Grassland vs sage

[Johnny Tyndall]

First time antelope hunter here. Topography aside, which of these two vegetation assemblages is more attractive to lopes?

Prairie grassland


Sagebrush rangeland

 

[Rich M]

Before I answer - where you at?

 

[WCB]

Alfalfa....

realistically sage makes up a huge percentage of their diet...or at least CAN. They are where you find them.

 

[Johnny Tyndall]

Central MT. Figured that alfalfa was the best if I can find it on or adjacent to public. I'm a rookie, so just wanted to be sure I'm not spending time looking where they'd generally prefer not to be. This'll be post-rut, so I figure high-quality food and (enough) water is where to look.

 

[WCB]

Depending on how long after the rut you are hunting....they will generally be in the same area as right now. This is not taking hunting pressure into consideration. Also, like the elk rut most people think Antelope are around the mid Sept for peak then done come Oct. #100 not true seen bucks tending does and have Harems they protect well into Oct and again are generally in the same location as August and September.

Within an area that Antelope are in right now...the bucks will definitely push their Harem to specific spots and try to hold them in an area...while satellite bucks roam around. But in general until say Snow really starts to fly or earl Nov . I have never really seen Antelope move out of a general area.

 

[Rich M]

Not sure how they do it there - do you guys get a "unit" to hunt like WY or CO?

You can figure the antelope thing by simply driving the unit and seeing where they are. They stick out like a neon sign most of the time with all that white. OnX is your friend if there is a lot of private property around.

They will be in the alfalfa for sure, in the sage, and to a lesser extent in the grasslands. We hunted a sage unit adjacent to a grassland unit and the antelope were mainly on our side. Flip side for the deer - heard there were more deer in the grasslands as opposed to antelope...

We drove up into MT to check it out and saw mainly deer in the grassland but did see 1 herd of antelope.

Antelope hunting is a ball - hardest part is having critters on public if it is a busy area.

 

[Johnny Tyndall]

Thanks for the responses. We do get units like the rest of big game. This one is like 80 miles on a side and largely private - bits of state and federal land scattered around. With that much country I'm trying to narrow down what I should be looking for. I've taken a drive through and did see some, seemed like more in the grassland than sage. Appreciate all the info.

 

[bluelund79]

You’ll find them more in the sage than the grasslands, but check every spot you can. They’re my favorite critters to chase outside of upland/waterfowl with my dog. I actually feel guilty taking away some bird hunting to chase them, but they’re delicious, and we’re my dream animal growing up in WI. Glad I moved to MT back in 2018.

 

[roadrunner]

Also, like the elk rut most people think Antelope are around the mid Sept for peak then done come Oct. #100 not true seen bucks tending does and have Harems they protect well into Oct and again are generally in the same location as August and September.

My observation as well.

 

[Johnny Tyndall]

My observation as well.

Good to know. It'd be cool to see some charging around.

 

[YellCoAR]

Sage if it is pretty tall. Also look for the greenest areas.

 

[50bowhunter]

In my experience, sage is king.