Pronghorn Doe Wyoming

[RSather528]

The wife ended up pulling a doe tag and is looking forward to both of our first western hunting experience. She’ll be on the gun and I will be hauling it out (hopefully). She will be getting out to the range this summer leading up to the season getting familiar with the rifle. I have a newer savage 7mm-08 that allowed me to reduce the length of pull to her. We have some 150 grain eld-x, 144 grain bxr, and 139 grain interlocks available as far as ammo goes. Is any one better or worse when it comes down to Wyoming antelope?

 

[NEWHunter]

Should be a good time. Hopefully you got a unit with some room to roam. Does are small and it doesn’t take much with good shot placement. Try and sneak it in behind the shoulder to avoid damaging the meat - blow up a shoulder or two and there won’t be much to take home.

 

[sndmn11]

I would sling the interlocks so you don't ding up a lot of meat.

 

[RSather528]

Should be a good time. Hopefully you got a unit with some room to roam. Does are small and it doesn’t take much with good shot placement.

It’ll be a good first experience I hope. This unit should have more room than we could possibly cover when it comes to public access. We will get within 200 yards before I think she’d be comfortable pulling the trigger.

 

[fightthenoise]

Let the gun decide. Tell her to put it where the white and brown fur meet.

 

[RSather528]

I would sling the interlocks so you don't ding up a lot of meat.

Good point. We have plenty of ammo of each so if she shoots those well that is what she’ll carry. Will the eld’s ruin enough meat to scratch those from the possible ammo choices?

 

[RSather528]

Let the gun decide. Tell her to put it where the white and brown fur meet.

That is a perfect description to tell her where to aim. I’ll end up getting some of those antelope paper targets for her to practice with.

 

[sndmn11]

Good point. We have plenty of ammo of each so if she shoots those well that is what she’ll carry. Will the eld’s ruin enough meat to scratch those from the possible ammo choices?

I really do not know for certain, what the ELDs will do, but I do know that they are designed to expand at a lower velocity which also means they will expand further at higher velocities. With the 30lbs of meat you yield on a phorn, if you ding a shoulder you lose 20% of that.

 

[fightthenoise]

I’ve killed them with ELD’s and hit shoulders and it’s not ideal. Almost have to toss the whole thing. Good news is, they kill like the plague and with a new hunter, last thing you want is poor bullet performance, tracking jobs, hasty follow up shots, panic, suffering, all that. I say if the ELD’s shoot well, use them. Shot placement is important no matter the bullet, and ELD’s tend to go where you point them.

Any bullet through the shoulders of an antelope will ruin a lot of the available meat. I wouldn’t rule any of your bullets out, and go with the one that has the best probability of going where you want it.

 

[RSather528]

I really do not know for certain, what the ELDs will do, but I do know that they are designed to expand at a lower velocity which also means they will expand further at higher velocities. With the 30lbs of meat you yield on a phorn, if you ding a shoulder you lose 20% of that.

For how small they are I don’t want any of it wasted if possible. We try and get every little bit from deer and game birds. Definitely appreciate your time and advice!

I’ve killed them with ELD’s and hit shoulders and it’s not ideal. Almost have to toss the whole thing. Good news is, they kill like the plague and with a new hunter, last thing you want is poor bullet performance, tracking jobs, hasty follow up shots, panic, suffering, all that. I say if the ELD’s shoot well, use them. Shot placement is important no matter the bullet, and ELD’s tend to go where you point them.

Any bullet through the shoulders of an antelope will ruin a lot of the available meat. I wouldn’t rule any of your bullets out, and go with the one that has the best probability of going where you want it.

Totally. Luckily she has plenty of time left until go time to shoot and practice. She feels terrible losing ducks and really want this to be just a bang drop situation where it just goes down. Just behind both shoulders should be the ticket?

 

[sndmn11]

For how small they are I don’t want any of it wasted if possible. We try and get every little bit from deer and game birds. Definitely appreciate your time and advice!

We have shot mono GMX bullets and I have liked the results in meat yield and dying quick. Those that we have killed were shot more mid rib cage rather than behind the shoulder. I believe they have relatively larger lungs compared to deer and we couldn't find a reason to shoot more forward.

 

[fightthenoise]

Totally. Luckily she has plenty of time left until go time to shoot and practice. She feels terrible losing ducks and really want this to be just a bang drop situation where it just goes down. Just behind both shoulders should be the ticket?

As long as she keeps in the front half, it’ll likely be a textbook kill. The ones I’ve shot have had very little will to live. The meat loss discussion just comes from the fact they are smaller so the consequences of hitting shoulders, as a percentage of available meat, are greater.

I will say, don’t drill into her where NOT to hit. I made that mistake with my wife and she got in a habit of hitting animals too far back in the name of making sure to miss the shoulders. Just focus on where TO hit, and she’ll be deadly.

 

[RSather528]

We have shot mono GMX bullets and I have liked the results in meat yield and dying quick. Those that we have killed were shot more mid rib cage rather than behind the shoulder. I believe they have relatively larger lungs compared to deer and we couldn't find a reason to shoot more forward.

Ok cool. We will do some studying of the anatomy before hunting begins. A double lung shot broadside would be nice to have presented to her.

 

[RSather528]

As long as she keeps in the front half, it’ll likely be a textbook kill. The ones I’ve shot have had very little will to live. The meat loss discussion just comes from the fact they are smaller so the consequences of hitting shoulders, as a percentage of available meat, are greater.

I will say, don’t drill into her where NOT to hit. I made that mistake with my wife and she got in a habit of hitting animals too far back in the name of making sure to miss the shoulders. Just focus on where TO hit, and she’ll be deadly.

Those paper targets of an antelope are sounding better and better for her practice. She has been pretty consistent out to 300 on the 10” gong and is good with it at 500 but with the winds I hear Wyoming has, 200 would be the safest bet. The TO vs NOT advice is exactly why I posted to Rokslide. Great advice from everyone.

 

[Rich M]

I only been once - shot one at 25 yards and one at 350 yards. Seen most antelope in the 200-300 yard ranges.

Take a picture and tell her where to shoot it. Then leave her be. They aren't tough and should flop right over.

Its like shooting a yearling whitetail. You hit the shoulder you lose like a pound of meat. Not enough to worry about.

You just spent like $1,500 (???) to go hunt - it aint about the meat.

 

[voltage]

Do not stress too much about the bullet and meat loss. It'll be fine.

You will read a lot about shooting really far for antelope which can be true for when you are hunting a unit with poor access or you are trying to kill a specific buck. With a doe tag and decent access, you will find as close of a shot as you want. You should essentially be hunting for the best shot/stalking opportunity and not the best animal.

 

[LongShot01]

The wife ended up pulling a doe tag and is looking forward to both of our first western hunting experience. She’ll be on the gun and I will be hauling it out (hopefully). She will be getting out to the range this summer leading up to the season getting familiar with the rifle. I have a newer savage 7mm-08 that allowed me to reduce the length of pull to her. We have some 150 grain eld-x, 144 grain bxr, and 139 grain interlocks available as far as ammo goes. Is any one better or worse when it comes down to Wyoming antelope?

My son and I went to WY with 4 doe tags to fill last year. He was shooting a Savage 7mm-08 with 120 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips and punched his tags with shots at 154 and 309 yards. Your wife's rifle is plenty to get the job done. Use the ammo that shoots the best and practice for long shots. It doesn't take much to bring an antelope down, but you have to hit them where you're aiming. Best of luck and I hope to see some "grip and grin" pics!

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Whichever is flatter/faster presuming it shoots well. They're pretty easy to knock down. I use 145 barnes LRX from a 280AI at 3130, that gun has dropped a couple dozen nicely. Winds can be bad yes, often its calmer at dawn though so you get windows. Shouldn't be an issue getting into a couple hundred yards on does, I've popped them close and some rather far but usually those far ones were chasing heavily pressured lopes in flat land or taking out the second or third in the same shot string (if they don't know where you are they'll often run a couple hundred yards then stop trying to figure it out, re-range/fire/repeat).

 

[sndmn11]

See if you can find one with pronged horns, that will make it more challenging and the fun of a hunt.

 

[RSather528]

I only been once - shot one at 25 yards and one at 350 yards. Seen most antelope in the 200-300 yard ranges.

Take a picture and tell her where to shoot it. Then leave her be. They aren't tough and should flop right over.

Its like shooting a yearling whitetail. You hit the shoulder you lose like a pound of meat. Not enough to worry about.

You just spent like $1,500 (???) to go hunt - it aint about the meat.

I hear ya, it’s about the experience as well especially being a first time trip. If it’s possible to not take out a shoulder I’d opt for that but know things happen. If I looked at cost per pound of meat from a financial perspective I wouldn’t be bird hunting as much as I do lol.