How to Hunt Antelope at long Range

[cinch]

I think we sometimes do not realize how lucky we are to have this many antelope here. There are probably more antelope in Wyoming than everywhere else in the world combined. People travel from all over the world to come to Wyoming to hunt antelope, and alot of people here consider them a nuisance. One other thing about antelope hunting, be very careful with them after the kill if you want a shoulder mount. The hair comes out very easily.

[Buffalobob]

Antelope Horns

Here are pictures of two antelope bucks and a doe I have killed.

The first buck is very small and I knew it when I shot. I could see his ears and that the fork was not higher than the ears and knew he was no trophy but the distance was 1K and that was what I wanted. He doesn't really make a nice picture nor will he make a nice trophy.


The second buck is a decent middle of the road sized buck. His fork is about two inches or so above his ears and it really makes the picture look good. He will look good on your wall.


The third picture is a doe. You will see she has no horns. Look and see that her snout is light colored. Look and see the dark cheek patch on the bucks and notice that she doesn't have one.

If someone wants to post a picture of a really big buck that would be great. It will not be insulting to me in the least. You can also explain how you decide that a buck has really B&C horns.


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[weinerdawg]

Here are pictures of the goats my son & I harvested this last October. Note the "lipstick" on my son's forhead, lesson, don't let your scope kiss you! Anyway I don't know what these bucks score the bigger one is 16.5" and the little guy is 14".

[Weda]

One thing to remember. if you ride around in a truck all day. You'll miss as many as you see. While employing this techinique works well. Often walking over the next rise 1000 yards away will reveal alot more antelpoe.. as they are the ones who grew tired of the road hunters.

Remember they can see like they have a 10X binocular strapped to their head. So if you can see them they can without question see you!

While fast flat shooting rifle make things easy. The 308 can be as sucessful as the 7stw. Know your rifle and shoot it often to the ranges you feel comfortable.

Hunting with a spotter makes life alot easier but stalking much more challenging.

if you go without knee and elbow pads you'll regret it 10 min into the first stalk.
If you wear Knee and Elbow pads you'll only have to pick out the prickly pears from your chest, thighs and stomach.. this will save you about an hour in the evening.

Antelope are not hard to kill... but if you wound one.. 60 mph will put distance between you and recovery awefully fast.

DO NOT DRAG your speed goat it will be hairless when you get back to the truck. You need 2 people and a 6' stick or gut it an put it on your shoulders.

Be prepare they are a Goat.. hence "speedgoat" and they do stink.

If oyu shoot one while running... the meat might as well be all sausage...

DO NOT shoot them after they have run or while running. Kill one while they are relaxed and calm. The meat is 100% better. One reason LR is the way to go on a Speedgoat.

[rangerxp]

First of all, thank you guys for posting all of this great information. I too have been wanting to hunt some lopes for a while now. I live in N.C. and all I have ever hunted is whitetail. I'm looking for something new to spend what money I don't have on, and the pronghorn looks like a very cool animal to try to hunt. I have one question:
If I were to travel to Wy. for a week and follow these guidelines as well as reading as much as I can on the subject, would I have a reasonable chance of killing an antelope worthy of the wall? Now I'm not looking for a huge one, just something that would look good on the wall and be a nice reminder of my hunt. Thanks again.

[Buffalobob]

Ranger

If you spend a week and do not shoot the first one you see but take a little tiime and get used to checking the horns against the ears you should do well. My method of measureing horns was taught to me by a wildlife biologist from Wyoming many years ago. It is not for Boone and Crocket scoring but it is good for wallhangers. That is why I posted the three pictures and then some other memebers posted some good pictures.

Remember the average wind will be gusting from 10-20 mph and you really need to practice shooting in the wind. Do not shoot at a buck if he is not isolated because the winddrift can put you into another animal and then you have no trophy.

[TheSollyLama]

excellent thread. Well written. And thank you for sharing it, I am hoping to get the draw this year in CO for pronghorn.