Hey Antelope Hunters!! Question . . .
 

Have any of you ever tried waving a flag at lopes to "bring 'em in"?
I've heard of this for years and always wondered
A: if it works, and
B: how it works?

RE: Hey Antelope Hunters!! Question . . .
 

It definitely works. Try putting a white hat or tee shirt on a stick and waving it around. Herds will up and come right to you. Don't know why it works, but antelope do have a lot of white on them and seem curious. What a great warmup to the general hunting season. Lots of animals to choose from if you're in antelope country. They're mighty tastytoo! Can't wait. Hope I draw a buck tag this year.

RE: Hey Antelope Hunters!! Question . . .
 

I've heard the same thing, but I've never tried it. I heard they come to look at the white material simply because they're curious.

RE: Hey Antelope Hunters!! Question . . .
 

You guys that live with them ,give it a try in the off season and let us know how it worked.I didn't find them tasty ,so I had them made in to sausage.The wife liked it andate both of the ones I got.


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RE: Hey Antelope Hunters!! Question . . .
 

Antelope is the only big game animal I have not taken with a bow. (YET!)
I will try this. I double checked with a Game Warden this a.m. and it is definately legal.

Too bad you made it into sausage. Some of our favorite steaks! FYI . . . in the field, get it skinned out, washed off, and cooled down A.S.APOSSIBLE. With lopes, it makes all the difference. I also have been in the habit the past few years of aging the meat after boning and before wrapping in an old refirgerator for 10 - 14 days. Absolutely no comparisson to the old method of "drop it and freeze it". Dramatic and noticable improvement on taste, texture, everything!

RE: Hey Antelope Hunters!! Question . . .
 

Antelope are very curious and the method your speaking of does work. Doesnt always have to be white either for it to work. Times Ill just use my hat to draw there attention in closer.

RE: Hey Antelope Hunters!! Question . . .
 

I've used a white rag.....shooken in the wind, they are curious.....

I also think it may work better if the sun is behind you, and you are inbetween the sun and the antelope, just like us looking into the sun, kinda liek what is that? if theyre inbetween you and the sun, I think they can spot you miles away.

RE: Hey Antelope Hunters!! Question . . .
 

It's not legal in all states,I know it's not in WY.We have killed a quite a few the last couple years by setting up at ponds or tanks in popup blinds

RE: Hey Antelope Hunters!! Question . . .
 

It IS legal in Wyoming. I talked to a game warden here in Cheyenne this morning just to double check. It is not considered baiting (which IS illegal) because there is no food, just the natural curiosity of the lope.
Call 'em 777-4600

RE: Hey Antelope Hunters!! Question . . .
 

It for sure works... Used it several times. If you can get on a herd before lots of shooting starts they will stop and look....


Goatslayer........

RE: Hey Antelope Hunters!! Question . . .
 

Last year we got a lope in to 60 yards with the rag trick. I don't know how it would work getting them within bow range, I killed 2 lopes over water last year and that is your best bet. They were both within 20 yards. Once you figure out the water hole tricks, you will find that they are one of the easiest animals to kill with the bow.

Here is my best tip, if you are hunting a large water hole, string twine on stakes to funnel them to where you can get a shot, they wont cross the imitation fence!!!!!

RE: Hey Antelope Hunters!! Question . . .
 

First antelope buck I killed with the bow a compact mirror was used to draw him in. He was a searching solo and came on a rope, I ended up getting a shot at shade over 40 yards.A few years later Iused white flagging in combo with a decoy to harvest my second antelope with the bow, as did my2 hunting partners on the same trip.Our antelope tag system changed shortly after that and is limited draw only soI haven't had the opportunity to bow hunt them for a number of years but itworked then.

IMO pack the white rag and if legal a decoymay help to suck them in closer ortoa better shooting position.

RE: Hey Antelope Hunters!! Question . . .
 

My problem with the waterhole-trail crossing the fence-in a pop up blind method is I have a lot of trouble just sitting there all day. I got to be out and moving around. Mind numbing borring. I've tried it. Probably will try it again! I've spot and stalked withmy Renzo's and missed a 45 yarder last year. But I'm going to carry a rag with me this year!
Great suggestion on the twine!
They are dumn ****s aren't they. They won't even jump over a fence! They'd rather run miles up & down it to find a spot to crawl under. Only seen two ever jump in all my lope years.

RE: Hey Antelope Hunters!! Question . . .
 

Make sure that your time in the blind is spent comfortable. I set up my blind early and put carpet on the floor. I use a large folding lounge chair to kick back in. Bring plenty of food and water and a good book with you.

Sitting can be crazy at times, but when you have an active hole, who knows what can happen. Blind hunting during the rut seems to work well. I have noticed that the bucks will come to water more often throughout the day as they are running stupid.... Make sure that you are blacked out well in the blind, turn a black t-shirt inside out and wear a black hat. Shoot through netting works well and keeps them from seeing you, the only thing that will bust them quick at this point, is making noise. Make sure that everything is set up for a quiet draw and release. I do a couple of dry runs to make sure that I am not making any noise while grabbing my bow and positioning myself for the shot.

I don't play dirty pool while on public land, but know of methods to keep the goats from watering at adjacent holes when hunting private land, this will increase the odds for lopes watering at your hole.

You can make your own crossing points on fence lines, but you need to make sure that you wont be interfering with cattle operations, It is possible to train their habits to benefit you.

I guess that I am more prone to hunting water holes in our area as there is slim pickens when it come to vegetation, check out the background in our photo, you can see that spot and stalk is out of the question!!!!

RE: Hey Antelope Hunters!! Question . . .
 

Here is another with little vegetation, shot from a blind also!!!

RE: Hey Antelope Hunters!! Question . . .
 

This area had more ground cover, but I stuck with the old methods!!!

RE: Hey Antelope Hunters!! Question . . .
 

Here is a booker that I killed in MT last year from a blind. 71 1/2. Sorry for the lack of field photos, The batteries went dead in my camera. That wont happen again!!!!!

RE: Hey Antelope Hunters!! Question . . .
 

I outfit for antelope and flagging works much better for the rifle hunters than it does archery hunters. When you flag them they are already alert and it is really hard to draw on them. Water holes work much better at least for me. If your rifle hunting most of my clients much rather prefer stocking them anyway.

RE: Hey Antelope Hunters!! Question . . .
 

If I were to try it, I think that I would try it with 2 people and have the shooter 60 -70 yards in front of the flagger.

I would try decoying first. I know of some guys who do that with great success.

RE: Hey Antelope Hunters!! Question . . .
 

Using a decoy works great but you only have about a 10 day window to really be successful and talk about exciting.

RE: Hey Antelope Hunters!! Question . . .
 

snip, I will be rolling into the state above you on the 6th of Sept. for mulies. Do you think that week would be just a tad too early. If not, I just may look into a goat tag to fill the down times!!!!

RE: Hey Antelope Hunters!! Question . . .
 

My clients have really good luck that time of year not only on the water holes but some years the Bucs are ready to decoy that early giving a guy even more options.