Archery Pronghorn

[wyodog]

Enjoy planning you antelope hunt. I'll try to answer you questions from my perspective.

Pre-daylight is the best time to get into you blind. Antelope don't see in the dark as well as deer do and are not usually near the water when yo get there. I've never sat in an antelope blind from dark thirty to dark thirty.

Plan on being cold in the AM and hot midday on. I drive to my blind way before daylight so I have a big jug of ice water. getting breeze through the windows helps but be careful not to backlight yourself.

Always a good idea to minimize you scent, however antelope are not nearly as spooked when they get down wind as deer and elk are.

Where I live I live I feel safe keeping my blind up with my chair inside. If I didn't I would build a brush blind and still leave my chair inside. I put my blind up 2-3 weeks prior to sitting in it if possible. If was putting a blind during season I would put it the night before I planned to hunt in it.

I plan for shooting in the AM so I set my blind where the sun wont shine through the windows in the morning. I also place it as far from the water as I can and still have the entire water hole within my shooting range. If you blind hasn't been there a while the antelope will be later to drink and will drink as far away from the blind as they get.

There can be crowds for sure, depends on the area. look for water hole that are not by a road this helps.

I have had a rattle snake in the blind with two times. both came inside while I was in the blind. It sucks when a snake is between you and the only door. If your blind stays up at night bang on it when you get there to make it rattle back at you. check really good with a light and don't leave in the blind that can hide a snake.

 

[ChaseH]

I’ve seen a few guided archery pronghorn hunts I could actually afford. I’ve thought about doing a guided hunt for the first one to learn and gain experience. Is that a good idea or not necessary?

 

[jbelz]

I’ve seen a few guided archery pronghorn hunts I could actually afford. I’ve thought about doing a guided hunt for the first one to learn and gain experience. Is that a good idea or not necessary?

They’ll pop you in a blind over water and you’ll get a shot at one. If you kill it, you’ll gain a mount for the wall, but I wouldn’t say you’d gain experience in the DIY category.

 

[stonewall]

something i do in the archery blind now is a spray bottle of water. and enough to refill it. sure helps to keep cool

 

[WRO]

Go to a job site, turn the internet off on your phone, and sit in a porta John for hours in the heat. It’s good archery antelope training.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[CobraChicken]

I have shot about 6 antelope spot and stalk archery. Hardly anyone does it that way in the area I hunt and I tend to have most of the unit to myself.

I prefer to get there well before sunrise in the area I know the animals tend to be. I prefer rolling terrain with some cuts and hills. Allows me to hoof it in front or on top of them. Most of the time I have gotten them feeding into me. Only one buck was shot bedded down and mid day. Others were early or late. I tend to stay until I get one.

My experience is just keep the sun out of your face and the wind in it while keeping a low profile and they will give you multiple stalks and you cant get out of them. My favorite time of the year.

Only downside is the heat lmao

 

[nettereo16]

Do they wind you? Or mostly just good eyes?

 

[wyodog]

CobraChicken, how long are your average shots when using spot and stock?

 

[Oklahoma33]

The quality of the water hole is as important as the quality of your set up. I've shown up to holes at 10 in the morning, set the blind up with antelope watching me, and they still come in because they need water. If water is abundant, it becomes more important to scout, pattern, go in while it's still dark, etc. I've only ever hunted public land, and if you set a blind up days in advance out here it's likely to end up in a different spot than where you initially placed it. Don't be afraid to spot and stalk if you see a target buck that isn't frequenting a specific piece of water.

A whitetail is infinitely more difficult to kill than an antelope, IMO.

I thought lopes were skittish making spot and stalk near impossible. This coming from a whitetail spot and stalk hunter.

 

[2Stamp]

I thought lopes were skittish making spot and stalk near impossible. This coming from a whitetail spot and stalk hunter.

They are skittish, and also curious. And A LOT of eyes. I've been able to get in 4 stalks on the same buck before, over the course of 5-6 hours. Still didn't work out. But a hell of a lot of fun.

 

[nettereo16]

Wow my first day archery hunting for these guys. Had 5 stalks but they sure are skittish!! Might try the goofy hat tomorrow.

 

[CobraChicken]

Do they wind you? Or mostly just good eyes?

I shot mine this evening at about 65 yards. My wind was in their face but they couldn't see me. I had to take a shot because one decided to sound off based off my movement.

I'm sure they knew what was up but in my experience they are so cocky with speed they will give ya a minute

 

[choppd]

Congrats to everyone that got one this year. This year was my first year hunting antelope, and I tried spot and stalk. I was unsuccessful. A lot of other hunters in my unit were sitting blinds, and they set them up long before the season started. I would say one of my biggest frustrations was not being able to find them often enough.