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

Congrats, Jeff. Nice buck.

You chasing Pronghorn again next year (in a spot that doesn't require points)?

Shame on irfubar.

Not a bad idea to spend a bunch of money on a new gun. Then ask for advice and go on a safari with some good guys, drink some beer and shoot an antelope. There is a lot a guy can do and still shoot a small buck and enjoy the trip. If everyone shot animals like Scenarshooter, there would be nothing left in the gene pool.

Jeff -

I assume antelope need hanging just like deer. I haven't shot one yet, I'm still gathering preference points for what amounts to a once in a lifetime Oregon hunt. I've never seen meat that wasn't improved by hang time. Hanging allows enzymes in the meat to break down the connective tissue within muscles a little bit which is why properly aged meat is more tender. It does similar things to change flavor ... noticeable to some people, not to others. A lot of the perceived need for marinades, etc for all game meat is to compensate for inadequate hanging / aging. It is only partially successful. However, no matter how "right" it is, some people just don't like game meat. Feed 'em store beef and save the good stuff for people who appreciate it.

I have no eye for judging pronghorn. The important part is that you're happy. Pretty cool journey from planning through collecting rifle parts, building the gun, teaching it to shoot, building comfort and confidence, and then having the plan come together. If I'd done the same I'd be grinning ear to ear. I think ya done good. Congratulations!

Tom

As far as I'm concerned, hanging does nothing for antelope except bad. Can't say it does much for deer either.

Well, I gotta get my kid up to Portland today for college so it's gonna age in the coolers at least one more day!

Jeff,
Killed one last year in a unit next to yours. Killed it, got the hide off fast and on ice within maybe a hour. Butchered it within 48 hours. Amongst the best tasting wild game I've taken. I'm normally one that lets the game age longer, but absolutely no regrets on this one.

Thanks man! Couldn't have got to this point without ya!

I know you are holding out for Hart Mtn, but consider Juniper... I got to know a couple guys a few camps over pretty well, they'd researched it extensively and decided Juniper was better bang for the points than Hart. Juniper is the next unit to the west of Steens and kind of envelopes Hart if I was reading their maps right. But they weren't hunting way over there- they were on the huge plateau above Frenchglen and seeing, they said, 10-30 antelope bucks a DAY. They had a jeep (2000 TJ with 32's) and were having a ball on the rough jeep 2-tracks up there. They said my Tundra would've done most of what they were doing, though. They did break a tire up there (6-ply BFG AT) and had to drive all the way to Bend to get set up again... the rocks around there are hell on tires, we broke one on our Land Cruiser 10 years ago on the east side of Steens with the family. Anyway- just a thought; it takes several fewer points to get Juniper than Hart, we ain't getting ANY younger as far as I can tell, and they were seeing TONS of animals. As opposed to Steens. Steens was a tough hunt this year- at least guys who had experience there with antelopes were saying there were way fewer animals; speculation was a bad winter, dunno.

I'm going to recommend to Jerry & Paul (elk hunting buddies) that they hold out a couple more years for Juniper. Jerry has killed two antelope on Steens (he's older' n dirt) so it'll be a tough sell.

FWIW, I like to hang meat around 40 degrees .. say 38 to 42. It is a challenge here because even through end of October we can be bumping into the 80, maybe near 90. That is what lead me to putting in for the late muzzleloader tag .. that extra 2-4 weeks later in the year makes a big difference regarding temperature. If I owned rather than rented I'd absolutely look into walk in cold storage, even if it's comparatively small.

Oh, absolutely, if I decided I to punt on waiting for Hart Mountain, Juniper is very high on the list. I think I have points enough for any hunt other than Hart Mountain rifle. Right now I don't have the right rifle to bet 21 years worth of point accumulation on.

6.5 SAUM, maaaan!

Available headstamped brass from GAP, it matches 6.5-.284 ballistics but at 2x-3x of the barrel life OR, if a guy so chose, will spank 6.5-.284 decisively.... your guy can borrow my reamer a gauges....

Just about everything. A better way (among many) is to simply put the head in a trash bag for a few days to let the horns loosen. Cut around the base to help them separate from the hide if necessary but they should slide off after a few days.

In the meantime, skin and deflesh the head as much as possible. Remove eyes, ears, tongue, and every scrape of meat that you can. Then put it in a bucket of water, put a lid on it, and forget about it for 1-4 months. Removed and power wash at the local carwash. You can resoak with some detergent to remove any oils from the bone but usually not necessary. Just dry and slide the horns back on - you may need some paper towels to help the bone spurs grip the horns properly.

Simple.

That's the best way I can think of to get maximum shrinkage .

Huh. Sounds kinda icky <grin>.

So the "horns" (I know they are basically hair, not bone like a deer) will come off if I just hang it to let the meat rot off? Or might come off? That'd suck.

Nope.

Yes, they are horns - not antlers. They will slide off. But they the animal as to ferment a little to let it happen. Put it in a plastic bag and this will happen easier and quicker with no other problems. You may find a pile of maggots after a few days if you don't skin and trim that head asap. The maggots don't really matter, but the process will become "icky". It just doesn't have to be that way.

The bucket method is called anaerobic maceration. Next to a big, established beetle colony, it's the best way to do it.

What would shrink them more than leaving the horns off the bases "for a few months "?

Paper towels?

You traded weed samples at your antelope camp and that's how you do it in Oregon?

I love your threads....

If you do not take the horns off the base, they will rot. There is cartilage between the bone and the horn - a large spongy pad of tissue. They have to come off to be cleaned up. Any horned animal will have the horns removed in this way.

When you put the horns back, something has to fill up the space between the horn and smaller bone core that is now missing it's cartilaginous pad. Paper towels happen to work.

Have you ever dealt with a horned animal? I guess not.

Funny [bleep].

Boil the skull with horns under water just passed the prongs for 15-20 min, cut around the cartilage with a knife, pop off the horns. Clean up the inside and finish your skull prep, preferably within a day, you should make a mark on the bone where the horn should rest before popping them off, you don't want to just mash them all the way to the skull plate.

Use plaster Paris to reattach.

Or you could let it rot for a few months, I'm just guessing have never dealt with one.

I can neither officially confirm nor deny that there was a very surprising amount of that sort of thing happening... 40-65 year old guys, big hunting rigs, ATV's, every overt sign of redneckitude... yet.... we seem to have entered a very enlightened new era in that regard. At least in Oregon.

I'm ok with that.

Read this this morning:

"The researchers found that those who took marijuana on a regular basis had greater global oxygen extraction fraction (OEF) and cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO2) as compared to the non-users. The study also showed that the cerebral blood flow (CBF) in the putamen — a round structure located at the base of the forebrain that is linked to learning — was much more in marijuana users than non-users."

I'm. Just. Saying.

Mr. Beans, now you've got me worried that my uber-casual method might not work.

Damn your hide <grin>.

I mean........... as long as the horn I hung it from didn't come loose and let it fall........... you think the horns would come loose just hanging from a tree?