Congrats on the tags guys. For the most part the advice on here has been good. Lopes are truly very sharp. Pretty easy to get within 500 yards but closer than that starts getting tough. You cannot make any mistakes on the stalk. They truly can see you blink at 400 yards if they have you pegged. The does are usually the first to peg you and run. Be accurate to 300 yards and know your ballistics and wind drift. Speaking of wind -- they have very good noses too. Watch the wind. Stay low move slow when you are exposed and keep trying. There are lots of lopes and you will have plenty of opportunities so don't rush it. Have fun with it. Lope hunting is the funnest big game hunting there is. Also another tip -- their eyes are very good in bright light, golden hour is a good opportunity. That first half hour of light and the last half hour of light they seem to get a bit dopey. I believe they have a tough time seeing in the low light. They rely on their vision as their first defense and almost to the exclusion of all their other senses. The nose will get you though so watch the wind, Have I said stay out of site and watch the wind.
Lopes are tougher that folks think. They can cover a mile easy with a double lung shot. That rarely happens but will on occasion. As far as the vitals and kill zone... the lope is almost all heart and lung. The kill zone on a lope is just about the same size as a 250 lb deer. A good double lung will of course always kill him. I prefer to have hunters take a front shoulder shot. That almost always puts them down for the count instantly. As for bullet choice... I agree with the above statement of partitions just zip through. On a true double lung on a lope pretty much any bullet will do that. Its nothing but air and a few small membranes of flesh in that spot. Thats why I recommend the mid to high shoulder shot. I do not like ballistic tip bullets at all for any big game animal. In fact I do not allow them in camp. There is not much meat on a lope so meat damage in the front shoulders isn't much concern. Speaking of meat, they are very good eating if you take good care of them. Get them gutted as quickly as possible and try to get them cool asap. If you can't get them into a cooler quickly then get the hide off immediately. And as the guy said above -- it needs repeating -- the hair is very fragile. I will pull out with the slightest disturbance. DO NOT DRAG IT IF YOU ARE GOING TO MOUNT IT. Don't even let it bump the ground when you carry it. The loose hair is a predator defense. The premise -- when a predator gets a mouthful of lope he walks away with a mouthful of hair and the lope runs off with a bald spot only to grow the hair back in a few weeks.
Good luck guys have fun with it.