Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game average range for antelope?

I've killed exactly 60 antelope...only 14 have been over 200 yards with the longest one at 403. Of those 14, most were between 200-300.

The closest I've shot one is 32 yards, with a vast majority between 100-200.

Its not tough at all to get close to antelope if you're patient.

Oregonmuley,

I will back up what Ingwe said, especially about them winding you.

Though I once ran into a guide in Colorado who claimed that antelope don't use their noses. He also claimed that he had guided people to over 200 pronghorns--right after he blew a stalk because he ignored the wind. Scent is not their primary defense, but they do have noses.

One thing I have noticed is that if hunting pressure isn't REALLY severe a spooked herd will often circle and end up back where it started, or within a few hundred yards.

Like rattler and his wife , my wife and I have used what we call the "bovine simulation technique" and found it worked well, especially to cross open areas not too close to a herd. How well it worked depends on the time of the season--and how much you and your partner can act like a cow.

One of the biggest mistakes many pronghorn hunters make is to try to follow a herd in a direct line. They'll be looking back right toward where they crossed, so if ANYTHING pops over the ridge in that direction, they get nervous, even if it's just your head. Instead, crawl over the ridge at least 100 yards to one side of where they crossed.

Range depends on how fast your pick-up is...at least that's what the natives tell me.

i will always look upon speed goat hunting as fun.....ive done alot of elk and to some extent mule deer hunting that was absolutly masochistic as hell and wound up with nothing to show from it but memories........speed goats are usually easy to find, very easy to pack out even compared to a good sized mule deer doe, and if yah [bleep] up a stalk rarely have to spend a couple days trying to find another buck like i often do with mule deer, find another flat and you will often find another herd....goat hunting is just plain fun for the wife and i and enjoy every minute of it...

Rumor has it that there's been more than one lope reduced to possession via the F150 Sneak...

Dober

I think it's probably a Wyoming deal.

That and a 220 Swift...grin

Dober

Here's another one. Antelope can be patterned. If you see them take off in one direction towards a particular location today, chances are very good that the next day they will do the same.

I hunted with two good friends who were in their mid eighties and could not cover much, if any, territory. I put them a couple of small hills away from where we had spooked antelope the previous day and then slowly revealed myself to the herd. They went in exactly the same area they had run to the day before. Both guys got antelope from that herd.

They really are pretty predictable.

Steve

Cheater.

I've hunted speed goats in Colorado and Wyoming for thirty years and I've killed three or four dozen of them. I've been going over distances in my mind and I can't remember one that was shot at further than 200 yards. They aren't a very big target and I guess I just gotta get close or I'm not confident that I will make a clean kill.

I use a 30-06 with Sierra GameKing 150 grain BTSP. You don't really need a bullet that heavy but my rifle really likes that bullet and a simple cup-and-core bullet is just fine for a thin skinned animal like a pronghorn.

KC

That is good info and I guess one thing I have not worried enough about is being winded. Maybe I need to pay more attention to that. Just didn't seem to worry about it as much as I do with deer/elk!!

Good stuff - I need to remember that and be a little more patient. Chased a nice buck for most of a day and again the next morning last season, tried to go after them and ended up just moving the herd he was in out into some real broken country. Maybe they would of been back??

We took 5 lopes this fall, wife took her two right @ 300 yds with her 6/06 down and out they went.

My bud used my 22/250 to take his doe @ just under 300, one shot down and out. And I used my 22/250 to take my doe at about 150 yds, one shot down and out.

And we've had great eats every since..grin

Dober

Oregonmuley,

Antelope will move out of the country if constantly pressured, but they do have home territories and tend to stay there if they have a choice.

My wife and I used to hunt a certain area in eastern Montana for years, until the ATV's took it over. After a couple of years we knew exactly where the local herds would go once spooked after opening day. They didn't go far, just to places that couldn't be seen from the road. If we made a big circle and came up on those areas from a different direction, we'd usually find them again, often bedded down.

We zero at 200, practice to 300, and rarely shoot one as far as 200.

Shot distance depends on how patient you are, how much they've been pressured, and on how flat or rolling the country you're hunting is. The more cuts and draws, the easier it is to sneak closer to the animal. Flatter country usually means longer shots on average. But even in fairly flat country, you can usually get reasonably close (200 yards or less). I've killed the vast majority of mine under 200 yards. That said, last year's was 260 and I've killed few quite a bit further than that.

3" high at 100 yds and you're good to go out to 350yds or so. Keep it simple. I've been hunting big game like this with a 7mag for 30+ years. Just my .02