvania to Gillette, WY, where the hunt is held. Having only seen some of the beautiful countryside of Montana and Wyoming a few years ago while coming back from a bear hunt in Saskatchewan, Canada, we wanted to be able to enjoy the sights and visit some of the major draws in Wyoming and South Dakota such as Deadwood, Devil’s Tower, Black Hills, and the Badlands.

We left Pennsylvania on Sunday, September 12 and took our time traveling out. We didn’t need to be in Gillette until the 15th. Most of the drive was beautiful, with blue skies and warm temperatures. In the mountains just a few hours outside of Gillette we drove through a furious storm with strong winds and torrential rain. We arrived in Gillette to cool, sunny weather.

We met with Steve and Linda Bricker at our hotel and agreed to meet at a local diner later that evening for dinner. We found that others from the PCBA hunt had also arrived in town, along with some of the guides and volunteers so we all had a wonderful night meeting and sharing dinner.

The PCBA event was to begin the following day with all 30 of the hunters meeting at Rocky Mountain Discount Sports to sight in our bows. Rocky Mountain Sports had donated the use of their 3-D indoor course and targets. After a meeting with the local and national media that were covering the yearly event, we were off to the Bethlehem Community Church for what was to be some wonderful evening meals prepared by our generous friends in Gillette.

Steve Bricker was our Master of Ceremonies for the festivities and did a marvelous job. The whole was place decorated in a fall theme– down to having centerpieces on all the tables. Steve covered on the areas we’d be hunting and went over the door prizes that were donated. Everyone left that evening with visions of antelope jumping in their heads. I know I didn't sleep much the first night.

The next morning, Marvin and I were to hunt the Brickers' ranch over an alfalfa field not far from the house. There were antelope all over but nothing presented a shot. We watched about eight white-tailed deer try to move across the road with no luck. Too many cars came, blowing their horns to scare them off the road. A few hours later we were delighted to watch some nice mule deer try the same stunt. They had better luck.

Within minutes the buck was in front of us at about 20 yards. Marvin took aim and – he missed. Marvin never misses. Sure enough the bolt went right over the buck, or so I thought. Off he went never to be seen again. I was filming so I reran the film to check it out but couldn’t really say for sure what happened. I told Marvin to just calm down and wait. I felt sure the big buck would be back. We played the shot over and over while we waited.

A much smaller buck started our way, and I told Marvin to just watch him and wait for the big guy to come back. He was mad at himself for missing. He said he would just look at this antelope in his scope. The next thing I knew I heard the crossbow go off and saw a bolt fly. Marvin missed again. (I should have known that Marvin wasn’t going to listen!)

We decided that we needed to go into camp and check out what was happening. We sighted the crossbow in when we arrived, but something was definitely amiss. We headed into camp and found Skip Lloyd, Kent Davis and Denny Campbell, fellow PCBA members and long-time friends, they, too, knew something was up. Skip and Kent helped Marvin with the crossbow while Denny and I went over the video. On the TV we saw the miss: Marvin was shooting in front of the antelope. We walked outside and told the guys what we found. They too, said that he was hitting to far right but at the right height. A little adjustment and he was right on. It seems the different altitude had a lot to do with this.

We hunted again Friday afternoon but didn’t get any shots. On Saturday, Marvin and I split up, hunting a few miles apart. I was told that they were putting me in a spot frequented by "The Killer." As the story went, our guide Tim Carsrud and a buddy were hunting this windmill when they shot a nice antelope and "The Killer," a huge, dominant buck in the area, came in and took the smaller antelope apart.

Tim had me on my stand before 6 a.m. As the area started to come to light I could see my decoy out at about 40 yards off the water hole. I noticed a really nice antelope and quite a few doe high on a knoll to my left. As it got lighter out I could see that they were headed my way!

The minutes felt like hours as the antelope buck and his harem came our way. He was awesome and huge! I wondered if this might be "The Killer." Wow – talk about getting excited. He kept his harem off to the sidelines and came in slowly, alone. When he noticed the decoy, things started to get interesting. He circled the decoy, picking a fight. As he played around, I thought he was within range so I took a shot.

I let them get to the water and waited. They both came in together with the smaller buck closer to me. I waited as the smaller buck turned to leave. As he took a few steps away, I came to full draw. The larger buck turned to walk off. As I released the arrow, he started to quarter away from me and WHAM, I got him. He jumped, twisted, and ran less than 20 yards before he dropped. I began to shake from the adrenaline rush, so I sat down and grabbed for the radio to call Marvin and Tim. I looked at my watch and couldn’t believe it was not quite 8:30 a.m. As I waited for Marvin and Tim to radio me back, I grabbed my gear and headed down to the ground and my antelope. He was wonderful. A nice 12 inch antelope buck. My first ever. When Marvin and Tim finally radioed me, they were whooping it up. It seems that they didn’t hear my first call. Marvin too had taken a nice antelope, a 13-inch buck! His first as well and they were backslapping, yelling, screaming and congratulating at the blind.

As it all turned out, Marvin and I took our bucks at the same time, less than two miles apart! Talk about a wonderful hunt. Yes, those two fine buck antelope are now proudly on our trophy wall with other harvests we took during PCBA’s inspiring and awesome hunting experiences. If you don’t attend this hunt – or another PCBA-sponsored hunt at least once, you are missing out some great experiences. You'll find nothing but accessible locations, superb food, breathtaking sights, astonishing animals, and the magnificent camaraderie of hunters, guides and volunteers, as well as becoming a part of the PCBA Family!