Rude Awakening

[brianboh]

Well I was in for a rude awakening yesterday. I started my first antelope hunt and I have to tell you about it. I knew it would be difficult but WAYYYY more difficult than I thought. All I can say is Wow on how those buggers can see. I hunted all day and the closest I got was 85 yards. Hell I saw goats that saw me from 3 miles away and started running. I figured they can not see much better than a turkey. Wrong again. It amazes me that they act different in different areas too. One area I was hunting had non to absent presence of people. Those goats are the ones that would run at the first sight of you. Even from 3 miles away. However the ones around busy roads seem to be less skidish. I did find some waterholes but really want to stalk them and since I have so much time I am going to try that. I really am being picky too on wanting to sling an arrow into a mature goat.

 

[SixShooter14]

Yup, I was hunting near some busy hay fields last year. Tractors and hay haulers were constantly going by on the dirt road. The antelope were pretty calm, to a point. I had the best luck exploiting their curiosity.

A couple times I got does to 50yds, no closer. I would get to within 300yds then turn and walk slightly quartering toward them. Slowly getting closer and closer, being watched the whole time. If planned right, at 150ish yards I'd try find a ditch or hill or bush, anything so that they can't see me. Everytime, a big doe would come towards me to investigate. She'd never get less than 50yds though. Had a buck do the same thing to my decoy. He got to 60ish, and I missed him. Just too far with the 25mph crosswind.



I'm going back in mid October.

Good luck.

 

[Gr8bawana]

Antelope most definitely have the sharpest eyes of any big game animal.

 

[brianboh]

Antelope most definitely have the sharpest eyes of any big game animal.

What surprised me is they DO NOT STOP looking. A deer or turkey will look at you but if your still most time they will go about their business. However the Antelope will stare for 15 minutes. I know it will happen. I just hope sooner than late.

 

[hoshour]

Be patient. It takes a lot of blown stalks on antelope to kill one with a bow, maybe 20-30.

Try to find areas well off the road. There are so many road hunters out there that they have trained antelope to be wary of stopped vehicles.

Antelope can't get nervous about what they can't see, hear or smell. Try to find a place where you can park where they can't see you get out. Use the draws and hills to your advantage and resist the temptation to keep popping up to get a look. Put in place a detailed plan before you start, and if the ground is not great, keep looking for better terrain or do a lot of crawling.

Move extremely slowly if there is any chance they might see you. If they do see you, try to walk at an wide angle or backtrack or swing wider than you planned until you can get hidden again. Don't face them head-on, especially if they are showing interest in you, unless it is time to shoot.

 

[Horsenhike]

Hide behind a horse. That works for sure.

 

[ivorytip]

good luck man I hope you stick a big one

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Be patient. It takes a lot of blown stalks on antelope to kill one with a bow, maybe 20-30.

Try to find areas well off the road. There are so many road hunters out there that they have trained antelope to be wary of stopped vehicles.

Antelope can't get nervous about what they can't see, hear or smell. Try to find a place where you can park where they can't see you get out. Use the draws and hills to your advantage and resist the temptation to keep popping up to get a look. Put in place a detailed plan before you start, and if the ground is not great, keep looking for better terrain or do a lot of crawling.

Move extremely slowly if there is any chance they might see you. If they do see you, try to walk at an wide angle or backtrack or swing wider than you planned until you can get hidden again. Don't face them head-on, especially if they are showing interest in you, unless it is time to shoot.

Good advice..........

 

[JimP]

Hide behind a horse. That works for sure.

Or a cow.

Go down to a furniture store and get a big piece of cardboard, then cut a cow or horse silhouette out of it. Take some paint and paint it up and use that to hide behind.

I have heard that a pronghorns eyesight is about 20x better than a human. I am not sure if it is quite that strong but it may be close.

 

[wy-tex]

Pronghorns have 8x vision so be sneaky. The lead doe will usually be the one to spot you and where she goes they all go.

 

[Maxhunter]

Yep! There eyesight is unbelievable. Try hunting them right at daylight or dusk. There sight isn't as keen during that time frame.

 

[AT Hiker]

Spot m stalk archery pronghorn seems impossible, hunting them with a modern muzzleloader proved very tough. Good luck!


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[CrossCreeks]

All the things said above is why I really love hunting them. You spot a group , sneak and crawl and peek over the ridge and you see them all staring at you from 700 yards, if you can put an arrow into one after a stalk it a great feeling of accomplishment ! Good Luck !

 

[brianboh]

I appreciate all of the advice and wishes. I cant wait to chase them this weekend. Live and learn. It going to be persistence, positioning and a little bit of luck

 

[Hilltop]

I have taken two spot and stalk bucks. I honestly felt like luck had as much role as the good stalks did. I can remember numerous stalks failed just due to the buck walking the wrong way. Someone mentioned you just need to put in a lot of stalks before it comes together- I second that. Eventually it will all work out. Hope to see pictures soon!

 

[Slugz]

Good luck and keep after it. My son is doing the same right now....stalk after stalk after.....stalk.

 

[ivorytip]

hows that hunt coming along?

 

[brianboh]

hows that hunt coming along?

I only hunted sat and stalked a couple small bucks that were not big enough to shoot. I bought a big red MOO cow and that thing aint worth a chit. Both times I used it they spooked at like a mile away. I kept seeing some good bucks at a water hole so sat I sat from 12 to about hour half before dark. Had a couple small bucks come in and couple does. I had a pretty decent buck coming in and some guy drove up on me and preceded to glass from his truck a 100 yards from my blind. I was pretty pissed. Then he kept driving past the blind. Maybe this weekend. I found some good bucks in some decent terrain that I am going to commit a lot of my time too. Really allows for some good stalking.

 

[Horsenhike]

If all else fails borrow a horse.

 

[andrew12gauge]

Last season was my first time trying to hunt antelope and I had about the same experiences as you. I did manage to sneak within about 20 yds of a bedded buck as he watched the landowner out in the field working on his combine, but somehow despite the fact that thing was looking directly away he spooked just as I drew my bow. I have an archery lope tag that is good through the 15th in my pocket this year and I think I'll give it a go Friday even though I work Thursday night. All these plans every weekend are killing me


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