#21 comes out of the closet
 

I have decided to give my .45 cal 1:20 Mountaineer an opportunity to be used for both target shooting and antelope on the open prairies.
Since it won't be used really for any up close shots I figured I will try a single power scope rather than a variable power. The scope is an SWFA 12 x 42
I got it mounted but I only had medium rings ,so it sits a little higher than I like .I might have to get some low rings.




It's right now .i set it in there just for the pics but I did notice before I tightened everything down and put it away . :) surprised anyone noticed , guess I should have taken new pics
Or put my glasses on sooner

This better?

Fancy looking rig there old boy. If she shoots as good as she looks those speed goats are in trouble.

Nice look'n rig.

Wow, that is a dandy looking outfit there.

In your opinion, out in the open of course, what do you think is the average shot distance to an antelope? The reason I ask is a friend hunted them last year and the guide he had told him to be sure and able to hit a target at 150 yards. He was using a 7mm magnum and if his magnum is anything like mine, 150 yards is a drop in the bucket shot.

Does it very a lot with location? I suppose terrain makes a lot of difference. The reason I ask is, I would like to hunt antelope but to be honest, I ate some at his house and it was nasty horrible stuff. I wouldn't feed it to my dog. But maybe he didn't know how to cook it. Kind of reminded me of sage and cabbage mixed.

Dave - When I shot my antelope I swapped them out for 1/2 the weight in antelope jerky (strips and patties). That was really good stuff

I feel the same way and also mule deer. I don't think there's a way that it can be cooked to taste good. I'd love to hunt them, as long as someone else would take the meat.

NOTHING beats the taste of a corn/bean fed Midwest whitetail :biggrin:

As my father used to say when we lived in southern Wisconsin about the deer... they are all corn fed. They eat better then the cows! And those deer in southern WI would melt in your mouth if cooked properly.

Like I said, I was invited to an antelope feed. And they had roasted it in the oven. To me it tasted like sage and old cabbage. Needless to say, I smiled and ate a very small piece. Now my friend, he loved the stuff.

cayugad, it's sort of refreshing to see I am not the only one that thinks antelope is at the far bottom of the wild game I like to eat list. Years ago when I was around 13 my dad and I went on a hunt for them and we were both lucky enough to bag a nice buck each. We tried just about every way known to man for cooking those things and not a one of them was worth the trouble. Maybe it was because both of the bucks were pretty old but I have never tried it from either a younger buck or a doe. Dad went on several others but he always gave away the meat.

In my opinion/experience, the only critter that is worse tasting than a big necked Mule Deer buck, is rattlesnake. Cooking the buck smells up the house, and eating the buck is awful. To me, doe Mule Deer tastes like a Whitetail doe, and is better because there is more of it.

Our son likes antelope better than any elk, or deer any day. His mother likes antelope better than any elk or deer. Me, i do like eating antelope. The thing i like best about antelope is one can hunt for, kill a trophy, then eat it. Trophy bulls are tough, trophy bucks taste gamey. Trophy antelope is tender, and tasty.

Hunting for a big antelope buck is great fun. Spotting them from a mile away, or more, and stalking them through ravines, around knobs, along ridges, and finishing with a crawl through cactus, is quite a test. Some stalks find the goats long gone, others reveal one went the wrong direction, and over the wrong ridge. For us, if one is fortunate to get a shot, and make the kill, one ends up with good edible meat for the freezer, and that is the best part of antelope hunting.












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I have to agree on antelope hunting being fun. I've been on 3 and taken 3 nice buck. Seeing them is easy. Getting in range is the tricky but fun part. And if you shoot any distance you usually have to account for the wind. All were with a CF rifle. One at just over 250 yards with a healthy crosswind I aimed just in front of the hind quarter and hit him square in the front shoulder. And that was because I had learned my lesson earlier in the day when I missed a lesser buck by not allowing for the wind. I respect you western boys that can consistently take game under those conditions. But it sure is a blast hunting them.