Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game How important is a light rifle when hunting Pronghorn

What state? My hunts were all on BLM land in Wyoming. 257 Wby is a jewel of a chamber, TTSX is not necessary for pronghorn, would be more inclined to use Hornady 110 gr ELD-X load in the 257 Wby if not hand loading. The 257 Wby was made for wide open western plains hunting, it can be a nice equalizer when distance is in play. The Creedmoor is plenty good at distance and bucking wind but it will be around 600 fps slower at the muzzle and it will take almost 600 yds out before you will start to see its real advantages with doping the wind. Of course much can be accomplished with a proper riflescope dialed in for drift and drop.

If you drive around in relatively flat country taking shots as they come, hell a 15lb rifle will work great.

Now if you really want to hunt antelope, hunt badland type country on foot and hike as many miles in a day as you can handle, then an 8 lb rifle is your huckleberry

I had my .257 Bob built to land right around 8.5 lbs all up. It's my dedicated Pronghorn rifle and just rests so steady shooting from sitting and from prone positions. I feed it 110 gr. NAB handloads.

You can shoot WAY longer than we did at 250. That was our limit , at the time we were NH deer hunters where 75 yards is a long shot. Others in camp took much longer shots

No great trick to get withing 450 yards. And it is worth every step to get even closer. Make it about hunting and not shooting. Even if you can shoot from the truck why not do a sneak.

Two years ago I watched some ass-hat set-up a portable bench rest about 20 yds from his pickup truck & blaze away at antelope about 1,000 yds away. He did this several times & luckily, never appeared to hit anything. “Hunter”? Not hardly!

I was about a mile away, also hunting antelope. I was holding a .54 Hawken with patched round balls & wouldn’t have tried a shot over 100.

So there’s at least one guy who doesn’t think a bench rest is too heavy...

This ^^^^^

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Depends on where you are hunting. I have seen some very fine Goats while elk hunting. Bring two rifles a walking one and a truck gun for limited stalking.

In that open country and over the distances one gets shots at pronghorn I’d not worry about a heavy-ish rifle.

I’ve never taken a really lightweight rifle on a pronghorn hunt.

On the other hand if I had one with which I shot really confidently I’d not hesitate.

I’ve just never been able to shoot lightweight rifles really well.

Learn to shoot in wind... and figure out some sort of rest. You can't always lay down if sage is too tall etc. A tall bipod, tripod or shooting stick works better than off a knee.

The US has the highest rate of obesity in the world...I'm not sure rifle weight is the problem...we all try as best we can to get a steady rest to make a clean humane shot, but the reality is, at some point often as not, you will be taking an offhand shot...in which I don't think light rifles are the best choice. Let's use David Tubb as our test subject, we hand him a NULA, Dave, take 8 shots at yonder target, take your time. OK Dave, here's an old 8 1/2 lb sporter, a little heavy in the muzzle, take another 8 with this, take your time. We walk down and score the target..I think you boys know the outcome. I have observed this over a period of years, running the pits at NRA Sporting Rifle Highpower. Rifles closest to max weight, all else being equal, take home the gold.That said, there are riflemen out there that can shoot an ultra light better than I can shoot heavy rifle, but that is apples and oranges.

Yep, I’ve killed more pronghorns under 300 yds then beyond....

“Huntin” is way more fun than “shootin “, for me anyhow

A half pound in the hand or over the shoulder all day is different than 10 lbs around the middle.....

Sitting in the stand waiting for white tails is different than climbing for muley bucks at 10k ft or crawling 500 yds for pronghorns.

Ultra light rifles in the 6lb range are harder for me to shoot, but I can’t stand to carry rifles weighing much over 7 lbs. Consequently my serious hunting rifles are 6.5-7 lbs. Others may have different parameters......

I know what you mean.......

Yes it is. First - I am 71 yo and weigh 170 #s this AM so.... [ edit - 5' 10" tall]

The xtra body weight is carried ON the legs......not in the arms.

I got on the light rifle kick in the 80s with a Ruger 77 UL and M70 FTWT.


Jerry

None

First off, a typical NULA may very well be and probably is more accurate than a typical 8-lb sporter.

Second, competitive shooting and hitting an animals vitals in the field are apples and oranges IMHO.

Any tips on dealing with low growing cactus when crawling or stalking? Those little cactus balls with needles.......

Will Filson chaps help?

Yeah, avoid them!

Seriously leather gloves and knee pads. Also your boots should NOT be.mesh hiking boots, go leather.

I got cactus bit while prone. The pronghorn moved and I had to shift, ouch outside of thigh. Guide simply said " suck it up and shoot" then laughed. Wife was pulling them stupid things out for days