Got my antelope!!!
12-13-2013, 06:20 PM
#1
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Colorado
Posts: 200
Got my antelope!!!
This was Colorado's late season doe only. Does are defined as anything with antlers under 5" and no black cheek patch. Why? Some does develop tiny antlers and younger bucks don't have a black cheek patch, so you can't tell the difference from 300 yards.
It turns out mine was one of these younger bucks, but again, it's legally a "doe."
I shot him at 300 yards, broadside, from the kneeling position. I had spotted a herd from about a 1/2 mile off hanging out on land I had permission to hunt. I kept driving so as not to spook them until there was a terrain feature between us. Then I got out, loaded up, and stalked across the open country through a shallow draw. I kept a hill between me and the herd so they wouldn't see me approaching. When I popped out from behind the hill they had moved a little ways off, making my shot 300 yards instead of point blank. Oh well, it went right through the boiler room and put him down!
This was my first antelope, but I've hunted lots of other game. Getting an antelope license in Colorado can be problematic at times. I've had 3, but twice the military sent me away and I missed the seasons!
The ammo was my own handloads. I used a .270, 130 gr. Hornady SST over 44.6 grains of Varget. This test load gave me 1/2 MOA, which I was quite happy with, especially from an out-of-the-box Ruger M77 with a fixed 4X Mauser scope.
It turns out mine was one of these younger bucks, but again, it's legally a "doe."
I shot him at 300 yards, broadside, from the kneeling position. I had spotted a herd from about a 1/2 mile off hanging out on land I had permission to hunt. I kept driving so as not to spook them until there was a terrain feature between us. Then I got out, loaded up, and stalked across the open country through a shallow draw. I kept a hill between me and the herd so they wouldn't see me approaching. When I popped out from behind the hill they had moved a little ways off, making my shot 300 yards instead of point blank. Oh well, it went right through the boiler room and put him down!
This was my first antelope, but I've hunted lots of other game. Getting an antelope license in Colorado can be problematic at times. I've had 3, but twice the military sent me away and I missed the seasons!
The ammo was my own handloads. I used a .270, 130 gr. Hornady SST over 44.6 grains of Varget. This test load gave me 1/2 MOA, which I was quite happy with, especially from an out-of-the-box Ruger M77 with a fixed 4X Mauser scope.
12-14-2013, 04:48 AM
#3
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Colorado
Posts: 200
^^^ I'm sure there is, but they do that to avoid jamming up hunters. You simply can't tell the difference from 300 yards, even with a quality scope. If you arrested every hunter for shooting the young males when it was supposed to be a doe, about 1/2 of the late season hunters would be in jail!
12-22-2013, 07:10 AM
#5
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 9,230
Antelope are one of my favorite game animals. My native CO can be kind of stingy when it comes to getting tags but thankfully WY is always willing to sell me at least a doe tag or 2 when I want to put one in the freezer.
