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Old September 26, 2009, 03:53 PM   #11
HiBC
Senior Member
 
Join Date: November 13, 2006
Posts: 8,270
My intention here is not to be a critic.My point is to try to learn from the data presented.
I have shot a lot of pronghorn.Most of them 200 something yds or less.
I hunt on foot.

45 years ago,as a teen,I wounded and lost one by overestimating myself with a 7mag.I broke a foreleg.It felt real bad.

I also shot one as a teen with a 7 mag that was moving.I hit shoulder with a 160 gr Sierra boattail.The hindquarters were edible.Even the backstraps were bloodshot
Somewhere I switched to the .257 AI.Elsewhere on TFL.I wrote of a ranch where I hunt. I shoot at targets at all ranges here,out to over 1000 yds.I have made two over 400 yd shots there.In both cases,they were one shot clean kills,but no room to be proud of them.It was all luck.
One just stung the sternum,never even entered the chest cavity.Must have stopped the heart. It died on the spot.The other was a neck shot,instant kill.I was aiming heart -lung.The wind drifted the bullet.That could have been a gut shot,just as easy.
I can also relate another shot that went wrong.I was approaching the crest of a hill,and saw a buck at about 200 yds.He saw me,we were staring at each other.If I got lower,I couldn't see him.This all happened fast,but I decided if I shot his head,I'd either miss or kill him.So,I shot offhand.He backflipped like a headshot rabbit.As I hustled over the hill,he was ambling away.Sitting,I finished him.I had hit jaw on the first shot.

I have only lost the one antelope I mentioned earlier,and I like to think my point of view has matured some with time and experience.
If you want to hunt antelope,try heading out in the dark before the sun is up.Instead of finding high ground,where yoiu can see them at 1500 yds(where all the antelope can see you),get down in a bowl where you can only
see 200 to 300 yds in all directions.Get concealed,have faith,and wait.

You see,once the bullets fly,you can look across the flat ground,and they have all disappeared,except the sentinal does,maybe.The rest have found a little low ground,where they are invisible and the vegetation is deeper and greener.They know all these draws,and can move around unseen.

Lao Tzu said the best attitude is to be like water.Water collects in low places.

You are invisible to all ,in your low ground,and any animal that eases into your space will be inside 200 or 300 yds.If you have to move,follow the low ground,in defilade.Low crawl over the ridge,if you must(Yes,there are cactus!!Do you know those grey gauntlet work gloves with leather palms? I also shingle a thick matte of burlap on my shins,knees and elbows.

Do not shoot at moving antelope.If you calculate it,the lead on a running antelope might be 20 feet at 200 yds.Likely,you will hit one further back in the herd.
Lose the vehicles,trucks,4-wheelers,you can't experience hunting antelope with your butt on a machine,I'm over 55 and not an athlete.You will find your hunt down in the sage and cactus .That is where you might get a big grin at the horned toad.That is where you will become a predator.

Do not stand up and walk around.You will run all the animals off the square mile you are hunting.Your partners will think if shooting you in your kneecap,as you are running their animals off ,too.
Be quiet,where you can't see them.That is where they are.Where you are not looking.And your shot will be 200,maybe 300 yds.
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