ORIGINAL: idahoelkinstructor
I want to hunt Antelope this year and will if money allows me to go out of state.
Nevada, Arizona, Oregon and New Mexico are the states to look at for HIGH QUALITY antelope.
The draw in all of those states is pretty darn tough for a non-resident so your realistic options for an out-of-state antelope hunt is a landowner permit in Nevada and New Mexico.
Permits in these states will vary from $300 to $5000 (not including the state license/tag) and go pretty quickly.
The August archery antelope hunt in New Mexico is pretty darned tough to beat. The rifle hunt in late September or first weekend in October is darn good as well.
More so than almost any other hunt you'll do, like unlimited bighorn hunt in Montana where 95% of your hunt is done 2 weeks prior to the season, you have to really have the big antelope nailed down before opening morning. While most of the hunts are conducted on private land, you have other tag holders (w/ landowner permits or drawn tags) on the land as well. Thr rifle hunt is generally only 2-3 days long in the better units.
During the archery hunt, atleast they used to, they'll run the handicapped hunt as well. I was withing 100 yards and closing on a boomer 86"+ antelope. Then I heard a truck driving down the road and stop, my heart sank a little, then *KAAABOOOMMM* the antelope was down. I was a little heated but there was no way they could have seen me since I was in a cut. Besides, how long are you going to stay mad when you see a guy in a wheelchair smiling ear to ear..
ORIGINAL: idahoelkinstructor
I don't have much experience hunting antelope. I have only taken one with a rifle back when I was 15. I want to archery hunt them but would love if any and all antelope hunters responded with advice that made your hunts successful.
Use terrain to your advantage just like any other stalk. Use your knowledge of the land (e.g. location of water tanks, fencelines and breaks in the terrain) to your advantage. If you have a buck that you want to shoot but he is moving, figure out where he is headed and intercept him.
My favorite technique during the rut, when I decide to hunt with a revolver, is to slide between the buck and his does. More so than muleys and elk, antelope will let their does wander off 100 - 200 yards and then herd them back up.
Nevermind that during the rut, there are few animals dumber than an antelope...
Heck, I have had them decoy up to 50 yards of me... with just a few wraps of toilet paper around my forearm... held in front of me... while I crouched and walked at an angle towards the buck.
ORIGINAL: idahoelkinstructor
Also what mistakes did you make that made you hunt unsuccessful. Thanks Jason.
Not showing enough patience and forcing a stalk... however... I have never, in almost 20 years of hunting antelope, not harvested an antelope.
As the great Benjamin Franklin once said "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail"...
Speaking of being Successful and Unsuccessful...
ORIGINAL:
John Wooden
Furthermore, only one person can ultimately judge the level of your success -- you. Think about that for a moment.
I believe that is what true success is. Anything stemming from that success is simply a by-product, whether it be the score, the trophy, a national championship, fame, or fortune. They are all by-products of success rather than success itself, indicators that you perhaps succeeded in the more important contest.
That real contest, of course, is striving to reach your personal best, and that is totally under your control.
When you achieve that, you have achieved success. Period!