Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game First antelope hunt imminent.... advice?

Mountain goats are not normally considered 'dangerous' either. Yet the National Park Service is considering relocating or killing about 625 goats in Olympic National Park because they are becoming 'aggressive'. In 2010 one of the mountain goats "gored and killed a 63-year-old man, then stood over his body and stared other hikers down, according to a witness."

Mountain goat kills man

Are mountain goats 'dangerous'? Ask the dead man.

Actually, Mountain Goats have long been recognized as dangerous.

Elmer was writing about it before I was even born.




Dave

Little known fact: more people have died by antelope than by Grizzly bears.

Source? I'm calling Bulshit on that one.

One more thought to you lucky dudes with E. Or pronghorn tags. With a few exceptions, most will be bouncing around in extremely remote areas on 5-mph roads. Really, most in the US would not call them roads at all. When selecting campsites or parking spots, do give some thought to escaping potential fires. I.e. routes out, nearest barren lake beds or rocky areas, islands of green, or what have you. Should one get trapped, find a good high density fuel spot, do your own burnout ahead of the fire, and then pull into the ash.

With our exceptional winter snow pack, the desert is supporting about 3 times it's normal level of dry fine fuels. You, and a fair number of other folks will be on roads and ways supporting a lot of cured herbage. Cookie and I spent the AM out touring the now extinguished Cinder Butte fire. At times it ran fast. Burned sites I would have normally thought not possible, and in some spots could have pinched one in with no escape.

Should not be a driving concern, but if one sees smoke or lightening about, do keep an eye out in that direction. No real end to the 90+ degree temps we've been having. Campfires and/or a smoke are for sure no no's unless one stays in a tended and well manicured campground.

Going to be out of Dodge for a few days, so be safe, and good luck.

Thank you, sir. Very much.

Yeah.....you weren’t in danger. I’ve had pronghorn do the same sort of thing when decoying them, and have yet to be gored to death or have anywhere near a “dangerous” experience. The bowhunter along for the shot often gets flustered and blows the shot, and one went back to camp and told his buddies how he was “almost attacked”. Maybe you and this guy were related. The closest anyone I know has ever been to having a “dangerous” pronghorn around was an orphaned buck which was raised from a fawn, which would get a little sporty and head butt people during the rut.

We won’t even get into your otherworldly reaction time, having time to spin around and face a 55 mph charging beast the length of a truck away from goring you into pudding.

Funny how your armchair analysis of the situation varies so much from those of the three adults that were ***actually there***.

Your description of the events is way off. First, the antelope was was coming fast but I doubt their full speed is anywhere near your assumed 55mph when running with their nose almost touching the ground. Nevertheless, the adults in the truck described it as a "full speed" charge. When the buck turned in reaction to the horn he just missed the front of the truck - which put him about 10 feet from me at the closest point of approach, if that. The right front corner of the truck was about 5 feet behind me and I had a barb wire fence in front. I was kneeling down using a steel fence post as a rest. The buck was running close along the fence line before it turned. Second, your imagined sequence of events doesn't match what I described. Daughter #1 honked the horn. THEN I turned my head and saw the buck about a truck length away. The buck turned away as I started to turn around, not because I had completed my turn, as your description implies. The events were simultaneous, as I described, not sequential as you described. I was still turning as the buck disappeared on the other side of the truck. Third, the buck showed no sign of slowing. This was not a case of an antelope buck stomping and snorting and making short charges from a relatively safe distance away.

But hey, you're the expert because you ***weren't there***.

Remember your once-in-15 years Steens mule deer hunt and how you took care of the meat and the animal? Do the complete opposite.

Incorrect as to those tag odds, and also predictably incorrect as to the meat, which was fine BECAUSE I [bleep] TOOK CARE OF IT PROPERLY!

Sheesh. Some people's kids.

Jeff: when is your hunt?

Uh........ I think it starts Saturday?

That's how woefully I'm underthinking this <g>. Haven't even really looked at pics of bucks or started getting gear together.... I gotta set up the frame of my wall tent and test my awning area out; I remember that there was something weird about it... like I cut the tubing for a true 10' tarp, which I had a nice heavy but old silver one on hand, only to discover that now they are undersized. Or something. Also wouldn't suck to get in a LR shooting session in the 90 degree heat since that's how it'll be up there.

I'll be un-buried from the work that's been consuming me later today. Then I'm going to turn my attention to this hunt. "Let the overthinking begin"!

The fire is a long way from where I'm hunting, 50 + miles. We are careful old farts and keep our eyes on everything! Someone mentioned dry ice in confined areas! I keep that in the pickup bed! I've used dry ice before, its the only thing that will last 12 days, other than bringing a gen set and freezer! That's what we do fishing, but it's to large to fit with the other equipment!

Killer antelope!!!

Watch out!!!!!

I bet you're a quivering puddle in griz country, assuming you've ever been there.

Cookie and I did a Cinder Butte tour yesterday. Looks to be 95% extinguished. Little to not threat of it jumping the highway. At times we can get some serious fires out here. Had a 800 square mile one about 5 years back.

We have a new fire north of here that got going yesterday, called the Mammoth Fire after the nearby Mammoth Cave. As of last night it was up to 23 sq miles with the potential to be a really big one. It's not on Inciweb yet for some reason. Last I head, they don't know how it started since there was no lightning anywhere around.
It's where we'd be hunting antelope if we'd drawn, which we didn't.

update: they just reported that it's nearly 100 sq miles now and crazy winds are expected.

Lol. My numbers might not be exact, but you waited approx half of your lifetime, had a huge buildup to the hunt, forgot your camera, shot a dink, and left it sitting in the heat.

I did not leave it sitting it the heat. To the contrary.

I'm remembering why I have you on ignore. Later gator.

Jeff -

Don't let them get to you. I've forgotten a camera more times than I can count. Would probably still be doing so if my cell phone didn't have one built-in. I've also taken the wrong ammo for one of my rifles (thankfully I took two), have arrived at the range sans ammo (too many helping hands loading up the vehicle) and made all kinds of other bonehead mistakes. So has everyone here, but many aren't man (or woman) enough to admit it.

Got to range a couple times and no ammo. Twenty miles out to ground squirrel fields and no rifle. Own several Weatherby's, got to elk camp and had the 257 bolt in the 30-378. Spare rifle on hand so still good to go. Left life jackets at home for a 7-day family whitewater trip. Discovered as the shuttle driver pulled away. Had to hitchhike to town where I could only rent what I needed. Left Coleman fuel at home on a camping trip. Took steelhead fly boxes on a trout trip. Wrong reel and line on a trout trip. Wrong tent on a spring bear hunt. Left entire clothes bag at home on another trip - bought new duds on the way. Drove out of camp and left a bucket with about $150 worth of lines and ropes that I'd placed beneath the truck to shelter from the rain and snow. Did not realize that was so expensive until I went to replace them all in a single purchase.

Have driven off and left waders or knives on site. Luckily, I recovered those. Same with some wood cutting gear like peavey, axes, and shovels.

Did not hook to the boat once, but realized that about a mile from the house.

None of this would happen if I didn't have so much sh-t or if I simply made up check lists.

Thank God I seem to get all of Cookie's stuff loaded.