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It is a lot more complicated than simply mailing a rifle to a license holder in the U.S.In order for any rifle to be imported into the U.S. the proper paperwork must still be filled out and the permit obtained.Myself and a few friends used to hunt in the states on a regular basis but now avoid taking guns across the border at all as the paperwork is very slow and you can never be sure it will be approved in time.Otis has already stated that a friend of his ran into this very problem recently.The easiest solutions are to borrow a gun in the states or if you want to use your own gun hunt in canada.

otis - You definitely do not need an outfitter or a guide to hunt antelope. I hunted them for the first time this past fall in Wyoming. I hunted on my own on a ranch where I paid a reasonable trespass fee.

Pronghorn hunting is very different from hunting deer, elk or most other species. They are highly visible and easy to find. They are also homebodies. They tend to use the same areas and travel the same routes regularly.

On the ranch I hunted we were able to look over all of the antelope on the property in a day and a half. We hunted very late in the season and were the last two hunters to hunt the property for the year. After looking at all of the available bucks we determined that 13" was about the best we could do. I was able to take my buck out of the second group I stalked.

The terrain prevented me from getting close enough to the first buck to get a reasonable shot. The entire group bedded in the middle of a sage flat and the closest I could get without exposing myself was still over 800 yards. I watched them while bedded for over an hour before backing out and leaving them.

I found another buck that was in a stalkable position and managed to take him after making a huge circle to get a hill between his herd and myself. After taking pics and running him to the meat cutter - about two hours – we went back to look for a buck for my buddy.

We found the same buck that I had left earlier. His whole herd had moved about 600 yards, and was now bedded where they could be stalked. I planned a route to take my buddy to a good shooting position, and then sat back and watched his stalk through my spotting scope. I was about ¾ mile away from the herd, and stayed in clear view. They laid right where they were and never took their attention away from me. My buddy stalked to within 300 yards and missed the buck three times. After that herd had run off, and while my buddy was still mentally kicking himself, another herd came running in from his left. This herd had two bucks and seven does. One buck was about 13” and the other was a juvenile with about 6” horns. He fired one shot at the 13” buck and missed. He fired two more times as the herd ran off and knocked down one of the bucks. The problem was he got confused on the running animals and shot the smaller buck.

I’ll attach pics of both animals.

The hardest thing about hunting Pronghorns for me – a first timer – was judging horn length. A good spotting scope is a must. Try to look at some mounted heads and measure them if possible. I wouldn’t get too hung up on killing a trophy my first time out. My goal was to kill a good representative animal. I am very happy with the buck I took, and I am having him mounted. I think Pronghorn are one of North America’s most beautiful animals and I can tell you that they are an absolute ball to hunt.

I used my 7mm Remington Magnum on my hunt, and I think it was an excellent choice. The one recommendation I would make is to use a lightly constructed bullet. Pronghorn are small animals. Premium bullets are a wasted expense, and could actually be a liability on Pronghorns. I shot my buck with a 150 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip, and my buddy used a 140 grain Partition. My bullet performed perfectly, while his Partition barely expanded and required a close range finishing shot. I shoot Partitions regularly, and think they are a great bullet, they are however too heavily constructed for Pronghorn.

I can’t contribute anything on the firearm import problem, but I think Stubblejumper has that covered. If you need any questions answered from a first timer’s perspective shoot me an email, I’ll be glad to help any way I can.

My buck -

My buddy's buck -


"If you can't change your circumstances then you need to change your perspective."

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Tell me guys would it be worth spending more money and going after mule deer instead of antelope? How do the two experiences compare? We were thinking antelope mostly because they are plentiful, likely would score and are beautiful to look at. I would also like a nice mulie but the rates I am seeing on outfitter websites seem to run around 3-4 times the price of a goat hunt with likely lower success rates. I am not what I would consider a trophy hunter but I would like a good representation of the species. I will be looking foran animal worth mounting.
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Antelope are nice animals but if you ask me they don't compare to a good muley. I much prefer a hunt in the rockies over the flat plains and muleys make a better mount in my book. The meat tastes a lot better too. If you are not a Boone and Crockett trophy hunter you will almost be guaranteed a mature animal if you go with a good outfitter, just do some research.

otis - It doesn't have to be an either/or proposition. There are lots of places where it is possible to make a mulie/pronghorn combo hunt. The hunt I described in my previous post was a combo hunt. We hunted mulies first on public land, and then moved about 60 miles to where we hunted antelope. We tent camped during the public land deer hunting segment of the trip, and then stayed in a motel while we hunted pronghorn. There are areas where it is possible to hunt both animals from the same camp, and do it on public land. We hunted different areas because the pronghorn hunt was an afterthought add-on. I have been hunting mulies in the same area in Wyoming since '98. This was my friend’s first trip west, and originally started out to be only a deer hunt. He suggested that we try to combo in the pronghorns. After a little research I found a hunting buddy that had hunted pronghorns the previous year on the ranch we ended up hunting. It was nice to have a referral from someone I trusted. If you are interested in doing a public land hunt in the U.S. combo or single species I would be glad to point you to some areas. Another very good option would be to follow Robert Scott’s advice and contact Blackhawk357. He has very good hunting available for mulies and pronghorn, and I think you’ll like his rates.

Here is a pic of the public land Wyoming mulie that I guided my buddy to this fall.

If you would like to see some other pics from Wyoming I have a bunch of them posted on my site at this adress - http://www.hunting-pictures.com/memb...u12/index.html



&quot;If you can't change your circumstances then you need to change your perspective.&quot;

Otis-If you want a mule deer instead I have a good friend that I hunt bighorns with that outfits for mule deer in alberta.He is virtually 100% for bucks with most in the in 150 to 170 B&C range(if you have the self control to pass up the smaller ones.).On average you will see close to 100 deer a day with 10 to 20 being bucks.These are hunts on a private ranch where you stay in a guesthouse and hunt by horseback.My friend offers his bighorn hunts to canadians in canadian dollars while americans pay the same figure only in U.S.dollars, but I am not sure if he offers the same deal on his mule deer hunts.If he does it is a super bargain as his hunts are quite reasonable even in american dollars.If you are interested I can check for you but I wouldn't wait too long as he usually books up early.

Edited by - stubblejumper on 12/16/2002 22:55:38

RuRu,
Looks like you had a pretty good year! Congratulations.
These are the photos from the combination hunter we had this year. These too are non guided hunts. They are on private land though, reasonable trespass fee that includes lodging. Our combination hunts are booked up for 2003, so I hope I don't get flooded with emails. (Although I always like to visit with hunters!)

This is Kevin with the results of his non-guided Antelope hunt:


And here is Kevin's follow-up to the goat:



RuRu is right, it can be done on public land. But you should be able to find good private land with reasonable trespass fees where you won't be walking over hunters all week.

Blakchawk

-----Every day is a great day in Eastern Montana-----


Edited by - Blackhawk357 on 12/17/2002 16:10:59

Otis, here's an idea for you. Goto Alberta hunt Mulie's and on the way back hunt whitetails in Saskatchewan. (Canadian resident can hunt whitetails without a guide, just buy a tag for 175 bucks and go -the provincial season for canadian residents is the last week in November, unless you hunt the bush then it is all 5 weeks(nov.4-Dec7 / this year) Not sure if it works with the Mulie season, but a thought. Now that would be a combo hunt!!!!

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