antelope hunt

[dakotasin]

just got back in from an antelope hunt this weekend.

what a blast! these things are so much fun if actually hunted (vice run down and shot from the truck).

my partner and i both managed to tag, so it was a huge success... now, let's hope they taste good. if they do, i may hunt less deer, and more goat!

 

[C.R.Sam]

Speed Goat.

Goodonya for taggin.

Rifle ? Distance ? Stalk or hide ? Etc ?

Sam

 

[Art Eatman]

My one and only experience with antelope: Yummy! Tasty! And the meat is very, very rich. Very tender.

I had a shoulder mount done by an El Paso taxidermist. Excellent job, but the way they stretched the skin, you'd think the goat weighed 200 pounds!

, Art

 

[dakotasin]

thanks much!

the rifle was a 300 wsm, leupold compact, harris bipod, 180 sierra gamekings at 3025 f/s, bushnell rangefinder, nikon spotter, nikon binocs, and wind river binocs.

since you get out of something what you put into it, my partner and i made this an actual hunt... we used spot-and-stalk for most of it.

my antelope finally came at 104 lasered yards. my partner's goat came at about 275 yards (338 was the last laser reading before the shot). 308 win, leupold scope, 165 hornady interlocks at 2700 f/s.

if you care to read details, i put the story up here:
part 1, scouting: http://www.baitshopboyz.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1643&PN=1

part 2, blown stalks: http://www.baitshopboyz.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1644&PN=1

part 3, dumping the goat: http://www.baitshopboyz.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1648&PN=1

and art- i bet that w/ the taxidermy work on your goat (skin stretching and all), you don't have to explain to anybody why you had to have it mounted... a 200 lb antelope isn't bad!

 

[Dr.Rob]

Just about every antelope I've killed in Colorado and Wyoming was with a 30-06. Bullets ranged from 150-180 gr. Now use sierra 165's exclusively. There was ONE exception.

Took a goat with a 30-30 to prove a point.

Longest MADE shot on antelope was over 400 yards. Shortest was at 50 feet. You'd be amazed how easy it is to MISS a running 'lope at 50 feet with a scoped rifle.

Two things:

1. Never gut shoot one unless you are carrying an aromatic cigar.

2. Always carry an aromatic cigar. Lope bones are brittle and prone to shatter/splinter. You will often preforate the gut bag even with a perfect shot.

 

[Art Eatman]

My father was often a showoff with his shooting. He'd call a neck shot on a running buck at 200 or 300 yards and roll the deer.

He and some buddies were pickup-trucking across a west Texas ranch and jumped an antelope. As the goat ran across the road in front of the truck, my father, standing in the back, cut down on him.

He was startled that with his normal hold for a running whitetail, the bullet hit behind the critter.

Mine was a patient vounteer, however. He just stood there and stared at me. Big mistake. Just under 15" on the horns...

, Art

 

[dakotasin]

regarding their speed...
we got a chance to watch 3 does that were loping across a flat. ran right towards a group of hunters. we watched as the antelope realized their mistake just in time, and turned to come right at us. when they realized they were jogging towards us, one by one, they each kicked the turbo on. i was left absolutely stunned w/ their incredible speed. i have never seen a game animal that could move that fast, or that could accelerate to top speed that fast. just amazing.

one thing i noticed about goats that i've never seen deer do, they aren't picky about the company they keep. we watched a group get into a herd of mule deer, and stayed w/ the mulies for about an hour, just milling around w/ 'em.

also watched several herds go into cow pastures and just mingle w/ the cattle. one herd in particular spent at least 2 days w/ the cattle... peculiar from a deer hunter's perspective.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

i have never seen a game animal that could move that fast, or that could accelerate to top speed that fast. just amazing.

I don't think there IS another game animal that can move that fast. IIRC, the only 4 legged critter on earth faster than a pronghorn is the cheetah, and he's only good for short bursts, while the pronghorn can run several miles at top speed.

 

[Art Eatman]

Along US 90 in west Texas, around Alpine and Marfa, it's kind of a hoot to see them standing along the highway fence, as though they're counting cars. "Okay, Herman, it's your turn for a while. I'm off shift."

There used to be a group of a half-dozen that came into a little pasture near the Sul Ross campus in Alpine. Graze, get a drink from a water trough, and wander away...

Art

 

[dakotasin]

larry- i'm sure your right, i don't know... but to actually witness the speed and grace firsthand is so much better and quite different than being told about it, or reading about it. and you are right... we watched 2 does that went between 3/4 speed and full speed without stopping as they ran a circle of about 7 miles... we figured they would die of exhaustion en-route to wherever they were going (was in the mid-80's at the time), but at last look they appeared fine - and were still going.

 

[C.R.Sam]

Thanks for the full report Dakotasin

Speed.
They are arguably FASTER than cheetah. Supposedly 70mph top.

Couple years ago a family group moved 45 miles...in an hour. Game and fish said so.

We have em in with the cows and horses a lot here. Couple weeks ago 14 of em got under the gvt fence and into neighbors spread. We herded em back with no problem. Well, a good cutting horse did the work. Cut the fence to let em back home then fixed it.

Interesting, no sweat riding amongst em horsed....out of season. Hard to walk up on em tho. And durin season, they often move into town where they don't get shot.

Horrendous fine for poachin em here and I don't need the meat so have never tasted em.

And they do be pretty critters.

Sam

 

[Dr.Rob]

Ah... once in misspent youth (28 or so) after an unsuccesful drive to push antelope torwards a young hunter (My cousin) the animals turned tail and ran right back at my buddy Bryan and I. Being "the boys" that we are.. we pulled knives and pistols and gave chase.

You have to understand that Bryan and I had already filled our tags and were more or less showing off to our young apprentice. We really had no intention of shooting or stabbing a sunday buck (6 inch horns). Well I go tearing off heels over sage brush and cacti running at a 45 degree angle to meet the onrushing critter. Suddenly for a short time.. I' running alongside this buck, lungs burning, feet pounding and he's just rolling at an easy gait, hardly making noise with his hooves. I fall off pace pretty quickly, and he starts to afterburn. I'm slowing down and panting.. and the darn thing STOPS.

Looks back at me like whats the matter chump? Can't keep up? His momma passes me on my left and they dissapear over the next wrinkle of prarie in a roostertail of dust.

Fast. You bet. I don't even bother shooting at one running full tilt. I've hit them at a trot, but never at a run.

I understand their top speed is something like 55 mph but they can do it for hours at a time.

Oh... Bryan was laughing so hard he got the hiccups for an hour. He still tells the story of the great Wyoming Cross Country All Species Track Meet.

 

[Art Eatman]

Nuthin' like youthful enthusiasm!



Art

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Dang, you guys got me all fired up. Going to be 'lope hunting in 2 weeks in Montana. Dr. Bob, you hit the nail on the head about their innards. First time I ever hunted them, the four of us had filled 7 of 8 tags by the fourth day of the hunt. Me and the guy with the doe tag left went out to fill it. About a mile from camp, here stands a doe not 50 yards from the road. Said hunter bails out of the truck and proceeds to plotch a 180 gr. 30-06 slug square into her gut bag, not once, but TWICE. GAAAAAAAACK. After he barfed for about 15 minutes, I went in. Oh my god, that was an unforgettable experience. I swear, to this day, I can still smell that in my mind.

 

[C.R.Sam]

Speed.
From Audobon Field Guide to North American Mammels...

"The fastest animal in the Western Hemisphere and among the fastest in the world. The Pronghorn, making 20' bounds, has been clocked at 70 mph for 3-4 minutes at a time. Speeds of 45 mph are not unusual, and 30mph is an easy cruising speed, which it can maintain for about 15 miles. It runs with its mouth open, not from exhaustion but to gasp extra oxygen."

Hence..."Speed Goats"

Sam

 

[dakotasin]

the audobon field guide is suggesting there is faster animals? least, that's what it kind of sounds like when i read it...

as we watched the antelopes just trotting, they had their mouths open... kind of different, from a deer hunter's perspective... usually if a deer has its mouth open, he's a little worn and is looking for a break...

 

[NRA4LIFE]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that they run with their mouths open to scoop up as much air as they can. I guess they're like an air cooled engine.

 

[cdbeaver]

An interesting aside about antelope. When I lived in Wyoming I was told that no antelope will jump a fence. They'll go under or through, but not over as a deer will.

I used to chase antelope on my uncle's ranch near Douglas, Wyo. He had up to 150 of them munching on his cattle's grass. On occasion he'd tell me to go out and shoot one or two so he could replenish his meat supply. Naturally, I complied with enthusiam. Never did see an antelope jump over a fence.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

I read somewhere the other day that antelope CAN'T jump a fence. Well, they hardly ever do, but I did see one jump a fence once, out near Limon CO.

It's not that they can't, its that they don't.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Larry A.,

I too heard the same thing about them not jumping fences prior to my first hunt and that is mostly true. I have hunted them on and off for about 14 years and there are fences where I hunt. I have only seen them leap fences on 2 occasions. And that's out of thousands of animals. I also seen a doe sneak right throug a 5 strand of barbed wire once. The ranchers lease the grazing rights on the BLM land where I hunt and one of them once told me that he has seen individual bucks live their entire lives in a single pasture (some of them 10 square miles or more).

 

[C.R.Sam]

Yeah, they seem right skillfull at going under or through a fence.
Jumping seems extremely rare.

With the kind of take off speed they can get, they oughtta be able to jump tall barns.

Sam

 

[Dr.Rob]

Its a sneaky way to get a goat.. is to pin him against a fence. they CAN jump over it.. they prefer to scoot under it. They do this in single file. You can often nab a trophy buck by setting up near a known crossing point (a big 'scoot mark' under a three wire fence.) BTW with three wire they barely slow down.

I've seen places in Wyoming with 5 wire fence where the grass gets 18 inches high, the antelope just don't jump over it.

 

[mete]

We were driving in Colorado a steady 55 mph ,when a pronghorn came along and paced us. Was with us for quite a distance never showing any signs of effort (they have very large lungs and windpipe ). When he got bored with that he put the pedal to the metal and left us in the dust. Must have been doing 70 at least.