Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game 2023 Montana Antelope Opener

There is a significant difference between hunting antelope and hunting an antelope. Antelope make up a significant portion of our diet so we tend to mostly just hunt antelope. Late this summer I started getting crappy zoomed in cell phone pictures from my rancher buddy, Tate, of this guy….



….and I knew that we would hunting an antelope. My youngest son and I both had either sex permits as well as four other doe permits in the family. This would be Trev’s first antelope hunt as a shooter and I wanted him to have a crack at the target buck.

We found the buck the night before season and put him to bed. He chose a big swale in the middle of a stubble field that would put him 500 yards from about every hilltop and access road. The plan was simple. Get to the field before dawn, climb to a ridge and see which way he decided to move and cut him off. I don’t normally get too nervous prior to an antelope hunt but was a little restless that night as the buck was only a mile or so from being off our permission and we certainly weren’t the only folks in eastern Montana with an antelope tag.

Opening morning we rolled up to the selected ridge and were preparing to leave the truck a few minutes before shooting light. We looked at the skyline and “the” buck was staring at us 300 yards away….



I confess it would have been pretty easy to have Trevin slip out of the truck, lay down and send one. He likely could have pulled it off too but for some reason shooting from the county road, at a skylined buck, 3 minutes before legal light felt like cheating....probably because it would have been cheating.

He drifted back over the rise and we made a long loop around through the stubble and found him bedded again at 400 yards.



We made a stalk around some contour that would put us within 200-250 but when we popped over the hill the buck had moved out and was looking back around 600 yards away. He kept on the move and we tried to watch him till he settled but he topped several rises and we lost sight of him after he crossed onto the neghboring ranch over a mile to the north.

We consoled ourselves by moving to an area we had seen some antelope a long-ways away the night before. They were much more co-operative and were standing on the county road when we came over a small rise.

If you have never hunted antelope…the best way I can describe their temperament is something akin to a 13-year-old girl. Sometimes they are completely crazy and will bolt at the sight of a vehicle two miles away. Other times their curiosity gets the best of them, and they have to check things out.

These were the curious type and we soon had four goats within 75 yards (sorry for the crap pics…cell phone zoomed in through a dirty windshield…barf).



Trevin was having trouble getting one found in his scope but his mother had no such problems with the 6mm-06. Her doe did a 75-yard dash and was done. I took a too hasty sitting shot with my .25-06 on another nervous doe, now out there a ways, and hit her high. A follow up shot had her down within 100 yards of the other.



There was a small buck in the group that hadn’t really tempted me. I had brought my .400 Whelen along and had told myself if the opportunity presented itself, I would try to take one with it.

It did and I did.

The lonely little buck wouldn’t completely leave his fallen comrades so the hunt was on.



An embarrassing oversight (rifles need bullets apparently), a few cactus in my knees, a few stalks through the prairie, a little persistence and he eventually gave me a shot on the outer edge of where I had been prepared to shoot (around 225-250 yards).

He quartered slightly when I shot. I heard the whop and saw a blood spot behind his offside shoulder. He went down within a few yards. Figuring he would be done soon and not wanting to push him if he had one last run left in him, we went back to process the other two.

It was forecasted to be in the 70s so everything went straight on ice.



When we drove over to retrieve the buck his head was up so the 6mm-06 barked again.



The initial hit was a bit lower than I would have liked but it had got the liver and a small part of one lung. No doubt fatal, but not ideal. I should not have pushed the range of my setup quite so far on such a dainty critter. There is something unique about him taking two rounds from .30-06 wildcats on extreme ends of the realm…one ideal for antelope and one most definitely not.

While we were processing him we spotted a couple more teenage girls heading our way from over a mile away. I didn’t even have time to strap on my bino harness before Trevin and I were on the stalk again. They popped up on a small rise within 75 yards…

….and Trevin made good with his new Tikka 7mm-08 he had got in January for his 12th birthday. The 120 Ballistic tip found its mark and she went down within 5 yards.



He was a happy kid and I was glad it went clean and smooth.



My son Carsten had been hunting on his own, but his morning had been slow. He came to check in and then went back to another part of the ranch. His first love is coyote hunting so he had spent most of the morning messing with a dog that had hung up at 1000 yards. After he left we drove across the ranch a couple miles and I shot one dumb enough to stand broadside at 250 yards. Sorry Carsten, not sorry 😊



Our truck was all tagged out except for Trevin’s either sex tag and we were committed to hunting the target buck the rest of the day. We texted Carsten to see how things were going and he simply texted, “Dead”.

I called and he found some antelope and sealed the deal on a doe within 80 yards. She was in the middle of a public section with no road access. We went to him to bring a decent backpack and some cute ranch kids for moral support.





We had an idea where Trevin’s target buck was headed so we went to butcher Carsten’s goat, keep an eye on things and humor a cute little girl that loves to fly kites.


About the time we were done butchering we spotted some antelope and “The” buck was with them. They had been bedded in a low spot but were back on their feet and working out into a seeded field…about 400 yards on the wrong side of the fence.



The buck had spent most of the summer in a grass section to the south of the field he was in and we thought here was a good chance he would drift back. We drove around and then stalked up the fenceline to within 450 yards of him. If he drifted south and crossed the fence we had a good chance of connecting the dots.

No dice.

The neighboring farmer drove through his place and spooked him to the north. Good news and bad. Bad because he was now in with a bigger group of goats and good because with a couple phone calls we had permission to go after him.

The crew stayed back to glass from over a mile and entertain kids while Trevin and I made the long stalk. Long story short…we got within 200 yards of the buck but tall grass sucks, the setting sun directly in your eyes sucks, and mule deer does that spook antelope seconds before you can get your kid’s rifle setup REALLY SUCK!

Trevin was a great sport about it, but I knew finding the buck again the next day would be a challenge...

...The next morning Trevin was tired. He was pretty happy hanging out and eating breakfast at our friend's house and playing with their kids. I didn’t have to talk him into going back out, but it would have been easy to talk him into staying.

We went back to where we thought the buck might be and all that was visible was a does and four small bucks. We drove back to where we had killed the first four yesterday and glassed the area the buck had been hanging all summer. About two miles away I saw a small dot moving along a fenceline through some Angus cattle. Even from two miles away his distinct forward sweeping horns were obvious. He was back on the ranch!

We stayed back and let him make the moves. He went to water and then seemed undecided where he wanted to go. He ultimately headed south into a large stubble field with a big swale about 900 yards wide. If he got to the middle of that he was safe. If he skirted the edge he was in trouble. He was also headed towards some grain bins on the top of a hill.

We turned the chevy around and made a big loop to get around him where the truck would not be seen due to the rise and fall of the wheat fields. We used the grain bins to hide the truck. Tate took a peek through the bins and got visibly excited. “He is right here!” he mouthed.

Trevin grabbled his rifle and we belly crawled between the bins. The goat was 305 yards away but across a fence and through some tall grass along the fenceline. No good.

We went to the end of the bins, crawled through a shadow and managed to peel off a few yards and get in a much better position to shoot above the tall grass. Prone wouldn’t work but Trevin wanted to try sitting up. I told him to go ahead as this was likely our last opportunity as we had to head back home soon.

The buck saw the movement and quartered toward us. At the crack, he humped up hard and ran about 50 yards and just stood there. I contemplated a follow up but decided we should hold fire and soon we watched the buck tip over.

Trevin had pulled it off!





Like a lot of ranchers, Tate’s respect for antelope is not zero but not far from it either. For him to be excited meant a lot.



I have no idea what he scores but he is over 16” from base to tip so a darn nice goat and a heckuva first antelope buck. A lot of kids would have settled for something smaller but Trevin was never really tempted. I doubt I would have been that way at his age.

After caping and butchering we did a little work on our friend's house and then headed back home through the miles and miles of prairie between our house and theirs…



Till next year…thanks for riding along!!!

Nice job! Lots of meat right there.
Always look forward to your stories.
Thanks for sharing.

Congratulations.

Great story and a very unique trophy! Congrats.

Nice story, congrats to all!

Wow, what a great outing for the family....congrats to all.
I'll be chasing them with my son in a little over a week, can't wait.

Very well done!! Great looking country to chase pronghorn in. Such a fun hunt with your family!

Thanks for sharing the story and photos

Fantastic!

I always enjoy your family chronicles - thanks for sharing.

Thanks mate, as always, a great family trip !!

Can't wait to see them doing the processing, too !

Great write up.

Your son killed a fine goat in fine fashion!

Congratulations to Trevin, that’s one nice antelope buck! 👍👍

I admire your restraint for not pushing him out of the way to take the shot. You’re a great Dad. 😁

Great story and great success! Good on all of your folks Med…..

Osky

Super photo and write-up about the hunt. That young man should be proud of a wonderful trophy. Mom and Dad should be proud of him too. Thanks for taking us along!

Great thread - thank you for posting and a big congrats to all!! That buck is really nice, I've always been looking for one like that where the horns are pitched forward, just a great trophy!

Great job, congratulations!

Way to go! Antelope meat is the best.

Thanks for sharing the story.

Excellent