The Ghost of the Prairies

I’ve come to the conclusion that Oregon is a strange state with strange laws. As close as I can figure, when you put in for a rifle antelope tag in Oregon, the first year you are unsuccessful, you get one preference point. But rather than continue to build points with each unsuccessful draw, you only keep that one point until 12 years…at which point they decide you are either exceptionally persistent, or exceptionally stubborn and they give you a tag. It does take some poor luck to actually have to go all twelve years before getting your charity tag, but such was the case with my cousin, Cody Waldo.

For many years, no matter what was going on in Cody’s life, it must have been nice in knowing that there would be one constant – he would be unsuccessful in drawing an antelope tag. It’s nice to be able count on things. But, this was the year he knew he would be drawing a tag, and we all wondered how he would cope with that one constant in his life taken away. I believed he would find a way to survive.

Opening day rolled around and Cody found himself with his dad and a childhood friend who also drew a tag. Rifle season in Oregon lands smack in the middle of August, promising miserably hot weather in the eastern Oregon desert. Traversing many miles, the trio joked that no one would cover more miles than them to get an antelope. The problem, however, was that antelope were showing themselves to be more scarce than it would seem possible. As the sun set on the opener, they finally found a small antelope that satisfied Cody’s friend and they were on the board. The season is remarkably short, and work was forcing Cody’s hand. He hadn’t waited twelve years to eat tag soup, but he had one more day and decided he didn’t want to spend half of it driving as far as they had the previous day. So, taking a chance, he and his father, Ray, hit a spot close to home that has always been a favorite deer hunting spot. Hiking a fence line, they spotted a lone antelope 400 yards away and lined the binos up on it – a buck!

At that much of a distance it was tough to get a real good guess on the buck’s size, but Cody decided it was one he would be happy with, and proceeded to settle in for the long shot. The following pictures tell the rest of the story:

Cody with his antelope that was 12 years in the making.

Cody's hunting partner - and father - Ray Waldo with Cody's 'lope.

Good mass - total net 74 inches.