CO Pronghorn - Advice

[Kaminarimon]

Hi All,

I just joined the forum, wonderful source of info!!

I recently moved from Japan to CO and started obsessively training for the upcoming season. Bear in mind that no bowhunting is allowed in Japan so this is truly a first experience for me!
I got an OTC pronghorn tag and now I turn to the forum for advice any GMU you would recommend to start scouting?
Not asking for hidden spots or anything!
Just to narrow it down to a GMU where I could start some glassing work. It's such a HUGE state!
It's my first season and I do not expect much from the hunt other than the experience of being out, but I would be very grateful for some pointers and advice.

Thanks in advance!
Cheers!
K.

 

[brianboh]

You should introduce yourself in the new members section, welcome to the forum and welcome to the west. You should not have any issue at all at filling your tag. Just hit the roads In your unit and boots on the ground scouting.

Hi All,

I just joined the forum, wonderful source of info!!

I recently moved from Japan to CO and started obsessively training for the upcoming season. Bear in mind that no bowhunting is allowed in Japan so this is truly a first experience for me!
I got an OTC pronghorn tag and now I turn to the forum for advice any GMU you would recommend to start scouting?
Not asking for hidden spots or anything!
Just to narrow it down to a GMU where I could start some glassing work. It's such a HUGE state!
It's my first season and I do not expect much from the hunt other than the experience of being out, but I would be very grateful for some pointers and advice.

Thanks in advance!
Cheers!
K.

 

[JimP]

Most of the units that are open to antelope on the front range are going to be mostly private land and you'll have to do a lot of door knocking to find access onto the property.

With you being in Lakewood I would start looking at Comanche National Grasslands down in the south east part of the state. The further you get away from the Denver, Colorado Springs, Boulder metro area the fewer people you might see. You can also check out Pawnee National Grasslands east of Ft. Collins.

 

[hoshour]

You're in for a blast. It takes a lot of stalks to score with a bow, but that's the fun of it.

What is more important than anything is how uneven the terrain is and to a lesser extent, whether there is any decent size sage for cover. Pretty hard to sneak up on an antelope across a flat plain.

You might look at the archery success rates in the harvest report on the CO FWP website. Also, look at the walk-in areas. Grasslands and state wildlife areas show up on the CO Hunting Atlas http://ndismaps.nrel.colostate.edu/index.html?app=HuntingAtlas

Look into onXmaps for land ownership and owner names. Jim P had some good ideas.

 

[Tim McCoy]

A few added ideas, if you don't have a range finder, suggest you get one. If you are in decent antelope country, you'll know pretty quickly. They tend to be rather civilized and are out and visible much of the day. I've known some hunters to use hats with ears, decoys, etc., in bow season to get close and/or a blind on a water hole. I rifle hunt, but often carry a walking blind. Two 4- 5' 1"x2" pieces of light wood, with some burlap duck blind sort of fabric about 3' wide stapled between the sticks, been known to use it for mule deer too.

Good luck and have a safe fun trip.

 

[Kaminarimon]

Hi Brian,

thanks for the reply!
I will definitely post an introduction in the appropriate section!

Best regards
D.

 

[Kaminarimon]

Dear Jim,

Thank you very much for your reply and advice. I was thinking about the Comanche area, thanks for confirming!

Most of the units that are open to antelope on the front range are going to be mostly private land and you'll have to do a lot of door knocking to find access onto the property.

With you being in Lakewood I would start looking at Comanche National Grasslands down in the south east part of the state. The further you get away from the Denver, Colorado Springs, Boulder metro area the fewer people you might see. You can also check out Pawnee National Grasslands east of Ft. Collins.

 

[Kaminarimon]

Dear Hoshour,

thank you for your reply and advices!
I know it will be a tough hunt that's why I am so eager!

You're in for a blast. It takes a lot of stalks to score with a bow, but that's the fun of it.

What is more important than anything is how uneven the terrain is and to a lesser extent, whether there is any decent size sage for cover. Pretty hard to sneak up on an antelope across a flat plain.

You might look at the archery success rates in the harvest report on the CO FWP website. Also, look at the walk-in areas. Grasslands and state wildlife areas show up on the CO Hunting Atlas http://ndismaps.nrel.colostate.edu/index.html?app=HuntingAtlas

Look into onXmaps for land ownership and owner names. Jim P had some good ideas.

 

[Kaminarimon]

Dear Tim,

Thank you for your advice, I was thinking of a blind and some friend even advise to put a small flag or rag as it seems that it attracts the Pronghorn...
It's going to be interesting!

A few added ideas, if you don't have a range finder, suggest you get one. If you are in decent antelope country, you'll know pretty quickly. They tend to be rather civilized and are out and visible much of the day. I've known some hunters to use hats with ears, decoys, etc., in bow season to get close and/or a blind on a water hole. I rifle hunt, but often carry a walking blind. Two 4- 5' 1"x2" pieces of light wood, with some burlap duck blind sort of fabric about 3' wide stapled between the sticks, been known to use it for mule deer too.

Good luck and have a safe fun trip.

 

[MtnBuck]

Welcome to the forum and the US of A.
The nice thing about antelope is that they are easy to find since they're out in the open. Getting close to them is the hard part. Shots tend to be far and they are a small target so practice as much as you can. You will also get a lot of wind out on the prairie.
You'll probably end up crawling on the ground at some point so make sure you have clothes that will protect you against the thorns. They will go right through cotton and light weight gloves. Some guys wear elbow and knee pads.
Have a plan for the meat. Either coolers and ice, or a nearby butcher.
I have gotten permission to hunt many times, just by knocking on doors. But you do need a landowner map to make sure you don't cross on to someone else's property.
Have fun!

 

[Kaminarimon]

Thanks for the advice I'll go scouting/knocking this week for a couple of days.

Welcome to the forum and the US of A.
The nice thing about antelope is that they are easy to find since they're out in the open. Getting close to them is the hard part. Shots tend to be far and they are a small target so practice as much as you can. You will also get a lot of wind out on the prairie.
You'll probably end up crawling on the ground at some point so make sure you have clothes that will protect you against the thorns. They will go right through cotton and light weight gloves. Some guys wear elbow and knee pads.
Have a plan for the meat. Either coolers and ice, or a nearby butcher.
I have gotten permission to hunt many times, just by knocking on doors. But you do need a landowner map to make sure you don't cross on to someone else's property.
Have fun!

 

[Slugz]

Have a good navigational plan. GPS chip, phone......whatever you chose you can pretty much bet on the need to know the private/public line.

 

[Kaminarimon]

Yes! I've got the Xhunt chip on the etrex and I wonder how it was possible to hunt before! :0)
Did some scouting this week and spotted a nice herd.... crawled for quite some time collecting plenty of thorns! Someone actually gave me a heads up about it and they were right!