Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Anyone hunt pronghorn?

Tips?

I got lucky (after 15 yrs of applying) last year and drew a good unit goat tag for rifle. Got one and really enjoyed it (I find pronghorns fascinating).

I'll gonna try for a rifle tag again this year but ain't holding my breath (only 60 tags available). However, the same unit has an early archery only hunt with unlimited tags so that'll be my second choice on the app.

Assuming I don't get über lucky and draw for rifle again what are some tips for bow hunting pronghorn in the high desert?

Blinds near water?

Do those decoys work? (Our hunt is during the rut)

Decoy with blind?

I practiced a lot last year for deer and felt comfortable out to 40 yds (I was getting good accuracy at 50, but thought flight time may be a problem).

Any tips are appreciated. TIA.

I have shot a couple with a bow, both over waterholes in early September. I shot them on the second day of both hunts, near Douglas Wy.
I have shot about a dozen with rifle, half bucks and half does. In north central Wy in years past one could get two tags. All of these were drive through large pastures, spot one and get out and stalk. I have got out of the truck, dropped bipod and shot and I have belly crawled for several hundred yards in snow, expect anything. Shots have been 100-400 yards. All of mine have been on private land which I presume is much easier than public land. I have not used decoys and would be leary of that in rifle season.
Tips- Take a flat shooting rifle and know the bullet trajectory. They are not tough to kill, I have used 240 and 257 weatherby most of the time. A range finder is very helpful. Binoculars are a must. I have hunted an area and saw nothing and come back a couple hours later and saw many, be patient. They apparently were laying in the sage or moved in from adjacent land. Some times they are quite spooky, sometimes they are just the opposite. I really like the meat, be sure to bring a cooler and butchering equipment.
They are a beautiful animal and fun to hunt.
Good luck.

personally I'd think time of flight to be an issue before 50 yards..

With our whitetail it is an issue very close..extremely jumpy... 15 yards and in you probably will hit what you aim at. 20 or beyond.... good luck, luck is all it'll be.

If everything held still for the arrow, a person could be a good archery shot out to 100 yards pretty easy. We used to shoot 100 in the 80s a lot. Rangefinders were missing though and that made a huge difference in why we didn't shoot that far....

Best thing about antelope hunting is they are out all day, you can try multiple tactics during the day. Sitting water, spot and stalk.

50 yards needs to be a chip shot, 60 consistent. Hardest part is ranging in the open, that's where a cow decoy or blind help. I found estimating in wide open country difficult without objects to bounce internal radar off besides the animal. Seemed to always over guess.

Here in Az it takes years to draw even an archery tag, I had one in '08 and it was the funnest hunt. One of these years I'll draw another.

Kent

I've shot a half dozen or so with a bow. I really enjoy hunting them. But the Idaho Fish and Game has the seasons screwed up unless you draw an early tag. So I have not been in a couple years. I like to hunt them from a blind on a waterhole. Stalking is fun but frustrating in the open country they live in. Often leads to guys shooting further than they should. Hunting from a blind is the way to go around here. But hunting from a blind is by no means a slam dunk. I have had antelope come in, circle the blind and lay down (out of range) just staring at it knowing something is wrong. If they see movements - like shadows in your blind they will be off like a shot. I like to add a dark tarp to the inside of my blind to give a double wall and eliminate the shadows. Fun stuff, hope I can draw a tag this year and get back after them.

I have hunted them many times.
Twice over water holes in very early September,with a bow, in Wy.
Shot one the second day out both times after passing us lots of little ones.
I rifle hunted them in Mont once, done in two hours.
Rifle hunted them in Wy half dozen times and had two tags every time, one doe one buck. I filled out as did my friends every time in two days or less. We were hunting 20,000 acres of private land. Actually we drove oil well roads spotted, glassed, got out of the truck and stalked 50 yards to 1/2 mile, depending on the circumstances. The place we hunted had a very good population. Interesting that some times when you topped the hill, they were off at full speed, other times they would look at you unconcerned at 100 yards, and that changed back and forth frequently.
They are a beautiful and interesting animal, and I think far better than deer on the table.
I used 240 and 257 WBY, 45-70, 38-55, and 357 Max handgun.

Here's a SE Colorado goat, from a few years ago. Shot over a waterhole, in 100 degree temp. Skinned and gutted immediately, this was an excellent eating pronghorn.