Spot & Stalk Archery Pronghorn

[Deertick]

I\'m planning on doing some pronghorn hunting before elk season this year ... and while I will have a blind up, I\'m thinking about making one of my goals this year to take a pronghorn (any pronghorn, BTW) with an arrow, spot & stalk.

Any experience out there? I\'ll need all the help I can get.

 

[Bullnuts]

My only antelope buck was a spot and stalk. Here\'s what I learned:
1. It\'s frigging hot in August. My stalk lasted over 2 hours on hands and knees, and sometimes on my belly, crawling through some pretty sparse cover. Wear good leather gloves and knee pads. They\'ll protect you from the cactus, but more importantly, they will protect you from the hot dirt. My stalk took place in temps around 100 degrees, so if you can imagine crawling down your sidewalk in the middle of a July heatwave, you\'ll understand.
2. On that note, bring water! My stalk started out as a very hasty deal and I forgot my pack in my truck as I started across the prairie. About 200 yards and an hour later I was dying of thirst. Water bottle in the pocket at all times.
3. Be prepared for LOOOONG shots. My buck was bedded with three others and when that happens you\'ll usually have a sentinel bed a few yards from the other to keep an eye out. Keep your eye on that buck because when he alerts the rest will too. My buck was way out there when I killed him. I won\'t say how far, but I was glad to have practiced 100 yard shots all summer.
4. Don\'t forget your range finder. I not only ranged to the buck, but also to pieces of cover that I wanted to reach, then subtracted that range from the total. It was encouraging to cut those distances and know how far I\'d come.
5. The prairie wind is pretty consistent in the afternoon. You\'ll have a west to east or a southerly breeze for most of the day.
6. Pronghorns can see exceptionally well. I wore desert digital camos that seemed to work really well.
7. Last thing I can think of: it\'s easier to spot and stalk bedded bucks than it is to try and catch up to moving bucks. There are a lot of cattle where I hunted and I used them a lot as moving blinds to cut distances.

 

[cohunter14]

All great points by Bullnuts...I will add that you want to make sure the terrain you choose to hunt allows for spot and stalk. If you are hunting them on flatlands, a spot and stalk is nearly impossible. You need to find terrain that has some hills, canyons, river beds, etc that will allow you to stay out of eye sight.

 

[Deertick]

I\'m planning on a portion of a ranch that has a river through it ... the pronghorn are occasionally seen in the taller grass in the broken ground near the river.

Another thought would be broken, eroded ground.

This will be an August hunt, so I wouldn\'t think a decoy would help. Has anyone had experience early that would contradict that?

 

[Bullnuts]

Ugh, a river...That makes hunting over water a tough one since the water is everywhere and the goats will have plenty of choices on places to go. I\'ve never hunted with a decoy but it seems like it may work, even in early August. Antelope are pretty curious critters.

 

[Deertick]

Even with the river, the action is great from a blind on this place ...

But I\'m hoping to do something different. I\'ll be sitting some in a blind, but I do really want to get out and walk this year, too. I know it can be done ... but can it be done by me?

 

[Bullnuts]

The nice thing about spot and stalk antelope is that you can do it all day long. I had stalked several others, unsuccessfully, before putting the stalk on the one I killed so yes, it can be done! One of the big things in any spot and stalk is patience. Don\'t try to rush the shot or force anything when you get in close. If you know the animal is there, let it stand on its own. I\'ve blown a lot of stalks on deer by trying to force the issue and it just doesn\'t work out well. Also, if it\'s hot, antelope will stand periodically just to adjust positions. They have really thin skin that helps them in the heat, but it\'s also pretty uncomfortable laying on that hot dirt so they\'ll get up often and lay back down.

 

[bnsafe]

huntography an I did a spot an stalk last year, its a tough deal for sure. good luck

 

[Bob Frapples]

Generally speaking are pronghorn tags a waiting game like elk in the context of just drawing a tag?

 

[Deertick]

Pronghorn tags are easy to come by (in WY ... I don\'t know about CO). Units are different, like elk, with some units being very difficult to draw (and nonresidents collect preference points for them) and others very easy draws ... many units have \"left-over\" tags, making them quasi-OTC, but don\'t count on it.

The unit I\'m looking at has never turned me down as a 1st choice application, as a nonresident or once I became a resident.

If you\'ve never tried pronghorn hunting ... don\'t put if off too long. It\'s a blast.

If you don\'t have the minimum number of days-off required to hunt elk (1 week ... 10-14 days according to some) then try pronghorn. A short trip west is better than no trip west.

 

[Bob Frapples]

I saw some guys on TV use horses to \"stalk\" on a bedded buck or bull pronghorn (whatever you call them) , apparently two 7 legged horses didn\'t bother him too much. Still the guy made a 60 yard shot. (Bow) I thought it was kinda cool to watch, they took their time, it was wide open with only 3 \" grass to hide in.

Sounds Like yet something else I\'ll have to read up on for my bucket list.

Someone told me the meat was extremely strong because they mostly ate sage, I\'m not one to shoot something just to say I did, or just to ang on the wall, if I do kill something it\'s going on the grill. Admittedly I don\'t know squat abut them but I\'m interested in giving it a whirl if there eatable.

 

[cohunter14]

The antelope I have had are from southern colorado where there is no sage and they are VERY good eating. As far as tags go for Colorado, a lot depends on where you hunt and if you are hunting a buck or doe. Certain areas require a handful of points to draw a buck tag. The difficult thing in Colorado is the lack of public land east of I-25 where the majority of antelope hang out. If I were coming from out of state, I would more than likely look to Wyoming for antelope. Lot of public land and a ton of antelope up there.

 

[elkmtngear]

This is a nice tool for Spot and Stalk. You have the option of 3 different presentations for antelope, and you can switch the covers out in seconds.
Lightweight and mobile, and it will hold its shape in the wind unlike other 2D decoys.
Doubles as a gun rest and trekking pole as well. I have never personally hunted antelope but I get pics from Customers every Season.

Secret to decoying or using the moo cow seems to be a slow and indirect approach from what my Customers tell me.

 

[Bullnuts]

There are a lot of archery antelope tags in Colorado that are OTC. And I agree on the S. Colorado antelope meat - best eating animal on the planet except for maybe moose. I love the flavor of antelope steak!

 

[Deertick]

Bob ... I\'ve done that with horses ... twice even had the bucks come TOWARD the horse ... with a rifle, it\'s a great way to go. You have a pack animal, and no tire tracks to upset landowners (very fragile land out here).

I hadn\'t thought about that for some time ... maybe I\'ll take a horse out for a walk this year!

 

[Bob Frapples]

?......antelope meat - best eating animal on the planet except for maybe moose. I love the flavor of antelope steak!

Well that ain\'t what my pocketbook wanted to hear, lol

 

[WW]

Pronghorn have a unique taste all it\'s own. Some people think it is the best meat there is. Others like myself don\'t care all that much for it.

But I do have a good recipe for it. Take 5 pounds of antelope for every 1 pound can of Alpo. If you mix it just right, there\'s a 50/50 chance your dog might eat it if he ain\'t too picky! :roll:

 

[Deertick]

I love antelope ... my wife considers it better than elk. That is a minority view out here, but she\'s not the only person I\'ve heard say that.

All of our come off of sage ... in fact, the only \"bad\" antelope I remember is the one yearling I shot off of alfalfa.

 

[Bullnuts]

WW, that ain\'t right!
We eat a lot of antelope sausage, which is awesome, and the sirloins? Man, those are the BOMB :upthumb:

 

[Bob Frapples]

Which is the minority view, the alpo recipe or the better than elk?

Unfortunately, I realize ultimately I\'ll have to try it for myself, I just have to prioritize all these bucket list hunts. Although I\'ve yet to make my 1rst elk hunt I\'ve tasted it a few times and some grilled wasn\'t good at all, but I had some summer sausage that was awesome. someone gave me some summer sausage that I was going to bring to my dad, but it didn\'t survive the road trip home. :eh:

Getting meat from others is a crap shoot, you just never know if and how they cared for it, which can make a huge difference in taste.