Antelope Hunting
09-10-2006, 02:34 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Holdrege NE USA
Posts: 1
Antelope Hunting
Hello fellow archers,
I was wondering who has any experience with bowhunting Pronghorn Antelope? I am going next week and my friend and I have never gone before.
Here is our setup.......Locate an active waterhole and set our ground blinds up and hope for the best. I was wondering if I could get some tips on in this topic. Any at all would be a great help.
Thanks,
Bow_Hunter56
I was wondering who has any experience with bowhunting Pronghorn Antelope? I am going next week and my friend and I have never gone before.
Here is our setup.......Locate an active waterhole and set our ground blinds up and hope for the best. I was wondering if I could get some tips on in this topic. Any at all would be a great help.
Thanks,
Bow_Hunter56
09-10-2006, 08:58 AM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Elizabeth Colo. USA
Posts: 4,413
RE: Antelope Hunting
If there is little water in the area, and by a little I mean that as long as there's not water every half mile, instead a water hole less than every square mile, and if it's hot and the grass isn't lush, and if the rut is on, than the water hole method will probably be your best bet. IF, on the other hand, the grass is lush, and IF there is a water hole every half mile and it's not hot, and the rut isn't in full swing, then the water hole will not be the best bet. Too many water sources just means that your chances of being at the right one at the right time decrease. And if it's not hot and if thier not doing a lot of running/rutting than their water requirements are low.
What I have found with my doublebull blinds is, if they don't have to come near them, they won't. I had two blinds set up for 5 weeks at primary fence crossings, and they quit using those crossings and started new ones about 200 yards away. SO, they don't accept the blinds easily. That's another reason that they will avoid a water hole, if there is another one not far away!
If the rut is in full swing, decoys are effective. Get as close to a herd with a dominant buck as you can with out being seen, and put up the decoy. If the buck feels threaten by a challenger, he very well may charge right into your set up. It hasn't worked for me, BUT my archery season is well before prime rut. I do use a decoy to move from spot to spot, when doing spot and stalk.
Spot and stalk is how I've taken my last two antelope. If this is the method you use, long shots are the norm. However, of my last two, and my buddys last one, none of them jumped the string at all. We shot at feeding animals and they never knew we were there. This years doe that I took was at 47/48 yards, last years buck was 60, and my buddy shot his buck last year at 70 yards. A range finder is obviously a must. I wish getting closer was an option, BUT them antelope are sharp and the cover is thin, short, and far between!!
Good luck and have fun!! One nice thing about antelope hunting, is you'll get to see animals, and lots of them and that will keep ya going!!
What I have found with my doublebull blinds is, if they don't have to come near them, they won't. I had two blinds set up for 5 weeks at primary fence crossings, and they quit using those crossings and started new ones about 200 yards away. SO, they don't accept the blinds easily. That's another reason that they will avoid a water hole, if there is another one not far away!
If the rut is in full swing, decoys are effective. Get as close to a herd with a dominant buck as you can with out being seen, and put up the decoy. If the buck feels threaten by a challenger, he very well may charge right into your set up. It hasn't worked for me, BUT my archery season is well before prime rut. I do use a decoy to move from spot to spot, when doing spot and stalk.
Spot and stalk is how I've taken my last two antelope. If this is the method you use, long shots are the norm. However, of my last two, and my buddys last one, none of them jumped the string at all. We shot at feeding animals and they never knew we were there. This years doe that I took was at 47/48 yards, last years buck was 60, and my buddy shot his buck last year at 70 yards. A range finder is obviously a must. I wish getting closer was an option, BUT them antelope are sharp and the cover is thin, short, and far between!!
Good luck and have fun!! One nice thing about antelope hunting, is you'll get to see animals, and lots of them and that will keep ya going!!
