My wife drew a CO muzzy pronghorn buck tag for the end of September. We've hunted this unit before with a rifle and been fairly successful. She'll be hunting a "small" piece of public land that doesn't have much in the way of terrain to hide in. At the moment she's thinking of settings ambush on one of the known fence line crossings. Does anyone have any other good tactics for her to try? Should be the height of the rut.
Muzzleloader Pronghorn Thoughts?
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A friend and I picked up a couple left over tags for muzzle loader and will be hunting some private ground we got on. They have good numbers, only thing is its mostly farm ground and flat short grass cattle pastures so there isn't a lot of terrain or cover. I have only been on one other pronghorn hunt and I was just tagging along. For both of us it will be our first time with a tag in hand.
I talked to a couple other people I know who have bow hunted them and they recommended trying a decoy. I bought a used one off of craigslist so that will be our first approach. Second, the land owner said they do cross the property fairly consistently since a couple of their fields have good cover and water on either side. Like you said timing should be good to hit the rut which is why I think the decoy could be effective. May not be much help but I am kind of in the same boat and that's our strategy so far. One other benefit I keep telling myself is muzzle loader season shouldn't have the pressured animals like rifle. . . Good Luck!
I talked to a couple other people I know who have bow hunted them and they recommended trying a decoy. I bought a used one off of craigslist so that will be our first approach. Second, the land owner said they do cross the property fairly consistently since a couple of their fields have good cover and water on either side. Like you said timing should be good to hit the rut which is why I think the decoy could be effective. May not be much help but I am kind of in the same boat and that's our strategy so far. One other benefit I keep telling myself is muzzle loader season shouldn't have the pressured animals like rifle. . . Good Luck!
I've never tried it but three is the waiving white flag method you could try potentially. Apparently if you waive a white flag on a stick they will sometimes get curious about it and run up to look at it, ideally have the waiver farther back from the shooter so they are focused on the flag and not the shooter. Reports are its hit/miss so try it as you see fit.
CareyJAF50
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I killed a big guy last weekend here in NM with my Muzzleloader behind a Montana moo cow decoy. Obviously depends if there are cattle in the area, but we also watched bucks running off other bucks like crazy and have seen many other dudes have success with antelope decoys. Just be careful obviously.
Cool. Hope they aren't spooked much next weekend either. 
She try the white flag at all by chance?
Honestly my main concern is limited public and what that will mean in terms of pressure. If they are on some huntable land I'm not to worried about closing into shot range come modern season. I'm in the same boat with some small areas to work with.
She try the white flag at all by chance? Honestly my main concern is limited public and what that will mean in terms of pressure. If they are on some huntable land I'm not to worried about closing into shot range come modern season. I'm in the same boat with some small areas to work with.
Cool. Hope they aren't spooked much next weekend either.
Honestly my main concern is limited public and what that will mean in terms of pressure. If they are on some huntable land I'm not to worried about closing into shot range come modern season. I'm in the same boat with some small areas to work with.
I have no idea if she has tried the white flag. She hasn't called, only texted a few updates. I hate not knowing every step, but signal is poor.
-------------On Rifle season / Public land---------------------------
We've hunted this area and its public lands for several years during the rifle season. She has two bucks and I have a doe under my belt. This year, I have a buck tag and she has a doe tag, so we'll be out there again.
The first year we hunted it, the opener was foggy and snowing, which made things hard. We stayed through Monday and were the only people out there. We had watched her buck bed in this one valley the day before, so we snuck in during the dark and set up inside a couple of yuccas. Around 8:30am he came by at 170 yards.
Last year opening day, we were stalking a herd behind our cow decoy, when some douche drove up (not even supposed to have a vehicle here) and just started unloading on them offhand from 400+. He missed and part of the herd, including the buck, circled right into us. She missed the first shot as our rangefinder wasn't up to snuff and we underestimated the distance, then dropped him at ~300 yards.
I guess my point is ... we've had success with ambushing on public land as opposed to the traditional spot and stalk, although I took my doe that way last year. As you said, the hardest part is having them on huntable land. The pressure can help in this regard, as long as there is pressure on the private ground. We generally set up where we think we might be able to get an ambush, but are continually glassing to see if any come into a stalkable area. We can see 2-10 miles around because the land is so flat.
Tell her to hang in there and get CLOSER! It's easy to miss with open sights when your excited and not real steady. Hopefully she has some shooting sticks or better yet can lay down with her gun on her pack. I killed one on Wednesday with the muzzleloader... That Thor bullet jacked him up at 40 yards!
Sounds like fun! Once the rut kicks in an antelope decoy may be just the ticket. Stalk in as close as possible and then pop up the decoy. I'm somewhat amazed no one has mentioned waterholes or water tanks. If there aren't many water sources in the area it's pretty tough to beat a waterhole...especially if there aren't many water sources in the area. Antelope generally water every day or 2 depending upon the weather. If it rains they will drink out of puddles. Obviously if cattle are in the area a cow decoy ought to work pretty well. I saw a show on the Sportsman's channel where a guide with 2 horses got a bowhunter within bow range of a buck....and got it. They hid behind the horses similar to a decoy. Pronghorn generally hate fences and will often follow them for long distance before coming to a spot where they cross. You can often use a fenceline to your advantage. Getting a whopper antelope buck in open country can be a challenge. In fact, I just returned from a successful Wyo hunt where I ran into one of the smartest bucks I've ever harvested. He took me on a 4 hour stroll before he finally made a lethal mistake! Sometimes it's best to stay back and patiently wait for a buck to make a mistake and other times it's best to almost run/jog to keep up with a buck so he doesn't do a disappearing act! Good luck to your wife!
After 4 days, she came home for a rest, and her helper had to leave. While I was off chasing elk and mule deer, she went back out to try again solo, and missed again. I tagged out on Monday and was able to get down to help her out on Wednesday night, for the last day of the season. We checked her gun and noticed immediately that her rear sight had been knocked out of alignment!
Thursday morning we headed in with the attitude of any buck will do. We had two spotted, a larger one at 1 mile and a smaller one closer, about 1/2 mile. We closed to 400 yards when she told me about her secret trick ( sorry, I'm not allowed to share!
... I know, its terrible since I asked for advice. ) that had 8 bucks under 100 yards over the course of the hunt. She crawled forward while I executed her plan. It worked like a charm! The little buck came racing in to 40 yards and she put one in him. He immediately bedded down and we sat, waiting for him to expire (it looked like a liver hit).
While waiting on him, I was watching others in the distance, and saw a coyote shadowing them. Then, the coyote bolted and disappeared. Two minutes later, her buck jumped up and began to hobble off (oh crap, reload!), but didn't make it 100 yards when the coyote pounced and tackled him by the neck! This freaked my wife out. She finished reloading and I grabbed the gun with the intention of knocking down the coyote. They were wrestling, with the coyote winning sometimes and the pronghorn goring him others.
About the time I got into range, the pronghorn buck gave up the ghost. Before I could get a shot on the coyote, he bolted. Crazy!
First muzzleloader kill for my wife. She said she had passed on this buck twice during the week, as he was one of the smallest she had seen ... but she got it done!
View attachment 41075
Thursday morning we headed in with the attitude of any buck will do. We had two spotted, a larger one at 1 mile and a smaller one closer, about 1/2 mile. We closed to 400 yards when she told me about her secret trick ( sorry, I'm not allowed to share!
... I know, its terrible since I asked for advice. ) that had 8 bucks under 100 yards over the course of the hunt. She crawled forward while I executed her plan. It worked like a charm! The little buck came racing in to 40 yards and she put one in him. He immediately bedded down and we sat, waiting for him to expire (it looked like a liver hit).While waiting on him, I was watching others in the distance, and saw a coyote shadowing them. Then, the coyote bolted and disappeared. Two minutes later, her buck jumped up and began to hobble off (oh crap, reload!), but didn't make it 100 yards when the coyote pounced and tackled him by the neck! This freaked my wife out. She finished reloading and I grabbed the gun with the intention of knocking down the coyote. They were wrestling, with the coyote winning sometimes and the pronghorn goring him others.
About the time I got into range, the pronghorn buck gave up the ghost. Before I could get a shot on the coyote, he bolted. Crazy!
First muzzleloader kill for my wife. She said she had passed on this buck twice during the week, as he was one of the smallest she had seen ... but she got it done!
View attachment 41075
Sweet glad in worked out. Sounds like a crazy day out in the field
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