Lever Gun ’Lope
Good Friends, Good Gun, Good Goats!
Tank sighting-in the vintage 1886 at Bobby Tyler’s backyard range.
Watching the wide, heavy antlered buck antelope was amusing as he was keeping his harem of roughly a dozen in a tight pack. If one ventured too far, he’d make a wide circle, much like a border collie and herd her back within the group. He liked them packed tight and under his watchful eye. He wasn’t about to share them with anyone.
Bobby and I had spotted him two evenings ago while scouting. His cartoonish, abnormally wide heavy horns were a dead giveaway, making him easy to recognize. He was a perfect buck for me, as I relish nature’s freakish critters. They were roughly 600 yards away.
After studying them for 15 minutes, Bobby Tyler, head honcho of Tyler Gun Works said, “Well, we got about a 50/50 chance of getting him — if we try.” We were here to hunt, so that’s what we did. A plan was hatched and the stalk began. Bobby was driving his Polaris Ranger and I was riding shotgun. Jason Cloessner of Lipsey’s Inc., was in the backseat with son Evan, who scored a dandy buck a few hours earlier. It’s always nice having witnesses when things go right …
John Purcell’s Winchester Model 1886 next to a sack of ammo belonging
to Jeff Quinn. Tank felt their spirits were smiling as he used their gear!
The Gun
The rifle I was using was not your typical antelope gun by any means. It was a vintage 1905 Winchester 1886 .45-70 from the estate of John Purcell. John was a fellow member of The Shootists, as are Bobby and Jason. When John died last year, Bobby handled the gun end of his estate and planned on keeping the old rifle to honor him.
For some reason, Bobby wanted me to hunt the first day using John’s rifle. We sighted it in the day before using a sack full of commercially loaded ammunition Bobby obtained when handling Jeff Quinn’s estate. Jeff was also a fellow Shootist.
Jeff Quinn’s .45-70 ammo and Tank’s empties from the hunt, with a Kim Ralston knife in the background.
The Load
A card in the large ammo sack stated the load was a 405-grain soft point slug loaded over 55.5 grains of AA2320, sparked with a Winchester large rifle primer. Velocity was 1,978 FPS. Purcell had mounted a Williams peep sight on the rifle. Using his setting, the ammo was dead-on when testing it on Bobby’s 150-yard range. To say I felt confident with the load/rifle combination would be correct. Now if we could only get close enough on a nice ’lope.
From left to right, Jason, Tank and Bobby holding the .45-70 Model 1886
Winchester formerly owned by John Purcell. Who hunts speed goats
with a buffalo gun? Tank, that’s who!
The Chase!
After studying the herd, Bobby decided to swing wide to get downwind for the final stalk. The wary prairie goats knew something was up and bolted! Bobby hit the gas as we streaked across the open prairie. Hanging on for dear life, I thought I was going to be ejected fighting the forces of the bucking UTV. I wasn’t worried so much about my welfare, but I was for the classic 1886 I was holding onto.
After a game of cat and mouse, the herd finally settled, thinking they have given us the slip. We were out of their sight, thanks to a series of large dirt mounds pushed up to prevent flooding from road runoff during heavy rainstorms. As we carefully crested the hill in a crawl, the sharp-eyed speed-goats spotted us again. We were only 65 yards away from them. The wide horned buck was in the lead and angling away on the run.
While thumbing the hammer back, I brought the rifle to my shoulder, finding the buck in the peep sight. I swung the front sight slightly ahead of him and pressed the trigger. After a few steps he stopped. The shot was farther back than I wanted, but as Elmer Keith would say, it “sickened him enough to not want to run.” A second shot exited his off-shoulder, dumping him instantly. I had my lever gun ’lope!
It was especially nice sharing the hunt, stalk and shots with Bobby, Jason and Evan. It was also nice to have used a rifle and ammo belonging to fellow Shootists. It keeps the spirit of the hunt and memories of those who’ve moved on, alive, making it special indeed. If this kind of hunt doesn’t stir the soul, nothing will.
The Deal
After the hunt, I knew I wanted the rifle, but I didn’t want to offend Bobby or put him in an awkward position. After mulling it over for a few days, we talked about it. “Bobby, would you ever consider selling John’s rifle?” “Only to you, Tank. The way I see it, I’ll be getting it back in 20–30 years and it will mean more to me then, knowing you used it during that time.”
We both laughed at the awkward, harsh, but honest statement. Yup, that’s about right and how the cycle of life — and guns — goes. I’ve got one story to tell about the old Winchester and hopefully some more will follow. The gun reminds me of ol’ John Purcell and a crazy antelope hunt with friends.
Who in their right mind hunts antelope with a 117-year-old iron-sighted Winchester .45-70? Not many, but it’s all part of the story …
