2015 WY Pronghorn

Great Buck Buzz. Congrats on another one. I'm going to get me a shooter one of these years. I guess I might have to take a rifle and go south as the bow hunting isn't producing a shooter in my area.
 
Well done Buzz! It'd be interesting to know how many other hunters glassed and passed on that buck.
 
BuzzH said:
I once again proved that I cant judge antelope that well.

I first saw the particular buck I was after in early September. I only saw him one time, but did get some video footage. I told a friend from Casper about the buck and that I thought it would "maybe go 80". I looked at the video a few times and each time I did, I just liked the buck more and more.

So, with my moose hunt conflicting with the pronghorn tag, there was very little I could do but hope that someone else was equally as poor at judging pronghorns and that I would find him.

My first available time to hunt was yesterday on my way home from an 8 day hitch at work. I knew I would only have a couple hours, but figured I would gamble and see if that buck I saw earlier was still around. On my way to the area, I saw a couple hunters from Nebraska leaving the area. It wasn't looking good.

I went to the spot where I had seen the buck over 20 days ago and started glassing. Within about 20 minutes I spotted him running around chasing other bucks and trying to keep 4 does rounded up. When he wasn't doing that, he was just constantly on the move.

I needed to get a better look, so gathered up my rifle and spotting scope and walked out to a higher ridge that he disappeared behind. I found him again, but he was moving away from me and was over a half mile away. Pretty soon, he starts moving back toward the ridge I was on. I got to watch him for a long time and the more I looked the more I liked what I was seeing.

He eventually sort of calmed down with only about 30 minutes of shooting light left. He started to feed a bit, and then bedded down! Facing away!

I really contemplated just leaving him as he was 703 yards away. But, I remembered many past experiences with pronghorn in lower light conditions toward evening. I don't know what it is, if their eyes deceive them at dusk or what, but I've essentially walked up pretty close to them in similar conditions.

I was torn, should I try and chance it or wait until the next morning? I figured with the amount of running around he did the hour before, I would take a chance and if the stalk went south, I'd just relocate him in the morning.

He was bedded facing away, so I just essentially walked right at him, in the wide open. At about 400 yards I finally dropped enough to get out of his sight. I covered the next section pretty fast and when I crawled up out of the draw I was in, he was still bedded and 259 yards away.

I looked a bit longer through the spotting scope and he still looked good. For some reason, he stood and then bedded again broadside to me. I looked again through the spotter at the mass of his horns as he was facing me.

Enough looking, time to get this antelope shot. I chambered a round in my 7-08 and used some tall sagebrush for a rest. I was shooting prone and again, for some unknown reason, he stood back up and started walking. I just placed the leupold dot behind his shoulder and pressed the trigger. I heard the bullet smack him and he went about 10 steps and fell behind some sagebrush.

I quickly went over and was a bit shocked by his size...for once shocked that I had almost for sure under-estimated the score.

Had to wait until this morning to take decent pictures:

DSC00915.JPG


Another look:

DSC00901.JPG


Frontal look:

DSC00908.JPG


Different look:

09291508461.jpg


Water bottle for scale:

0929150846a1.jpg
Click to expand...

Buzz, congrats, you are a hunter of all hunters..... you never disappoint,
Matt
 
Congrats Buzz.... Big round horned heavy pronghorn are tough to judge... 84 1/2 ish?? Super Buck...
 
Good Grief Buzz! What a stud of a buck!

The more I look the bigger he gets.
 
Great buck. I do not see it much over 82 JMHO. He is something you should never think twice about about shooting
 
treedagain said:
Great buck. I do not see it much over 82 JMHO. He is something you should never think twice about about shooting
Click to expand...

Its tough to judge the bucks that come from the part of Wyoming that this one is from. Its tough for me to judge them on the hoof, tough from pictures as well.

I had a pretty good discussion today with a local taxidermist that I bumped into at lunch. I told him about this buck and how badly I misjudged it. He said a friend of his had the same tag a few years ago and did the same thing. The body size and head size on these bucks is kind of off the charts...and it makes judging them an absolute nightmare, IMO. Also, the hardest for me to judge are bucks that have more round shape to their horns.

Even the 40 minutes that I watched this buck through the spotter....there were times I wasn't even sure if I should shoot it. Finally, I got to look at it standing beside 4 mature does and another mid-70's type buck....no doubt from that point on.

I finally sat down and taped it today...these are the numbers I came up with:

Right horn L 15 1/8 Prong 5 5/8 c1 7 2/8 c2 7 2/8 c3 4 6/8 c4 3 2/8

Left horn L 15 4/8 Prong 5 7/8 c1 7 2/8 c2 7 2/8 c3 4 6/8 c4 3 2/8

If my math is right that's 87 1/8 gross and net 86 4/8.
 
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