SPEED DATING

It’s mid September, and I’m watching a nice Wyoming sunrise in a valley not far from the town of Gillette. I think of speed when I think of that town, but not because of the Mach 2 razor company. Pronghorn antelope are the second-fastest land animal in the world, and if there’s a Pronghorn Hunting Capital, USA, this is it.

And there’s no better time to watch them run than mid September. It’s barely light enough to shoot, but I already have eyes on 50-plus animals. I’m sitting in a ground blind with a crossbow in hand, but this isn’t the usual early-season water-hole set. It’s chilly enough for long handles, and instead of a tank, my attention is focused on a loose wire in an otherwise taut barbed-wire fence 25 yards from my blind. The fence separates two pastures—antelope in both of them—and there are buck scrapes all alongside it. But the heaviest sign is right next to the gap created by that downed wire.

Often, in a situation like this, the pasture with the most animals is owned by a world-class a-hole who doesn’t allow hunting. But today, I’m allowed to shoot a buck on either