Post your 2016 speed goat kills here!!

[Clark]

We were on a ranch in MT with a main herd of ~30 antelope that had at least one smart old doe that would not let us get within 1000 yards.

From small dumb herds I shot a buck and a doe opening morning and used up my tags.
My brother shot a buck and a doe opening morning and used up his tags.
Our friend, Den, drug it out for 4 days passing up bucks and wanted the herd buck in the big herd.

We spotted the big herd on the 4th day and Den had a plan. He would hide in the grass around the corner on the South side of knoll, and I would walk around the North. The wind was blowing from the North and I would never see the antelope, as they would smell my body odor and leave.

As I was walking around the knoll I did not see the big herd, but I did hear a shot. My odor had worked. Den shot it with his $9.95 Mosin Nagant he bought in the 1960s.

 

[WildRose]

Nice, he looks like another old timer.

I don't know how much truth there is to it but I was taught years ago that the black spot in the crease of the neck behind the jaw gets smaller and fades with age.

He just looks old all over and anytime you can put down an old timer it's an accomplishment. They don't get old being stupid.

We used similar techniques to yours on several places but you do have to be somewhat careful about it. If the wrong game warden is around he may determine that it's taking by illegal means due to harassment.

Unfortunately there are game wardens in every state that go out of their way to look for any excuse to slap you with an expensive ticket and take your animal.

New Mexico had some of the worst of them back in the 60's and 70s.

 

[Wachsmann]

That's sad to hear about the issues with some of the game wardens but I hunted in Wy a couple of years ago and met one of the nicest GW's around. He did the usual of checking license and tags but I did not know to much about the area I was hunting. We pulled the maps out and he point out exactly where I should go and where a couple of watering spots were for the animals (antelopes). Even told me I could most likely get 2 in one morning hunt if I was quick enough...I had 2 of the doe fawn tags. It was like being spoon fed some great info. So I went to the part of the area he point out and found all the does I could shoot at. To this day I never had an experience with an GW like that. Granted he was also a hunter as well. He told me its hard to get time off for hunting being in the profession he is in. Also while chatting he told me he like to see people succeed in there hunting and he generally will offer helping info if he can. Any ways it was a great time and fun hunt.

 

[WildRose]

That's sad to hear about the issues with some of the game wardens but I hunted in Wy a couple of years ago and met one of the nicest GW's around. He did the usual of checking license and tags but I did not know to much about the area I was hunting. We pulled the maps out and he point out exactly where I should go and where a couple of watering spots were for the animals (antelopes). Even told me I could most likely get 2 in one morning hunt if I was quick enough...I had 2 of the doe fawn tags. It was like being spoon fed some great info. So I went to the part of the area he point out and found all the does I could shoot at. To this day I never had an experience with an GW like that. Granted he was also a hunter as well. He told me its hard to get time off for hunting being in the profession he is in. Also while chatting he told me he like to see people succeed in there hunting and he generally will offer helping info if he can. Any ways it was a great time and fun hunt.

No doubt there are some great guys in the profession, I've met a few of them.

In the late sixties and seventies there was a real disdain in NM when it came to out of staters coming in to enjoy NM's natural resources. NM's LEO's seemed to see out of state plates as being a target for extracting large amounts of money to help the local economy.

My dad was the kind of guy that would move mountains to be sure he wasn't doing anything wrong and had the same warden purposely ruin his antelope hunts whenever possible by sitting off on a hill and waiting until he could see antelope getting "too close" to my dad and he'd come bouncing in, in his truck to pull a license check on him. It was like he just had it in for my dad and so for probably the first ten years he antelope hunted he never took a decent buck. Back then there was only one season we could draw for and that was a 3 day hunt over Memorial Day weekend too so if you couldn't get it done in 3 days you were just done.

Most of the western states including NM have realized in the decades sense just how important the dollars spent by out of state hunters are to the State's Economy and how important those dollars have proven to be in funding the state wildlife agencies and their conservation projects, as a result they have become far friendlier and inviting.

 

[Mark W]

There are some great pics in this thread so I'm not sure how mine measures up. I don't think the pic really did it justice. I tagged out two hours into opening day just South West of Colorado Springs. The rifle used was a Remington 700 VLS .243 Rem shooting Sierra 100 Gr Gamekings at just over 3000 fps. Unfortunately I shot low on the first shot at 500 yards and had to take a second shot at 175 yards to seal the deal.

 

[Guy M]

I'll admit that I'm not a serious antelope hunter. I love those critters! Love watching them, and love cooking, serving and eating them. For some reason I've never gotten fixated on shooting a "big" pronghorn.

So, while out mule deer hunting in Wyoming... Antelope tag in pocket of course... This little fellow made the mistake of providing me with a near-perfect shot opportunity. He was crossing from right to left, slowly. Coming out of a draw and heading into the flats, at about 245 yards. Perfect backstop, safe shot, easy shot. Why not?

So I dropped to prone with the bipod out, left the scope on 2x, put the crosshairs on his chest and sent a 165 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip destroying the top of his heart, also breaking a leg. That settled things very quickly. A case of the .30-06 being plenty of gun.



We quickly field dressed him and had him hanging on the meat pole in short order. So far, the backstrap steaks have been delicious, as expected.

Regards, Guy

 

[Monttrap04]

Took my daughter to eastern MT this year for her first antelope hunt. She spotted this one from the highway, helped ask the farmer for permission, made a long belly crawl through open stubble and then waited over an hour for him to get up from his morning nap. Two 100 gr sgks in the boiler room at 270 yards ended her hunt on opening morning.

Great memories for sure.

 

[Guy M]

Excellent! Congrats to the young hunter and her mentor, well done.

Is she shooting a .243 Win?

Regards, Guy

 

[Monttrap04]

Thanks!

Yes, she shoots a .243. She has a little Ruger Compact with a 16.5" barrel that shoots an 85 tsx pretty well (not great, but ok). However, my rangefinder had crapped out so I didn't know the exact range and hadn't shot her rifle past 250. We had lots of time to get her set up with something to support the butt stock and I felt better letting her use my heavy barrel 700. It is just a little easier to shoot at distance. I was confident the goat was inside 300 but not positive on the exact range.

She did use her little rifle on a coyote later that afternoon and then on a little muley a couple weeks later...