Success!! My wife and I were hunting public land in NW CO GMU 3 this past week on a land-owner tag we had purchased. Other resident hunters I had talked to in the area had waited 13 and 15 years to draw a tag (wow). This was my first antelope hunt and very different from whitetail deer hunting - lots of glassing and trying to figure out how to stalk into shooting range. On the third day, we spotted a reasonable buck and I was able to stalk and crawl to within 450 yards to make the shot. He wasn't as big as the first buck I saw and stalked to within 350 yards but I passed that shot since I did not know any better (first buck, first stalk). We took this one the 4th day of the season during the week but we still saw 7 other hunters that morning.

The stalk went interesting with a few mistakes. I had a balloon to cover my muzzle but didn't install it before I started the stalk. I had to crawl the last 20 yards to get into position. I noticed my muzzle had hit the dirt during the crawl - darn, there was sand inside the bore. Crawled back down into the gully I had used, unloaded the rifle, turned it upside down and stuck a zip-tie up the bore to get the sand out. Tried then to install the balloon but it broke in the 34F temperature. Crawled very carefully up into position then my homemade shooting sticks came apart. Crawled some more into a spot between bushes where I could shoot off my pack. Probably good because it was a 450 yards shot with light quartering winds. Waited for them to graze into a clear spot and squeezed off the shot. Wife saw the buck drop and jump back up (not me due to recoil and muzzle blast from the .270 Win and 129 LRX 55.0gr of IMR 4350). The buck was still standing so I shot a second time. He wobble and dropped. Both shots were double lung. Longest I have taken game. Didn't have a fork loader like Dallan so was a 200 yard drag up hill at an altitude of 7000 ft MSL. I took a few rest stops. I will have some of the sausage for lunch. Hope the meat tastes good because I would like to go back again next year.

Oh, you can see the gaping cut on the left hind leg that was down to the muscle. Maybe he tried to jump a barbwire fence which pronghorn usually don't do. I doubt he would have been able to survive the winter.

SJ, just 1 word: "knap!"

and I had to take the dictionary to look for a translation... I'm not completely satisfied with what I found, but it might be something as "cleverly" or "skilful". In my language the first meaning would be "handsome" but when something is beautifull and well-done, we say "knap!"
(for you info: we also say "knap" to describe a pretty girl, so when you want to learn 1 word that can be used several times, remember "knap" )

but 450 yards... when I have to walk that far, I have to cross 3 streets, a chanal and some backyards... you still have a beautiful country!

Awesome! That's a good one, his right side sure has a long curly flag. Nice younger buck, will be good eating.

Love that big wide open desert country. Glad you filled the tag. 13+ year is NUTS for pronghorn wait... unless its some kind of super trophy unit. Generally I see 5 year waits on most NR tags. Very cool you have your wife with you. Careful though... pronghorn hunting is really fun. Even the doe hunts are alot of fun.

I'm headed out to WY at 5:30am tomorrow for my pronghorn hunt. Season actually started a month ago but it runs until Oct 31st so there is plenty of time, and the rut should be going right now. I'm hopeful to find something good to shoot at (I dont think I've ever had a pronghorn hunt go past noon).

Pronghorn meat is great if you get it cooled down quickly. With the recent temps, it sure helps out (we had snow Wed).


-DallanC

slimjim wrote:

Oh, you can see the gaping cut on the left hind leg that was down to the muscle. Maybe he tried to jump a barbwire fence which pronghorn usually don't do. I doubt he would have been able to survive the winter.

How was he favoring it when he was moving? I've seen some pretty horrific wounds close up and the animals getting by year after year.


-DallanC

good stuff.looks like you have got your load sorted out pretty darn fine....both double lung....without hitting shoulder bones I take it?????
how was terminal preformance???
obviously terminal for the tasty critter but what sort of mess/ wound channel did you get????

DallanC wrote:

I'm headed out to WY at 5:30am tomorrow for my pronghorn hunt. ... (I dont think I've ever had a pronghorn hunt go past noon). Pronghorn meat is great if you get it cooled down quickly. With the recent temps, it sure helps out (we had snow Wed).

WY has more Pronghorn than people. I expected to see more in CO as I was in an area the State claimed to have the most concentration.

A local told me after I got back to down that the key to good Pronghorn was to cool it down quickly. It was mid-thirties and I had it back to the processor an hour after I got it out of the field so we will see how good it is.

Oh, Dallan, hope you have a successful Pronghorn hunt! The horns on mine were only 13" long. I'll do better next time especially with a better spotting scope. Seeing that many hunters around and bad weather forecast then next day, I made the decision to commit.

Elvis wrote:

how was terminal performance??? what sort of mess/ wound channel did you get????

Elvis, I've been getting good results with the 129 LRX. I started using it last year. So far, I have taken an elk, 2 deer, and this Pronghorn. The LRX has more expansion than the TSX/TTSX Barnes bullets and exit wounds have been larger than other monolithic bullets I've used before. Good blood trails, too, if they go any distance. I'm getting sub-1/2 MOA with these bullets, also.

slimjim wrote:

Oh, Dallan, hope you have a successful Pronghorn hunt! The horns on mine were only 13" long. I'll do better next time.

Good luck with that, I cant judge them worth a darn anymore. One of the hardest critters to field judge IMO.

My wifes first goat we found the night before the hunt, using ears and other features to estimate its size we thought it was a great goat and she wanted it. Found him first thing the next morning and shot him. We found out after the shot it had very short ears and features, the horns were 13-1/4!

Last year found a buck at 150 yards on the side of the road, told my wife who had a tag, "that one looks nice". She hemmed and hawed a bit, wanted to pass... I repeatedly said "are you sure? it looks pretty good", she eventually talked herself into it and shot it. When we got up to it we found was a really old goat and it had a HUGE body and head, which made the horns appear smaller... it was the largest goat she'd shot to date, and we almost passed on it.

I've killed goats that are super old, big black faces... and 13" horns. My boys +15 goat from a couple years ago was a younger goat. Who knows how or why some grow big horns and others grow small horns.

I just recommend people shoot what they like and never put a tape to it

EDIT: Here's a goat my wife got a while back, one of the oldest goats I've seen killed. Look how black that bridge of his nose is, cheek patches are huge and black, both flags busted off from fighting ... horns? 12-2/3"

huntingnut.com/modules...rong_2.jpg

-DallanC

Great hunt SJ and nice story writeup. Antelope are truly a lot of fun to hunt, but my taste buds still need coaxing everytime I'm faced with eating them.

Thanks, M2.

Dallan, do you have any recipes to share?

Got some awesome jerky recipes. But this meat works well with anything using Garlic (ie: greek seasonings). Just dont over cook it! Cut it up in slices, fry in a pan with peppers and use in fajita's. Dice it up and throw it in meat pies... its pretty versatile meat, similar yet milder than deer meat (and I find it even a tad sweet).

I'll post recipes from my wife when I get back from WY. I'm just finishing getting gear ready and will hit the hay soon, 5am comes toooooo soon.

I am planning to use my 270 as well, I havent used it for anything in too many years so now its time. Was going to take along my heavy barrel AR15 as a backup (or maybe primary) gun as its legal in WY now. I have some 65gr GameKing bullets that go .4MOA.... but its kindof bulky so I took it back out of the gear pile and stuck in my 7STW, just incase its really windy.... 160gr Accubonds at 3200fps sail long long ways.

Going to be fun!


-DallaC

Oh, and if you havent cut up the loin yet, cut that baby out, lay it on a cookie sheet with a light cloth over it and stick it in your refrigerator... for 2 weeks (or 3 if you can stand to wait that long). Let it dry age there. When you get it out cut it in 1" thick pieces and cook it medium rare... its unbelievable. Our favorite meat meal of the year, dry aged antelope loin.


-DallanC

Great stuff Slim...looks like a damn fine time was had by all mate. Two shots at 450 yards, and both double lung, is nothing to sneeze at mate...it fact that's damn fine shooting. I can see why your shot was taken at that distance though...damn that's open country. It looks like all that research you have done in the past has well and truly paid off for you mate. Now for the BBQ...

Not sure I would have the patience to wait 13+ years for a chance though...even a five year wait as Dallan says is too long...I would be "chompin' at the bit" to get out there.