Antelope Jumping String

[nettereo16]

Applied for WY with my wife this year and wondering how antelope react to bow shot noise. She is an excellent shot but is limited by her short draw length and weight (26”/40#). She caps her whitetail shots to 20-25yds because they react so much to an arrow.

How do antelope react? From videos it seems they lunge forward getting ready to bolt and don’t drop down like a whitetail. Open to any advice. Trying to gauge what an ethical max distance is.

I’ve only been on one archery antelope hunt and was able to crawl up on a doe, was a ton of fun and looking forward to going again. We do a mix of waterholes and crawling

 

[cnelk]

If you’re hunting over water, they seem to be already ready to launch. Their head is down, front legs spread apart.
They may not ‘jump the string’ but actually whirl at the shot.

20-25yds I wouldn’t worry about it too much.

 

[WCB]

I shoot a pretty standard set up but on the shorter end of draw. 27" 65-70lb draw 380gr finished arrow. In general on longer shots them dropping or not is not the issue. Its the fact that they have already moved 5 yards forward before the shot gets there.

My wife killed her archery goat at 40 yards with pretty close to the same draw length and draw weight as your wife. She also missed another one at 30 yards because she dropped her arm at the shot and cut hair off its belly. Neither of those two goats reacted at all as they had zero idea we were there (spot and stalk).

I would say her set distance is a good idea...if a goat has zero idea you are there and is relaxed I'd try to extend that by 10yds or more. Good thing antelope are not tough. I would get a light fast arrow and a really small diameter cut on contact broadhead or just small in general and extend that distance. Antelope are the one animal I would give up arrow weight and cutting diameter for speed.

 

[S.Clancy]

Make sure her bow is really quiet and they aren't alert before she shoots and they probably won't move at all. I went to a heavier arrow for antelope to reduce bow noise, that matters alot.

 

[nettereo16]

Thanks for the advice. Keep it coming with your personal experiences.

Sounds like it’s very dependent on if they’re alert at all. Her bow is unbelievably quiet and arrows fly great with Stingers. It’s just slow !

 

[Legend]

Applied for WY with my wife this year and wondering how antelope react to bow shot noise. She is an excellent shot but is limited by her short draw length and weight (26”/40#). She caps her whitetail shots to 20-25yds because they react so much to an arrow.

How do antelope react? From videos it seems they lunge forward getting ready to bolt and don’t drop down like a whitetail. Open to any advice. Trying to gauge what an ethical max distance is.

I’ve only been on one archery antelope hunt and was able to crawl up on a doe, was a ton of fun and looking forward to going again. We do a mix of waterholes and crawling

No reason to change her max range from whitetail. Keep it at 25yds and go have fun. It's doable for sure.

My kid hunts with me and 25 is his max. Some years he doesn't get within range. Others he does. He has a blast trying(hunting).