Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game SE MT Antelope

Anyone have any experience hunting antelope in South East Montana, the 700 units. Several of us are going deer hunting in the Custer NF and a couple of the guys were wondering if it was worth trying for an antelope tag and spending a couple extra day's chasing them.

54Woody: I have shot more Antelope in SE Montana than in any other state or quadrant of Montana.
I began Hunting Antelope there in the late 1960's.
I was living in Washington state back then and "tried" to combine an Antelope Hunt along with the main game intended - Mule Deer.
Back then a Hunter could harvest two Buck Mule Deer in SE Montana, each year, with the General license.
So we were busy.
Keep in mind (and this is a major factor!) that the General Antelope season opens two weeks earlier (October 6th this year) than the General Deer Season (October 20th)!
This makes for difficult Antelope Hunting (spooky by the Deer opener!) after October 20th and already "picked over" (diminished in quality and quantity).
More directly, Hunting Antelope that have been Hunted for 14 days or more (depending on when in your Hunt you will go after Antelope) is MUCH more difficult and less rewarding than Hunting Antelope on the opener!
I know - been there, done that!
I would strongly recommend Hunting the rut time of the Deer season (November 8th and later) and making a separate, earlier, Hunt for Antelope to include two days of scouting prior to the season and then Hunting the Antelope opener.
Antelope numbers are still down (and tags are still down!) in the 700 Units from what they were just a few years ago!
This is what I eventually began doing (two separate Hunts - one for Antelope on the opener and one for Mule Deer during the rut!).
Best of luck to you with whichever you decide to do.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Thanks VG. That is the advice I was looking for. We are going to be there the first week of Nov. which is the last week for antelope and I was concerned they may be shot over, spooky or even pushed South if snow hits early.

You need to be more worried about drawing an out of state tag.Your chances are up to 10% of the available tags in the whole State available for out of Staters.That is UP To 10%,not actually 10%.It is much easier to draw a tag in Wyoming,but harder to find a place to hunt.

Well I almost didn't put in because I figured the odds were poor. I guess if you don't play you can't win so I went ahead a put in.
Poor odds or not, I drew. Moved my hunt dates up 10 days also.

Might send greenhorn or scenarshooter a pm, they seem to have their finger on the pulse of critters over there...

54Woody,

I saw your posts here and on the other Pronghorn thread. I hunt that area every year and would suggest there are plenty of mulies out east of Broadus as well. If you want a little driving excitement, plan your trip so you are driving 212 between Alzada and Broadus late at night with a full moon. You will get a good sense of just how many deer live in those open spaces. We've shot both mulies and antelope on the same day, though VG is right, antelope hunting is much harder after the first week of the season.

If you haven't already done so, jump on the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks website and check out the Block Management Program. There are lots or options out there besides BLM. BLM can be hard to access because it is often locked up by private ground; Block Management is usually pretty easy and gets you access to those BLM sections.

I drove through there in early July and there was still water everywhere. Not sure what it is like now (it's been hot and dry here in SW Montana), but when I drove through all the stock ponds and many of the little draws still had lots of water and most had ducks and geese on them. You might consider throwing in a shotgun too.

Antelope numbers are still down from where they were in the nineties and early 2000s, but they are coming back and I saw lots of antelope. You'll have a good hunt.