Pronghorn sheath drop (Montana)

[doctor_dirt]

Wondering if anyone has input on when antelope usually drop their horn sheaths in Montana. I drew a MT antelope tag this year and I’m trying to coordinate my hunt with some other bird hunts I already had planned. Both pheasant and antelope open Oct 8, and I had planned hunting birds opening week. Would I be doing myself a disservice by pushing my antelope hunt to later in the month ~Oct 20-27?

 

[jonny5]

By the second week of November last year, most of the bucks had dropped/shed their horns. I think you should be fine for your dates.

 

[WCB]

Usually mid to late November. Can happen late Oct but pretty rare.

 

[SwiftShot]

If you are hunting in October you should be fine. 2nd week of November is what I saw 2 years ago.

 

[doctor_dirt]

I appreciate the replies. It’d be hard for me to skip the pheasant opener tradition with my old man. But if push came to shove I don’t draw pronghorn tags that often…. Sounds like I should be ok though. Thanks everyone

 

[Black ice]

I've seen bucks missing 1 side first week of October rifle season in other states but its very rare.

 

[Legend]

You should be fine as lo g as you don't load them into the truck by their horns....

 

[Laramie]

Wondering if anyone has input on when antelope usually drop their horn sheaths in Montana. I drew a MT antelope tag this year and I’m trying to coordinate my hunt with some other bird hunts I already had planned. Both pheasant and antelope open Oct 8, and I had planned hunting birds opening week. Would I be doing myself a disservice by pushing my antelope hunt to later in the month ~Oct 20-27?

Sheaths shouldn't be a concern until November but you might want to research the antelope migration for that area. Things can change massively from the first week in October to the last week in some areas.

Good luck to you

 

[doctor_dirt]

Sheaths shouldn't be a concern until November but you might want to research the antelope migration for that area. Things can change massively from the first week in October to the last week in some areas.

Good luck to you

Thanks for the tip. I was able to squeeze a couple hunt days on opening weekend for antelope into my schedule so I may be getting to see both early and late October migration effects. Will look into any info I can find

 

[GreenMachine]

Hi all! My Dad and I are planning to hunt last week of the MT Pronghorn season in Region 7 this year (Nov 4-10). Unfortunately b/c of work I can’t get off an earlier. How big of a problem is this? is this a big enough concern that we should go a week sooner? Really appreciate advice on this - thanks! Ryan

 

[Scottf270]

If I were only antelope hunting, I'd try to go earlier. Don't know if your hunting private or public, but deer is also open then. Public could be crowded and public may be picked over.

We drew both deer and antelope this year. We hunt private. We are going out Oct. 17th to try to get the antelope done before the deer opener. We normally hunt mid November if just hunting deer.

 

[GreenMachine]

Sounds like you have a solid plan. We are going to make the best of it since we have no other option. I’ll keep this in mind in the future. Thanks.

 

[doctor_dirt]

One thing to keep in mind at that time is weather. Mid November last year got COLD in eastern MT. I was able to get out and fill my region 7 antelope tag on opening day, but was back in the eastern half of the state in November for a few weeks of bird hunting. We had a week straight of -10 to -20 degree temps overnight. Daytime temps in single digits to the teens. As someone mentioned above, if serous weather comes in it may affect the migration timeline.
@GreenMachine it sounds like you're going when you can so I don't say this to discourage. You'll have a good time and I bet you'll find antelope regardless. Just bring the appropriate gear for expected conditions. They can change fast. Good luck and have fun!

 

[GreenMachine]

One thing to keep in mind at that time is weather. Mid November last year got COLD in eastern MT. I was able to get out and fill my region 7 antelope tag on opening day, but was back in the eastern half of the state in November for a few weeks of bird hunting. We had a week straight of -10 to -20 degree temps overnight. Daytime temps in single digits to the teens. As someone mentioned above, if serous weather comes in it may affect the migration timeline.
@GreenMachine it sounds like you're going when you can so I don't say this to discourage. You'll have a good time and I bet you'll find antelope regardless. Just bring the appropriate gear for expected conditions. They can change fast. Good luck and have fun!

@doctor_dirt appreciate it. We’ll be as prepared for the cold as we can be. I already had a collapsible truck snow shovel and the requisite warming layers on the packing list. We tried moving stuff around to get out there earlier but unfortunately can’t make it happen. We were out there 2 or 3 years ago deer hunting and had some pretty good luck seeing pronghorn but it was pretty mild. We’ll use this for deer scouting for the future and should have plenty of time to fill the cooler. Good luck this season. Ryan

 

[hobbes]

You should be fine as lo g as you don't load them into the truck by their horns....

Won't matter at that point. Horn has to be removed by the hunter or the taxidermist anyway to remove the flesh that attaches horn to bone.

Later season is fewer available bucks on public land but a lot fewer antelope hunters still out. I've a buddy that'll occasionally still have an antelope tag when he deer hunts the same general area around the second week in November (right before season ends). I've not hunted them that late but he says it's tough to find a good buck with both sides by second week of November so apparently a lot of them are losing by the first week or so of Nov.

 

[GreenMachine]

Thanks everyone for the advice. Many pronghorn had lost their sheaths by the last week of the season this year and many were on private property. This resulted in several audibles. My Dad and I had a fun hunt and were able to both tag out and fill the cooler. We got out to MT not much after the cold and big snow fall pushed through but it warmed up and it ended up being much milder than I had anticipated weather wise. We weren’t looking for giants and the hunt was quick at 2 days. Thanks, Ryan