Antelope hunting tips
 

I am new to antelope hunting and will be traveling to harding county SD this year to rifle hunt antelope looking for any tips anyone can offer also couple of questions. I have been told that snakes are a real problem when antelope hunting are chaps or snake boots a must or is it not that much of a problem my other thought is I do a lot of upland hunting are the chaps a good idea just because of wet grass in the morning.
I have heard of the bed sheet trick has anybody tried it and does it work and how did you do it.
Any help would be greatly apprecieated thanks in advance for any advice.

prob depends where you're hunting and when....

Never seen one antelope hunting...seen 1 elk hunting.

get yourself a taurus judge....or snakeslayer, I say we team up and get rid of these pesty critters, give me a wolf anyday...

Antelope have good eyesight so plan accordingly.

removed by RD

Knee and elbow pads !



They make real light foam now.




You can thank me later.........................................

Carry tweezers. You CAN NOT pull the cactus needles out with your fingernails. They will break off !!!

My advice would be to shoot your gun/practice at all distances that you would take a shot at in the field. Don't rely on calculated bullet drop.

1. Hunting antelope is not like hunting deer. They will be out there all day long; they don't hide during the day like deer do. So, no need to be out to the hunting grounds 30 minutes to an hour before legal shooting light. Wake up. Eat a leisurely breakfast. Get out of the truck to begin hunting at 9:30 AM -- this works just as well (maybe better) than getting out a 6:30 AM. If you want to start early, be careful about walking into the antelope and running them off in the dark because you stumble across them when you can't see yet.

2. My guess is that if there are a bunch of snakes around, you will know it and will be on the watch for them. Where I hunted around Gillette, Wyoming, I didn't see any snakes. Doesn't mean they weren't there, they just were not all over the place.

3. Success rates on pronghorn antelope are about 90%. Thus, any skilled hunter who is getting into an area where pronghorn are known to be present is going to take an antelope. Have a plan to handle the meat. From what I've heard and read, it is vital to get the antelope cooled down rapidly. Field dress right after taking your pictures. Then get on with getting the animal cooled off. Some people recommend putting a couple of bags of ice inside the empty body cavity. The antelope smell, so if you are carrying inside an SUV rather than the bed of a pick-up truck you might want to put them on a sheet of plastic tarp so you don't stink up your wife's SUV. If you are going to hang up to cool, get it hung up promptly. You might consider skinning promptly to assist the cooling off process -- that pronghorn hair really does a good job of insulating the animal from heat changes.

I don't know about SD, but in Wyoming it is illegal to flag an antelope. They are very curious and will come to see the white flag.

The only rattler I've seen antelope hunting was during an archery hunt. I had a practice arrow in my quiver and was able to shoot him with it. I had the hide tanned and he's on my wall as a reminder to always watch for them.