What I learned about pronghorn this weekend

[Brian Pfleuger]

Originally Posted by Kreyzhorse

A cheetah is faster, but an antelope has better endurance.

Actually, it appears to be a virtual tie on speed. I've seen the cheetah listed as high as 70 mph but most reliable estimates put both animals between 60 and 65mph top speed. The pronghorn undeniably has better endurance though, capable of averaging at least 30mph for 20 miles. Cheetahs can only run for abit over 1/4 mile.

[BigD_in_FL]

Never shoot at running antelope.

Shooting at ANY running animal will result in one that tastes nasty due to the adrenalin coursing through their veins

[BigD_in_FL]

5. Don't practice shots under 200 yards.

If you can see a pronghorn at less then 200 yards, you're in a zoo, museum or a blind.

False. You can bring them right to you with a little ingenuity

[lefteye]

Many years ago a small herd of Pronghorns nearly ran over me as I sat next to a fence along the airport at Buffalo, WY. I was hunting mule deer with a guide. I actually got a decent deer from that spot next to the airport fence using the guide's Sako .270. A screw had fallen out of the adjustment ring on the Redfield variable scope on my Ruger 77 .243 and I had missed two easy shots with my rifle.

[kraigwy]

The furthest I've shot antelope was 586 yards. Most I've shot between 150-200 yards.

I got two this year, one about 125, and on about 60.

My wife's this year's goat was 225.

They're not near as hard to hunt as many let on. But get out of the truck if you want better hunting.

I like to set up camp on the prairie, set and wait until they come to me while I enjoy my morning coffee.

[Crankylove]

I like to set up camp on the prairie, set and wait until they come to me while I enjoy my morning coffee.

We set up our camp in a small depression, about 10' lower than the surrounding prairie. Two sides open, one side of camp next to some 6-8' tall sage brush along a dry riverbed, the fourth side butts up against a long, sloping ridge about 40' higher than camp. The camp really isn't visible from more than a couple hundred yards from the two sides open to the prairie, and is invisible from the other two.

We are in the center of a triangle of routes the goats use going to three waterholes and some hidden low spots the goats layup in throughout the day. Have filled the majority of tags in that area by spotting from camp, then either stalking the herd as they pass by, or belly crawling up the ridge and taking them as they come directly to us.

My longest shot was the first goat I took in that area, 525 yards. Since then, all have been spot-n-stalk, and 200 yard or less shots.

I really hope we draw tags this coming year. Haven't made the draw the last couple years, some bad winters really took the numbers down in that unit, and the tags haven't been available.........speed goats are my favorite hunt, I am really missing it

[Jack O'Conner]

This dandy buck was taken with .243 at approx. 275 yards. My rifle is a Remington pump action that is a genuine tack driver with 95 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips. The animal toppled right over as the bullet tore through chest organs, never knew what hit him.

Jack

[Bultaco]

I hunt W. Co. almost every year for antelope. In places that do not have day to day human traffic they can be very spooky. (800yds spooky) After years of picking cactus out of my body from crawling over the hill I found a new way. I bought the Montana Decoy Moo Cow. My friend & I crossed a low spot @500 yds. walking behind the decoy like a couple of goofs. Just stood straight up & walked with the decoy screening us. Then we topped a hill we had gone behind @ 200 yds. from the group of 6. They never even gave us the stare. Just kept eating. My buddy sat down in a carefully inspected spot & set up his shooting sticks while I held the decoy. When he was ready I took a couple steps to the right & he made one of the easiest shot in a long time. Best $100 we have spent in a long time!

[Againstthewind]

I was glad to hear that so many people enjoy hunting and respect the pronghorn. They get a bad reputation here sometimes because they are all over, don't seem all that bright, etc. They do get hit by cars pretty regularly. They are a pretty amazing animal. They can be a lot of fun to hunt even though there are herds alongside the road all year. They can make excellent sausage if taken care of properly, too. A lot of people don't like how they taste, but I am suspicious that some of those are the same people who chase them down with trucks and take the running shots. Adrenalin pumped through the system of an animal with lungs and heart of that size gets into the meat very quickly. Antelope season is early when it is pretty hot too.

I have heard about the waving cloths, mirror, and dressing up like a doe, etc., but I have never tried it. Water hole spot and stalking seems to work. I would like to put a blind on a water hole spot for archery. This is a firearm site, though so enough of that.

[elkman06]

One of the absolutely funniest things on a hunt that ever happened to me was on a goat hunt.

We had been there since daylight, shot two,,I had the third license.
The rancher who had given us permission saw us, stopped, and suggested a good high vantage point to have lunch and glass. He joined us.
While sitting there a 14in buck cruised past us at 100 yds. I dumped him.

Now the rancher had one of the cattle dogs which looked like a 200 lb ball of grey hair..it had sat in the back of his truck the entire time we had been near the rancher.
The moment the goat hit the ground, the dog was on him, ripping pieces of fur off of the goat.
I didn't get excited, just looked at the rancher and asked him if the dog did this very often.
He replied "Well, I guess he never caught one before"

elkman06

[MarkCO]

Pronghorn hunting is one of my favorites. I waited 13 years for a buck tag in the unit I wanted. Pretty much got screwed up by road hunters blasting away. I still got a nice buck, waited until the slob hunters had stopped the pot shots and they calmed down a bit. 680 yards (my furthest) and a good bit of breakfast sausage in the freezer.

I have found that there are some areas where they don't seem to jump fences, and others where they mostly do jump fences. The morning/evening watering holes, and having them scouted better than the others, are the best bets. They are curious too... I have had herds walk up on me within 30 yards while I was field dressing their cousin. I had a nice buck follow me for about 800 yards. When hunting bucks, patience is hard since you see so many. I passed at least 6 this year before I shot, one I stalked to 80 yards. I could tell good stories about Pronghorn hunting for a page or two, but that is part of the joy of hunting them, the stories. Ususally hunt them with the .243, this year, the .260, but I have taken two with a .40 Super and one with a .414 Supermag as well.

[Rifletom]

I waited a loooong time to get a Ca. antelope tag, Zone 40/Lassen. Long story short. Spotted one way out, maybe 700+ yards. Started walking toward the buck while his head was down eating. If he started to look up, I froze! That buck must have thought I was a fence post or something, because this worked perfectly to about 250 yards when he took his last chomp of grass by a little seep in the middle of nowhere. The 25-06 laid him flat! This happened around Madeline Plains in 2007. They are a different critter to stalk/hunt.

[spaniel]

I love hunting goats. This nice thing about them is that the farmers in Montana HATE them. A few years back I had a farmer stop us because he thought we were hunting deer on his land (we were hunting goats on the neighboring property). Once we explained ourselves, he drew us a map of >1000 acres he owned in the vicinity and told us to shoot as many as we could.

How close you can get is a function of the terrain and their eyesight. They see better than about any other game animal, and the flat farm fields of Montana I've hunted often give little contour to cover an approach. I've been busted by many herds from 500+ yards just for slowly looking over a rise in the field to locate them.

[Ambishot]

OP:

Which made all the difference, b/c the first thing I learned was:
1. I know nothing about pronghorn.
I'm used to hunting deer and elk. When you spook a deer or elk, yeah, sure, they'll run a bit (elk a bit farther), but then they stop. Pronghorn will run around a hill and then keep going for another half mile as a reaction to a mildly uncomfortable feeling. Prong horn hear a car? Run for half a mile. Hear a butterfly fart? Giddyup for half a mile. My guide (60+ years in the ranching business) was completely nonplussed by this. "Heck, they're not even scared," he said. "If they were scared, they'd kick in the jets and be 5 miles down the road." Ok, note to self: spot and stalk is not gonna happen today.

Going with a friend or guide that knows the behavior of the animal is decent advice.

Doing a little research on the animal beforehand has helped me in the past. But when it comes to hunting any big game, field work is very important so that you don't have to take long shots. On my first pronghorn hunt, I also felt that sub 300yd shots were impossible, but like deer, you can get close to pronghorn if you want. It just takes a little more patience because pronghorn are very perceptive.