Here is a picture of my first pronghorn. A friend and I scouted for two days before the hunt began, glassing and hiking a LOT of area. The rut was going and most of the mature bucks we saw were chasing does. We tried a few stalks with some ending with a 500 yard plus crawl across the lava, only to end up with the buck getting up and walking away. We put in the miles those first days of the hunt and decided to switch tactics and try a new spot. We found a nice water hole and set up under some trees. Within five minutes a small buck came in to drink. Being 40 yards from the buck was exciting, then another young buck came in and joined him. Two minutes later a third buck came in, this time a mature buck. He ran in, drank, and ran out (probably to return to his does). I never had a clear shot at him and was beginning to get upset that I might have missed an opportunity. When we looked up a group of about fifteen pronghorn were coming over the hill into the same water spot. The two smaller bucks went over to join them as we glassed for the herd buck. We spotted him and decided to just let them walk right in. The excitement of trying to remain still with that many sets of pronghorn eyes looking around is really intense. I waited until there were no does in front of or behind the buck and took the shot. I could have shot at the first mature buck on the run, but waitng for a good shot rewarded me with a standing broadside shot at only 80 yards. All this happened in about twenty minutes. This was a great hunt with the rut really starting to kick in. Hope the picture works.
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Schoettgen
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Now thats a nice antelope.
Schoettgen
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DK, that is a good guess, I think. If anything he will go a little longer so I will say 13.5".
Some great guesses, but Schoettgen guesses it right at 13.5 inches.
My buddy shot this hunt on the first morning of his hunt (not opening day) on the Tables. Buck was shot at 80 yards only after passing on 3-4 other bucks at the same distance and seeing 20-25 does also at the same spot in less than an hour.
This was also my buddies first antelope hunt and he was definetely excited, but no shots were taken at running game, nothing was wounded, one shot was fired and the range (80 yards) was reasonable.
Hunting on the Tables is one the easiest hunts and shooting past 200 yards just isn't needed unless you road hunt, can't plan a simple stalk or can't estimate yardage. If you can't estimate yardage buy a rangefinder, a good one, and carry an extra battery. The rangefinder dying is not an excuse for taking a 400 yard shot. Also if you can shoot worth a darn get a tripod, sight-in your gun with the tripod on and leave it on for the duration of your hunt. Don't keep taking it off and on as needed. Also if you are new to hunting and can't shoot worth a darn at the gun range then don't shoot offhand. If you suck that much benchrested at the range, you probably aren't going to hit a darn thing offhand.
My buddy shot this hunt on the first morning of his hunt (not opening day) on the Tables. Buck was shot at 80 yards only after passing on 3-4 other bucks at the same distance and seeing 20-25 does also at the same spot in less than an hour.
This was also my buddies first antelope hunt and he was definetely excited, but no shots were taken at running game, nothing was wounded, one shot was fired and the range (80 yards) was reasonable.
Hunting on the Tables is one the easiest hunts and shooting past 200 yards just isn't needed unless you road hunt, can't plan a simple stalk or can't estimate yardage. If you can't estimate yardage buy a rangefinder, a good one, and carry an extra battery. The rangefinder dying is not an excuse for taking a 400 yard shot. Also if you can shoot worth a darn get a tripod, sight-in your gun with the tripod on and leave it on for the duration of your hunt. Don't keep taking it off and on as needed. Also if you are new to hunting and can't shoot worth a darn at the gun range then don't shoot offhand. If you suck that much benchrested at the range, you probably aren't going to hit a darn thing offhand.
Schoettgen
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The tables does sound like an easy hunt, not that an easy hunt is a bad thing. I just spent 6 days on my first antelope hunt, 3 days scouting and 3 days actually hunting just to find an antelope. I couldnt find anything glassing so I started walking miles of empty rough country looking for tracks. I hit a hot spot full of tracks and after that I narrowed the search and found a group of about 50. I killed one pushing 15" early this morning, my first, and it was a solid standing shot well withing my effective range. I was stoked, and have not been that excited killing a big game animal in years. Almost made me feel like a kid again.
dbuckslayer
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That is one of the best antelope pictures ive ever seen, great picture with a great backgroud and buck, You should send that picture to cabelas or other magazines.
