Can anyone tell me what kind of distance i can expect to take a shot for wyoming antelope? I am talking about a hunters range ,not a long range shooters range.I just bought a 6.8 spc for my encore and i am considering using it in place of my 280 ackley. I have never hunted antelope before and am unsure what to expect.thanks

Depends on several things. Antelope hunting is usually as hard as the person hunting them makes it. It should be no problem to get within 100yds of an antelope. The tend to get a little more "spooky" during season, but a guy still is able to get within 100yds if he uses his head and "stalks up on them".

Hemi

Practice at 200yds and you'll be golden....

Hardly an expert but man I do like to hunt them. I did my 1st trip to Wyoming 4 years ago, was all duded up with a new set of big binocs, range finder, brand new 25-06/with bipod shooting 100 grain TSX ammo all set for reaching out there. Ready for some longer range stuff. Ended up getting my buck at a whopping 70 yards:)

In 2009 different story, got my best buck at a ranged 317 yards in a pretty steady wind. Last year I was back under 100 yards on my buck and 2 does. So, I suppose like Ingwe said 200 is a good distance to figure on. At least thats what I try for now.

I've never shot over 300yds, and I've shot over 200 yds only once.

We shoot about 4 every year here in Wyoming. Average? About 250 yards I would say. Based on how spooked they are you can get closer!

What everyone said.

Lots of times they will spook off to long range, but you can pick up and find another easier opportunity all day long.

however far you decide to shoot and I am not being sarcastic. been there with myself and friends from 8 to 1140 yds.

Agree with Ingwe. Practice at 200. Although I did shoot one in Wyoming at 304 'cause I couldn't get closer and he was about to go...

1st ever lope
Colorado 220 yards

2nd lope
S. Dakota 352

3rd lope
wyoming 192

Average about 250 yards.

200-300 yards is pretty typical. I kept an eye on this buck all day. He finally moved behind a "bump" in the terrain. 200 yards shot .30-06 and 130 grain interlock. He was facing me and I center punched the heart. He dropped and didn't move. Yes, that is my daughter goofing around behind me...lol. Flinch

This one was 175 yards running. 100 grain Hornady Interlock at 3,400 fps from a .25-284. Coyote was 40 yards, same bullet. Not a bad day Flinch

Shot my one and only one at 49 yds.....with a bow.

A few years ago I added up the ranges for all the pronghorns I've shot, plus all the others I've seen shot, and the average was right around 200.

I've killed two at 400+, but those were both really big bucks where the odds were strongly against getting any closer. One was a Wyoming buck that had been seen several times that season already, by various people, but never at less than 500 yards unless it was running like hell. So when I got within 401 (lasered) I took the shot. But I've also killed several other big bucks at anywhere from 80 to 250 yards in a variety of terrain from New Mexico up to northern Montana. )Hope to get one in Alberta someday....)

A lot depends on the terrain. Years ago, before ATV's overran so much of Montana's BLM land, my wife and I used to hike into the badlands with packframes. Our average shot, over several years, was 130 yards. In flatter country the average can be twice that, but unless you just prefer to shoot at longer ranges there's no real need.

love hunting the damn things....also love trying to get as close as possible, once yah learn what spooks them and you dont do that and know how to use the terrain or have extra help you can actually get pretty close if yah want to......great thing bout speed goats is even if yah blow a stalk it usually isnt hard to find another bunch and start the process all over again

Great info everybody,i think i will go ahead and use my 6.8 spc. 300 yds would be max, with 250 yds being allowing a little wiggle room.thanks again

Not to hijack this, but Ingwe if you don't mind what are a few things not to do. I kinda know some obvious stuff but anything else in particular that might help a rookie??

i hunt public land goats that get spooky as hell after a week or so of the season......after a herds been shot at a few times all it can take to get them to spook is a pickup stopping on a road for any length of time or the silhouette of a person walking up right, dont do or look like that and your usually golden....

speed goats have great eyes but aint to bright and are actually quite curious......the wife and i will "play cow" popping up over a ridge with my wife walking leaning forward and im bent down behind her grabbing her belt, keeping most the goats looking at the side of us.....silhouette looks like some [bleep] up 4 legged critter and not a person, last time we did that we actually walked up to bout the 200 yard mark......if your by yourself, crawling on your hands and knees can work but your gonna need leather gloves and knee pads.....[bleep] sucks picking cactus spines out of your palms and knee caps.....

if all the goats are on one side of the road and your willing to jump out of a slow moving vehicle, so long as the truck doesnt stop they usually wont spook.....have someone drive the truck down the road while you jump out the passenger side and you can get fairly close sometimes....

also keep in mind to watch the wind, they may rely on their eyes to alert them to danger but they do have damn good noses and ive spooked some cause the wind changed.....

My personal average is a bit less than 200 yds (based on the information that is readily available). For the daughters and grand-kids, it works out to a bit less than 240. The difference is due to the fact that most of the bucks that they shot were stalked by two people and we decided that, in many cases, closer was not feasible. The two daughters' composite average is closer to 300 as they are confident with long shots. They always use a solid rest and do not hesitate to shoot when they are sure of the shot, regardless of the actual distance. They have never lost one.

Few things not to do...
Dont let them wind you..
Dont skyline yourself..
Dont chase after them, drop 200-300 yards downwind and wait, theyll often make about a 90 minute circle...
Don't let them see you...I know..it sounds stoopid..but pretend they are gonna shoot back, and you'll be golden

DO...carry a small cow elk call...you can call unspooked ones with it, and you can stop spooked ones on occasion...

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