Grasshopper13

Hi All!

I will be leaving around the 28th of this month for wyoming on my first hunting trip anywhere out of my home state of missouri. We have drawn buck and a doe antelope tags. How do I tell a good buck from a mediocre one? I have studied as many buck antelope pictures as I can find on the internet, but I' m afraid that' s not many, LOL. I' ve been told there' s nothing to worry about, that the difference is so obvious that I shouldn' t be concerned. Is this true? What do you look for? If I understand correctly, they are hard to get very close to. How important is good camoflauge? What should I pack as far as clothes go? I think it may be warm, but then again, I' ve never laid eyes on the country before. How far can I expect to have to shoot? In my neck of the woods, the longest shot I' ve ever taken is about 220 yards, with the average about 75 yards. Any help would be greatly appreciated!


GH

8x8bull

Well if your going to Wyoming they shouldnt be too hard to find because there simply everywhere. Camo is no big deal just wear orange so no one shoots you.
thats about all the advice i can give you. Good luck.


BECOME ONE WITH NATURE THEN MARINATE IT!

Jorgy

Hey Grasshopper, Wyoming speed goat hunting is my favorite! When I draw tags, I hunt over by Saratoga (didn' t draw this year)

When your looking for a good buck, look for the fork to be above the ears, thats a good buck. It' s always hard for me to hold off on shooting since you will be seeing so many bucks. Antelope hunting has always been 100% success for me, and all of the guys that I go with.

I never get too hard core into the camo gig when antelope hunting. I would say they are more senstive to movements. When stalking, if you stay low, move really slow and just try to keep out of sight as much as possible, you can get within range. Doesn' t work all of the time of course, but when you can stalk 3-6 times a day, it' s going to work eventually.

One piece of advise I will give you is to buy/bring knee pads, and I actaully buy the really cheap ones at a hardware store (black foam) and put them on my knees and elbows for crawling. Learned that one the hard way after my first day of trying to crawl over the rocks and cactus.

Weather can vary from shorts/tee shirt to really friggen cold and windy. But the end of Sept should be pretty nice, maybe even still on the warm side.

None of my shots have ever been over 250 yards, and most of them around 100. But that is more me not wanting to take a shot that I' m not so sure that I can do.

My only other advise that I can give you is to hold off on shooting the first day. You are going to be seeing lots of bucks, don' t feel like you have to shoot the first day. Your going to have a great time!

neweboarhunter

Grasshopper13, I too am leaving for Wyoming on my first western hunt. I leave Sept 29 for Newcastle. I drew a area 7 permit for a buck only. Will be hunting with Dampier Lodge. Where are you hunting? Guided or unguide? I have been shooting with my .270 win, I hope to shoot around 40 rounds a week for the next 3 weeks or so. I am also shooting at 200 yards. I want to keep my shot inside 300 yards if possible. I have asked some seasoned antelope hunters about what to look for in a mature buck and they all say that the horns should be twice as tall as the ears, with a hook backword and two heavy prongs. LOL, NBH.

Jorgy, hey thanks for the tip on the knee and elbow pads. I will go to the hardware before heading " west" .

Grasshopper13

Thanks Guys!

I' ve been shooting every weekend and I have set my zero to 200 yards. I' m taking my .260 remington, and I think it will perform quite adequately. We have gained acess to around 12,000 acres of private ground, near Wright(sp?). I am not comfortable shooting over about 300 yards, so we will be trying to stalk as close as possible before taking the shot. Any kind of hunting is great, but this will be really special because I talked my Dad into goin with me too! (Didn' t take too much talkin,lol) . I will be happy just spending the week with him and my uncle and cousin. If we all manage to tag out, it will just be icing on the cake!

Good luck NBH....


GH

1eyedfish

Sounds like yall are ready(good to practice) Good luck hope you get some!

I dont hunt them much( i should ) but will begoing down near saratoga for elk & mulies- think i have to put it off till oct 15 tho instead of the 1rst[X(]


See them grouping up out my back windows today - about( the goats) 35 of them, must of been that lill snow( at about 7,000 ft or so)& cold snap recently

westbronco

Grasshopper, I have taken a few antelopes in both CO and WY. and have rarely taken a shot over 250 yds. You might want to raise your zero point a bit to get the max PBR for a 6" dia. with that .260. I always wear a pair of snakeproof gaiters that snap on for easy removal. Got them at Cabelas. They work fine for kneeling shots and I can remove one for under my ass to avoid the cactii. I didn' t do that at first till I got my butt full of little bristles which took a doc and a nurse half an hour to remove. Not fun, and very embarrassing.

Antelope are very curious and can often be brought in by waving something light colored like a hankerchief or cap. I brought one in to 100 yds. while prairie dog shooting one time. Could have dropped him with a .30-30. Just keep your body out of sight as they avoid humans more than vehicles.

Also be sure to field dress quickly and get the hide off ASAP if it' s warm. They sour very quickly, and they are too tasty to waste. Good binoculars are also very worthwhile. Good luck.

Grasshopper13

HI All!

We returned from Wyoming on saturday. 4 of us went with 2 tags a piece and we brought back 7 antelope. I was able to harvest a buck and a doe. My buck measured 12 1/2 " on the right side and about 12 on the left as he had broken it off. He has good diggers I' m guessing them at about 4" sticking out from the main beam and he has decent mass. I just can' t quite close my hand completely around them, so I' m assuming they are decent. Killed him at 210 yards. The doe was a mature doe and I shot her at about 236 yards. She had been herded for quite awhile by the buck with her and my first shot at her shoulder didn' t even phase her. I brought her down with a second shot as she ran straight away from me at about 250 or so. We had a great time! The highlight of the trip were the 8 bull elk we saw on the ranch we were hunting. A cow led the largest one down to a waterhole we happened to be stopped at and when they finally winded us, she was almost in bow range...about 45-50 yards. The bull , a beautifil 8x6, was about 100 yards away when they took off! We joked that, had we had elk licenses we would never have seen any at all! Thanks for all the help and I wish i' d have had a digital camera so i could share some pics.... Maybe by the next time we go, I' ll have one!

The 4 bucks we were able to take were all 13 " except for mine. My uncle' s 13" buck was really nice! Real wide and very massive! My Dad' s and my cousin' s while longer than mine, were a bit smaller in the mass department.

Overall we just had a great time!


Now it' s time to prepare for bowseason here in missouri....I can' t wait for the first day I have off.........

GH

BTW.....

I was under the impression that antelope didn' t really cope well with fences. In most cases, I saw them crossing where there were holes in the fence. I did however, see 2 bucks that just flat out jumped the dern things! The landowner told us when she was younger, they almost exclusively crawled under or went through fences, but in the last 10 years or so they had started routinely started jumping. I was skeptical until i saw it with my own eyes! Another highlight of the trip, was getting to watch a buck antelope cover a doe not 75 yards from our truck on some public land near where we were staying. I' ve hunted deer for many years here in Missouri and have never witnessed it in the wild.